Welcome to Last Drop, where you can discover the newest and buzziest beauty launches hitting shelves near you.
When Merit debuted a blush in the shade Bespoke within its limited-edition holiday blush set, I squealed a little inside. It’s a perfect pinkish brown that doesn’t pull orange on my cheeks like many “brown” blushes do. I’m deep in a brown-lipstick-only phase at the moment, and shades like Bespoke are the only ones I’ve been allowing on my cheeks. I’ve been worried about what I’ll do if the mini Bespoke I have ever runs out, but I’m delighted to share that Merit has launched it as a permanent shade—along with five other brand-new hues. Plus anyone who’s been heartbroken over Terracotta, a warm neutral that Merit discontinued long ago, will be happy to know that it’s back—for good.
OG Glossier fans know that the Balm Dotcom lineup used to include the shade Cherry, a bright red that made your lips look like they had just been kissed. Sadly, Glossier discontinued the shade years ago—but the brand just revealed a new Black Cherry Balm Dotcom. Although it’s not the same shade as the original Cherry, the new rendition is a sexier, deeper shade of burgundy and tastes of almond cookies and cherry liqueur. A worthy successor in my humble opinion.
Issey Miyake can do no wrong in my eyes, and that includes the latest cologne from the brand. As its name suggests, Le Sel d’Issey is a true woody marine fragrance, blending notes of sea salt and seaweed with traditional notes like cedar wood, vetiver, and oak moss.
You get two serums in one with this new launch from Innbeauty Project. One side features the Redness Repair Barrier Treatment, which works to soothe irritation while strengthening the skin barrier with peptides, azelaic acid, and other calming ingredients. Meanwhile, the other pump dispenses the Instant Redness Corrector, a green-tinted serum that instantly cancels out redness.
If you’ve been focusing on rest and renewal in the first few weeks of 2025, this Cucumber & White Sage Diffuser from Nest will fit right in. Cucumber, white sage, and lavender are the primary notes and will make your home smell like a luxury spa as they swirl around the room.
Anyone who wants the most luxurious skin care possible should look no further than La Prairie, a Switzerland-based brand whose signature ingredient is one of the most sought-after delicacies: caviar. The newest launch, the Skin Caviar Liquid Lift, features the brand’s signature caviar extract, which is packed with nourishing lipids, proteins, and oils. Also infused with peptides and hyaluronic acid, the formula promises to visibly uplift the skin within fifteen minutes and encourage collagen production over time.
When I want my face and lips to look a little plumper, which is kind of all the time, I turn to peptides—peptide serums, peptide face masks, peptide lip treatments, and an assorted selection of other peptide-infused formulas. A new prime candidate for my rotation is this new moisturizer from Paula’s Choice, which both instantly firms up the skin and encourages collagen products for bouncier, smoother skin long term.
In case you didn’t know, the red pigment used in most red lipsticks is called carmine, which is produced by crushing a certain type of insect; tens of thousands of bugs are needed to produce just one pound of the red pigment. Hourglass, on the other hand, developed the first-ever vegan alternative over three years, and it took over 19 reformulations to land on what is now the brand’s signature red: Red 0. While the shade has been available in other products in the brand’s repertoire, Hourglass is finally bringing it to the wildly popular Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm line. As a glossy balm, the hue is sheer and ultra-wearable, translating into different shades of red and pink depending on the wearer’s skin tone. On me, it looks like a sheer hot pink at first but builds into a deeper, rosier color as I apply more layers.
Soothing my skin is always top of mind for me, so my ears perked up when I heard that Ilia was coming out with a colloidal oatmeal-powered face cream. The ingredient is renowned for its ability to calm skin and boost the skin’s barrier, preventing future irritation. This cream also steers clear of fragrance, which can be a major trigger for those with sensitive skin, and it’s even earned a seal from the National Eczema Association.
I discovered celebrity makeup artist Lisa Eldridge’s YouTube channel at a time when my skin was ravaged by cystic acne. At the time, I wore a thick layer of the most full coverage foundation I could find, followed by a generous helping of loose setting powder. My technique was effective in covering up the redness, but it admittedly looked cakey and obvious to anyone looking closely at my skin. Eldridge’s video on covering up acne, in which she applied a light tint on the entire face before pinpoint concealing each blemish, changed my life and how I apply my makeup. Finally, nearly 15 years after publishing that video, Eldridge has launched a pencil concealer designed to make emulating her technique that much easier. Just scribble it onto any spots of acne or hyperpigmentation and gently blend out the edges with your finger to erase those imperfections in an instant.
Fenty Beauty Total Cleans'r Remove-It-All Cleanser with Barbados Cherry
Fenty’s new cleanser offers that squeaky-clean feeling we all crave, but it doesn’t strip your skin so much that it feels tight and irritated after you wash it off. It’s testament to the plethora of nourishing botanicals and other ingredients in the formula, from antioxidant-rich Barbados cherry to moisturizing quince fruit.
The hero shade in Westman Atelier’s best-selling Baby Cheeks Blush Stick line is Petal; it’s a rosy pink inspired by the natural flush of Gucci Westman’s daughter Petal’s cheeks. The hue has become so popular that the brand’s first launches of 2025 are three other products reimagined in that color: a stick highlighter, a matte lipstick, and a liquid lip balm. As a huge fan of almost everything Westman Atelier makes (the Lip Suede Matte Lipstick is one of the best matte lipstick formulas I’ve ever tested), all I’ll say is that if you haven’t experienced the magic of the brand yet, take this as your sign to try it out for yourself.
