If you’re a little bit tired of your mundane daily routine that’s been pretty much the same for the last few months, why don’t you try changing your looks? These beauty products will change your atmosphere in and out!
1. Disney’s The Lion King Limited Edition Collection by Sir John x Luminess by Sir John, legendary makeup artist to the stars (including Beyoncé and Celine Dion, NBD!) is finally here and it’s SO good! With colors inspired by The Lion King‘s characters and landscape, this collection is vibrant, glowy, and wears so beautifully.
Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed / Via buzzfeed.com
Sir John did some of our faces up (including mine!) with the collection before it officially launched and said that it’s an “elevated take for all the millennials who grew up on the original film.” Loveeeee. Check out the entire post for all of the looks to replicate at home!
Get the collection from Ulta: Matte Lipstick, Liquid Lipstick, and Lip Balm for $24 each, Highlighter Palette for $40, and Can’t Wait To Be Queen Eyeshadow Palette and Sculpting Palette for $42.
2. Belif Aqua Bomb Jelly Cleanser follows on the heels of the cult-favorite The True Cream Aqua Bomb as an ideal-for-summer and lightweight jelly-to-foam cleanser that gently and effectively washes off dirt, impurities, and most makeup — leaving your skin soft, clean, and hydrated.
Sephora
As with most water-based cleansers, if you’re wearing heavy-duty, waterproof makeup, you should go in with an oil cleanser first! And note: the product description leaves out dry skin, which makes sense cause I think the foaming action would be a little stripping for that skin type. (For reference it works great on my own normal/combination skin.)
Promising review: “I’ve been a long time devotee of the True Moisturizing Cream and I was not let down by this cleanser. It feels nourishing, not stripping, and super fresh. I’ve been using it as a second cleanse after a makeup remover and it really gets all the remnants of makeup off of my face.” —abarry
Get it from Sephora for $28.
3. If you’re a devoted fan of Boy Brow but want fuller-looking brows, Glossier Brow Flick is your gal! Its superfine brush tip draws featherweight strokes that mimic your natural hairs, so you can fill out any sparse spaces. Follow up with Boy Brow for some extra grooming, and voila — near damn perfect brows!
@tatcha / Via instagram.com, Glossier
Promising review: “I’m a huge fan of Boy Brow, but I recently got Brow Flick in Blonde and couldn’t be more thrilled! Boy Brow helps, but if you’re looking for *filled-in* but still natural eyebrows, I 100% recommend this product. This is a power duo if I’ve ever seen one — literally obsessed! My eyebrows are the thickest and most amazing they’ve ever looked!! Thank you Glossier for helping us skinny eyebrow girls!” —glossierthanaglossygorl
Get it from Glossier for $18 (available in three shades), or get the Brow Flick + Boy Brow duo for $30 and save $4 on both!
4. Or if you prefer a pomade formula that’s thicker and more forgiving in terms of application, NYX Fill n’ Fluff Eyebrow Pencil also gives you that ~full~ lewk and comes with a tiny paddle brush (eep, how cute!) on the other end to brush brows out to their fluffiest potential!
@nyxcosmetics / Via instagram.com, Target
Promising review: “I was using the Micro Brow Pencil and liked it, but once I tried the Fill and Fluff I knew I’d found something I loved even more. It is richly pigmented and a little goes a long way. The fluffy brush is the perfect blending tool. If I get a little too much color in a spot, the brush will smooth and blend.” —Jennnpoolll
Get it from Target for $7.79 or Amazon for $11 (available in eight shades).
5. Olay Sensitive Cleansing Water with Hungarian Water Essence does heavy lifting when it comes to washing off the majority of your makeup without stripping your skin’s natural oils and while soothing your skin, thanks to aloe, cucumber, and green tea extract. Even if you can’t be bothered to **fully** wash your face*, use this at the very least!!
Walmart
It’s not ideal, but we all have those nights — me included.
