We Tried Over 117 Different Beauty Products This Year - Here Are Our 10 Favorites By Far
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by The Candidly Team
You’d think it would be hard to narrow down our favorite 10 things out of the dozens and dozens and dozens of products our editors try here at The Candidly try each year.
But it wasn’t really.
Some things just stand out. Stand alone. These 10 items might be our favorites of 2025, but they wouldn’t be on this list if we didn’t plan to use them for years and years to come.
Now, a few very quick things you should know before we get to the goods. We are over-40 women. We deal with fine lines, sagging, dryness, loss of tautness, texture, thinning hair (lashes included), all that good pre/post/just plain menopausal stuff. So you can sort of gage our criteria for what we’re looking for in products and why we love these particular ones based on that.
And with that, we begin:
1. Best Lip Transforming Thing Of 2025
WHAT: The Outset Lip Oasis™ Glossy Treatment In Dune* and Merit Signature Lip Liner in Bespoke*
Why we love it: We start with something that has easily been one of the biggest things to “blow up” on our site this year. We tend to be pretty skeptical of celebrity brands, but The Outset from Scarlett Johansson astounded us with this gloss. It is, indeed, the best. We swear we’re not just being flowery, lazy writers.
Here, how bout we just show you a picture of one of us wearing it instead of typing a bunch of words. Left is our old, nude gloss. Right is The Outset’s in Dune.
It is painlessly plumping, and so deeply hydrating that it’s actually long-term skincare for your lips, however, the results are aesthetic and immediate, so you get the best of both worlds.
The shade dune is the most perfect nude color we’re always looking for, and when paired with THIS* Merit liner in the brownish pink color bespoke, our lips are truly transformed, however … they still look like our lips. Not bee stung and splotchy like the work of most irritating plumpers - just oops, we happened to be born with fuller, juicier lips. It’s exciting! We hope you try it.
Use the code CANDIDLY20 on The Outset to get 20% off.
Price: $28 for the gloss, $20 for the liner
2. Best Oil Of 2025
WHAT: Furtuna Due Alberi Biphase Moisturizing Oil*
Why we love it: To be fair, this oil has been on our top 10 list for years. We never stop using it, so it would be weird for us to pretend like it was replaced by something else just because that thing is newer. Furtuna’s oil brightens the skin to a degree that makes us look like we spend our days gorging antioxidant-rich fruits, drinking water, and dipping our toes in Tahitian waters. It’s just healthful and clean and rejuvenating and award-winning and celebrity loved and one of the few things that is worth all the wild praise it gets.
But don’t let its golden glow and gorj packaging fool you, it is an anti-aging weapon. Look at what just a dab daily did to one of our chest lines after mere weeks:
* Gifted
A bit of magic. A not so easy price. But Furtuna was kind enough to give us a big code for you.
Use CANDIDLY for 25% off.
Price: $125
3. Best Night Product Of 2025
WHAT: iS Clinical Active Serum*
Why we love it: There’s just nothing else like this out there. iS Clinical is scientific and sort of unrivaled when it comes to producing anti-aging formulas that make you look in the mirror after a few weeks and actually think “I look younger.” Lines and wrinks get steamrolled, texture tightens, exfoliated baby skin emerges. This serum does all that, but it also clears your skin, so if you’re prone to breakouts, even after 40, it is going to do it all. At night. While you sleep. And you just wake up looking your best.
Price: $92
4. best Mascara Of 2025
WHAT: Vieve Icon Mascara*
Why we love it: If you’ve always wanted lash extensions but just can’t do the constant maintenance, costs, and appointments, this mascara can be a godsend. There are many gorgeous mascaras out there, but this one adds density, thickness, fullness. We’re saying the same thing over and over, but we really can’ emphasize it enough. It’s an incredible little tool to have in our toolkit for instant eye intensity.
And, of course, here’s a before and after with nothing on the left and just one coat of Vieve on the right:
Price: $29
5. Best Treatment Product Of 2025
WHAT: Augustinus Bader The Skin Infusion*
Why we love it: Augustinus Bader, as a brand, is many things. Famous. Luxury. Pricey. So pricey that we reeeeeallly have to explain ourselves any time we talk about why something they’ve created is worth it. Welp, this is one of those things. It’s described as a “4-week intensive skin reset for visibly restored and strengthened skin,” and it is the kind of easy, treatment thing we can do at home and get professional level results. It gives our skin a complete refresh that brightens, softens lines, and gets rid of texture. As a result, we buy it once a year instead of booking invasive lasers.
Price: $430
6. Best Neck Product Of 2025
WHAT: Beauty Pie Über Youth Neck & Chest Super Lift Serum-Spray*
Why we love it: Necks are unbelievably tricky. Finding something that smooths things out and diminishes lines and creases has been a huge, ongoing goal for us since we turned 40. It’s wild that we found all that in a spray. But here we are. And here is how well it works:
We actually went all in and wrote about this spray right after we tried it, but it’s continued to be game-changing all year long.
Price: $42
7. Best Face Cream Of 2025
WHAT: Moisture Surge™ 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator*
Why we love it: This one feels almost nostalgic because it’s from our beloved, 90s department store brand, but the results were a complete surprise to us. If your dream is to have dewy, glass skin, but there’s always a sort of rough, impenetrable dryness getting in the way, Clinique’s Moisture Surge can feel like you’re turning a new leaf with your skin. This is huge for us “mature” ladies wherein any dryness is like instant aging. This cream leaves us quenched on a level we feel deeply pleased with, and it’s a real savior in winter when we turn into husks.
Price: $30
8. Best Blow Dry Spray of 2025
WHAT: Chris McMillan The Glassy Smooth Blowdry Spray*
Why we love it: There’s a weird little dance we do with haircare products. Some defrizz and add shine, but within hours, our hair looks greasy and weighed down. This is the glassiest blowdry spray, but it is airy, effortless, nothing-like.
Ok, now for photo proof. After applying, we just rough dried our hair, and look at the result.
* Gifted
It’s hard to convey the time that can be saved by owning this spray. And the blow dry lasts for days with zero greasiness.
Price: $36
9. Best LED Mask Of 2025
WHAT: Omnilux Contour Face*
Why we love it: Quite simply, the best red light therapy mask out there. In clinical studies, 98% of users said their skin was firmer, 96% said they had fewer fine lines, and 95% said their skin was brightened and plumped. So basically, everything we want from a red-light mask. Using it just a few times a week requires zero effort, but the results feel like we’ve done some real work to look younger and more radiant.
* Gifted
Price: $320
10. Best Body Product Of 2025
WHAT: Talova Face + Body Balm*
Why we love it: This beautiful, beautiful balm is supremely hydrating, amazing for sensitive skin, never greasy and absorbs fast despite being full of rich botanicals. If you still need a holiday gift for someone you love, this one is foolproof. But get it for yourself first. I mean look at the glow (Talova on the left leg and regular cream on the right:
* Gifted
They also have a gorgeous botanical elixir*, packed with calming, plumping antioxidants that make your skin glow.
Price: $38
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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