February, with its shiny cards and candy hearts, brings some much-needed light to the dead of winter. And that includes the month’s best beauty trends. Ballet slipper lips and romance waves made our routines more fun, and there were a lot of new products to fall in love with.
Glamour editors bought more basics this month, and we’re not just talking about Levi’s that were inspired by American Love Story. We found everyday heroes that helped us look our best, from serums that are good for winter skin to concealers and foundations that work really well. Also, new products from our favorite brands that we were looking forward to helped shake things up. February’s most-anticipated new products, like Rhode’s new lip and face masks and a treasure trove of K-beauty innovations, did not disappoint.
What else helped us get through the shortest and coldest month? Fun pink and red dark spot stickers that get rid of hyperpigmentation and look great doing it, a new perfume milk that has skin-care and long-wear benefits, a brilliant product for frizzy hair that keeps flyaways in check on windy mornings, and so many other must-have items that will make you swoon.
Glamour editors used these new beauty products over and over this February.
BHA + AHA Laneige Water Bank Aqua Facial Serum
It seems like every new skincare product that comes out these days promises “glass skin in a bottle” results. But I can vouch for this one: This serum gently exfoliates with glycolic acid while soothing and restoring the skin barrier with hyaluronic acid, ceramides, and PDRN. It’s the perfect mix for dull, dry winter skin. Not to mention the cool packaging that makes it so much fun to use: Just push down on the squishy top of the bottle to easily put 2–3 drops of serum from the dropper right on your skin. I can feel my skin getting more hydrated right away when I use it every night. After two weeks of use, my skin looks brighter and more even, and I don’t get the flaky redness that most chemical exfoliants give me. —Grace McCarty, assistant beauty editor
Mary Phillips Lip Ciggy Sheer Lipstick Balm m.ph
This month, my feed has been full of tributes to Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s timeless beauty. I’ve been looking for the perfect blurred, ’90s-style red lip. My favorite right now is this sheer lipstick balm in Lose My Breath by Mary Phillips, a celebrity makeup artist who does Hailey Bieber’s makeup. The color is bright and buildable, but it’s not too thick, so it doesn’t feel like a big deal. The texture is like a balm, so it doesn’t dry out and feels dewy. For spring, I’ll definitely be buying more of the lighter colors. —G.M.
Rhode Peptide Lip Boost
Rhode’s Peptide Lip Tint in Toast has become a daily must-have for me, and I have to say that I love it. I had high hopes for Lip Boost, the brand’s new lip mask, when it arrived on my desk. This is because the Peptide Lip Tint does a great job of covering lips with a shiny layer that lasts all day. I was curious if the mask would live up to these high standards. Spoiler alert: it did, and more. I’ve been using this one every day since I took it out of the box. It has peptides, hyaluronic acid, and vanillyl butyl ether, which is a fancy ingredient that makes the lips tingle and plump. The formula is thick and buttery, and when I wake up in the morning, my lips are soft and plump. Hailey did it again! —Alanna Martine Kilkeary, a writer about business
Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Blur Concealer for Airbrush
I already love Charlotte Tilbury’s skin care products, so I was excited to hear about the brand’s new concealer. It has a thick, rich formula that lets you hide texture and uneven tone with just one swipe. It’s everything you want in a full-coverage cover-up. The formula can be built up pretty well, and a little goes a long way, so I suggest starting with a small amount. This one has helped cover up some inflamed pimples, brighten up my dark circles, and hide fine lines around my nose without creasing or caking, even at the end of the day. —A.M.K.
Topicals Faded Tranexamic Acid Dark Spot Patches for Dark Spots
I’ve tried dozens (if not around a hundred by now) dark-spot correctors to help get rid of the stubborn acne scars on my chin from when I was a teenager. These cool little patches are nothing like anything I’ve tried before. They stick on like a regular pimple patch, but they also help fade areas of hyperpigmentation. I’ve only been using these for a little over a week, and even though I still have a long way to go, I’ve already noticed that the skin around my mouth is clearer and brighter. —A.M.K.
Then I Met You Snail Mucin Eye Cream That Firms and Brightens
Even though I’m in Seoul right now, which has a lot of K-beauty eye creams, I still wish I had remembered to bring this one. I use this plumping, bouncy blue formula every day and night since Then I Met You came out with it. The azulene in chamomile gives it its calming color, and the volufiline and snail mucin in it make it firmer. Not only does it keep my skin moist, but it also helps smooth out the lines under my eyes and make my dark circles look less empty. I think that forgetting it at home is why people keep telling me I look tired. —Sarah Y. Wu, a contributor
Hanyul Artemisia 2-in-1 Mask to Foam Cleanser
This cleanser is great because it makes cleaning fun. It looks like any other gel in the tube, but when you squeeze it out, you’ll see that it has the squishy, stretchy bounce of Korean rice cakes. This is because the formula was kneaded 5,000 times for 100 minutes. That part is mostly for the sensory effect, but it also helps it stick to dirt and grime if you leave it on like a mask. I like to wet it right away and turn it into a cloud-like foam that makes my face feel better, softer, and more awake. —S.Y.W.
Revive Firming Moisturizer from Beauty of Joseon
I’ve written a lot about how much I love Korean retinols. The formulas are gentle and don’t make my skin break out in a red, flaking mess like most other retinol serums and moisturizers do. This juicy gel cream from Beauty of Joseon is my new favorite. It has fermented retinol and ginseng ceramide in it. The combination keeps my face calm while the retinol dose that is easy for beginners to use starts to work. This isn’t for big, quick changes, but if you want to slowly get used to retinol, this is a good choice. —S.Y.W.