Promising review: “Guys…..this stuff is flippin’ fantastic! I am generally a big fan of micellar and cleansing waters to do an initial removal of makeup — I don’t ever expect even my favorite ones to remove ALL makeup, especially heavy-duty products like mascara. But oh my gosh, the Olay Sensitive Calming Cleansing Water totally exceeded my expectations! I don’t think I wouldn’t STILL use a facial cleanser to wash my face and remove all remaining traces, but this cleansing water does so much heavy lifting that I don’t have to do much more! It also doesn’t leave quite the same sticky, tacky feeling as other cleansing waters and it’s super gentle on my dry, sensitive skin! No redness, reactions, or drying out to report.” —lorenc100e
6. Fenty Beauty Pro Kiss’r Lip-Loving Scrubstick and Pro Kiss’r Luscious Lip Balm make sure your lips are properly taken care of with gentle exfoliation (hi, apricot seed scrubbers!) and moisture lock-in, so your lips are smooth as can be, and any lipstick you put on afterwards goes on even better.
@fentybeauty / Via instagram.com, @fentybeauty / Via instagram.com
Promising review (for the Scrubstick): “I typically make my own lip scrubs, but I had to try this out because my girl has been killing it. I bought this the day it came out — love the packaging, love the product and how it changes your lips immediately. You don’t have to use much at all. I put some on my lips, then use my lips to further rub off the excess skin, and then I use a damp cloth to wipe away the remaining particles. Lipstick and gloss look 10x better!” —lyamide
Get them from Sephora: the Scrubstick for $16 and Lip Balm for $18.
7. 100% of the proceeds* Youth to the People Limited Edition Pride Superfood Antioxidant Cleanser goes to GLSEN, an important organization working to create safe and inclusive schools for LGBTQ students in K-12 *and* contains all the great-for-skin, cold-pressed antioxidants in their original bottle that oh so gently remove makeup and prevent buildup in your poor pores.
Sephora
It contains kale, spinach, and green tea, so it’s truly like a green juice/smoothie for your face! It’s also free of sulfates and alcohol, vegan, and cruelty-free. Plus, the glass packaging is totally recyclable!
*up to $50,000
Promising review: “I. Love. This. Product! I have grown up with acne-prone skin and never felt confident with my bare face. The ingredients in this cleanser are so pure and clean. This is a great milky cleanser that is going to clean your face, leave your pores looking smaller, all without stripping any of your natural oils. I really love pairing this with a more intense serum/moisturizer to give my skin the nutrients it needs without overpowering it!! If you’re debating it, get it!! The proceeds of this cleanser goes to the LGBTQ community as well, so it’s a win-win!!” —Grayygray
Get it from Sephora for $36.
8. Ok, listen up, Maybelline Dream Urban Cover has SPF 50, which is pretty damn high for any foundation I’ve seen — and for a drugstore foundation, no less. It’s the perfect foundation for people who want full yet lightweight coverage that still lets a little healthy glow show through.
amazon.com, @maybelline / Via instagram.com
Promising review (for the shade Cafe Au Lait): “This foundation looks and feels great! It’s super lightweight and feels good on the skin. It’s not a matte finish, but it gives a nice, healthy glow. I got many compliments on my skin when I wore it for the first time! I got a 12-13 hour wear out of this and I didn’t use an actual primer or setting spray — I wish the foundation was a little more matte, but I have plenty of products to achieve that. This is an excellent foundation for the summer, especially at the $11 price point!” —SaxonBlues89
Get it from Amazon for $10.99+ (available in 16 shades).
9. Flower Beauty Warrior Princess Mascara coats your lashes (and I mean **every single** lash!) with a lush, vegan, and super black formula to the table, so you can instantly open up with just a few swipes!
@flowerbeauty / Via instagram.com
Promising review: “This mascara can be built up to the most beautiful lashes. It can be dramatic or more natural. It does not flake (thank goodness) and washes off so easily! It’s the perfect mascara.” —Courtney
10. Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Gels are water-based gels with lots of glitter suspended within them, so there’s no mess/fallout while applying *and* they glide on like a dream. Put in on your eyes, face, or body, and you will look like a proud disco ball of ~pride~ for up to nine hours.
