AR Beauty Beat, January 2025: Best Beauty & Grooming Releases

Welcome back to the AR Beauty Beat. Here at Albert Review, we’ve enjoyed a slow start to the year. However, the beauty industry hasn’t taken such liberties, kicking off January 2025 with a slew of skincare, makeup, and fragrance releases.

Whether it’s new rose fragrances from Jo Malone London and Tom Ford, an old favourite from Paula’s Choice making a welcome return into the Australian market, or luxury beauty launches from Celine and Prada, the beauty industry hasn’t been short on action this month. However, not all products are created equal. So, to help you differentiate the hits from the misses, we’ve put together the recently released products worthy of your attention this month.

Without further ado, here are the 21 best beauty and skincare releases from January 2025 worth trying.

1. Celine Beauté adds new shades to its Le Rouge lineup

Following the debut of Celine Beauté Le Rouge Triomphe (a timeless shade of red) last year, the French luxury fashion house has released Le Rouge in 14 new shades. The new shades comprise an array of reds with varying undertones, rose and rich pinks, and burgundys. A highlight is Nightclubbing, an intense, deep black. The entirety of the Celine Beauté Le Rouge range promises smooth application with a satin finish and comes housed in a faceted gold metal sheath.

Price: $110AUD

2. The Ordinary GF 15% Solution

In the past, serums with growth factors (a type of peptide naturally found in healthy skin cells) have been accompanied by heft price tags. The Ordinary GF 15% Solution changes the game, bottling a solution of three types of growth factors ( EGF, IGF, and TGF) designed to target uneven skin texture, fine lines and wrinkles, and a loss of firmness and elasticity.

Price: $26.90AUD

3. Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Contour

Rare Beauty has added a liquid contour to its stable of beloved makeup products. The Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Contour translates the brand’s Soft Pinch Liquid Blush into contour form, boasting the same highly airy, blendable, streak-free formula. The Soft Pinch Liquid Contour comes in seven shades, ranging from fair to deep with cool and neutral undertones.

Price: $49AUD

4. Ultra Violette Future Fluid SPF 50+

Sunscreen brand Ultra Violette has released its latest skinscreen. Ultra Violette Future Fluid SPF 50+ is a zinc-based mineral sunscreen with a serum-like texture. Designed to feel light on the skin and work without leaving a white cast behind, it uses innovative zinc filters from Japan that provide UVA and UVB protection without adding heaviness to the formula. Future Fluid also contains vitamin E, squalane, and pentavitin.

Price: $52AUD

5. Fenty Beauty You Mist Makeup-Extending Setting Spray

Fenty Beauty has launched its first setting spray. You Mist Makeup-Extending Setting Spray is designed to lock makeup in without locking your face down. “I wanted to make a setting spray that really locks in your makeup but moves with you, not against you,” said Robyn Rihanna Fenty, founder of Fenty Beauty. “You Mist gives you 12-hour wear that makes your skin look and feel even better with each spray.” The ultra-fine mist combines the best of both worlds, boasting the skincare ingredients of a traditional face mist (wild thyme extract provides hydration) and the makeup-setting ability of a setting spray. The brand’s InvisiFlex Defense Shield contains a blend of flexible formers that extend the life of makeup and protect against environmental stressors while moving with the skin.

Price: $46AUD

6. Paula’s Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster

Paula’s Choice has brought its much beloved 10% Azelaic Acid Booster back to the Australian market, following its discontinuation a few years ago (due to Australian regulatory requirements). The formula combines azelaic acid with low-dosage salicylic acid and liquorice extract to soothe the skin and reduce redness while reducing acne breakouts and fading dark spots and post-acne marks.

Price: $59AUD

7. Emma Lewisham Sunceutical SPF 50 Mineral Face Crème

New Zealand-based skincare brand Emma Lewisham has added a duo of mineral sunscreens to its lineup. The new Emma Lewisham Sunceutical SPF 50 Mineral Face Crème has a pinkish tinge which works to mitigate the white-cast that often accompanies mineral sunscreens. In addition to 20% zinc oxide, the Sunceutical SPF 50 Mineral Face Crème is formulated with niacinamide, saccharide isomerate, and peptides to smoothen and hydrate the skin as it protects. The Sunceutical SPF 50 line also includes a body sunscreen.

Price: $72AUD

8. Clinique All About Eyes Brightening Serum Concentrate

Clinique has released its All About Eyes Brightening Serum Concentrate, an undereye brightener formulated with vitamin C, hyaluronic acid, and retinoids to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, dark circles, and puffiness over time.

Price: $85AUD

9. Dermal Therapy Tinted Lip Balm

The Dermal Therapy Lip Balm Original is a no-nonsense desk (and handbag) staple here at Albert Review, thanks to its fuss-free, lightweight and non-sticky formula that works to effectively soothe, soften, and moisturise irritated, dry lips. Now, the OG gets a hit of pigment, with the new Dermal Therapy Tinted Lip Balm. Available in three shades (rose pink, peach nude, and cherry red), they retain the same lightweight, moisturising formula of the original while delivering a hit of colour. Oh, and they’r under $10AUD. Consider us sold.

