Welcome to Marie Claire's first annual Makeup Awards! Over the past few months, our team of beauty testers and editors have been diligently swatching, swiping, and sampling hundreds of the best cosmetics in the industry right now. Several renowned makeup artists also lended their expertise to narrow our selection down from good to great to truly exceptional.
Our beauty staff and judges panel looked at everything from staying power, shade range inclusivity, comfortability, tendency to pill—the works—in order to bring you our 84 winners. In other words, we tried out a lot of makeup and are now even more knowledgeable about what makes a luxury cream blush or matte lipstick worth the price tag. Or, if you're in the mood for a more budget-friendly find, we also found a comparable product in each of the 42 categories. Remember—you don't have to blow your beauty budget to find exceptional products.
