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Best beauty products 2022
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Find out my favourite beauty products of 2022, including Giorgio Armani, 19/99 Beauty, Make Up For Ever and more.

Best of 2022: The 26 Beauty Products That I Used and Loved the Most (From Makeup to Haircare to Fragrance)

Year in review.

Before we dive into a brand new year—and brand new beauty products!—I always like to take a moment to reflect back on everything I loved in the past 12 months. From lipstick to eyeliner to styling cream, the products on this list were on high rotation in my routine, and I truly recommend them.

In 2022, my go-to makeup look was usually some sort of shimmery shadow or liquid liner with rose-toned lipstick and a natural skin finish (as you can see in these photos!). As for my hair, Bill has been taking me from blonde to my natural light brown, so I’ve been focusing more on colour than styling (although that’s also from lack of time, too!).

Here are all the details on what I used throughout the year and why. (And if you’re looking for my skincare favourites, check out the best skincare products of 2022!)

The Best Beauty Products of 2022

Best beauty products 2022

As a beauty editor, I’m always testing beauty products from a range of brands. These were my top picks in 2022:

For more details on each formula, read on.

Face

Best Powder Foundation

Well People Bio Powder Foundation

Rather than liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer, my favourite skin coverage product was actually a powder: Well People Bio Powder Foundation. But I don’t use it all over my face. I apply it more like a concealer, only on the areas where I tend to get redness (like around my nose and chin) and to spot-conceal any blemishes.

I find this works better for my skin than liquid formulas, which tend to break me out or make my skin produce excess oil. I love the ingredients (mica, corn starch and squalane), and unlike most powders, it doesn’t look or feel dry. I wear the second lightest shade: 2W. 

Best Foundation Brush

RMS Beauty Eye Polish Brush

Technically, RMS Beauty Eye Polish Brush is for cream eyeshadows, but it’s been my brush of choice for applying the powder foundation. Like I said, I don’t apply the powder all over my face, so I don’t want to use a traditional kabuki type of brush, which is too big. But I still need the same densely-packed bristles as a kabuki, in order for the powder to give coverage. (Otherwise, it goes on too sheer.) That’s why I love this brush. It’s small but dense, and perfect for my needs.

Best Pinpoint Concealer Brush

Surratt Artistique Concealer Brush Petite

Then, I would go in with the Surratt Artistique Concealer Brush Petite to spot-conceal with the same powder foundation. For covering tiny imperfections, a brush like this is essential, since it deposits the product only where you need it (not all over the surrounding skin). So the effect is far more natural than when you use a standard concealer brush.

Weirdly, pinpoint concealer brushes are hard to find. I had one from Kevyn Aucoin, but it got discontinued, and then I bought this one, but it was way too big. Fortunately, Surratt’s is perfect—I think I actually like it even better than Kevyn Aucoin’s!

Best Foundation-Concealer Stick

Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick

I also used the Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick. Sometimes, I used it as an under-eye concealer with the powder foundation everywhere else. And sometimes, I used it as an all-over foundation and concealer if I was going somewhere and wanted my skin to look a bit more perfected.

I like this formula because it’s super creamy but not greasy, and gives a really natural light to medium coverage. I wear the shade Atelier N and I usually just blend it out with my fingertips.

Best Under-Eye Concealer

RMS Beauty UnCoverup Concealer

I’ve always been a big fan of RMS Beauty UnCoverup Concealer and that didn’t change in 2022. Back when our clean beauty options were limited, I used to apply it as an all-over foundation, but now I usually just wear it as an under-eye concealer. I haven’t found any product I like better for that area.

It gives natural-looking medium coverage and since it’s oil-based, it keeps your skin nice and hydrated without ever getting dry or cakey. It also doesn’t irritate my skin, which often happens with other under-eye products. I wear the shade 00 and either blend it with my fingers or a standard flat concealer brush.

Best Powder

ILIA Soft Focus Finishing Powder

ILIA Soft Focus Finishing Powder was my top powder pick, as it has been for many years now. This is a corn starch-based powder with a unique fluffy texture that I just love. It sets makeup and mattifies, but it doesn’t have that weird slip that silica powders have, nor does it look or feel drying. It just comes in the one translucent shade, which should work on all skin tones.

Best Powder Brush

MAC 217 Synthetic Blending Brush

I’ve interviewed a lot of makeup artists over the years, and one of my favourite tips was to apply powder with an eyeshadow brush—not a big powder brush. That way, you can be more sparing with it, and put it only where you really need it (like the T-zone).

I still follow that advice to this day, using the MAC 217 Synthetic Blending Brush. It’s the size of an eyeshadow brush, but unlike the brush I use for powder foundation, the bristles are long and fluffy (not densely packed). 

Best Faux Freckle Formula

Freck XL The Original Freckle

Another pro makeup artist trick is to paint on some faux freckles across the bridge of the nose. First of all, freckles are cute, and they also fool people into thinking that you’re not wearing any foundation. (Penélope Cruz does this all the time, for example!)

I’ve been using Freck XL The Original Freckle ever since it launched, and I still love it. You have to work quickly, but once you get the hang of the technique, it’s super easy to use and the freckles stay put for hours.

Best Highlighter

RMS Beauty Living Luminizer

I’m always trying other highlighters, but RMS Beauty Living Luminizer remains my favourite highlighter of all time. I think I’ve been wearing it for a decade now, which is crazy!

When I met the creator, Rose-Marie Swift, she confirmed that it was indeed the best shade for me—a translucent pearly tone that gives a “lit-from-within” glow. I dab this along the top of my cheeks and sometimes above the brows and on the tip of my nose.