If you keep up with the beauty industry at all, you might’ve noticed a number of celebrity brands cropping up in the makeup, skin care and hair care landscape over the past few years. This trend has understandably been met with some skepticism and criticism from consumers, who are adept at recognizing cash grabs when they see them — leading to some of these brands ultimately falling flat.
Still, that doesn’t mean you should write off all beauty products associated with A-listers. In fact, a few are really, really good, and could even reach “holy grail” status. To find out which stars pass the test, I asked people who have used makeup, skin and hair care from celeb brands for their favorites. Their responses ranged from affordable drugstore finds to luxurious prestige products. Check out their recommendations below, and save yourself the trouble of spending a ton on a product that relies on its name and little else.
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Shopping writer Haley Zovickian, senior life editor Lindsay Holmes and operations associate Alexandra Niforos can all vouch for Rare Beauty’s quality, with Zovickian and Niforos specifically highlighting the brand’s Soft Pinch liquid blush. “The liquid blush went TikTok viral several times over the incredible color payoff and the gorgeous shades,” Zovickian says. “A little goes a long way so it’s sure to last!”
The blush comes in four matte finish shades and nine radiant finish shades. The tube comes with a doe foot applicator so you can easily apply and blend one or two dots (that’s all you need!).
Wellness reporter Jillian Wilson put forth a recommendation for the Eaze Drop blurring skin tint by Fenty Beauty. She was backed up by Niforos and news reporter Sanjana Karanth, who have also used and loved it. (Fenty Beauty also appears to be a popular choice over on Reddit, as celebrity brands go.)
The skin tint is light coverage with a natural finish. The formula is sweat- and transfer-resistant and can be applied with your fingers, a sponge or a brush to buff it out. There are 25 shades available (the two shown here are 1 and 25).
If you love a high-shine lip gloss, look no further. Managing editor Marquaysa Battle swears by the Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb universal lip luminizer, saying, “It’s the longest-lasting lip gloss on the market, 100%.” Karanth agrees that Fenty’s glosses “never miss.”
These glosses contain shea butter to moisturize the lips, and the formula is designed to be non-sticky. It has a peach-vanilla scent and comes in 16 shimmering shades.
Battle says this sugar scalp scrub from TPH by Taraji is a “lifesaver,” noting, “It’s really helpful for removing product buildup and/or dandruff from a dry scalp.”
Aside from sugar crystals for exfoliation, the scrub contains apple cider vinegar, coconut and peppermint oils to help cleanse and moisturize the scalp. It also has a scrub to balm formula, making it easy to rinse out after you massage it in.
Copy editor Shonitria Anthony is likewise a fan of TPH by Taraji’s products, and shouted out the Twist and Set cream for how well it works on natural hair. This cream can soften and moisturize hair thanks to shea butter, mango seed butter and nourishing oils. Made for curls and coils, you can apply the cream to wet hair and then twist or otherwise style the hair as you wish. The cream can help reduce frizz and shrinkage and have a lasting hold on your curls.
Anthony also said her boyfriend likes the face products in the Papatui line, which is sold at Target. Our editor’s pick is this daily moisturizer, which is marketed toward men like the rest of Papatui but is unscented and has pretty neutral packaging. It’s lightweight, absorbs quickly into the skin with a matte finish and boasts 24-hour hydration thanks to ingredients like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and ceramides. The hydration can also lessen the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, so this is a good option for mature skin as well. Best of all, it’s just $10, one of the cheapest products on this list.
While shopping writer Tessa Flores was initially skeptical of this gel eyeliner pencil from Halsey’s af94 line, she says, “when I ran out of my regular eyeliner, I decided to just give it a shot and I was shocked at the formula. It applies with the ease and control of a traditional pencil eyeliner but with greater opacity than you would expect and no skipping or dragging on the skin. It actually feels more like a cream than anything else.
“I like that I’m able to smoke it out a bit into a wing with a fine eyeliner brush to get that soft cat eye look and because it’s a gel formula, it really doesn’t budge once it dries down. I’ve even worn it to dance classes and it doesn’t move. You also don’t need a sharpener because it’s a twist-up pencil that automatically sharpens with each turn.”
The eyeliner comes in six shades.
Senior director Greta Geiselman has had success with a few products from Lady Gaga’s cosmetics brand, Haus Labs. Haus Labs has also gotten a lot of praise among makeup fans on Reddit, held in similar regard to Fenty Beauty and Rare Beauty.
Our pick is the bestselling Triclone Skin Tech medium coverage foundation, which has 4.7 stars across over 12,000 ratings on the Haus Labs site. Available in a whopping 51 shades, the foundation is noncomedogenic and hypoallergenic, and the fermented arnica in the formula works to reduce redness. It has a natural finish and medium coverage.
You can use the Haus Labs shade finder to identify your best match.
Karanth called Pattern Beauty “amazing” and uses three of their products in her routine: the Palo Santo leave-in conditioner, the Palo Santo curl mousse, and the curl gel pictured here. The gel works with fine, medium and thick hair and can define and hold curls without making them crunchy or flaky. It has a sweet floral fragrance and contains aloe vera, coconut oil and cacay oil to show some extra love to your hair.
According to Zovickian, “Kylie Cosmetics is don’t-shoot-the-messenger level good.” She added, “The lip liners and liquid lipsticks in particular are the comfiest and longest lasting on lips I’ve tried.” You may have heard of Kylie Cosmetics’ lip kits, which contain one of each, as a major celebrity beauty breakout of the 2010s.
The products in this lip kit deliver a matte finish, with the lip liner being waterproof, smudge-proof and able to last up to 24 hours. The liquid lipstick, meanwhile, has an 8-hour wear time and a slight vanilla scent. You can get a kit in 22 different shades.