@urbandecaycosmetics / Via instagram.com, Sephora, Urban Decay Cosmetics / Via youtube.com
Not only are these gels part of UD’s Sparkle Out Loud Collection, but they’re the *best* part of the collection, in my humble opinion. They’re insanely glittery yet totally manageable — meaning they’re self-adhesive, not messy, easy to work with, and don’t come off until you want them to (of course, with any glitter, it might take a little more time to take off, and I’m ok with that).
P.S. 25% of the purchase price of the Glitter Eyeliner in “Stonewall” will benefit Stonewall Community Foundation, an organization that strengthens the LGBTQ movement through grantmaking and scholarship programs.
Promising review: “These are insane!! Once you put them on they don’t move at all; I can run my finger over the glitter and it doesn’t come off. I wore the Party Monster shade today and got so many compliments! :) I will be purchasing other colors.” —LCRAW
Get them from Sephora for $22 each (available in six shades).
11. Drunk Elephant Slaai Makeup-Melting Butter Cleanser is a ~rich~ cleansing balm filled with nourishing fruit oils that truly melt away all of your makeup, sunscreen, and dirt, and comes with a handy magnetic scooper (so it doesn’t fall to the wayside, which I’m totally guilty of!).
Sephora
The important thing I’ve taken away from using this product is that you always need less product than you think you do — once you rub it in between your hands, it really emulsifies down — which means the container will actually last you a longer time than it looks! It also comes with a Bamboo Booster exfoliator that you can mix in with Slaai once or twice a week for a more clarifying cleanse.
Promising review: “I’ve tried drugstore (L’Oréal, Physicians Formula) and high-end (Clinique, Farmacy, etc.) cleansing balms on my combo to dry skin, and this is by far the best for me. I liked Clinique but didn’t love the ingredients so turned to Farmacy, which I liked except the finish — it doesn’t wash away cleanly and makes my eyes blurry and filmy if I get the slightest bit in them. Then along came Slaai, which has great ingredients, comes from a brand I trust, and doesn’t leave any film? SOLD.” —KylaFL
Get it from Sephora for $34.
12. L’Oreal Paris Infallible Flash Cat Eye lends a helping hand in your quest to attain runway-level cat eyes with a budge-, water-proof formula that’s easy to control, has strong pigment, and a lil’ detachable wing stencil to guide your artistic endeavors.
Amazon
A lot of reviewers seem to think that the stencil isn’t the ~easiest~ to navigate/use — which, totes understandable — but they definitely stand behind the ease and longevity of the liner itself. And this is just my personal opinion, but if you can get the hang of the stencil — even just to draw a guiding line — I think it could be pretty useful!
Promising review: “I like the regular version of this eyeliner, so I was curious to see if the waterproof formula would be just as good. Short answer: it is. I’m not one of those people who can use liquid eyeliner with the greatest of ease, but this particular product actually is easy to use, and it glides on very smoothly — it doesn’t pull, tug, or leave blank patches that have to be gone over multiple times. The pigmentation is also great, and best of all, I haven’t had a single issue with this in terms of smudging or flaking — it really does stay put. It’s not an exaggeration to say that this is one of the best liquid eyeliners that I’ve ever tried.” —weathered1
Get it from Amazon for $7.49+ (available in black and brown).
13. Ciaté London Watermelon Burst Hydrating Primer is the cooling wakeup call everyone needs this summer — packed with watermelon extract, hyaluronic acid, and Vitamin E, it feels virtually weightless upon application and leaves skin feeling hydrated, smooth, and prepped for makeup (or it’s great alone!).
Sephora
Promising review: “This stuff is amazing. I can’t usually use primers due to too much silicone, dimethicone, poly silicones, or anything with a -cone at the end, but I got a sample when I was in the store and loved it! I went back and bought a full size of it.” —Libby5678
Get it from Sephora for $28.
14. Tarte Stay Spray keeps your face feeling fresh as a cucumber — it literally has cucumber in it, and smells like it too — and basically creates a waterproof shield over your pristine makeup, so everything stays in place (no melting, fading, and cracking), no matter what stressful and/or muggy situations you run into throughout the day.
