A beauty expert’s favourite products in 2025

As a writer with more than eight years of experience in the beauty field, I certainly tried hundreds of products across time. My drawers are still filled with way too many products divided into categories, but I always pick the same favourites each time I want to look and feel my best. These are my favourite products for this past year:

An unexpected favourite fragrance for 2025 has been the incredibly sweet Shay & Blue’s fragrance in Black Tulip. It is described as decadent and deadly on their website. It is such a magnetising fragrance I am obsessed with it! I received compliments every time, and people have enquired many, many times, which fragrance it is. I never told! Now you know… 

A gourmand scent, it has oriental plum combined with white chocolate and wood. It is also described as spicy, which definitely proved in real life too. A fragrance that turns heads! What an amazing scent! 

You might be surprised to see a toner in this list. It is not a traditional toner with astringent properties, but rather a hydrating and calming one. The Comfort Zone Sublime Skin Essence is a restoring smoothing lotion and I like to use it in the mornings on a cotton pad, both to prepare my skin for the day and to gently exfoliate the skin with the pad. It is a light lotion that feels fresh on the skin, hydrating it. It is free of fragrance – as I like it – and ever since I started using it to refresh my skin and clean impurities as an extra step, my skin has been improving. If you read my Skin Diary, you know I have always struggled with acne prone and sensitive skin. 

The cat-eye look has become my favourite in 2025. During daytime, I like to use a brown liquid eyeliner, that is a bit softer than in black. My favourite this year has been the Rimmel Glam’Eyes liquid liner in Brown Velvet. The wand is a very thin brush, ideal to create the most thin line possible, but you can also fill in with it and create dramatic looks with very sharp corners. It lasts a long time too!

A new type of product that I want to include in this list is a bed linen mist. The Sweet Scent Room and Linen Mist is in the Orange Blossom, Bergamot and Honeysuckle scent. It is the most gorgeous scent that is both refreshing and sweet. It became a favourite part of my routine to spray this on my bed linen and in my room whenever I wanted a spa feeling in my own home. I am in love with the scent! The Sweet Scent is a local brand in Malta. 

The Sweet Scent, Room & Linen Mist, 100ml, €12

I finally found the product that gives volume to my hair! I have tried countless products over the years to lift my hair from the root and give some volume to my otherwise very flat and straight hair. This is one of the only ones that actually does that. The Colour WoW Xtra Large Bombshell Volumizer became a part of my routine and I would ALWAYS use it whenever I left the house. On the odd days I would not use this because I stayed in the house or what not, I always felt something was missing when looking in the mirror. Plus, it is fragrance free so it does not irritate my scalp.

This year I gave my body extra love and care and started using more lotions and potions on more than just my face. The Emulsion Originelle Regenerante Corps from Biologique Recherche saved my skin plenty of times. It is a fragrance free, thick and very hydrating and calming body cream. I loved using this after shaving as it calmed the area. A more luxurious purchase for this year, but I certainly loved every bit of it! 

Another hint of luxury came from my hand mist from Sabon. I received this a while ago from family and never really used it as I always thought it is too fancy to use it regularly. But this year I gave myself permission to fully enjoy it! So watch me getting a small glass bottle from my bag, with a fine mist spray and scent of delicate roses, using it generously on my hands to clean and disinfect them. The Sabon Refresh Hand Mist in Rose Tea is also hydrating and it got looks of surprise everytime I used it!

You probably heard too many things about this face cream already, but I cannot avoid adding it here. Augustinus Bader’s The Cream has been my secret trick everytime my skin needed some magic. It is fragrance free, thin and delicate on the skin and it calmed and brightened my face every single time. Whenever my skin got irritated and sensitive after using acne treatments, I’d pop this cream on. It is perfect for using it under makeup and it never failed to care for my skin. Now that my bottle is empty I miss it!

As a person with very fair skin I struggle to find foundations and face products that are not too dark or muddy on my face. My yellow undertone paired with the fairness makes it even more difficult in finding the right shades. The Bourjois Bronzer, Poudre de Soleil in Light Medium proved to be just what I was looking for. It is a very light shade for a bronzer, retaining a delicate contour and shade for the face that looks natural even in daytime! I love the vintage look of the compact case and the look of the bronzer itself. It is heavily fragranced but this time I like it, although I wish it wasn’t fragranced. 

Another product that made me smile and feel special every single time is the Lancome Treson Midnight Rose Shower Gel. Its scent is very sweet and being from Lancome made me feel special after every shower I’d use it. The Tresor perfume in Midnight Rose smells exactly the same. The scent is described as oriental floral with rose, peach, apricot blossom plus a warm, sensual base of vanilla and musk. It is a romantic scent for sure. The sweet scent stayed on my skin hours after showering!

