Best New Luxury Makeup & Beauty Releases of 2025... so far... what is REALLY worth the $$

I cannot believe that it is time for this video, that it is time for mid-year favorites like the best in beauty so far of 2025. Let's get into what I believe are the best new beauty releases so far of 2025. I have one product that is not a makeup product. I don't typically talk a lot about skincare on my channel unless it is something that is just extraordinary or above and beyond. I mean I can. I can talk about skincare but I don't have anything that has been released this year that really sticks out to me except the Current Body Red Light Mask. This mask is so good. I talked about this in my Hero Products. I started doing red light therapy about a year ago and I started with just a lower end really inexpensive mask to see if it was something that I could sustain, right? Like if it was something that I was content to wear every day because the key to red light therapy is you really do have to be consistent. It's not something you can just do once a week and expect to see results. It's something that you really should be doing daily. So I wanted to see, you know, is it something that I can keep up with? The answer was yes. Once I realized that it was something that I could sustain and use daily, I wanted to invest in a higher quality mask and Current Body released this mask. This one is unique because it has a chin strap. So when you put it on, it gets the skin under here, which is very important, you know, as you age, this skin right here becomes loose, you get turkey neck, whatever. So I really like that this also treats that area. And I like that it is a silicone mask, that it's a very, very flexible, that it conforms to the shape of your face. I knew that I didn't want a hard plastic mask. I wanted something that would move with me so I could be doing other things if I wanted. You can put it on, walk around the house, like I won't make my coffee in this mask. I won't drink it because the mouth hole is teeny tiny. This little sliver for your mouth, like it's really difficult to eat and drink, but it's only 10 minutes. My first mask was 20 minutes. I would leave it on for 20 minutes. This is not a sponsored video or anything, but I do have a discount code. More on that in a minute. But this is so easy to use because it just has one button. My other mask had a whole bunch of settings. This one doesn't. It's just literally a button. Put it on, it beeps, and then here you go. Your red light mask is on. 10 minutes a day. It's super easy to charge, just a USB charger. I'd say 8 to 10 uses before you need to recharge it. I am a firm believer in red light therapy. So a little bit about me quickly, I am undergoing breast cancer treatment. I take medicine that completely depletes my estrogen and prevents me from making it. Red light therapy increases collagen production. It reduces redness. The fact that I have no estrogen and my skin is as healthy as it is at my age, I firmly believe is due to me implementing red light therapy and being consistent with it. I do it every single day. If I miss a day, it's because I'm out of town or something has happened. But most of the time, I do this every single day. It's super easy. 10 minutes a day. Like I said, I can do it while I'm making coffee or doing the dishes, doing whatever because it fits so well to your face that you can do other things while you're wearing it. Highly recommend the Current Body LED Mask. Like I said, I do have a discount code. This is not a sponsored video. I purchased this mask with my own money well before I started my channel or maybe shortly after I started my channel, but I spent my own money on this. This was not anything that the brand gifted to me and I believe in it and I recommend it. It also comes in this cute little carry bag so you can take it with you if you want. I love my red light mask. Moving into makeup, that's probably why you're all here. However, I do highly recommend looking into red light therapy, especially if you are, you know, more mature. I have three here to talk about. We're going to start with the Givenchy Prismalibra Glow Serum Foundation. I have mine in the shade 2N. This sits beautifully on the skin. It doesn't look like makeup. It is glowy but also blurring. I have used this in several of my videos. This is something that I will continue to repurchase, continue to keep in my collection. Not that I need to. I still have a full bottle of it, but I love it. I've used it a lot and I think it's gorgeous. They have a really nice shade range. It is, like I said, glowy but blurring, very smoothing on the skin. It wears phenomenally well. It's beautiful. I have mentioned this in favorites videos. The next foundation that I'm going to touch on is newer to me in its current formulation and that is the Chantecaille Future Skin. This has quickly become one of my top foundations. I feel like all of the issues that I had with