QVC Beauty Excellence Awards – Best Beauty Innovation

It actually really dawned on me recently that QVC is a real goldmine of beauty brands – especially those that we can’t get too easily without a trip to Sephora. When I’ve headed to Sephora over the last couple of years (US versions I’m talking more than EU) there are two brands that I immediately make a beeline for. Those being josie Maran and Tarte – previously being under the impression this was the only place we could get them. But lo and behold we have both Tarte and Josie Maran at our very fingertips (or on our faces and body to be more precise) courtesy of the beauty loving folks over at QVC. Which leads nicely on to introducing the category that both of these brands are featured in of the QVC Beauty Excellence Awards – Best Beauty Innovation.

The QVC Beauty Excellence Awards are a voted-for-by-you awards list (you can vote HERE – closes 21st August) and features other categories such as best cleanser/moisturiser/anti-ageing/make-up all the way through to grooming and of course, innovation. I was having a little gander at the list and it really does stand out against other awards lists as QVC stock a really impressive range of brands – not all the big names, but all with a reputation for being excellent. They also have a category for ‘Best New Brand’ to celebrate a brand that’s been new to QVC – my vote on this one went for Soapsmith, a brand I really love (especially the Camden Town scent as it’s so amazing – and much nicer than Camden actually tends to smell FYI). But back to the category I’m here to chat about today – the Best Beauty Innovation.

Best Beauty Innovation includes a range of products, and is quite an interesting one to judge (I’m not a judge for the awards, just judging to make my own top pick) as we have everything from a mascara to a hair and body oil. A run down of the products that are shortlisted in the category:

– Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

– Josie Maran Argan Self-tanning Body Wash

– bareMinerals Complexion Rescue

– Decleor Aroma Nutrition Hair, Face & Body Oil

– tarte Maracuja Oil

– Vita Liberata pHenomenal Tan Mousse

So I think you will likely agree it’s quite a beast of a category to look at and decide on a winner. Of the brands and products in the running I have actually previously tried and tested almost all of them – with the exception of the Josie Maran and the Decleor Oil. So these were the two I decide to give a whirl first to help be make an informed decision as to which I would choose to be my winner.

The Josie Maran Argan Self-Tanning Body Wash is in a similar vein to the St Tropez in Shower that I reviewed recently – at least in concept but not in *actual* product. This product is a different thing all together. For one it comes with an applicator sponge that’s on a long stick – to make it perfect for getting all angles with no missed bits. The instructions are pretty clear too. Follows same sort of process of apply, wait and rinse. But the wait time is just a minute (and it tells you to tell yourself how fabulous you look too…always a lovely touch). Texture wise, it’s also a foam rather than a cream and does come out with a bit of a tint to it. It feels a bit more like a ‘proper’ self tan product. The colour it leaves is a bit stronger than the St Tropez in shower too.

Also on the self tan front they have Vita Liberata Luxury Tan pHenomenal – where the key innovation is that the tan lasts much longer then the average of around a week. This one promises 2-3 weeks of glow. I’ve used this before, and again it appeals to the side of me that wants to keep beauty routines easy and minimal as it simply means I don’t need to re-tan every week like clockwork to keep the glow. I like that the tan has three shades available so you can choose how light or dark you’re keen to go (light for me please) and it’s a mousse formula which was the first formula I ever tried for a self tan so it feels nice and familiar. Whilst this tan does last longer than most self tans in my experience it doesn’t quite go to 2/3 weeks – but this could easily be down to my choice of the light shade. But long lasting = less maintenance = thumbs up.

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara is one I’ve reviewed before so it’s probably best to check out the full before/after on that post (can be found HERE). But it’s safe to say this is my Benefit Mascara preference over the much loved ‘They’re Real’ and is probably my favourite of all the Benefit Mascara offerings (it’s a tough call between this and Bad Gal to be honest).

Also on the make-up front there’s the innovation from bareMinerals in the form of the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue tinted moisturising gel cream. It has the magic ‘gel’ word that I always am a sucker for. Plus it offers both hydration and coverage – which again, catches my attention. It’s actually another one I’ve reviewed so have a look at my more detailed thoughts HERE.

Lastly there are two oil based products in the running. There’s the Decleor Aroma Nutrition Satin Softening Dry Oil which is for use on the body, face and hair. It has a handy pump spray so less messy than trying to pout out of the bottle. The bottle itself is rather sleek too – so a nice one to have on display. It smells just delicious – warm and sort of fruity/floral. I can’t put my finger on what it is, but it reminds me of something. It does smell dreamy though. I like how this is a multi-tasker and the bottle design means it’s both pretty and easy to use.

Then there’s the tarte Maracuja Oil – I really like tarte as a brand overall. So I felt like I already had a soft spot for this when I spotted it. Another pretty bottle – with a purple glass bottle and wooden style lid with a pump action pipette dispenser. It is less obviously scented than the Decleor but does have a faint smell – it’s just not as overtly fragranced. So if the scent of a product matters to you, then this lesser scented option might be good. This tarte oil is also only for the skin/face so not as much of a multi-tasker as the Decleor option.  This is another I’ve used before and it’s great as a night skin oil or to hydrate hands and cuticles – especially if you apply and leave overnight. Hello soft skin on waking up.

Who should win?!

So that’s the run down of the products… but the big question is which is my top pick!? Well… my top is going to have to be the Josie Maran Argan Self-Tanning Body Wash because I think it’s the most innovative product of the bunch as it really does change the ease and speed at which self tanning can be done. But the next big question is which would be your pick… of course you need to make sure you head over to vote on the awards HERE so make sure you do that. But also, if you want to win a full set of the products from the Best Beauty Innovation category (as shown in this post) then you can enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don’t forget to head over to QVC to vote for your choices in the Beauty Excellence Awards! 

Post sponsored by QVC.