The Best Breakthrough Beauty Products of 2024

Our inaugural Breakthrough Beauty Awards have officially arrived!

After extensive testing, weeks of research and expert interviews, and countless hours pouring over ingredient lists, we’ve found top breakthroughs of 2024. Each award spotlights innovative brands and products pushing the industry forward through disruptive formulas, technological advancements, and new research. Each winner is setting a new bar in the beauty industry. Ahead, discover all of our cutting-edge Breakthrough Beauty Award winners.

Hair Color Breakthrough: L’Oréal Paris Colorsonic Hair Color Device

A 100% first-of-its-kind device, L’Oréal’s innovative new tool makes at-home hair color a breeze. Taking the guesswork out of mixing and measuring, the Colorsonic mixes color and developer to the perfect 1:1 ratio without any mess, and deposits the fresh mix right at the root via pulsating bristles. This breakthrough, comb-like deposit system is not only clean and intuitive, but also moves 300 times per minute to evenly saturate each strand.

Blurring Breakthrough: Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder Flushed

There are hundreds of cream blushes on the market, but there’s nothing quite like Danessa Myricks’ signature balm texture. The Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder Flushed Matte Color for Cheek & Lip glides on with the ease of a cream before transforming into a gorgeous, blurred, filter-like finish. It’s a matte that’s not flat—a true industry-defying texture that stays put all day. Even better, it comes in a range of vibrant, wearable shades that the Byrdie editors pick up again and again.

Shade Breakthrough: Made by Mitchell Curve Case Cream Makeup Palette

Made By Mitchell’s Curve Case went TikTok-viral this year after beauty creator Golloria highlighted it as the perfect antithesis to another brand’s disappointing foundation range. This multi-use palette—which includes creamy contour and blush shades—is a shining example of true shade range inclusivity. The Curve Case features some of the deepest shades on the market while still honoring dimension, undertones, and nuance. These are shades for real skin.

Facial Sculpting Breakthrough: Mount Lai Vitality Qi LED Gua Sha Device

The gua sha goes high-tech with Mount Lai’s The Vitality Qi LED Gua Sha, which marries authentic, traditional Chinese gua sha with the modern power of LED. Founder Stephanie Zheng’s futuristic sculptor is inspired by her grandmother, who practiced gua sha and jade rolling for over 50 years. Featuring the same structure of a traditional jade gua sha, Zheng’s version is supercharged with a warming red LED strip to promote collagen health and relieve tension, a blue light waterdrop to spot treat breakouts, and sculpting rollers to snatch the jawline. The results: a glorious breakthrough that honors tradition while revolutionizing your depuffing routine.

Hair Health Breakthrough: Cécred Fermented Rice & Rose Protein Ritual

This strengthening, softening ritual elevates hair to its highest potential. Together, this duo reduces breakage up to 3x and leaves the hair with pillow-like softness and mirror-like shine. Featuring the brand’s signature blend of African oils, biotin, and honey, it works across hair types and curl patterns to give you healthy, Beyoncé-level hair.

Cleansing Breakthrough: Olay Cleansing Melts + Vitamin C

Using too much cleanser can strip your skin, but using too little can clog your pores. With its new Cleansing Melts, Olay has ushered in the Goldilocks of cleansers. Each tablet contains the perfect amount of face wash to cleanse and balance your skin—just run it under water for three seconds, watch the tablet dissolve, and work it into a delightful lather. Cleansing Melts bring the joy back into skincare, and deliver an effective cleanse to pave the way for the rest of your skincare routine. Opt for the vitamin C iteration in the morning, the retinol iteration for the evening, or the hyaluronic acid option for any time cleansing (or if you have particularly dry skin).

Viral Breakthrough: Rhode Lip Case

When Rhode founder Hailey Biber shared a first snap of the Rhode Lip Case—a casual mirror selfie with lassaiz-faire posing—it practically broke the internet. The launch spurred countless dupes, memes, and—most importantly—underscored our collective desire to have our Peptide Lip Treatment suctioned to our person. And while Peptide Lip alone is a favorite among all of the Byrdie editors, truly nothing like this aesthetic, functional, HB-approved lip gloss case has ever existed before.

Acne Breakthrough: Rael Beauty Miracle Clear Retinol Chin Mask

Hormonal acne along the chin and jawline—which often flares with your period—is a common frustration for those assigned female at birth. If you’ve ever found yourself sticking on dozens of pimple patches around your time of the month, then this acne breakthrough is for you. Rael’s new Miracle Clear Retinol Chin Mask treats multiple breakouts in one sweep with a two-step sheet mask shaped perfectly for the chin, jawline, and mouth area. The first mask is soaked in retinol and niacinamide to address breakouts, while the second pouch dispenses a barrier cream with ingredients like ceramides and vitamin B5 to soothe inflammation and lock in those acne-fighting ingredients. It’s a potent (but gentle) SOS option for those with sensitive skin and a serious hormonal acne flare-up.

Collagen Breakthrough: Neutrogena Collagen Bank Face Moisturizer with SPF 30 Sunscreen

Collagen is an important building block for the skin, and something that begins to deplete rapidly in your 20s and 30s. Countless brands have attempted to create collagen-stimulating creams, lotions, potions, and elixirs—but the scientific support (and efficacy) isn’t always there. But with its newest launch, Neutrogena is reframing the way we think about collagen, creating a Collagen Bank Moisturizer that’s meant to support your collagen stores, rather than create new collagen out of thin air. The key player? The brand’s proprietary, clinically-tested micro-peptide technology. Its moleclres are two times smaller than the leading anti-aging peptides, and can penetrate more than 10 surface layers deep.