the original Future Skin, for me personally, have been resolved with this new formulation. One of those being the shade match and the other being the complete lack of coverage. My closest shade before now was Alabaster. And Alabaster is a decent shade match for me. It's, like I said, the closest shade match to me but that just had very little coverage so it was something that I would have to build up. It's very easy to build up because it is so thin and lightweight, but this one, this is the Color Shell. No building required. It's light coverage. I would call the original version in Alabaster Sheer. This I would call light, so it kicks it up a notch. And light coverage is perfectly fine for me. I'm perfectly happy with a light coverage foundation, especially one that looks like your skin. This ticks all the boxes for me. It is everything that I want in a foundation. I wish it were slightly, just the slightest bit lighter and more pale yellow. I'm still incredibly happy with it and I highly recommend this for mature skin beauties out there. I think it's a phenomenal formula. I think that the packaging is far improved over the original. It's glass now. It feels luxe. It looks luxe. There's no scent. It has skincare in the formula. Now I'm not the biggest proponent for that, but I'm not opposed to it either. You know what I mean? If it's in there and it doesn't have anything that irritates your skin, I'm all for it. The more hydrating, good-for-you things that I can put on my face at my age, the better. And this is a beautiful formula, undetectable on the skin. It doesn't settle into lines or wrinkles. It wears all day. I highly recommend taking a look at the new reformulated Chantecaille Future Skin. The only place that I would feel comfortable being certain that you're getting the new version and not the old is the Chantecaille website itself. I will link this below. The last complexion that I want to talk about is one that completely took me by surprise this year. That is the Jones Road Just Enough Tinted Moisturizer. I did a skin tint roundup where I talked about 20, I think it was 21 skin tints that I have tried. This one made it into my top five. This is a beautiful skin tint. I mean, it's one of my favorites. It sits so beautifully on the skin. It's creamy. It's hydrating, but it's not like greasy, dewy. It doesn't melt off your skin. It's a natural finish. It is stunning on the skin. And the price is right. And you get so much product in here, you get 1.69 ounces. I feel like this will last a really long time. I understand that Jones Road is kind of tricky to order from because you can only get it at Jones Road and you have to spend a certain amount before you can get the free shipping. If you're like me and hate paying for shipping, I do plan on testing out some more Jones Road products so that hopefully can help you maybe build a cart with what's worth it or what's not to get that free shipping. Because I do believe that this product is worth a purchase. I believe that it would work for many different skin types, many different ages to really knock it out of the park with this product. I don't really have a face powder. There's not really one that was released this year that really has knocked my socks off or taken the place of my top powders. So we're going to get into bronzer. And I have two to talk about. We're going to start with the Westman Atelier Bronzing Drops. These are the Suntone Matte Bronzing Drops. I have mine in the shade Soleil Parfait 1. This is a product that is the first bronzing drop product, like drop product, that I actually like. And I think it's because of the formula, obviously. It's very sheer. So they're very liquidy. I mean, they are called bronzing drops and they are a, you know, it's a drop. Here's Soleil Parfait 1 on my hand. You can see it kind of dripping down there. They're, they are kind of tricky to use. A lot of people have success using a brush. It didn't work for me to use a brush. A lot of people do successfully use a brush. The best way for me, I have found, is to use a sponge to work quickly. So the sponge, because it's wet, it doesn't dry as quickly and to work quickly. Because they're so sheer and so blendable, it's so easy and so fast to do. The only downside I can think of is that you do have to take that extra step, right? You do have to pour down on your hand or a palette or something and then put it onto the face. But I think it's worth it for the look that this gives you. They last all day. I mean, it's a beautiful product. And look at the packaging. Like, just the packaging alone. I want all of my makeup to be in this color packaging. Like, I love it. I love it. I have another bronzer to talk about. This is a new purchase to me, but I am absolutely in love with it. And it is the Farah Humeidi Bronzer. This is called the Essential Bronzer Compact. I have mine in the lightest shade, which I believe is Bois. So I just Googled. It's, it is