Once again, we are delighted to present the crème de la crème of skincare, makeup, hair care and more with our annual ELLE Canada Beauty Grand Prix awards. For the 27th year, a jury made up of volunteers across Canada switched up their routines to try out products and tell us exactly what they thought. After weeks of rigorous testing, they gave us their (very honest) feedback so we could tally up their votes and declare the winners.

This contest continues to be an important initiative year after year because new launches make their way onto shelves pretty much every day. The beauty world is constantly evolving and pushing the envelope, thanks in large part to cosmetics companies investing so much into research and development to come up with the latest and greatest products. It’s how we’ve come to benefit from life-changing innovations like waterproof mascara, under-eye patches and dry shampoo. (How did we ever live without dry shampoo?) And the progress never stops!

I got to witness that first-hand this past spring when I attended VivaTech in Paris, an international conference dedicated to technological advances. Wedged between the Tesla and Microsoft booths were beauty giants like LVMH (parent company to brands such as Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co.) and L’Oréal.

Beyond always striving to improve the performance of products—be it through revised formulas, fine-tuned applicators or the addition of newly uncovered actives—companies are making notable efforts to become more inclusive and environmentally responsible. For instance, L’Oréal Professionnel recently developed a shower head that cuts down on water usage by 60 percent; Lancôme is set to launch a makeup-application tool designed for those with hand-motion challenges due to issues like arthritis and tremors; and Maybelline has devised an AI-powered app that allows users to sport virtual makeup looks on Microsoft Teams.*

This continual drive forward—all this research and development—eventually trickles down to the products vying to earn a place in our makeup bags and bathroom cabinets. And that’s where choices need to be made. Will a microbead scrub irritate your skin? Is a salon shampoo really worth the investment? And what about that three-in-one illuminator-slash-moisturizer-slash-SPF—does it actually work? Thanks to our jury’s insightful, no-holds-barred responses, you’ll get the answers to all these questions and more. Make your way to page 59 to discover the winners of the 2023 ELLE Canada Beauty Grand Prix—and get all the info you need to decide which products truly deserve a spot in your regimen.

*Keep an eye out for our next issue to find out more about all these exciting innovations!

The November 2023 issue of ELLE Canada is available on newsstands now, in print and online.

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