#187: The Allure 2026 Best Makeup Winners are ROTTEN!
Beautiful and Bothered
Hosts Johnny and Kevin from Beautiful and Bothered systematically critique the first half of Allure's 2026 Best in Beauty makeup winners, questioning the
Key takeaways
- Allure charges $95 per product for standard categories and $695 for Breakthrough awards, fueling host skepticism about whether accolades reflect true quality or brand relationship management.
- The hosts heavily criticize the Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay in Place Makeup as Best Matte Liquid Foundation due to its reformulated, sticky latex-like finish that they find inferior to competitors like Charlotte Tilbury and L'Oréal.
Main topics
- Allure Best in Beauty Awards critique
- Primer performance and categorization debates
Notable quotes
"We don't want to piss off Estee Lauder."
Conclusion
The episode serves as a consumer guide emphasizing that magazine accolades do not
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) Oh, Jones Road Beauty. Speaker 1 (0:01) We're disgusting. At Speaker 2 (0:03) least we caught this right Speaker 1 (0:04) now. Take two from Jones Road Beauty. We don't want to piss off Estee Lauder. Could you imagine Estee Lauder corporate going double where it didn't win an Allure Award? Miranda Priestly, what happens? What happens? They're going to pull all of their money out of Allure. I'm Speaker 2 (0:18) saying, Speaker 1 (0:18) girl, bullshit that there's not politics involved. Oh my. Speaker 1 (0:23) Good God. Can we put makeup on again? These cream bronzers should have won. Those are lovely. Because we have variety. Unlike the Fwee Pops. I don't know how it got there, but I'm using it. Let me tell you, honey. So you're stealing. Apparently, we need someone in the office to tell you what things are called or what they are or where they go. That's embarrassing. You're the beauty experts. Self-proclaimed. Speaker 2 (0:43) You may not realize that you're judged by the way that you look. Today, you can brush your way to sheer beauty. Let Speaker 1 (0:50) me show you how. Speaker 2 (0:59) I was going to say it's the most wonderful time of the year. So was I. Speaker 1 (1:06) sisters, sisters. I was gonna, I was literally getting, it's the most, I was about to launch into it, bitch. But is it? Well, that's what I was gonna say. I Speaker 2 (1:16) was gonna say it, but it's really not. I know. Because Speaker 1 (1:18) you Speaker 2 (1:18) know it's gonna be Speaker 1 (1:19) shit. I know, guys. It's that time of year. It is the Allure Best in Beauty Awards. This holds a special place in our heart. It was one of the first, first season we did this and it was. Those two episodes were like our first two to ever blow up on YouTube. That's right. We had the Allure Awards. And that's where we really hit our stride comedically in that one. I mean, the AI written thing of like best hair care steal. And it was f***ing zealer. Best powder bronzer. Best three color eyeshadow Speaker 2 (1:51) was the Maybelline. And it was... Best powder bronzer. Speaker 1 (1:53) Best color. Best Speaker 2 (1:53) powder bronzer. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best Speaker 1 (1:55) color. Speaker 2 (1:56) Best color. Speaker 1 (1:57) Best Speaker 2 (1:57) color. Speaker 1 (1:57) Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Speaker 2 (1:57) Best Speaker 1 (1:57) color. Speaker 2 (1:57) Best Speaker 1 (1:57) color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Speaker 2 (1:58) Best Speaker 1 (1:59) color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Speaker 2 (1:59) Best color. Speaker 1 (1:59) Best Speaker 2 (1:59) color. Best color. Best color. Speaker 1 (1:59) Best color. Speaker 2 (2:00) Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Speaker 1 (2:00) Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best color. Best Speaker 2 (2:07) color. Speaker 1 (2:08) Best color. Best color. Best Speaker 1 (2:16) Which is really frightening. Very Speaker 2 (2:18) scary. Yeah. If there's Laura Mercier powder, loose powder on here, so help me God. Speaker 1 (2:23) I'm... going to take Speaker 2 (2:24) this and break the screen. The show's canceled. Speaker 1 (2:28) Bars go up and it's just, we'll be right back. And it was funny. So the, this week, another beauty podcast had someone on from Allure. And it's just so funny, like hearing them talk about it, where some of the hot things are, they of course commit to the fact that it's not paid, that no one pays to what, but if I'm not mistaken, I think you do have to pay to submit it. You must. How Speaker 2 (2:50) does Allure make money if they don't? If these brands Speaker 1 (2:52) don't pay for it, you know? Well, Speaker 2 (2:54) they Speaker 1 (2:54) probably make so much off of the internet. The commission or whatever. Like the ad sold. I mean, as we sit here, you guys can't see it yet, but the, you know, that ad right above it. And Speaker 2 (3:04) I'm sure they make money when you click the links like the buy now or take me to the website. Oh, Speaker 1 (3:08) yes. Speaker 2 (3:08) They make all that money from that Speaker 1 (3:10) too, I'm sure. And this is probably like the Super Bowl where the digital ad placement is probably so much more expensive. To be on this page because they know it's going to have more traffic. Yes, you do have to pay an entry fee and submit products for certain categories and submission