Bois. Here's the thing. Prior to filming this video, filmed a video where I demo this bronzer. I am wearing it right now and it is absolutely gorgeous. However, sad times. I dropped it and it shattered. I was like cleaning off my desk and it fell and yeah, it shattered. I have to be very careful with it now. And it's so unfortunate because this is $78. $78 and I broke it already. And I feel like I'm going to have to buy another one because tried to press it back in there. But you know, once they're broken, they're never quite the same. I'm so afraid that when I get in there with my brush, it's just going to crumble and keep crumbling. And I mean, I'm not trying to be whiny, but I am quite bummed that I broke this already. It is the rosiest bronzer that I own. Prior to purchasing this, the Gucci bronzer in a one fair was the rosiest bronzer that I owned. This one beats that. It's much rosier. You can wear it all over the face as a bronzer, as a blush, as an eyeshadow, as a highlighter because of the glow. It is stunning. My only issue with that bronzer is the price compared to how much product you get. It is $78. You get 0.12 ounces of product. Like that's very small. That is smaller than most blushes and bronzers. You use so much more than a blush. I feel like you need more product. I wish that that were 0.28 ounces, you know, which is pretty standard for a bronzer. It's less than half of what you would get in any other bronzer, but it's so gorgeous. And they do have refills. The refills are 42. That is something that I would 100% repurchase because it's so good. Regardless of the price, regardless of the fragility. Now, I don't think it's fragile. Like I dropped it flat on my hardwoods. That was on me. Does not work for me if it starts crumbling and falling apart. I will buy another one. As painful as it is to do after just having purchased that one, I would buy another refill. And when this one runs out, if I get through it, you know, if it holds together and I'm able to get through it, I will repurchase it because it is so pretty on the skin. It gives you like a true sun-kissed look, like almost like you were slightly burnt, a slight sunburn. So this is like a sunburn without the skin damage. It's gorgeous. I highly recommend it. In specific, this shade. Phenomenal. Like truly so good. I had to mention it in this video, even though, you know, all of the things that I said about the size and the price, I still think it's exceptional. I really do. So let's get into blushes. And I mean, hands down, the number one blush release of the year. The best blush that I have personally tried this year, powder blush, has got to be the YSL Make Me Blushes. These are so good. I have four of them. Got two here in front of me. Nude Lavalier, Lavalier. And it's much more pinky purple than purpley pink, if that makes sense. I thought this was going to be like a dusty mauve shade. It's not. It's pink. And then this is Rosehaze. This is just a very beautiful, neutral, easy to wear shade. I have two different tones here. This one has a sheen to it and Rosehaze is matte. So this is Nude, Nude Lavalier, Lavalier. I'm not sure. And this is Rosehaze. So this one's matte and this one has a sheen. I hope you can see that sheen. Really, really pretty. They have a beautiful selection of colors and they keep releasing more. I think in other countries there were more shades released than we got here in the US, but they're slowly releasing them. I recently picked up Coral Clash. Love that one as well. I think that the formula is stunning. I think it is so easy to work with. I think that the packaging is something unique and special and not what you see every day. These have to take the top spot in the blush category for me, especially, specifically powder blushes. Now cream blushes, there are a couple of formulas that I want to talk about. I believe that these from Chanel are limited edition, but I do still see them available. So I have to talk about them because I do think they are something unique in the blush stick space. So these were released with the La Beige Golden Hour Collection. There are two blush sticks. This is in Reset. It is like an orange, like I mean an orange, but a soft orange. And this is Refresh, which is a hot pink. Now what makes these different to any other blush sticks and why I think these are worth the money is that they are matte. The finish of them is matte, but they do have like a slight, very, very slight sheen to them. So they're not flat, but they don't highlight any texture. They just go on and blend out so good. And these are multi-use sticks, so you can use them on the lips. I like to use both shades together. I like to kind of mix them. I like to go in with the orange all over the cheek and then put the pink a little more concentrated on the apples of the cheeks. Gives you a beautiful look. They wear so well. They do have a scent. They smell like typical Chanel makeup and it does linger. I