February truly is the month of love in all its forms. Whether you’ve spent it coupled up or flying solo with a wild Galentine’s night (plus Saturday recovery), this month tends to remind us that a little bit of pampering is always needed. And if you haven’t treated yourself yet, these new launches are guaranteed to tempt you.
While we’re faithful to our tried-and-trues (and to not buying for the sake of buying), we can’t help but get excited about what some of our favourite brands are serving up – and whether there’s something that really tickles our fancy.
This month, we’re spoiled for choice, especially with so many brands injecting nourishing actives into their formulas. From ILIA Beauty’s new hydrating lip gloss to Merit’s blush lipstick and the revival of the legendary Estée Lauder Double Wear foundation, all the new products are both beautiful and high-performing. And if it’s time to ditch your old, crusty brushes and upgrade your kit, Code8 Beauty has released a pared-back brush set containing exactly what you need.
Here are some of our favourite launches for February, straight from the beauty oven to you.
Skincare
Ilia Overglaze Hydrating Lip Gloss
ILIA Beauty’s new hydrating lip gloss is doing a double shift on your lips. We’ve slotted it into our skincare category because it genuinely is a skincare–makeup hybrid, promising up to 24 hours of hydration. It’s formulated with Fenugreek Seed Extract to nourish, soften and deliver plumping hydration, alongside sustainably sourced Seaweed Extract to enhance volume and definition.
On application, it gives you the moisture you’d expect from a lip balm – not a sticky, gluey layer, but a cushiony coating – with a lovely sheen of colour. There are twelve shades inspired by ceramic finishes: all highly wearable, with a few contrasting, vivid reds and purples in the mix.
Price: £26.00
Where to buy: Ilia Beauty
BYOMA Bio-Collagen Radiance Face Mask
Launched earlier this month, BYOMA’s new bio-collagen face mask is a dry-to-peel formula that promises (and delivers) glowing skin in just 20 minutes. It’s the kind of thing you can pop on during breakfast, peel off, and greet your new skin like a mini morning miracle.
We’re partial because we’re already big fans of the brand (especially after meeting the founder and their impressively knowledgeable science team), but honestly, we really love this product. It brightens the skin ever so slightly and feels like the formula actually absorbs better than standard pads.
Price: £16.99
Where to buy: SpaceNK
Glow Recipe Toner Pads
Glow Recipe has just delivered a trio of glow-worthy, fruit‑powered toner pads aimed at brightening, repairing, and exfoliating. Designed as a mini facial in a pad you can swipe or even leave on like a tiny mask, each targets a specific concern (yes, that means a whole different set of ingredients). While we love a good all-rounder, we also appreciate products with a laser focus.
These little circular pads are perfect for dabbing onto problem areas. They won’t completely transform your face overnight, but wow, are they refreshingly satisfying.
Price: £27.00
Where to buy: Glow Recipe
Dr.Jart+ Cryo Rubber™ Hydrogel Masks
If you haven’t tried cryotherapy in some form, have you even lived? The extreme-cold treatment that once belonged exclusively to wellness clinics is steadily making its way into our bathrooms (much like the great LED mask migration), and we’re very much on board.
Dr. Jart+ has just launched its Cryo Rubber™ hydrogel masks, promising the effects of a high-performance Korean facial in just 20 minutes. There are four targeted versions, each powered by a different hero active: hyaluronic acid for moisture, allantoin to soothe, adenosine to firm and niacinamide to brighten.
And no – you don’t need to stash them in the freezer for the chill factor (though, in our very non-medical opinion, you absolutely could). The cooling effect comes from the brand’s cryo-cooling technology, designed to actively lower skin temperature by up to 5.7°C.
Price: £14.00 per mask
Where to buy: Dr. Jart+
Makeup
MERIT Blush lipsticks
Earlier this month, MERIT launched a range of blush lipsticks that are dangerously lovable. It’s hard not to feel some affection for Merit in general – the products are charming and sophisticated, yet consistently high-performing.
These blush lipsticks follow that same formula. Visually striking and incredibly flattering, they don’t sit on the lips like an obvious extra layer; instead, they seem to melt in, creating a soft-focus, naturally diffused finish. The texture is sheer-matte, leaving a fine veil of colour that feels balm-like in application but delivers impressive pigment.
While the formula includes skin-loving ingredients like sesame seed extract for a subtle plumping effect, this is firmly a makeup moment. The payoff is strong, the coverage beautifully even and the shades (eight in total) are all wardrobe-friendly. Your new permanent handbag resident.
Price: £25.00
Where to buy: Merit Beauty
Code8 Brush Set
There are now almost as many makeup tools as there are makeup products – to the point where you start wondering whether your perfectly capable fingers were ever the problem. So when a launch promises to cut through the clutter instead of adding to it, we’re instantly interested.
Code8 Beauty is a London-based luxury brand, but the indulgence lies in the formulations and personalisation (including its Bespoke Lipstick Bar in Mayfair), not in loud, look-at-me packaging.
Its latest release is a beautifully pared-back brush set featuring four essential tools, wrapped in a sleek leather pouch. According to the brand, these four brushes are genuinely all you need: one for foundation and concealer, one for powder, one for eyeshadow, and one for lip or liner detail. How can one not fall for it on sight?
Price: £55.00
Where to buy: Code8
Benefit Cosmetics Play Daze and Juice Stick Blushes
Every time Benefit Cosmetics brings a new product to market, they really bring it. It’s never just about the formula – it’s the personality and playfulness that make each launch feel instantly covetable. Just last week, Benefit introduced two new blushers:
The Juice Stick – a gel-cream blush you glide onto the upper cheeks for a proper pop of colour (and yes, it really does deliver). It’s infused with goji berry seed oil for added nourishment and blends nicely over makeup.
The Play Daze – our personal favourite, simply because it’s one of the easiest liquid, airy blushes we’ve tried in a long time. It blends beautifully and gives rich, buildable colour.
Both blushes come in five shades and are part of Benefit’s new Blush Clinic campaign. We’ve never been more tempted to book ourselves in for a blush “prescription” (Benefit-branded plasters included). It’s just what the doctor ordered.
Price: £30.00
Where to buy: Benefit Cosmetics
Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation – Reformulated
It was in 1988 that the legendary Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay‑in‑Place Makeup first launched. It quickly became a cult classic for its full coverage and long-wear performance. Decades later, the beauty giant decided to reinvent this nectar of the gods in line with market trends, making it more comfortable and skin-friendly.
The updated version keeps the foundation’s signature strengths – lasting coverage and sweat-, humidity- and transfer-resistance – while injecting some skin-loving ingredients into it, from niacinamide to Glycerin and brown algae extract. The finish is less flat matte and leans toward a dimensional matte that looks more like real skin, rather than makeup cement. So while it’s still the go-to for all-day, high-coverage wear, the tweaks are all about comfort, shade fidelity and modern skin preferences. The reformulated version now comes in 60 shades.
Price: £39.50
Where to buy: Estée Lauder
Clarins Double Serum Foundation
It feels like we’ve been hearing about skincare in foundations forever. Everything has some level of SPF now (and thank the beauty gods for that -though by no means does it make your trusty SPF redundant).
But Clarins has done something different. When you pump the bottle, you can literally see the serum and the foundation come out separately, and you’re mixing them yourself. A bit like going to a steakhouse and cooking your steak at the table – slightly more effort, yes, but at least you get it exactly how you want it.
You’re getting buildable medium coverage, hydration from the plant-based skincare ingredients, and a glowy, healthy finish. There are 37 shades available.
Price: £49.00
Where to buy: Sephora
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