U.S. Beauty Editors Rave About These Products, so I'm Giving Them a Go

As a beauty editor who spends every waking minute reading about beauty products, I have always felt pretty confident in my breadth of knowledge. It is very rare that a beauty product comes my way and I know nothing about it. In fact, I'd say I've always been a little cocky about it. But a few months ago, something started happening that made me doubt myself. For you to understand this doubt, you'll have to bear with me while I lay some groundwork.

Throughout my working days, I spend a lot of my time with my nose deep in beauty content—I want to know what everyone is talking about. Sure, the beauty content I consume in my spare time is mostly UK-based (it's what I relate to most, after all), but when I'm in the Who What Wear office, I spend a great deal of time admiring the words of Team Who What Wear U.S., too. 

best-us-beauty-products-298976-1648825325466-main

(Image credit: @AIMEESONG)

And while I know that a big chunk of the beauty products Team U.S. wax lyrical about aren't available on UK shores, it's my job to know what's trending in different corners of the world. Whenever a product crops up that I know isn't available in the UK, I pop it into Google to see what it has to say for itself. I scroll through U.S. beauty sites to read reviews, check their retailers and dissect their ingredient lists for any up-and-coming ingredients trends.

But imagine my surprise when not once, not twice, but three times in the past month I have googled a U.S.-adored beauty product to discover that actually it is available in the UK—I've just never heard of it. It got me thinking about all of the brilliant beauty products that simply don't get any airtime.

I sat down and had a serious think about what the reasons for this could be. Differing tastes? Perhaps. Less corporate budget being spent on UK promotion? Very likely. Stiff competition in a nation that is inherently stuck in its beauty ways? Most certainly. The reasons that these U.S.-favourite beauty products haven't received equal levels of hype in the UK, I decided, are probably down to boring business decisions, not because the products aren't any good.

So to help lift the lid on some beauty products that U.S. beauty editors adore, I had a cracking idea. First, I reached out to one of my favourite people in beauty, Who What Wear's senior beauty editor in the U.S., Erin Jahns, to see if she thought my idea had any legs. When she agreed there seems to be a big disparity in our go-to recommendations, we decided it was time to do something about it. I sent her a list of all of the products I think U.S. beauty editors deem the best in the business in various categories (based on my research) along with their cult UK counterpart and asked her to confirm or deny.

I then made it my mission to get my hands on every U.S.-favourite product I could so that I could test it out against our UK go-tos. And I'll warn you now: Things got competitive…

1. SPF

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

2. Cleanser

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

3. Retinol

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

4. Skin Tool

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

5. Hair Treatment

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

6. Lip Product

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

7. Foundation

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

8. Blush

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

9. Perfume

U.S. Favourite

UK Favourite

Next up, these are the only beauty tips that matter, according to our beauty-editor DMs.

Freelance Beauty Editor

Shannon Lawlor is a renowned beauty journalist and has contributed to Who What Wear’s beauty content since 2020. As a leading beauty editor, expert and brand consultant, she has over eight years of experience working for some of the industry’s most esteemed titles, including Who What Wear (of course), Glamour UK, Stylist, Refinery29 and Fabulous. Having also worked behind the scenes with some of the industry’s biggest brands and retailers, Shannon has a unique insight into what people really want from their beauty routines. Understanding that beauty lovers seek honest, open and responsible advice, she has it made her mission to demystify the intimidating world of beauty, taking a no-frills approach to the most relatable topics. While Shannon is the first to admit she doesn’t hold the answer to every beauty question out there, she is dedicated to sharing her expert insights in a bid to help. As a self-proclaimed lazy girl, Shannon has an affinity for easy-to-use, foolproof beauty products and has made it her mission to scope out the best of the best. When she’s not working, Shannon is likely soaking in the bath or giving no-holds-barred beauty reviews on Instagram from her bathroom floor.