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Allure Best of Beauty Awards 2025

Beauty editors are just like normal people. There are those who can blow-dry and curl their hair so skillfully, you’d swear they stopped by the salon every morning before work. Or those who know the difference between a smudging brush and a blending brush and how to use them when creating a smoky eye. And then there are those of us who clamp down on our lids every time we use an eyelash curler. (We won’t even mention the Allure editor who once set her duvet on fire with a hair dryer.) The difference between beauty editors and everyday folks, however, is that it’s our job to test and write about beauty products, regardless of how clumsy, distracted, artsy, or ambidextrous we may be. It’s also our job to spotlight the best products of the year, which means for the Tools category of our 2025 Best of Beauty Awards, we had to come to a consensus and find the makeup brushes, hot tools, and hair accessories that all of us can use.

So every day this year, we buffed and blended, curled and combed, and dabbed and detangled until we found the makeup and hair tools that deliver exceptional results, regardless of your level of expertise or degree of dexterity. Every one of the winning gadgets and gizmos on this list—from the stainless-steel tweezers to the multitasking hot brush—will elevate your beauty routine without making it more complicated in the process.

Tools

Best Round Hairbrush: EoTools Better Brush Volumizing Round Brush

Why It Won: The vegan boar bristles in the EcoTools Better Brush Volumizing Round Brush grab onto your hair, distributing moisture and creating enough tension to stretch out strands (straight, curly, coarse—we tested it on them all). It also delivers intense amounts of shine and delivers airy volume throughout your hair.

 

Base

Best Facial Self-Tanner: Isle of Paradise Self-Tan Drops

Why It Won: With three shades, Isle of Paradise Self-Tan Drops warm up the fairest and darkest skin tones sans muddy brown or freaky orange. We love the streak-free, hassle-free format: Just add a few drops to your moisturizer for a light tint; mix in several more for deeper color (we found three or four is the sweet spot). And we’d be remiss not to mention the mild coconut scent, which smells as tropical as the results look.

 

Steals

Best Makeup Steals: Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge

Why It Won: You’ll be amazed by how quickly the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge delivers a seamless finish to almost every cream or liquid you apply—picking up and dispensing the perfect amount of product with each pat. It’s not a miracle, though: it’s thoughtful engineering. The flat edge lays down product, the rounded side buffs and blends, and the precision tip gets into all the hard-to-reach areas like nostrils and lash lines.

Best Hair-Care Steals: Suave Hyaluronic Infusion Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner

Why It Won: Our testers could not believe their eyes—or the quality of their hair—after swapping the Suave Hyaluronic Infusion Moisturizing Shampoo & Conditioner into their shower rotations. The drugstore duo features hyaluronic acid, which binds moisture to individual hair fibers to help turn straw-like strands and frayed split ends into hair that looks and feels like silk.

Best Skin-Care Steals: St. Ive's Rose & Aloe Micro-Exfoliant

Why It Won: Describing the St. Ives Rose & Aloe Micro-Exfoliant as “delicate as a flower” is not a backhanded compliment—it’s the reason the gentle scrub scored a spot on this list. Rose water brings with it soothing properties and a lovely scent, as ultrafine silica powder and jojoba beads very softly help break up flakes to reveal petal-soft skin that feels pampered, not perturbed.

 

See the full list of winners on Allure.com