Which Celebrity Beauty Brands Are Any Good?

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Cheapyxo

Azealia Banks

“I think Azealia Banks’s line of anal soaps for gay men is genius, and they have amazing reviews,” says one beauty editor.

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Barker Wellness Co.

Travis Barker

A line of vegan cannabinoid-infused skin-care products for men. As one editor recalls, “I interviewed Travis Barker for Barker Wellness, and he knew nothing.”

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Cécred

Beyoncé

“Did Beyoncé need a beauty brand? I would argue no,” one editor says. “But nobody had a critical thing to say about Cécred out of fear they would get kicked off the PR list — or, rather, hope that they’d get put on it.”

As this editor observes, the brand runs into a fundamental marketing conundrum: “Beyoncé has always been aspirational, not attainable. But when you’re a celebrity selling beauty, there’s a very specific way to tap into the beauty community, and it involves convincing the people who will buy your products that you actually use them.”

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Rhode

Hailey Bieber

There appears to be a clear consensus on Rhode: It’s good as long as you stick with the face products. “She really did something with it. Each formula is super-effective,” one editor says. “Rhode’s cleanser is very good for $28. It takes my makeup off so well with no burning eyes! Impressive,” says another. Someone else describes the Glazing Milk as “a crazy-good all-year-round hydrator.” (Two editors attribute the skin care’s quality to Ron Robinson, the beloved cosmetic chemist behind the line.) But others point out that the lip products are still a gooey, grainy mess.

 “I hate the stickiness of the gloss and how it leaves behind a stringy, gluelike finish,” one editor says. Another agrees: “The lip balms get so gritty, and they seem to refuse to fix them.” Even the haters, though, can’t help but praise the product marketing. “The phone case was genius,” one editor says. “That’s Glossier-level innovation, akin to how everyone needed the pink bubble-wrap bags in 2014.”

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S’able Labs

Sabrina and Idris Elba

When I ask one beauty editor about the most underrated brand, she suggests S’able Labs, the Elbas’ skin-care brand, formulated using ingredients from Africa. “It kind of came out of nowhere, and it was never something that really caught my eye or I felt I needed to try,” another editor agrees. “But damn, once I did get my hands on it, I was shocked — that Okra Face Serum really gets to work on hyperpigmentation.”

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Haus Labs

Lady Gaga

Haus Labs recently reformulated many of its products, and it seems to have paid off. “Out of all the celebrity brands, it has the products I use most regularly. The foundation and concealer are supreme,” one editor says. According to another, “The foundation is, I think, as good as everyone says it is, and the new blush sticks are excellent — I’ve been using the rose-colored one on my lips all summer, too.”

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Rare Beauty

Selena Gomez

When we asked beauty editors for their favorite celebrity beauty lines, the name that surfaced most often was Gomez’s Rare Beauty. “Lots of the products are actually good,” says one editor. “It’s almost transcended being a celeb line, since Selena is involved just enough to be associated with it, but it can really exist without her.” Several editors mentioned having Rare Beauty on repeat in their routine — not only the viral liquid blush but also the mascara and foundations and everything else. Others note that the design caters to non–makeup experts. “You don’t feel like an idiot using the products,” another editor says.

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TPH by Taraji

Taraji P. Henson

A sleeper hit, according to several editors. “TPH by Taraji is so underrated. Its body-care products are insane,” one says. “Her hair and body products feel (and smell) far more expensive than their under-$15 price point.”

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The Outset

Scarlett Johansson

Nobody thought they would like the Outset, the line for sensitive skin that Johansson founded with industry veteran Kate Foster. “The meetings with Scarlett were not enjoyable at all,” says one editor. “I definitely had low expectations for the Outset,” says another. But editors have found themselves sheepishly impressed. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” says one editor, “but it’s good for hypersensitive, acne-prone, and reactive skin and has just clean, nice, effective formulas.” The cleanser is especially popular; one editor says it’s “one of the only gel cleansers I like. I find myself actually finishing the bottle, which is exceptionally rare.” Still, most editors aren’t convinced ScarJo is the secret behind the sauce. “I find it incredible that she can memorize an entire movie script but not a one-sheet about her own products,” says one editor who interviewed Johansson when the line launched.