smell it when I'm wearing it. It's a pleasant smell and I like it, but it does linger. Just want to be upfront about that. However, I think that these are something special and I don't know if I feel like they're limited edition. And I feel like if you like cream blushes and you are drawn to either of these shades, I don't think that you would be disappointed in these. I think they're so easy to work with. They're so beautiful on the face. And like I said, they're like a cream blush that doesn't accentuate any texture. Even the orange, which has a bit more of a gold reflect in it, like a gold sheen, it's very hard to tell. Like as you can see, you get mostly matte from these, but it does have a little bit of reflectivity on the cheeks, but it still just smooths over your texture. I love those. I highly, highly recommend them. I don't think that you would be disappointed in them if you like cream blushes. And again, if you like these two shades. And the next cream blush that I have to touch on is the Dior. I love these. I know that audiences are slightly divided on these, right? People either love them or they hate them. Typically, I do not like an incredibly emollient blush stick. Not because I don't like the way they look, but because they dissolve your makeup underneath them. These do not do that. These are unique to me because they are a very glowy, very hydrating, very like shimmery blush, but they don't eat through your makeup. Let me just show you the difference in formulas there. Do you see how that kind of has a wet look to it? And the Chanel doesn't. And this is the shade Candy. This one does have a reflect. It has like a gold reflect. You can see in their sheen. Like it's got a quite, quite a reflective sheen on this one. It's so pretty on the cheeks and they last so well on me. I love these. Like I said, I know that some people don't. I do. And this is the shade Toffee. It's like a really light peach. This one also has a very reflective sheen. Like, can you see that? It almost looks wet. This one, when you put it on, almost looks like you've got a highlighter too. It does. It's a beautiful light combo and it's a really neutral shade, which is very unusual. This is just like a soft, beautiful peach. Love it. And then the last one is Cherry. I love a red blush. So Cherry does not have any reflective sheen. It's not matte because it's, you know, it's a luminous formula, but there's no shimmer particles in it. I'm hoping you can see the difference here in the Chanel blushes, which are matte, than the Dior, which are not. They're very glowy, but they're glowy in a way that, in my opinion, is very flattering. They don't feel any more sticky than the Chanel. And then once they set down, they just, they wear beautifully. I don't have any issues with them. I love them. And I think the colors are beautiful. Semi-unique in the blush, in the cream blush arena. I feel that way about both of them. I really love these and that packaging. Like, look at the packaging. These just scream luxury to me. I do highly recommend them. I have Taupe on right now, but I am also wearing the new Charlotte Tilbury blushes and I really like those too. However, I just got those, so I didn't want to include them in this video. They might be in the second half of 2025 favorites. I do really like those. I just haven't spent enough time with them to put them in this video. I have one highlighter to talk about. I'm sure you can all guess which highlighter that is. If you know me, you know it has to be the Prada. And I'm sorry, this is very dirty, but I didn't want to clean it because if I clean it, I feel like it's way more reflective and blinding. I left the fingerprints on there for this video. This is the Prada highlight. Now this is the shade pink and it's my favorite. Something that I'm realizing is that I prefer pink highlights to champagne or gold ones because anything with like a gold or champagne, it pulls so gold on me. Like the Prada champagne to me is almost slightly deeper than this one. It looks gold in certain lights. I like the pink because I like to put my highlight kind of everywhere on my cheek. It blends in with my blush colors effortlessly. There is no glitter, no shimmer. It's like a soft frosty glow, but not the frost that you're probably thinking of when I said that word. Does that make sense? It's a beautiful, beautiful formula. It's so expensive though. If I were you and you are interested in this, I would number one, order it from maybe Selfridges or Harrods or something like that where it's much less expensive than here or just get the refill. If you do happen to have a Prada eyeshadow palette, it's the exact same size. So you can just pop it in there. By far my favorite highlight release of 2025. I do really like the YSL too. I think the Prada just ever so slightly wins out over the YSL for me. I will get more into that when I do a highlighter video. Okay, eyeshadow palettes. Number one release