The Best Skincare Drops of 2024
info@hypebae.com (Hypebae) Thu, 12 Dec 2024 Hypebae
Back for a third consecutive year, The Hypebae Beauty Awards celebrate emerging brands and beauty founders breaking barriers, amplify underrepresented voices and embracing the rich diversity of beauty. Through the innovative launches of the past calendar year, we honor the creators shaping the industry today, making it more inclusive – and more joyful – space with every drop.
For 2024 we introduced the Hypebae Beauty Awards with a brand new category, touting the tools, gadgets and gizmos that transformed our beauty routines. You can read all about those winning brands here. We'll dive into haircare, makeup and fragrance next, so be sure to check back later this week to find out more.
But first, let's talk about skincare. Whether you are a triple cleanse and 10-step routine, or a minimal moisturizer, we're all well aware of the breadth and depth of the category. On TikTok, #skincare has more than 80 billion views and #skintok has 669 million views. There is no dearth of content out there. So where to begin? We'd suggest these five up-and-coming brands, all doing amazing things in their own right. From innovative textures to hardworking formulations, interesting new ingredients and transformative lotions, here are the Hypebae Beauty Awards skincare winners...
Herbar’s Barrier Cream
Berlin-based brand Herbar takes a holistic approach to skincare, harnessing the healing power of mushrooms and adaptogens to create skincare that is as effective as it is beautiful – and the Barrier Cream is supreme. The balmy cream is infused with five ceramides and is clinically proven to improve the skin barrier by 59% in just two hours. Let that sink in. The other key ingredient, Pentavitin, also helps boost moisture, meaning it really delivers deep, long-lasting hydration.
[shoppable brand="Herbar" product="The Barrier Cream" link="https://herbarofficial.com/products/the-barrier-cream" store="Herbar" price="$65 USD"]
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Founded by close friends Catarina Oliveira and Rui Liu back in 2022, Herbar honors the ancient healing traditions of plants and fungi. Their core belief? That nature holds the secrets to skin health. Drawing from adaptogenic mushrooms and botanicals, the brand merges time-tested wisdom with modern science to create products that restore and revitalize the skin.
If the science doesn’t get you, the brand’s aesthetics definitely will. Herbar taps local artists and creatives to develop its branding which, like the products, cater to all ages, skin types and lifestyles. Whether you’re looking to treat specific skin concerns or simply maintain a balanced, glowing complexion, Herbar's got you covered.
HUE's Supra-Fade
Skincare has traditionally overlooked the needs of darker skin tones, but HUE – and its flagship product, Supra-Fade – are here to change that. The dark spot night serum is packed with seven active ingredients and antioxidants, each designed to target and reduce hyperpigmentation, promote a more even and radiant complexion, while addressing the specific concerns of melanin-rich skin.
[shoppable brand="HUE " product="Supra-Fade" link="https://www.madeforhue.com/products/supra-fade" store="HUE" price="$66 USD"]
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Before it was a skincare brand, HUE Skincare was a (thriving) YouTube channel. Founded by Dr. Hani Hassan, she shared her expert advice on everything from tackling hyperpigmentation to clearing acne, which quickly earned her the title of “hyperpigmentation guru.” After teaming up with British-Arab architect Mona Haidar, HUE the brand was born. Its aim? To provide skincare solutions for people of color that mainstream products don’t.
What makes Supra-Fade so effective is its blend of therapeutic level active ingredients, the sweet spot for optimal results. Backed by a strong scientific methodology, the formula works to give you smoother, clearer and more balanced skin over time. It’s a smart, evidence-based approach to skincare that delivers real, visible improvements in skin balance and clarity. Supra-Fade is also vegan, cruelty-free, fragrance-free and suitable for all skin types.
Joonbyrd's Sunday Soft Body Moisturizer
If a chilled, self-care Sunday came in cream form, it would look, feel and smell like Joonbyrd’s Sunday Sofa Body butter. Combining shea butter with rambutan leaf (a natural retinol alternative), ginseng, hyaluronic acid and prebiotic insulin, it delivers the deepest hydration and skin rejuvenation of your life. Plus, it smells like a hug feels, with notes of vanilla, white lily and comforting cardamom.
[shoppable brand="Joonbyrd" product="Sunday Soft Body Moisturizer" link="https://www.joonbyrd.com/products/sunday-sofa-moisturizing-body-butter " store="Joonbyrd" price="$79 USD"]
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Founded by dermatologist Dr. Alexis Granite, Joonbyrd is on a mission to make clinical skincare joyful. She does so through colorful and fun packaging, decadent scents and luxurious products that elevate even the most mundane tasks (like washing your hands) into the richest of rituals.
Going against the grain, Granite’s brand launched with a body collection, striving to bring the skin below the neck the same level of efficacious skincare usually reserved for the face. To that end, the brand’s ALXmd04 technology supports all aspects of skin metabolism, be it through hard-working ingredients (like niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, panthenol etc), botanical extracts, or adaptogens. Sumptuous scents tap into the mind-body connection, too.
Prakti Beauty's SapnaSoft
Have you ever tried a whipped face moisturizer? You’re missing out. Prakti Beauty’s SapnaSoft moisturizer, rooted in the Indian tradition of Ayurveda, should be top of your list. With a weightless, non-greasy formula packed with natural ceramides and sea buckthorn berry, it plumps, softens and protects the skin barrier while promoting collagen production. And the custom copper spatula is super cute, too.
[shoppable brand="Prakti Beauty" product="SapnaSoft Essential Hydrating Moisturizer" link="https://praktibeauty.com/products/sapnasoft%E2%84%A2" store="Prakti Beauty" price="$56 USD"]
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“Why hasn’t an Indian-inspired beauty brand reached global scale?” wondered model-turned- beauty mogul Pritika Swarup. In 2021, she partnered with Daria Myers, an Estée Lauder legend, to change that. Prakti Beauty combines the rituals and remedies of Ayurveda, the spirituality and cultural richness of India, with the energy and technology of the West, to deliver a results-driven, clean, global brand. So far, so successful.
This year Prakti launched into the lipcare category, with the launch of KhushiKiss Nourishing Lip Oils. What fuels our obsession with the founder and her brand is that beyond skincare solutions (and lovely lip oils) the brand positions its products as a lifestyle choice, empowering individuals to take control of their self-care routines.
Bubble's Soft Launch Hydrating Creamy Cleanser
No skincare routine is complete without cleaner and Bubble Skincare’s Soft Launch Hydrating Creamy Cleanser is our MVP. This creamy formula transforms into a soft, foamy lather that cleanses, soothes and nourishes your skin without stripping away its natural oils or leaving it stripped, tight or dehydrated. Infused with plant-derived ceramides, avocado oil and allantoin, it leaves skin feeling soft, refreshed and hydrated.
[shoppable brand="Bubble" product="Soft Launch Hydrating Creamy Cleanser" link="https://hellobubble.com/products/soft-launch " store="Bubble" price="$17 USD"]
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Skincare’s surge in popularity comes as no surprise to anyone. The way in which teens have embraced multi-step routines however, has come a little out of left field, which has sparked much debate about whether or not such intensive regimens are suitable for young, delicate skin. Which is where Bubble Skincare comes in.
Shai Eisenman’s brand is designed specifically for young, sensitive skin. The playful packaging belies effective and gentle products within, all of which exclude fragrances, parabens, sulfates, essential oils and animal-derived ingredients. The American brand also takes its role in helping shoppers who are starting their beauty journeys seriously. Through its “Skin School”, Bubble Skincare seeks to educate shoppers about skin types, ingredients and product benefits.
