Each year, the beauty industry releases thousands of products into the world, most of them forgotten by February. Irish Examiner beauty editor Sally Foran spent 2024 doing the quieter, more honest work — testing, discarding, and returning — until seventeen products proved themselves worthy of permanence. Her final list, ranging from an eight-euro Penneys foundation to a one-hundred-twenty-euro Victoria Beckham collaboration, is less a shopping guide than a meditation on value, trust, and the rare thing that actually delivers on its promise.
Beauty Editor's 17 Best Products of the Year: From €8 Finds to Luxury Launches
An eight-euro foundation sitting alongside a one-hundred-twenty-euro one
Mark
What strikes you most about the products that made this list?
Mimi
That they span such wildly different price points and still feel equally valid. An eight-euro foundation sitting alongside a one-hundred-twenty-euro one isn't a contradiction—it's just honesty. The Penneys foundation works because it does what it promises. The Beckham one works because it does something slightly different, slightly better, if you can afford it.
Mark
You mention turning forty and switching to liquid bronzers. Is that a real shift, or marketing speaking?
Mimi
It's real for me. Powder bronzers can look chalky on mature skin, especially if you're not careful with blending. Creams and liquids sit differently, move with your skin rather than sitting on top of it. But I'm aware that's my experience, not universal law.
Mark
The AI foundation—Dcypher—feels like it's solving a problem that shouldn't exist. Why has shade matching been so hard for so long?
Mimi
Because human skin is genuinely complicated, and most brands have worked from limited shade ranges. An algorithm can account for undertone, depth, and finish preference simultaneously in ways a human eye, even an experienced one, sometimes misses. It's not magic. It's just precision applied to something that's always been somewhat guesswork.
Mark
You mention that one serum works overnight when ingredients typically take twelve weeks. How is that possible?
Mimi
Honestly, I don't know the exact mechanism. The formula uses exosomes, which are newer technology in skincare. What I know is what I saw—visible smoothing and brightness the next morning. Whether that's the exosomes, the enzymes, or something about how they work together, I can't say. I just report what happened.
Mark
There's a through-line here about multi-tasking products—foundations that hydrate, bronzers that highlight, primers that are also SPF. Is that trend driven by consumer demand or marketing?
Mimi
Both. People genuinely want simpler routines, especially in a cost-of-living crisis. But brands also benefit from selling one product instead of three. The best multi-taskers, though, don't feel like compromises. They feel like someone solved a real problem.
Mark
What didn't make the list that surprised you?
Mimi
Products I expected to love but didn't. And products I thought were overhyped that everyone else seemed to adore. The list isn't about what's popular—it's about what I actually use. That's a smaller, quieter category.
El Pulso
- The beauty industry floods consumers with thousands of launches annually, making it nearly impossible to distinguish genuine innovation from clever marketing.
- A single beauty editor's year-long testing process cuts through the noise — products are judged not by price or prestige, but by whether they earn a permanent place in a real routine.
- The tension between luxury and accessibility is resolved not by compromise but by coexistence: an eight-euro Penneys foundation performs alongside a one-hundred-twenty-euro serum-foundation hybrid without apology.
- Emerging technologies — AI shade-matching, exosome serums, tubing mascaras, and three-in-one purple foams — signal that the industry is moving toward personalization and multi-functional simplicity.
- The list lands as a curated portrait of 2024 beauty: cream over powder, tinted SPFs over heavy coverage, and targeted skincare solutions over broad, hopeful promises.
Each year, the beauty industry releases thousands of products into the world, most of them forgotten by February. Irish Examiner beauty editor Sally Foran spent 2024 doing the quieter, more honest work — testing, discarding, and returning — until seventeen products proved themselves worthy of permanence. Her final list, ranging from an eight-euro Penneys foundation to a one-hundred-twenty-euro Victoria Beckham collaboration, is less a shopping guide than a meditation on value, trust, and the rare thing that actually delivers on its promise.
A year spent testing beauty launches is, in practice, a year of managed disappointment punctuated by genuine surprise. Sally Foran, beauty editor at the Irish Examiner, emerged from 2024 with seventeen products that earned a permanent place in her routine — a list that stretches from eight euros to one hundred and twenty, and refuses to treat price as a proxy for quality.
At the premium end, the Victoria Beckham and Augustinus Bader Foundation Drops arrived in September trailing high expectations and a steep price tag. Foran wanted to resist it. She couldn't. The formula — somewhere between serum and foundation — melts into skin with a buildable, natural finish she now reserves for special occasions. For daily wear, she turned to Sculpted by Aimee's Cream Cushion Foundation, a K-Beauty-inspired thirty-two-euro launch whose mesh technology releases product evenly, layers without streaking, and somehow improves as the day wears on.
The year's most quietly radical discovery came from Penneys. The PS Pro Illuminating Foundation, at eight euros, was first tested during a work assignment and kept finding its way back into her hand long after. Lightweight, dewy, and loaded with glycerin and hyaluronic acid, it performs against products costing ten times as much — a straightforward reminder that price and performance are not the same conversation.
Bronzers told their own story. Since turning forty, Foran has moved away from powder formulas entirely. Refy's watercolor-based cushion bronzer delivers a sheer, natural wash of colour with no spillage or staining, while Clarins' Sunkissed Healthy Glow Bronzer offers an ultra-fine powder for those still cautious about cream textures — two shades, blendable to any preferred intensity.
Innovation ran through the foundation category too. Dcypher's AI-powered My Custom Foundation matched her shade after what she describes as a thirty-five-year search. Merit Beauty's The Uniform — a US brand that only began shipping to Ireland last September — functions as both tinted SPF and blurring primer, while the brand's tubing mascara lifted and separated each lash individually without the clumping that has long plagued her naturally sparse lashes.
