The best new skincare of 2021

Originally created to counter a travel-weary complexion, this mask is a real multi-tasker. Use and remove as usual or, for dry skin, apply generously – and after 10 minutes, massage any excess into your skin. It also makes an excellent night cream and, in a fine layer, a great day cream. But best of all is the incredible sink-in-and-disappear texture. Unlike many masks, it doesn’t leave skin tacky – just plump, healthy and rested.

A true all-rounder, this has all the key ingredients needed to treat breakout-prone skin (salicylic acid, BHAs), but it’s still excellent for polishing naturally dry skin. Also including AHAs, a blend of three natural enzymes and a scrub, it is tingle-free but extremely effective at buffing off dull, dead cells to leave the face super-comfortable and the skin naturally glowing. Quite simply, it’s one of the best peels and scrubs there is right now.

Dermaplaning is one of the most-wanted in-clinic treatments, and this device brings it safely into your own bathroom. Worked in small strokes over the skin, it uses a safe blade to scrape off the dead, surface skin cells – and with it, any peach fuzz – leaving the skin smooth and dewy (and, no, shaved-off facial hair does not grow back darker). With over 15 years of in-clinic expertize behind it, the Dermaflash is a truly impressive skin-enhancing device.

Because skincare does not stop at the chin, this beautiful cream takes all the key ingredients found in Dr. Barabara Sturm’s famous face-care line (including purslane to calm aging inflammation) to now treat the body. But what also sets this apart is its incredible melt-into-the-skin texture, which leaves skin soft and velvety – never greasy.

One of those ‘how did I manage before?’ products, this combines the cutting-edge technology of Dr Augustinus Bader’s skincare (including his famous TFC8 compound of vitamins, amino acid and micro algae) with a gorgeous golden skin glow. Use alone for a natural look, under or blended over makeup, or take Victoria Beckham’s advice and use it on bare arms, legs and shoulders. Either way, it deep-treats skin for the long-term, while making it look super-pretty in the short term.

Encapsulating everything that is good about the best modern-day skincare, this clean and considered natural-based cream comes in a wonderful universal texture (creamy but light), to seriously hydrate skin that’s feeling dull, rough or arid. Plus, it smells beautifully fresh. And it can even be refilled with a new click-in pod. What more could we want?

Developed by one of the world’s leading laser brands, this safely brings the skin-rejuvenating results of radio frequency (RF) treatment to your home. Used extensively in clinics, RF uses controlled heat to stimulate the skin to produce fresh collagen – and it works beautifully. This dainty little device does just that using a controllable and bearable heat; worked slowly over the skin, you certainly feel the temperature build and decrease, and skin will look red after. But use it regularly (twice a week) and expect to see finer-textured and, over time, firmer-looking skin.

La Mer’s The Concentrate has been reformulated to include antioxidant and pollution protection – and it’s one product you never want to run out of. Some use it to calm burns, flare-ups, rashes and sensitivity, others prefer to massage it into the skin twice a day, every day. With a concentrated form of La Mer’s famous miracle broth and its unique velvety texture, it’s as soothing as a cashmere blanket on any skin that is acting out of sorts. Fantastic for cold weather, travel, too much sun, too much peeling, or just any time your skin needs extra care, it always delivers.

Mesotherapy may not be new but it is one of the best glow-giving treatments out there. Using tiny needles, a cocktail of hyaluronic acid and vitamins is painlessly injected into the skin. And now, this clever device combines the best of meso with the more widely known microneedling. Once a week, work a fresh roller over your face and neck – while the needles roll over the face, the tips (a blend of stem cells, peptides and hyaluronic acid) melt into skin. It makes a bare complexion look as though it has a primer on, and it’s the closest I’ve got to the ‘glass skin’ IRL.

For those who love a warm, toned glow to their skin (it’s the perfect antidote to dull, gray, or ashy skin), this hyaluronic acid and self-tan serum blend has to be the dream product. Self-tans are great (and are something Tan-Luxe excels at), but they do leave skin dry. So adding all the benefits of a hydrating serum makes the perfect partnership – and gives more glowing results. Use daily to build up to the color you want, and – as with a serum – follow with your usual moisturizer.