Price: $9.99AUD

10. L’Occitane Divine Youth Care in Pearls

French skincare brand L’Occitane has added to its Immortelle range. The new L’Occitane Divine Youth Care in Pearls combines the brand’s Immortelle Essential Oil and Immortelle Super Extract with hyaluronic acid in a pearl format that promises an unparalleled sensory experience. The 28-day concentrated treatment is designed to improve skin radiance and firmness while reducing the appearance of wrinkles.

Price: $169AUD

11. OPI RapiDry

If “watching paint dry” is a commonly accepted idiom for describing something as boring, “waiting for nail polish to dry” should be the equivalent for implying frustration. Not only is it as boring as watching a wall of paint dry, you” inevitably knock your nails against something and smudge your hard work. OPI’s new RapiDry nail polish attempts to alleviate this stress, with a formula that promises to completely dry down in just 60 seconds. The formula utilises Drip Dry Drops technology and fast-acting solvents to freeze colour in place, while the short, wide ‘Rush Brush’ ensures even application. OPI RapiDry is available in 15 colours and one base coat.

Price: $14.95AUD

12. Tom Ford Rose Exposed

Tom Ford looks to bottle the essence of a freshly plucked rose, pairing it with heady leather in Rose Exposed. The new fragrance sees rose absolute and rosewater wrapped in supple, raw leather to create a nuanced take on the popular floral.

Price: from $295AUD

13. Jo Malone London Taif Rose

Rose is looking to be the floral du jour for fragrance this year, with Jo Malone London focusing on the Taif rose, a type of rose native to Saudi Arabia that grows in desert landscapes. Part of the fragrance brand’s Intense lineup, Jo Malone London Taif Rose pairs rose with coffee and amber to create a sensual and indulgent perfume.

Price: $245AUD

14. Fenty Skin Cherry Dub Purify’r Gel Cleanser

Formulated to cater to oily skin types, the Fenty Skin Cherry Dub Purify’r Gel Cleanser combines the brand’s signature Barbados cherry with niacinamide and aloe vera to create a foaming cleanser that works to regulate sebum while improves surface oil while washing off dirt, oil, and impurities.

Price: $45AUD

15. Prada Beauty arrives in Australia

Prada Beauty has launched in Australia. Spanning skincare and makeup, the collection is encased in elevated, refillable packaging that takes on a minimalist aesthetic; think satisfyingly weighty metallic canisters in stainless steel and gold tones. Makeup prioritises self-expression, with a fashion-led approach that draws from the Prada archives. The curation of eyeshadow palettes is led by archival prints and come in varying finishes (satin, soft matte, hyper matte, and meta foil), while lipsticks are available in soft matte and hyper matte finishes and feature a textured bullet that resembles Prada’s signature Saffiano leather.

Price: from $70AUD

16. Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brighten + Tighten Body Butter

Sunday Riley has adapted its C.E.O. moisturiser for the body, with the Sunday Riley C.E.O. Vitamin C Brighten + Tighten Body Butter boasting brightening vitamin C and niacinamide alongside a trio of rich butters (murumuri, cocoa, and shea) and vitamins A, E, and F. The result is an intensely nourishing formula that soaks into the skin quickly, leaving behind a residue-free satin finish.

Price: $100AUD

17. Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF50+ Matte Sun Serum

Mecca Cosmetica has released a matte iteration of its sun serum. While the original has a soft, satiny finish, the new Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF50+ Matte Sun Serum is designed to deliver a soft-focus matte finish. The non-comedogenic formula provides UVA and UVA sun protection without clogging pores and is enriched with white willow bark to control shine and reduce the appearance of pores, gluconolactone to provide gentle exfoliation, and niacinamide to improve skin texture over time.

Price: $50AUD

18. Wella Ultimate Night Repair Serum

Bestowing haircare with the same ingredient-led approach as skincare, the Wella Ultimate Night Repair Serum harnesses the benefits of AHAs and omega 9 to repair and hair overnight, while polymers add an invisible layer of defence to each strand.

Price: $103AUD

19. Mecca Max Makeup Brushes

Mecca Max has released a quartet of vegan-friendly makeup brushes; a Precision Eyeliner Brush, Setting Brush, Angled Diffusing Brush, and Detailed Buffing Brush. As per Mecca Max’s affordable ethos, the brushes are priced from $8AUD.

Price: $8-22AUD

20. Kit Functional Fragrance

Crafted with pure Australian essential oils, Kit’s new Functional Fragrances are designed to transport the mind and cultivate a certain mood. The trio comprises Calm, Energy, and Unwind and come in a handbag-friendly roll-on format, designed to be applied to the pulse points (wrists, back of neck, and behind the ears). Our pick of the trio is Unwind, which sees a blend of lavender, eucalyptus, sandalwood, and vetiver cultivate a relaxing environment for a restful night’s sleep.

Price: $36AUD

21. Go-To Skincare Clarifying Face Hero

Go-To Skincare has given its Face Hero a sibling. Designed for oily and acne-prone skin, Go-To Skincare Clarifying Face Hero is formulated with 1% bakuchiol (an anti-ageing botanical often touted as a natural alternative to retinol), vitamin F, holy basil, and tea tree oil to soothe and clarify skin while imbuing it with much-needed moisture.

Price: $56AUD


Words by Arabella Johnson