amounts. Requires $95 per product entrance fee. Not terrible entry fee. No, Speaker 2 (3:32) no. Speaker 1 (3:32) But per product. Breakthrough category requires a $695 per product entry fee. to help cover the deep scientific and expert analysis required for these awards. Scientific? Let's calm down right now. Scientific. Okay, that's good to know about Breakthrough Product. I thought Breakthrough Product would have just also been more about maybe virality or popularity rather than... So... I better be blown away by the science. Scientific. I better be blown away by the science, honey. But they always refuse that they don't pay for winners or whatever, but it's still... They're saying that L'Oreal doesn't just give them like $20,000 to put their products on. Make it a winner. Yeah. Yeah. Which, okay, whatever. Okay, fine. Speaker 2 (4:17) That's not the case. But they still have to pay to... It's not... This was the best product? Yes. Good job. And that's where I almost feel like if we commit to that Speaker 1 (4:27) story, that makes me judge them harder because then now you're saying with your chest, this one because of your taste, not corrupt influence. That's so all right. So then now your expertise is really going to be front and center here. And listen, don't tell me that there's not some sort of like bribery Speaker 2 (4:44) to that the brands don't send flowers and Speaker 1 (4:47) food Speaker 2 (4:47) and and send you more products for everyone in the office. Don't tell me that that doesn't come into play that like Clinique isn't. sending you kickbacks to like put their stuff on. Clinique loves you when everyone walks out with the Venus et Fleur roses that are $600. Without a Speaker 1 (5:04) doubt. Speaker 2 (5:04) You Speaker 1 (5:04) know, Speaker 2 (5:04) like, come on. Like, you got to tell me that there's like, that it's all just, this is the best of the best. Speaker 1 (5:09) Because you Speaker 2 (5:09) got Speaker 1 (5:10) to understand it's Speaker 2 (5:10) the Speaker 1 (5:10) same as influencers. They're still, you know, influencers suck the D of a certain brand, even if it's an unpaid ad. But like they always talk about them. They always are never have a negative thing to say about them because if they have already established a relationship, they don't want to hurt that relationship. So if Allure doesn't pick any L'Oreal winners for an entire year, that could maybe sully L'Oreal's opinion of. advertising on their website and because it's a beauty publication so they make most of their money the other 365 days of the year by when they run an ad about how you know blurred lips are in all the ads that pop up are probably going to be beauty focused ads yeah and that's where they still have politics to consider behind the scenes well Speaker 2 (5:58) of course and maureen from tart isn't going to take you to brunch and go to the headquarters exactly exactly so Speaker 1 (6:05) Yeah, I don't know. I doubt that it's like completely unpolitical, but. Completely. All right. Good to know. I know. All right. So now we're really judging the taste of the people who work there. The awards with Speaker 2 (6:17) the Speaker 1 (6:17) check. The awards Speaker 2 (6:18) with Speaker 1 (6:18) the check. Speaker 2 (6:19) The child Speaker 1 (6:19) mentioned a check. No, I didn't. All right, let's dive in. So we have Best in Best of Beauty 2026. The way these are divided up this year are like driving us insane. I hate it. All righty. Speaker 2 (6:35) Take Speaker 1 (6:36) it away. Speaker 2 (6:36) So right out the gate, we're going to start with the best illuminating primer. It goes to the Rode Highlighting Milk. I've tried other products from Rode. Okay. I like them. Okay. I will say, you know, like I was very skeptical. I was very judgmental going into it. I was pleasantly surprised by two. Yes. Maybe three. Yeah. Nothing crazy. Uh-huh. But I haven't tried this. Yes. I also don't know how I feel about an illuminating Speaker 1 (7:02) milk all over my face. Because even the road milk, I would consider that more skincare than primer. So Speaker 2 (7:08) here's my thing that I always say, like, especially with road products, I consider it more makeup prep than skincare. More like POV. Yes. Okay. Because I don't consider it. While there might be skincare ingredients like other makeup primers, whatever, I don't consider it to be, like I would never use Rode as my skincare. I would use it as primer. So I respect that it's here as a primer. I like that they're not saying that this is a glazing serum Speaker 1 (7:34) that you could use anytime. Yes. That I would be pissed. 