This is not a drill: Mac Yash is back! As part of the new Nudes Collection, the makeup giant has revived a few discontinued neutral classics, including Fleshpot and Peachstock, but Yash is the one I’m most excited about. A light, slightly warm-toned peachy shade, it’s my perfect nude—full stop. If you have fair neutral skin (or even if you don’t), I encourage you to try it out, whether at home or in-store.
I find that Refy is a master at making products with a twist—a slight detail that differentiates them from the rest of the pack. Its first moisturizer is no different. Instead of a typical jar or tube, the plumping gel-cream formula (which is chock-full of peptides, glycerin, and vitamins) includes a stainless steel face roller at the end that dispenses the product as you massage and depuff the skin.
Mother Science all started with one molecule: Malassezin. The supercharged ingredient is even more effective at brightening the skin than vitamin C and can even smooth fine lines and wrinkles over time. Its co-stars in this new moisturizer include peptides, squalane, and growth factors that help strengthen and repair the skin barrier, and the brand promises that you’ll see a difference in less than a month.
While some scalp serums can feel greasy and create a film on the scalp, this new formula from Sienna Naturals is water-based, so it’ll sink right in without a fight. The serum also features classic hair growth-encouraging ingredients like biotin and rosemary. “Hair density serums were never a part of my vocabulary until late last year, when I noticed the perimeter of my hair looking a little less, well, dense,” says ELLE beauty commerce editor Nerisha Penrose. “I’ve done ample research on how to restore and properly care for my edges, which led me to this serum. Already a big fan of Sienna Naturals’s Scalp Elixir, I began testing this scalp serum a few times a week before titrating up to daily use. I firmly believe this serum has single-handedly helped strengthen my edges while in protective styles, and the lightweight formula doesn't cause build-up or cakiness.”
Parfums de Marly has debuted a fragrance designed for everyone who loves a powdery, musky floral (did someone call my name?). A new take on the original Valaya, the perfume has a soft, creamy vibe, thanks to notes of almond and sandalwood.
As we go about life, our scalp and strands collect things like styling products, pollutants, and excess sebum. This shampoo harnesses the purifying powers of desert botanicals to wash all of those down the drain, giving our heads a fresh start. Plus, it’s not too harsh or stripping, making it safe for all hair types and even color-treated hair.
Although this new Vacation product looks like whipped cream and dispenses like whipped cream (the brand worked with the manufacturers of Reddi-wip to create the can), it’s certainly not going to taste like whipped cream. In fact, you definitely shouldn’t taste it at all, considering the fact that it’s a SPF 30 sunscreen with a sprinkle of gold shimmer to make your body sparkle and glow in the sunlight. The whipped texture melts into the skin, hydrating it and protecting it from the sun’s harmful rays all at the same time.
Anyone who’s colored their hair knows that it doesn’t just stop at the salon—taking care of your hair between appointments is just as crucial for maintaining the desired hue. Balmain Hair’s new Couleurs Couture Illuminating Masks are formulated to nourish the strands with quinoa seed oil and amino acids while also refreshing your shade, keeping it looking fresh and more vibrant for up to six wash days. Platinum blondes who want to venture into purple for a few days will love the one in Violet while redheads should try Red or Copper, and there are three other shades to choose from depending on your specific color.
Maybelline’s Lifter Stix are designed to be the workhorses of your makeup bag. If you can’t be bothered to pick out multiple formulas from different brands for your base routine, try using different shades of the creamy stick for your foundation, concealer, contour, and bronzer. Because it’s all the same formula, you also know that the sticks will blend together effortlessly—they’re virtually foolproof. Plus Miley Cyrus’s makeup artist used the Lifter Stix on the singer for the Grammys red carpet this year, so you know they’re good.
Eucerin’s latest collection focuses on a problem most of us face at some point: Dark spots. Hyperpigmentation can come from a lot of places, including sun exposure and picking at pimples (guilty!). The new line’s serum stars Thiamidol, an ingredient that’s clinically proven to reduce or even eradicate the appearance of those pesky dark spots. Additionally, the formula makes the complexion brighter and more radiant overall with continued use. I’ve been testing it, and it’s also been a wonderful extra layer of moisture to protect me against the biting winds of New York City winters.
I’ve dealt with chronic redness and rosacea for a decade, and I’m always searching for products that will help me calm it in any way possible. I have a collection of soothing serums, moisturizers, and masks, but I’ve never had a sunscreen that’s specifically made for combatting irritation. Enter: EltaMD’s UV Skin Recovery Broad-Spectrum SPF 50, a mineral sunscreen that contains barrier-strengthening ceramides, skin-soothing centella asiatica, and a reparative amino acid complex. There’s also a green-tinted version of the formula, which instantly subdues redness and melts in especially well for olive skin tones like mine.
This discovery set allows you to experience Jil Sander’s new Olfactory Series 1 fragrances—a collection of six nature- and emotion-inspired scents. “It’s tough to make a tech-forward fragrance, but Jil Sander has done it with six new scents that are made with alcohol from upcycled carbon emissions,” shares Katie Berohn, ELLE beauty editor. “I’m into Leaf, which has surprising notes like key lime and cornmint, and smells like a walk through a lush garden.”
Gucci’s first mascara was the first one to introduce me to the joys of thick, gunky, volumized-to-the-max lashes. When I wore it regularly, people would constantly ask if I had falsies on. I trust Gucci wholeheartedly when it comes to mascara, and the brand’s latest one is just as exciting as the first. Mascara Le Magnétisme possesses a highly volumizing formula and a blue-black hue that looks even inkier and more sultry on the lashes. Such dramatic lashes aren’t for everyone, but if you’re like me and live for the drama, this mascara is calling your name.