Tarte
Promising review: “I used to use a setting powder, but I’m definitely switching to the Stay Spray. It’s a superfine, delicate mist that covers every inch of your face. The spray tip doesn’t leave heavy droplets, which every other top brand of setting spray I’ve tried has done. This stay spray made it through an extremely hot and muggy outdoor wedding, as well a rushed/stressful surprise 18th birthday party/grad party combo. My friend and I were both literally dripping with sweat and yet our makeup looked like we both just applied it. Before I used the spray, my makeup would have been running. Once I used the spray, it stayed looking perfect for 10+ hours.” —Rachel L.
Get it from Tarte for $25.
15. CeraVe Skin Renewing Vitamin C Serum helps brighten your skin tone and improve overall texture with 10% l-ascorbic acid (the purest form of Vitamin C), three essential ceramides, and hyaluronic acid — with continued use, say hello to healthier-looking skin!
@cerave / Via instagram.com
Like most, if not all, CeraVe products it’s fragrance-free, paraben-free, and non-comedogenic!
Promising review: “I always use this under my makeup and mix it with the anti-aging sunscreen day cream in the same line. Mixing it helps with chalkiness due to sunscreen. I usually have oily skin but using this underneath every day even with no makeup has helped my skin. My face is looking more even without even applying much makeup.” —71Buick
Get it from Amazon for $19.97.
16. Whal Myung Skin Elixir Masks are soaked in their cult-status Skin Elixir and five key herbal ingredients (ginger, citrus peel, cinnamon, corydalis, and nutmeg), so your face feels deeply nourished and hydrated from start to finish (10 to 20 minutes later). Hello, dewiness! ✨
@whalmyung / Via instagram.com, @whalmyung / Via instagram.com
The masks also include ceramide and lecithin (essential fats/lipids found in our cells) to help strengthen your skin barrier for a healthier-looking complexion!
Get a set of five from Nordstrom for $24.
They also have a cleansing balm, serums, creams, and their OG skin elixir.
17. The Texture Sexy Hair Collection helps you achieve lived-in, textured hairstyles that look effortlessly Malibu-chic. They’ll lift and shape your strands to volumized, wavy, and never-crunchy perfection.
@sexyhair / Via instagram.com
All of these, excluding the shampoo of course, can be used on *dry* hair as well as damp hair for extra defined styling!
Get the collection from Ulta for $17.95+: Surfer Girl Dry Texturizing Spray, Foam Party Lite Texturizing Foam, Beach’n Spray Texturizing Beach Spray, Clean Wave Texturizing Styling Shampoo, and High Tide Texturizing Spray.
18. Lululemon Selfcare is a gender-neutral line of products designed for athletes that targets common workout-related problems — such as stinky armpits, a flushed face, and sweaty/frizzy hair — with efficient solutions. For example, Anti-Stink Deodorant has an easy spray application to avoid spreading bacteria around, as well as coconut oil to help condition and soften the skin.
Sephora
Zinc helps absorb odor, while prebiotics reduce bacteria growth. Since it’s an aluminum-free deodorant, you might need to give your pits one or two weeks to adjust!
Get the collection from Sephora: Anti-Stink Deodorant for $12+ (available in mini and standard sizes and two scents), Sweat Reset Face Moisturizer for $28+ (available in two sizes), No-Show Dry Shampoo for $18+ (available in two sizes), and Basic Balm for $14.
19. Briogeo Banana + Coconut Superfoods Shampoo & Conditioner supports a healthy and happy scalp by infusing actual fruits (banana, coconut, and acai) into your strands, so they feel like new life has been breathed into them! Plus, it’s free of sulfates, silicons, and parabens, and it’s for all hair types.
Sephora
Promising review: “I’ve been bleaching and dyeing my hair for 10 years and I’ve always struggled to find a truly nourishing hair care line, but my hair has transformed after feeding it a daily dose of superfoods from Briogeo! In addition to my hair feeling amazing, it smells like a delicious fruit smoothie! I can’t get enough of all these natural ingredients either.” —Megzelly
Get the duo from Sephora for $48 (you can also buy the shampoo and conditioner separately for $28 each).
