The first Best of Beauty Awards ran in Allure in 1996. In the 30 years since, we’ve never wavered in our commitment to finding the products that don’t just do what they say they’ll do, they do it better than the rest. We test and test (and test) and consult a panel of expert judges—including top makeup and nail artists, hairstylists, cosmetic chemists, and dermatologists—in pursuit of the best of the best.
We are now accepting submissions for Allure‘s 2026 Best of Beauty Awards. Here’s everything you need to know about getting your product in front of our editors.
How to Submit Products for Consideration
We have an automated submission form that you can find below or by clicking HERE.
For all Best of Beauty categories below, the first submission window is open from Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 10 a.m. until Friday, November 14, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST. The second submission window will be opened on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 10 a.m. until Friday, January 14, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST.
Late submissions will not be accepted.
Before you begin, please read the important notes below.
Product launch date:
For Best of Beauty General and Best of Beauty Clean submissions, you can submit any product that will be available for purchase anytime before September 15, 2026, when the awards are announced. For Best of Beauty Breakthroughs submissions, you can submit any product that is new and launched between October 1, 2025, and September 15, 2026, when the awards are announced. There is one exception: Limited-edition products will not be considered.
Number of submissions:
The beauty landscape has grown exponentially in recent years. In order to ensure that we have the resources we need to maintain Allure‘s high standards throughout the Best of Beauty testing process, we require a fee to be paid for each product submission across all Best of Beauty categories, with no exceptions.
Samples for testing:
After we review all submissions, we will reach out to request samples for testing. As a rule, we only ask for samples of new product submissions that we have not yet had the opportunity to test widely among the team.
Late arrival of product samples for testing will deem the product untestable, and, therefore, your product will not be considered for a win. You can learn more about our testing process and exactly how a product becomes an Allure Best of Beauty Award winner HERE.
Testing timeline:
We will call in products for testing on a rolling basis, starting mid-November 2025. If you want to submit a 2026 launch for which you don’t yet have a final launch date, please add an approximate date in the form. Please take note of the applicable product launch date section above for requirements for your submission, as well as in the Terms and Conditions. If you don’t yet have an MSRP, please put “0” on the submission form when prompted. We will reach out for more information in early 2026.
Best of Beauty General Awards Submissions
The main general Best of Beauty categories are Skin, Body, Hair, Makeup (Eyes, Lips, and Base), Nails, Tools, and Scent. You can submit existing products that launched before October 2025 and did not win a 2025 Best of Beauty Award. (We always consider last year’s winners during the deliberation process. They do not need to be submitted for the 2026 awards. If a 2025 winner is being discontinued or reformulated, please note this in the submission form.) You can also submit new products that were not available for the 2025 Best of Beauty testing, with a launch date anytime before September 15, 2026.
