2025 Melanin Beauty Awards: Best Makeup

With the 2025 Melanin Beauty Awards finally here, you know we had to spotlight the products taking up way too much space in our medicine cabinets, purses, and makeup bags. The ones we can’t live without — and absolutely hate to run out of. The products that enhance our natural glow and give us just enough to feel like our absolute best selves.

At HB, we applaud natural beauty and personal style — but let’s be honest, makeup (especially the good stuff) will always be a girl’s best friend.

So our editors did the work. We sifted through the top products of the year to pull out the true standouts. If you’re a makeup girly, keep scrolling.

2025 Melanin Beauty Awards: Setting a Flawless Foundation: Concealers & Foundations We Love

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Once your skincare routine is locked in and you’re ready to start your makeup, it’s important to have the right tools to build a proper base. Before blush, lippie, or shadow, the basics matter.

Primer is the first step after skincare — it preps the face for everything that comes next. We want something smooth, something that grips, and something that lasts. Then come foundation sticks: the base that evens tone, smooths blemishes, and sets the stage. But if you’re like our editors, too-thick or cakey formulas are a no. We want coverage and moisture.

And then there’s concealer — a must-have for brightening and adding dimension. Whether you place it under the eyes, down the nose, or around the mouth, a great concealer enhances your foundation and covers those not-so-flawless areas with ease.

Some of our favorite products:

Ami Colé Skin Enhancing Lightweight Blurring Foundation Stick

Another gem from Ami Colé: a lightweight, blurring foundation stick that’s buildable, breathable, and packed with baobab oil and shea butter. It leaves skin soft, smooth, and naturally radiant—proof that the brand always understood the assignment.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer is that staple everyone keeps in their bag. It brightens, corrects, and smooths with medium, buildable coverage and a natural radiant finish that lasts all day. Blends easily, wears beautifully—no notes.

Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base

Bobbi Brown’s Vitamin Enriched Face Base is the perfect two-in-one when you want your skin to feel good and your makeup to sit right. It hydrates, plumps, and smooths with vitamins B, C, and E, plus hyaluronic acid and shea butter.

NARS Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation

A tried-and-true favorite. If you want full coverage that still looks like skin, this one delivers. It’s lightweight, buildable, lasts up to 16 hours, and comes in 34 shades that actually match real undertones.

The final steps make all the difference. A great setting spray keeps your makeup looking just as flawless and dewy as when you first applied it — we want to be locked in, not melting away. And lip balms? Non-negotiable. Not everyone is a lipstick or gloss girl, but everyone deserves something nourishing and luxe to finish off their look.

Some of the setting sprays and balms we’re loving:

PAT McGrath LABS Skin Fetish: Sublime Perfection Longwear Blurring Setting Spray

Pat McGrath doesn’t miss — and this setting spray proves it. The fine mist gives a soft-focus finish while locking makeup in for up to 16 hours. Hydrating, lightweight, and fresh (never flat), it keeps you camera-ready all day.

Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Liquid Blurring Balm Mattifying Setting Spray

Danessa Myricks keeps raising the bar. This weightless mist locks makeup in place while controlling shine. Infused with niacinamide and hyaluronic acid, it smooths texture and leaves skin soft, balanced, and photo-ready.