20. You’re bound to find your perfect summery* color among the 30 shades present in Laura Mercier’s Rouge Essentiel Silky Crème Lipsticks collection — if you’ve been over liquid lips and crave creamy, opaque, but lightweight color that fades beautifully over time, then look no further!
@lauramercier / Via instagram.com, @lauramercier / Via instagram.com
*Or just your general new favorite shade, ’cause if you’re feeling a darker lip, ? go for it ?! Btw, there’s Mediterranean sea algae extract for extra moisturizing — and I can personally attest they feel and wear super smoothly!
P.S. One reviewer said she likes to mix her orangey shade with a bit of foundation to create a creamy blush!
Promising review: “This is a new favorite lipstick! It’s creamy, glides on to full opacity in one swipe, and has a bit of a dip that hugs your lips. Mauve Merveilleux is a beautiful color that isn’t too pink or too brown. It has good wear time but, like with any cream lipstick, needs to be touched up after eating. I never gave up my bullet lipsticks and I’m so happy to see brands moving away from the dry matte liquid lips!” —cara80
Get them from Sephora for $32 (available in 30 shades).
21. Dr. Jart V7 Antioxidant Serum delivers a potent, dual-phased dose of Dr. Jart’s V7 Multi-Vitamin Complex, Vitamin E–infused bubbles (for dat glow!), and tomato leaf cell extracts (for protection against environmental stressors) so, once all combined, you get all of the hydrating, brightening, and calming benefits in one go.
@drjart / Via instagram.com
Promising review: “I adore this serum. It absorbs so well and leaves this perfect dewy glow. It’s so gentle on my sensitive skin while effectively providing a hydrating, calming, and balancing feeling.” —CoMU
Get it from Sephora for $58.
22. The A-Beauty Box is a collaborative effort between three powerhouse Aussie beauty brands — Frank Body, Go To Skincare, and Sand & Sky — to bring you A-Beauty’s best game and keep your skin looking happy and healthy from head to toe.
Sand & Sky
This 100% cruelty-free set includes:
–Sand & Sky Porefining Face Mask: a detoxifying and brightening mask made with Australian pink clay to soak up excess oils and keep pores lookin’ a lil’ tighter and smaller, as well as Vitamin A to regulate oil production
–Go-To Skincare Face Hero: a lightweight face oil with 10 potent plant and nut oils (with lots of fatty acids, vitamins, and antioxidants) that penetrates quickly into skin to leave it deeply hydrated, healthy, and soothed/protected against stressors
–Frank Body Original Coffee Scrub: a natural, vegan coffee scrub that helps promote collagen production and fade/prevent the appearance of stretch marks, cellulite, and breakouts with a combination of Robusta coffee grinds, cold pressed sweet almond oil, and Vitamin E
–A-Beauty Scrub: a brightening coffee scrub formulated with native Australian ingredients like kakadu plum (which is rich in Vitamin C!) and finger lime (which has AHA in its citric acid) — bye scars and hyperpigmentation!
Get it from Sand & Sky for $69.95 (valued at $87.80).
23. Marc Jacobs Youthquake Hydra-full Retexturizing Gel Crème is the brand’s first skincare product and quenches dry skin with a concentrated dose of pineapple enzymes and encapsulated sodium hyaluronate for a glowing, makeup-ready canvas — and did I mention Lady Gaga wore this to the Met Gala??
@marcjacobsbeauty / Via Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/marcjacobsbeauty/p/ByQ-znwpUHa/
She also wore it on the press tour for A Star is Born and throughout awards show season as well! But for The Met Gala specifically, because of the cream’s moisturizing/smoothing effects, her makeup artist Sarah Tanno didn’t even apply foundation on her — just concealer and blurring powder!
Some reviewers with oilier skin tend to just apply at night, since it can be a bit heavy for daytime use.
Promising review: “I am officially obsessed, though I would say the texture is almost more of a cream than a gel, but I absolutely love it anyways. I use it at night and it doesn’t go on super heavy like most oily night creams. It is very lightweight and breathable. I actually notice a difference in my complexion—my skin appears brighter and more vibrant. It doesn’t seem as dry and dull. —keelsinheels
Get it from Sephora for $59.