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JLO Beauty

Jennifer Lopez

Beauty editors overwhelmingly name JLo Beauty as the worst celebrity beauty brand, and their arguments often come down to two fatal words: olive oil. “She killed it before it even had a chance when she claimed olive oil was her skin secret and that’s why it was in the products,” one editor says. “The products themselves are fine, but the marketing just screams bullshit,” says another. “I hate to pile on the J.Lo hate,” another editor piles on, “but to put out a skin-care line when you refuse to even admit that you get any treatments done is wild to me.” Says yet another beauty editor, “Whoever was in charge of the direction of that brand needs to reevaluate if this is the right job for them. A proprietary olive-oil complex? Be serious.”

This past March, JLo Beauty was pulled from Sephora stores, and it is now sold online only.

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Blake Brown

Blake Lively

Too little, too late seemed to be the consensus on Blake Brown. “Blake Lively’s time to do a hair line was roughly ten years ago,” says one editor. “She should’ve launched during the Gossip Girl–Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants era. It feels forced now, especially since we’re all experiencing celebrity-beauty-brand fatigue,” says another. And one editor who likes the products’ fragrances is less enthusiastic about the packaging: “It’s clunky and nonfunctional. She says they’re meant to fit together like a honeycomb, but who does that IRL?”

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Humanrace

Pharrell

A few years ago, a beauty editor I spoke to received a body sunscreen from Humanrace. “I’ve been doing this professionally for 20 years, and it was possibly the worst beauty product I’ve ever tested,” she says. “When I slathered it on my arms, it congealed into opaque white blobs that would not blend in. Even in the shower that night, it wouldn’t come off after furious scrubbing.” It had not expired (she checked); a few months later, the product was pulled. Some editors feel the brand is a disappointment, especially given the fact that the concept seemed to have some potential. “Pharrell does have great skin, so everyone was like, Oh, that makes sense,” another editor says. “But it seems like he’s moved on to other things and Humanrace is just kinda there.”

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Beau Domaine

Brad Pitt

A name often mentioned in the “bad celebrity beauty brand” category. “Good Lord, no one needed that Brad Pitt skin-care line,” says one beauty editor. “Nothing about it makes sense. He doesn’t even have good skin. And I’m not spending $180 on celebrity skin care,” says another. “That random Brad Pitt money grab that was clearly a move to try to win that winery in his divorce didn’t need to exist,” says a third.

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Fenty Beauty

Rihanna

Fenty Beauty is a favorite among beauty editors, who believe its celebrity founder is heavily involved in product development. Says one editor, “It never feels like a grab for attention; when they create a product, it’s to answer a need or request from their customers.” Among products cited are the newly launched tint sunscreen, the new lip liners (“The shades are deeper than anything that’s ever been done before,” the editor says), and the Butta Drop Whipped Oil Body Cream, which another editor describes as “one of the best body creams I’ve ever tried.”

Still, one editor would like to lodge a complaint about the liquid lipstick. “Gorgeous color but moves all over, which is wild, given that we are so many years post–liquid lipstick being a thing. Like, we know how to keep lipstick in place.”

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Pleasing

Harry Styles

“The nail polishes are okay, and actually the nail stickers are hella cute and stick really well — keep doing that!” one editor says of Pleasing, Styles’s line of beauty, skin care, and accessories. “But the apparel, the fragrances, the lip balms, the serum, the sunscreen (no!) — absolutely not; stop it right now.”

Other editors agree. “I love the polish and would have appreciated more of a lean into makeup than skin care,” one says. “The duo lip-and-eye serum only dried my lips even more; the eye serum didn’t do much.”