of 2025 and eyeshadow palettes for me has got to be the Prada Hollow Nudes collection. I have one of them here. This is Pansy and this is just probably my favorite Prada eyeshadow palette and I have almost all of them or my second favorite. I really like Pulte too. Primula, the deeper one of this collection is also stunning. I haven't spent as much time with that one, but I feel like in the fall, it's going to be my go-to. These eyeshadows feel like creams, like when you swatch them and you rub them between your fingers, they do not feel powdery. They feel like a cream. Here is Pansy swatched. Now I initially did not purchase this. I purchased the other ones and skipped Pansy because I felt like it was too pink for me. However, it is not and it has pretty much become my most worn Prada eyeshadow palette. It's so easy to get a look with that palette. You cannot mess up with Prada eyeshadows. You just can't. They're so easy to work with. They're so good. Prada is my number one eyeshadow formula. Cannot wait for them to release more shades because the majority of their line, they're beautiful neutral colors that they have a pop of color, like a blue or a purple or an orange or you know, whatever. This collection though is all just nudes, hollow nudes. If you were maybe slightly intimidated by the Prada color stories, but you want to try the formula, I would start with one of these and this holographic shade in this palette is so pretty. It's got like green, pink, blue, gold. Gorgeous. I also have to touch on the Dior Five Colors Limited Edition Palette, specifically in the shade Brown Cashmere and this is a really good eyeshadow formula. The only downside to this is going to be that it's limited edition because it's so good. Perfect for an everyday look, but it's like an everyday look and then some. It's an everyday look with something just extra special. Every time I wear this palette, I get compliments. So here is that palette swatched. Even swatching it and looking at it, it doesn't look like anything special, but I promise you when you put it on the eyes, it is. This gold shade right here on the eyelids, stunning. This deep brown blends out so easily. It's got like a bit of a sheen to it. This luminescent shade in the top corner, gorgeous. The white is an excellent white. It's so good for inner corner highlight. This is a complete look in this palette. You can do your eyeliner. You can do everything. I never need to reach for anything outside of just that palette when I do an eye look. If I can find this, I will link this below. It is limited edition. It is becoming harder and harder to find. I think if you can find one, you should snatch it up. I don't say that often. I'm not a person that's like, yeah, buy this. I'm like, here's the information. Buy it if you want, if you think it would be right for you. If this looks like something you would wear, I don't think you'd be disappointed. I really don't. Then the last eyeshadow palette, this is also limited edition. Like limited edition collections this year were just, they were coming for me. Like they were coming for my wallet. They're so beautiful. This is the Tom Ford Bronze Isle palette. I have worn this so much since I purchased it. These shades are stunning. The matte shade in the top is so good as a transition shade. And this red and brown for like blending out the crease. I get the prettiest eye looks when I use this palette. It's so flattering on me and my eyes and my skin tone. It makes my brown eyes pop. I love it. This is another one that is limited edition. It's easier to find because it's so stupid expensive. However, lots of places have this on sale. Macy's runs sales all the time. Bloomingdale's runs sales. It's easy to find at a discount. And I think that at the discounted price, I do believe that it is worth it if you like warm tones. It's one of my favorites. I have worn it so many times. These three eyeshadow palettes are 100% my most worn eyeshadow palettes. I love them. These product eyeliners, this is such an excellent release this year. I only wish they had more shades. I think they only have six shades, but the shades are dialed in. They're great, right? This shade, Ember, is something so totally unique for me. It's like a grungy, browny gray. That's the shade Ember. It is something special. When I first ordered it, I thought it was going to be just another pewter or a steely gray. No, it's got brown in it. It's got gray. Very grungy shade. I love to use that one just under my lash line. I just blend it out with my finger. This shade, Mahogany, this is so not a shade that I thought I would ever like. It's a red, but it's like a grungy red. It's got some brown. It's got some gray in it. The thing about these eyeliners that just, I love, that is a standout is how budge-proof they are. I'm going to let these set down. I'll show you. They just, they don't move. And I like to take the Mahogany. I can use it under my lash line