Hydration Breakthrough: Prequel Multi-Quench Plumping Hydration Serum

At the core of dermatologist-founded Prequel’s mission is an attention to creating products that either directly address—or can be used with—chronic skin conditions. For anyone who has experienced eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea, skincare efficacy is a toss-up. At best, most products don’t deliver on their packaging promises, and at worst, products can trigger a flare-up. Prequel has changed the game in creating modern and intentional products that are innovative and safe, and its Multi-Quench Plumping Hydration Serum is absolutely no exception to the brand’s portfolio. Clinically proven to hydrate for 48 hours, the formula uses glycerin and moisturizing peptides to deliver immediate benefits, as well as long-term hydration and skin barrier support. For those of us with dry, flaky, irritable skin, this breakthrough serum is a one-way ticket to dewy, plump, balanced skin.

DIY Manicure Breakthrough: Olive & June Penny Nail Art Tool

No matter how much experience you have, painting your own nails is never easy. Since its first launch in 2019, Olive & June has always been at the forefront of making DIY manicures a simpler, more enjoyable process. From the polish formulas themselves to hand-stablizing tools like the Poppy, each product fulfills a need. But it’s the brand’s latest creation that might just be one of the most innovative manicure tools to date, and a unanimous Breakthrough Beauty Award winner for 2024. Meet Olive & June’s Penny: A nail art tool with three interchangeable heads to make popular nail art manageable from home. The set includes a spherical sponge for aura and gradient effects, a silicone cylinder for the perfect French every time, and a dotting tool to create everything from jovial florals to Picassian works of art.

Dry Shampoo Breakthrough: K18 Biomimetic AirWash Dry Shampoo

Dry shampoo is not a new concept. And yet, the internet went wild for K18’s Airwash—so we took that to mean the formula is pretty special. After months of testing on Byrdie editors with every hair type, curl pattern, and hair color imaginable, we’re happy to report that the internet was correct (this time). This non-aerosol spray uses smart-release biotechnology that can actually recognize oil and odor-causing sweat molecules and diffuse them at the source as needed. So rather than coating your hair in a chalky formula and hoping for the best, Airwash sits invisibly on the hair, and seeks and destroys as needed (for up to three full days).

Sunscreen Breakthrough: Pavise Dynamic Age Defense SPF

Pavise was born out of a lab at MIT, thanks to the brain of founder and CEO Sophie Bai. At age 16, Bai was granted her first scientific achievement for discovering an anti-aging compound. Since then, she has devoted her career to creating molecules and formulas that address photoaging, and Pavise’s The Dynamic Age Defense SPF was among the first consumer products to encapsulate her research. We know that sunscreen is absolutely the number one most important ingredient to have in your skincare routine (both for anti-aging and overall skin health and function). But this formula goes far beyond your standard SPF. The brand’s proprietary ingredient, a diamond-augmented zinc oxide aptly named Diamondcore, is the first and only UV filter that not only protects the skin with a physical sun blocker, but also simultaneously regenerates skin, supports collagen production, and mends past damage. With The Dynamic Age Defense SPF, Pavise not only brings disruptive technology to the sunscreen space, but does so in a delightful formula that feels like a moisturizer and blends out on all skin tones.

Natural Hair Breakthrough: Pattern Beauty Transition Mask

Innovation for Black hair has been deprioritized by far too many haircare brands—and for far too long. But over the last five years, Tracee Ellis Ross’ Pattern Beauty has lead the charge in breakthrough textures, ingredients, and tools for curly, coily, and textured hair. One such innovation is the brand’s Transition Mask, which fills a gap in the market for those in need of extra hair support while transitioning out of tight, protective, or chemically-treated hairstyles. Infused with ingredients like Manuka honey and white tea, the Transition Mask is rich with much-needed nutrients to help strengthen and moisturize hair while in its delicate, transitional state.

Elasticity Breakthrough: CurrentBody RF Radio Frequency Skin Tightening Device

Currentbody is all about balancing efficacy and safety, and the brand’s RF Skin Tightening Device is no exception. For those who want to improve the overall appearance of skin without injectables, radiofrequency is a popular, dermatologist-approved option. And thanks to Currentbody’s revolutionary (and FDA-cleared) technology, you can now try radiofrequency from the comfort of your home. Following extensive clinical testing, 89% of users noticed an improvement in skin elasticity, and 97% saw a reduction in wrinkles after just eight weeks of use.

Anti-Aging Breakthrough: Timeline The Serum

Aging is, first and foremost, a blessing. And with that blessing comes a few signs of our trips around the sun—fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, and textural changes within the skin. A key driver of these skin changes is the decreased activity in our skin cells that comes with growing older, and Timeline has created the first-ever probiotic nutrient, Mitopure, to address this slowed activity. Mitopure sparks an important cell process directly linked to age and cellular decline, and has harnessed the power of this nutrient in a lightweight, fast-absorbing serum. Combining the technology of Mitopure and long-studied ingredients like caffeine and antioxidants, The Serum increases skin firmness, radiance, and overall health.