The most delicious smelling lip gloss for this year has been the Scott Barnes gloss in Gilded. It has the most amazing golden shimmer that looks spectacular on its own on the lips, as well as on fully red lips. It is versatile and can be added on top of other products and its thick consistency is hydrating on the lips. My favourite technique has been to add it on top of bright, red lipstick for that extra glamorous effect. On my casual days when I still wanted a pop of chic, I’d line my lips with a nude shade then add this on top for moisture and care to my lips. It really is the most nourishing product! It smells of vanilla and cinnamon. 

A gorgeous product I used only a few times but it certainly stayed in my memory is the Davines MINU Illuminating Shampoo, Conditioner and Hair Mask. I only had samples given to me by my hairstylist, which proved to be my saviours on my AirBnB days after moving and having a handful of things with me. The reason I liked it so much is because it gave my hair a healthy shine and I liked the feel it left to my hair. It also made my hair colour look more vibrant and polished. I look back dearly at the times I used these products and how good my hair looked!

Speaking of introducing more bodycare in my routine, I have been loving this body scrub from Clareena. It is the Cappuccino Slim Sugar Peeling one, that smells gorgeously of coffee. I got it from the nearby spa and they recommended it to me for massaging it on the skin. I know some of you are against physical exfoliators but I have been loving using this one! Not only it relaxed me by massaging it on my body but it also always left my skin extremely hydrated.

I would lie if I’d say I haven’t overused the Lisa Eldridge Skin Tint! Everytime I would get a different foundation or tint I would come back to this one anyway. It just looks like skin! You simply can’t beat it. It has a very light formula that is hydrating and looks seamless on the skin. The ingredient list is also lovely, the tint being more of a skincare and makeup hybrid. There are so many shades to choose from and it is untraceable on the skin. But somehow, magically, it also has good coverage if layered up. I used it all the time, especially in daytime when I would want my skin to look natural, fresh and not like I had a lot of makeup on. I use the shade T2 which is a fair neutral golden undertone. Best goodbye gift from work I ever received! 

Although a duplicate in brand I cannot skip it from this list – The Sweet Scent Chocolate Cookie scented candle has been my obsession this year. It is from the same local brand in Malta I previously mentioned and this is made of 100% natural soy wax. Hand poured and handcrafted in Malta, it is another item I bought during an artisan market. What a fabulous item! My go to for long baths. I must also mention that the flame is very strong and luminous, probably the best one I’ve seen on a candle. 

I just saw they have a Sweet Cinnamon scented candle as well as an Apple Custard one… I won’t lie, those are next in my shopping cart!

I am an avid user of retinol, but most formulas irritate the skin around my eyes. I would still like to take care of that area! The Verso Super Eye Serum with Retinol 8 is one of the only eye creams with retinol I tolerate. It does not irritate the delicate skin around my eyes at all and I loved using it! 

A random one thrown in here, but I am in love with the original scent of Dove products. This year I used soap bars more than shower gels. The Dove Beauty Cream Bar is my favourite and I love using it to cleanse my body in the shower as well as a daily hand soap. It is so delicate and hydrating and the scent makes me happy everytime. 

I received compliments everytime I used a specific eyeshadow palette. I am throwing this in this list more for my own love than anything else as it is a limited edition palette and I doubt you can purchase it anymore. The Scott Barnes Mesmerize Eyeshadow Palette has the most luxurious and elegant shimmers I have ever seen in an eyeshadow palette. I loved wearing this at parties or special events. If you ever see glittery eyeshadow from Scott Barnes, grab it!

Another sweet local brand, this time from Greece in Athens, is Althea Cosmetics. I randomly bumped into a small local market and needed a lip balm. Since then I’ve been using this product every day! I got the Althea Cosmetics Lip Balm in Sweet Apple and it smells so lovely. It feels nourishing and nice on the lips and it leaves a delicate trace of red on your lips. Bonus, the owner was also lovely and we chatted a little bit. 

Althea Cosmetics, Lip Balm, Sweet Apple, €2 (aprox., I cannot remember)

I know this list is very long, but toothpaste is something everyone uses and the Pearl Drops is an easy to find brand. I like their Daily Whitening Hollywood Smile toothpaste. I whiten my teeth professionally at the dentist but this toothpaste keeps the teeth the most bright and whiter than other toothpastes I’ve tried. Just putting it out there! 

I am going to stop here even though I would have one or two products more but eighteen is enough! Might seem like I put every product I use on this list but trust me… I have not! These favourite beauty products have been chosen from hundreds others and I have been quite strict about selecting them. 

What were your favourite beauty products in 2025 and why?

Disclaimer

This article is not sponsored and it does not contain any affiliate links. None of the products above have been sent to Lipstick Café with PR purposes.