or I also take it along the top of my lash line and draw my black wing kind of on top of it. It's something small, but to me, it's something extra that I absolutely love. I recently posted my go-to makeup look and I used that eyeliner and it's, I love it. I love it. These eyeliners, they're so creamy. They do not tug or pull. I mean, they just glide on. They're called durable glide and they really, that's exactly how I would describe them. They glide on, no tugging, no pulling. Now, along with that, the Prada, Prada Scope Mascara. This is also a new release this year. And I think that it is the best mascara out of all the mascaras that have released this year. It's unique. It has this bristle brush that's like true bristle. Like, you know, it looks like a hairbrush for your eyelashes and it just gets in there and grabs every single lash and it is buildable. You can build it and build it and build it. It doesn't flake or smudge on me. It wears all day. I absolutely love this mascara. Let me show you these eyeliners, okay? Nothing. I will have to take a makeup wipe to get them off. They don't go anywhere. If they have a color that you like, I highly recommend those. All we have left is lips and I have to touch on the Westman Atelier Lip Liners. Now, this is an unusual circumstance for me where I am recommending and loving a lip liner that does not set down. There's something special about these. Normally, I don't like lip liners that don't set down because I feel like they get everywhere, right? Or they wear away or they evaporate. These don't seem to do that because they are so creamy and pigmented. So from the outside to in, this is Petal, this is Cuckoo and this is Biscuit. I wear them all the time. I think Biscuit is a perfect contour shade to like overline your lips, sculpt them and then either of these two work great to like define the lips. They're so good. They're expensive for what they are. Like $34 for a lip liner to me is a lot, especially one that is smaller than average. This is 0.03 ounces. Most of them are 0.04. So it is kind of, you know, like why is it so much? But it's Westman Atelier. It's luxury, clean beauty. I understand the price point. It's not going to be priced the same as your average lip liner. I do think the shades are really dialed in. They're gorgeous colors. The formula is so easy to work with. They just glide on the lips. They last really well for a lip liner that doesn't set down. And I think that that has to do with the pigmentation level. They're very pigmented. So they don't just like wipe away and disappear because there's so much pigment to them. I really like these. I think that it's a great release from Westman Atelier. If you are somebody that likes your lip liner to set down and lock in place, you're not going to like those. But I went through all of my lip liners and very few of them actually set down. I was really kind of surprised by that because I felt like they all did. They didn't. If you're okay with maybe having to touch up after a meal, I don't think that you would be disappointed in these. The Tom Ford Soleil Lip Balms. And I love these. This is the Tom Ford Lip Balm in 03 Escapist. I've raved about this shade multiple times on my channel because I love it so much. Something about this shade in this formula really works magic on me and my face. It's a beautiful formula. I absolutely love the shade in particular. I would describe it as like a poppy shade. I have two other shades in this Tom Ford Lip Balm but this one is my favorite. And it has to do not only with the formula but the color. It goes with all of these eyeshadow palettes that I've mentioned. All of the blushes. It's just something that I can put on and it makes me happy. It makes me feel good. I put this on in my go-to makeup look. I also have a whole video where I demo these and the Tom Ford eyeshadow palette. If you want to see that, I'll try to remember to link it up here somewhere. I absolutely love that lip balm. As soon as I thought of this video, this was the first one that popped up in my head. I hope that you enjoyed this video. I had a lot of fun gathering all these products and kind of reflecting on what came out at the beginning of the year. What really stood out to me? What went above and beyond? What was not just another release? Because there were a lot of releases that I really loved but they don't like take up space in my mind palace where I'm like, that's truly different. That's unique. That's exceptional. So these are the products that stand out to me that are my favorite makeup releases so far of 2025. I hope that you enjoyed this video. I hope it was helpful. If you liked it, please give it a like. I would love it if you subscribe to my channel. I am newer on YouTube. I'm having so much fun talking about makeup. I would love to have you here. Thanks so much for watching. I will see you soon in another video and until then, please take care of yourselves. Bye-bye.