UPDATE: JULY 25 2024—It’s your lucky day! So many Allure award-winning products are currently on sale for the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. Save on some of our favorites now through August 4.
It’s easy to narrow down the best award-winning products at Nordstrom when there’s a bright red seal to look out for, courtesy of Allure‘s annual Best of Beauty Awards and Reader’s Choice Awards. Everything on this list has been vetted through and through, so you can feel extra confident about your next purchase. Plus, the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale is chugging right along until August 4, so you can score major discounts on some of our winners. They’ll likely be found in sets versus individually, but a win is a win! Without further ado, meet the best award-winning products at Nordstrom.
Psst: Only the most recent Best of Beauty winners (2023) and Readers’ Choice Award winners (2024) have seals, but rest assured, every single product has won one of our esteemed awards.
Allure Best of Beauty Award Winners at Nordstrom
Drybar Crown Tonic Pre-Shampoo Scalp Balancing Cleanser
Drybar Crown Tonic Pre-Shampoo Scalp-Balancing Cleanser gets to the root of a scalp buildup problem with a two-pronged treatment: Alpha hydroxy and beta hydroxy acids dislodge dead cells while a scrubby applicator whisks all the crud away. It’s a solid match for any hair type, and a healthy scalp means a longer-lasting blowout.
Kate Somerville HydraKate Recharging Water Cream
“I love how lightweight the Kate Somerville HydraKate Recharging Water Cream is,” says associate beauty editor Annie Blay of her go-to summer moisturizer. “It sinks in quickly but leaves my skin moisturized all day and never greasy.” Sure, Blay loves this formula for summer, but it makes a tremendous all-year-round option.
The Outset Purifying Blue Clay Mask
The slate-colored paste behind The Outset’s Purifying Blue Clay Mask goes on like butter and purges your pores of deep-seated grime using kaolin clay, charcoal, and salicylic acid. Allow it to rest on your face for at least ten minutes (a.k.a. until it dries) before wiping it off with a damp washcloth.
Westman Atelier Vital Skin Foundation Stick
A 2022 and 2023 Best of Beauty Award winner, Westman Atelier’s Vital Skin Foundation Stick is well suited for mature skin because of its high dose of skin-nourishing ingredients like moisturizing squalane and soothing phytosphingosine. This cream formula, available in 20 shades, melts into the skin whether you blend using your finger or a brush.
Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow Sticks
There are fewer words as encouraging as “mirror-free shadow.” But the fail-proof nature of the Bobbi Brown Longwear Cream Shadow Sticks isn’t the only reason we reliably wear ours down to a nub—the extensive shade range of 26 hues is versatile and does wonders on everyone—especially mature skin.
Moon The Teeth Whitening Device System
Moon’s The Teeth Whitening Device System is a safe and easy-to-use LED option to get your pearly whites even pearlier. It’s wireless, lightweight, and water-resistant and takes only five minutes per session. Just apply the minty, dissolving whitening strips, pop in the tray, and watch the yellow get mellow.
Clarins Lip Comfort Oil
Lip oil is in for a bunch of reasons. It’s like the hydrating sister of a gloss, without compromising any pigment or flirtiness but ditching the thickness you’re so over. The formula features a conditioning trio of plant oils—hazel seed, jojoba, and sweet-brier.
Pat McGrath Satin Allure Lipstick
The iconic little gold bow on the Pat McGrath Satin Allure Lipstick is enough of a draw, but it’s the hydrating, silky formula that seals the deal (you can thank conditioning and softening botanical collagen and passion fruit oil). This lipstick comes in 14 buildable hues, like the peachy nude Negligee and the burnt blackberry Night Kiss.
La Mer The Eye Concentrate
La Mer is a luxury we all deserve. The Eye Concentrate has the brand’s signature Miracle Broth, consisting of deeply hydrating seaweed, sesame oil, and sunflower oil. You’ll also find caffeine in the formula to deflate puffiness and reduce the look of dark circles. The metal ball applicator also provides a cool sensation to soothe this delicate face area.
Alpha-H Melting Moment Cleansing Balm
Massage away the day with the Alpha-H Melting Moment Cleansing Balm. This balm-to-oil formula strips off makeup, sunscreen, and dirt, but never to the point where skin feels dry or tight, for which you can thank the sandalwood seed- and grapeseed oil-based formula. Niacinamide and radiance-boosting vitamin C are also at play, making for an effective and non-irritating way to work toward multiple skin goals.
Moroccanoil Hand Wash
If you’ve ever taken a sniff of a Moroccanoil Hand Wash, you know just how lovely any and all of the scents are. But that’s not all this thing has to offer. This argan oil-rich formula is packed with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants to hydrate and nourish the skin as you wash your hands.