Skincare selections leaned toward precision and efficiency. K18's purple shampoo neutralises brass without staining — a three-in-one foam that also removes brass-causing minerals and defends against future discolouration. Dermalogica's exosome serum delivered visible results overnight rather than the usual twelve-week wait. Óige by Agnes' Peptide Elixir, built around Argireline and a suite of cutting-edge actives, earned the designation of ultimate one-and-done serum. No7's Skin Sip Moisture Milk achieved the glass-skin effect at a fraction of the cost of its cult competitors.
Rounding out the list: Charlotte Tilbury's transfer-resistant blur concealer, Sweed's antioxidant mineral powder, Poco Beauty's dual-purpose blush-and-highlighter stick, and Skingredients' under-eye pads that increase hydration by up to eighty-five percent in fifteen minutes — formulated with glycerin rather than the industry standard, and crucially, they stay put.
What the list ultimately reflects is a particular kind of editorial honesty — the willingness to love an eight-euro product as fully as a one-hundred-twenty-euro one, and to measure everything by the same simple standard: does it work, and does it last?
A year spent testing beauty launches means wading through the noise to find what actually works. After months of swiping, spraying, and scrutinizing, Sally Foran, beauty editor at the Irish Examiner, has narrowed it down to seventeen products that earned permanent real estate in her own routine—a mix that spans from an eight-euro foundation at Penneys to a one-hundred-twenty-euro collaboration between Victoria Beckham and Augustinus Bader.
The Beckham Foundation Drops arrived in September with expectations running high and a price tag to match. Foran admits she wanted to resent it. Instead, she found herself reaching for it repeatedly. The formula sits somewhere between a serum and a foundation, melting into skin with a buildable, natural finish that evens tone without feeling heavy. It's become her special-occasion go-to, the kind of product you justify by the results rather than the cost. For everyday wear, she's switched to Sculpted by Aimee's Cream Cushion Foundation, a K-Beauty-inspired launch from the same month that delivers what she calls a real-skin finish. The mesh technology releases just the right amount of product each time, layers without streaking, and somehow looks better as the day progresses. At thirty-two euros, it's the workhorse in her collection.
But the real revelation came from an unexpected corner: Penneys' PS Pro Illuminating Foundation at eight euros. Foran first tested it while working with the retailer and found herself returning to it long after the assignment ended. The formula is lightweight and dewy, packed with hydrating ingredients like glycerin and hyaluronic acid, and performs against products costing ten times as much. It's a reminder that price and performance don't always move in tandem.
The year's launches also reflect a broader shift in how people approach makeup. Liquid and cream bronzers have largely replaced powder formulas in Foran's routine since turning forty, and Refy's watercolor-based version in a Korean-inspired cushion compact exemplifies the trend. The formula is sheer, delivers a natural wash of color, and contains itself—no spillage, no staining. For those still wary of cream products, Clarins' Sunkissed Healthy Glow Bronzer offers an ultra-fine powder texture that blends effortlessly and comes with two shades to mix to your preferred intensity.
Innovation has also touched the foundations themselves. Dcypher's My Custom Foundation uses AI-powered skin-tone analysis to match shade to individual skin tone, type, and finish preference—a first-of-its-kind approach that finally solved what Foran describes as a thirty-five-year search for her true match. Merit Beauty's The Uniform, from a US brand that only began shipping to Ireland last September, functions as both a tinted SPF and a blurring primer, delivering sheer coverage with a soft-focus finish. The brand's Clean Lash Mascara, a Japanese-made tubing formula, impressed her enough to note that it lifted and separated each lash individually without the clumping that plagues her naturally wispy, sparse lashes.
Skincare selections reveal a preference for targeted solutions and multi-tasking formulas. K18's purple shampoo neutralizes brass without staining hair—a first-of-its-kind three-in-one foam that removes brass-causing minerals while defending against future discoloration. Dermalogica's Phyto Nature E2 Serum, formulated with next-generation exosomes and exfoliating enzymes, somehow delivers visible results overnight rather than the typical twelve-week timeline. Óige by Agnes' Peptide Elixir, from facial massage expert Agnes, contains Argireline and other cutting-edge peptides alongside antioxidants and hydrating ingredients, delivering what Foran calls the ultimate one-and-done serum. No7's Skin Sip Moisture Milk, a milky toner that costs significantly less than its cult-status competitors, achieves the glass-skin effect through hyaluronic acid and squalane.
The selections also include products designed for specific concerns. Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Flawless Blur Concealer uses Powder Blur AirTech to smooth, hydrate, and retexturize while resisting transfer and humidity. Sweed's Miracle Powder, a mineral foundation, feels like a second skin and looks like a filter, with antioxidants including vitamin C to protect against free-radical damage. Poco Beauty's On The Glow Cream Colour Stick serves double duty as both blush and highlighter, eliminating the need for a separate product. Skingredients' Eye-Light Eye-Bright Arbutin Under Eye Pads increase hydration by up to eighty-five percent in fifteen minutes, formulated with glycerin rather than the industry-standard hyaluronic acid, and notably, they don't slide down the face.
What emerges from this list is less a collection of must-haves and more a portrait of how one editor navigates the endless stream of launches—by testing ruthlessly, by being willing to love an eight-euro foundation as much as a one-hundred-twenty-euro one, and by recognizing that the best products are often those that solve a specific problem or fit seamlessly into an existing routine. The year ahead will bring new launches, new claims, new innovations. But these seventeen have already proven themselves.
Citas Notables
It is, hands down, the best purple shampoo I've ever tried.— Sally Foran on K18 Triple Bright Oxidation Defence Purple Shampoo
For all the 35 years I've been wearing foundation, I've never found my true match—until now.— Sally Foran on Dcypher My Custom Foundation
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