Now that microbeads are going the way of the lace panty in Belarus, a new, gentler breed of exfoliator has emerged. Exfoliant winner G.M. Collin Active Exfoliant Powder combines rice, papain and bromelain powders and salicylic acid for simultaneous physical and chemical exfoliation. Amarte The Daily ExfoliPowder and Bliss Blisslabs Active 99.0 Refining Powder Cleanser are two other submissions that impress us with their mild exfoliating granules, which quickly dissolve into a foamy lather and leave skin feeling smooth and moisturized. These tiny scrubbers mean you're less likely to create the microscopic tears in the skin that harsher exfoliators can cause.
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Head off Father Time
If you just figured out that face cream application shouldn't stop at your chin, now you need to wrap your head around fighting the signs of aging above your forehead. Just as brown spots on the neck and chest are indicators of a life well-lived, hair can show advanced age via lack of shine, dryness and coarseness.
Color us impressed by Scalp Treatment winner Dr. Dennis Gross Root Resilience Anti-Aging Scalp Serum, which uses the ingredients found in your face serum -- peptides, vitamins and amino acids -- to pamper hair follicles and encourage the growth of younger-looking hair. In addition to masking grays, Hair Color winner Clairol Expert Collection With Pantene AgeDefy marries Clairol's tried-and-true formula with Pantene's groundbreaking AgeDefy technology, turning back the clock on your locks by thickening, strengthening and smoothing hair.
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Saved by the Gel
Even if you love gel manicures, maintenance can be expensive and time-consuming -- and don't get us started on the finger-foil removal process. Lucky for us (and you), nail product manufacturers are creating polishes that offer gel-like results and don't need to be cured under a lamp. The Breakthrough Product winner in Nails, Butter London Patent Gel Top & Tails Set includes a base coat and top coat that we can combine with any old polish for a rock-solid, gel(ish) manicure. "Breakthrough" is an adjective we could apply to Nail Polish award winner Sephora Formula X, which offers a super-wide range of trendy, highly pigmented colors and gives us days and days of chip-free, shiny nails. Another of our favorites, Marc Jacobs Enamored Hi-Shine Nail Lacquer, goes on thick and dries to a beautiful, durable, glasslike finish.
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It's All a Blur
Blur cream is like PhotoShop for your makeup bag: It smoothes facial texture by filling enlarged pores and fine lines, reduces shine, minimizes blemishes and hyperpigmentation with light-diffusing particles and preps your face for makeup. In other words, this stuff laughs at that old face primer in your medicine cabinet. That's why Indeed Laboratories Nanoblur steals the Primer/Shine Control Product category; one of our beauty mavens calls it the best primer she's ever tried. We also like Garnier 5 Second Blur Skin Renew Instant Smoother and Peter Thomas Roth BB Blur, a genius, vitamin E- and peptide-infused multi-tasker with a light tint and SPF 30.
Trends, by their very nature, are fleeting. What's fresh and innovative today turns tired tomorrow. While some beauty trends, like stiletto nails and undercuts, can't seem to go fast enough, there are plenty more that we'd like to see stick around forever. Never has that been truer than in this year's TotalBeauty.com Award submissions, where we spotted so many emerging trends and technologies that have kind of become our beauty BFFs.