Clinique High Impact Mascara
Clinique’s High Impact Zero Gravity Mascara is volumizing and thickening without overdoing the drama. The buildable, no-budge formula also means you can layer this mascara without prompting any flakes or smudges under your eyes by the end of the day. Flexible polymers are at work to keep your lashes lightweight, upright, and separated for the soft-glam look you’ve been after.
Hermès Rose Hermès Silky Blush Powder
Each of the seven shades of the Hermès Rose Hermès Silky Blush Powder doles out an ethereal flush that won’t fade as the day marches on. The semi-matte pigment sticks to the skin without settling into pores or caking up, and the compact is refillable, so you can rest a little easier when it comes to packaging waste.
Nars Light Reflecting Foundation
Makeup and skin care join forces with the Nars Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation. This medium-coverage, dewy-finish formula comes in 36 shades and improves skin clarity over time. Key ingredients include biomimetic oats (to reduce redness), Japanese lilyturf (to maintain moisture), cacao peptides (to boost skin resiliency), and milk thistle (to minimize the adverse effects of environmental stressors).
Lancôme’s Cils Booster XL Enhancing Lash Primer
Suppose you’re a base makeup primer devotee…it’s time to graduate to lash prep. Lancôme’s Cils Booster XL Enhancing Lash Primer uses microfibers to build up thin lash hairs while vitamin E conditions. The result is added extra length and thickness that boosts the effects of your favorite mascara. Believe it or not, you can even apply this primer before bed and sleep with it on.
Giorgio Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Glow Setting Powder
Beauty enthusiasts know not all setting powders are created equally, but Giorgio Armani Beauty’s Luminous Silk Glow Setting Powder meets our highest standards. This silky, long-wear option glides onto the skin, doesn’t cake throughout the day, and eliminates light flashbacks when you’re taking pictures. It also helps tone down the shine on oily skin—but the formula won’t make drier skin types look ashy.
Charlotte Tilbury Brow Fix
No matter how you approach your brows, a hardworking gel is critical to your look. Charlotte Tilbury’s Brow Fix is a clear gel that gives your arches staying power for the day. Its formula contains silk proteins to condition and strengthen as it sets everything in place. You can count on 24 hours of fixedness—an offer we really can’t refuse.
Olaplex No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner
Bond-repair treatments are great for hair just before a coloring session, but you can also get many of the same repairing benefits every wash day with Olaplex’s No. 5 Bond Maintenance Conditioner. Like other Olaplex bonding products, this moisturizing conditioner fills in weak spots in the hair with disulfide bonds, helping repair and protect.
Allure Readers’ Choice Award Winners
Beautyblender Original
Ah, the good ‘ol Beautyblender Original. This OG still has our hearts, even with so many sponges on the market. Drench it in water, ring out the excess, and blend in all your favorite liquid and cream products. Your makeup will go on perfectly blurred and even every time.
Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow+
The mini-microfibers in the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow+ Volumizing Eyebrow Gel are the key to what makes any sparse brows appear fuller. This tinted brow gel tames, holds, and resists water and sweat. We promise you can’t mess it up—a highly valued trait in any Best of Beauty contender.
First Aid Beauty KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub
First Aid Beauty’s KP Bump Eraser Body Scrub is one of our favorite ways to tackle keratosis pilaris, AKA the little acne-like bumps some of us have on the back of our arms. This exfoliating scrub contains alpha hydroxy acids (glycolic and lactic), which work together to penetrate and unclog pores deeply. Pumice buffing beads come into play, gently exfoliating and clearing up dead skin cell buildup.
Supergoop Play 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 30
Supergoop’s Play 100% Mineral Lotion SPF 50 with Green Algae features a blendable, invisible formula that works like a charm on sensitive skin. The tube contains tucuma butter that moisturizes and nourishes every time you reapply (which should be every two hours), softening fine lines and quelling redness.
MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick
For over 20 years, MAC’s Ruby Woo Lipstick has been gracing the lips of the world with its bold, works-on-everyone, cherry-red hue. The soft-matte, moisturizing formula is long-wearing without feathering and stays put through kissing, pouting, and sipping. The Ruby Woo hue is classic, but you can also pick up this lipstick in the pinky-red All Fired Up or the orangey-red Dangerous.
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo
Living Proof’s Perfect Hair Day Advanced Clean Dry Shampoo is the be-all end-all of second-day stale hair-savers. It’s formulated with rice starch to absorb excess oil and debris and protects against free radicals using microalgae. Once you’ve sprayed your roots, shake out the excess powder with a quick finger massage.
Nécessaire The Body Wash
Nécessaire’s The Body Wash formula is loaded with niacinamide and a handful of vitamins like C and E to transport skin-nourishing lipids while washing the day’s grime away. The wash is available in scents like Sandalwood and Eucalyptus, making your shower experience feel super luxe.