100%. When makeup centric skincare is double dipping as this is your primer, but it also is- You can use Speaker 2 (7:45) it at night. Speaker 1 (7:46) Anti-aging. Don't do that. Speaker 2 (7:48) Do it. Okay. So, fine. All right. Do I think that this is the best of the best for $28? No. No, absolutely not for illuminating primers. Illuminating primers, doing just that, you got to do a little bit more for me than that. I know. I don't have perfect skin, so if I'm going to illuminate and add shimmer to my pores. Speaker 1 (8:12) Oh my Speaker 2 (8:12) God. You're covering it. Like I'd rather use the Mac Studio Radiance Primer because that's actually going to grip. It's going to prime and it adds radiance, Speaker 1 (8:20) but it's not shimmer. The iconic London glowing and blurring primer. The Speaker 2 (8:25) velvet blur. The underglow. Speaker 1 (8:27) Underglow primer. Where that's. uh, luminizing and blurring and Speaker 2 (8:31) hydrating. There's yeah. Priming benefits to it, which I, there Speaker 1 (8:35) is priming benefits that it's going to be glazy, whatever. Yes. Speaker 2 (8:37) But again, I don't think this is the best of the best. Yeah. And this is also brand spanking new that came out with the bronzers. So I know out of 2026 Speaker 1 (8:47) so far. Yes. Crazy. Yeah. Screaming. Okay. Best mattifying primer, the Smashbox photo finish, poor vanishing primer. This is where I talk about judging the people apparently making these decisions uninfluenced as possible. A silicone smoothing primer is not inherently mattifying. Yeah. That's not its task. The point is to fill. Smooth. And like it says, vanish the pores. It doesn't. So best smoothing primer? Maybe. Sure. And they've done this time and time again. I think it was the Elf Putty Primer was their best matte primer one year. Putty. Putty. Primer. There's nothing mattifying. And then... Flubber. Six months after it won that award, they came out with an Elf Mattifying Putty Primer. But you just won Best Mattifying Primer for the original. And that blur and that smoothness that you get when you put it on, yes, it also takes away shine because it's silicone-based. But silicone on its own, just dimethicone in a tube is not combating oil the way other specific mattifying primers are going to do that. And that's where to me, one size secure the sweat and secure the blur. Oil sucker. That's what I meant. Secure the sweat and oil sucker. One size. The new Fenty Beauty one is amazing. The mattifying. Blurring and gripping. The Inkla. There's so many other ones that are specifically about mattifying. And as someone that has a combo skin, I would never just use this to mattify. I'd be shiny. Speaker 2 (10:19) Yeah. I almost want to bet that there's another primer on here that is more mattifying that they're going to say is blurring. Without a doubt. And this screams we put it in new packaging. So we need people to know that it's still the same thing. Of course. Guys. And then the best hydrating primer is the Kylie Cosmetics Supple Glaze Hydrating Primer. I didn't even know. I wouldn't know a thing. I didn't know this existed. Me neither. It sounds nice. Yeah. I will give them that. Didn't even know this existed. So that's kind of crazy. Yes. That this is an award-winning primer. Yeah. And not saying that I've heard of every beauty product. Yes. But from a brand like Speaker 1 (10:55) Kylie. Yes. I haven't heard of this. It's kind of wild. Yeah. This should be something with stiff competition. Every primer claims to be hydrating. Like where that's where I always feel like just a straight up hydrating primer is not, I'd rather use better skincare. If you're someone that claims you need a hydrating primer, there's gaps in the skincare situation. Speaker 2 (11:18) By the end of your skin prep, you shouldn't be questioning your level of Speaker 1 (11:22) hydration anymore. With that, which is why I feel like primers are more for mattifying, smoothing or luminosity. Primers should be. Speaker 2 (11:30) Like you shouldn't have to. More makeup than skincare. If you need a primer, the primer should be picking up the slack where your skincare did not. So if you need to like use a primer to hydrate, again, like nine times out of 10, if I feel dry, I don't use primer at all. I just do good skincare that preps my skin. Yes. If I feel oily, I'm going to blur and smooth and mattify where I need it that day, depending on what my skin needs. If I need more hydration. Speaker 2 (12:00) Yes. I'm going to switch up my skincare. Yes. Speaker 1 (12:02) Like I just got the new, Speaker 2 (12:04) you Speaker 1 (12:05) know, the, you know, the skincare brand remedy that's launched recently. It's actually the two guys. Amazing dermatologist. Oh, yes. Dr. Shaw. And then Dr. Mac. Something hot. Hot. Anyway, they launched their skincare brand and it's like affordable. I mean, other brands are by dermatologists, but I feel like they're really making stuff that is like taking out the bullshit, like simple of what it is. And I've been using, I've been trying the copper peptide serum for a while, which I love. But when I wanted to buy it, I accidentally bought. because it launched like that week, just the hyaluronic acid hydration serum. Let me tell you something, honey. That is the most hydrating serum I've ever used. Their stuff is amazing. I say all that to say, right now, today, before I did my makeup, I... have been neglecting it the past couple days. So instead of doing like my copper peptide serum or my normal daytime, I kept the hyaluronic acid serum because I need, I need it was so hydrating. I'd rather pick that up because my problem with like the big primer industry is I don't think people realize if you're so committed to just using a hydrating primer, instead of beefing up your skincare for just hydration, which is the point of skincare, you don't know how the formulation of a primer is going to interact with the rest of your makeup. And if it's silicone based or water-based. It could litter quite literally be the reason your foundation is breaking up is running off your face is settling is whatever the case is. I don't want that much underneath my makeup. So a hydrating serum to me is kind of overrated in general,