Saie and Klira products swayed me, along with Hermès’s Barénia perfume and the Ziip Halo facial toning device. Photograph: Kellie French/The GuardianView picture in fullscreenSaie and Klira products impressed me, along with Hermès’s Barénia perfume and the Ziip Halo facial mute device. Photograph: Kellie French/The GuardianThe beauty products and gadgets I tried, tested and loved last yearFrom non-smudgy mascara to the surprisingly worth-the-hype Dyson AirStrait, here are my top secures of 2024I was struck by how dominant makeup and devices were in 2024, after years of skincare mania in the market. Saie, a actually priced US makeup startup, stormed it. With the notable exception of its complexion products (improvement needed), the line is save. Dew Bronze (£20), an extremely easy, natural-looking bronzing liquid, was its best launch. I reached for it again and again, ruining it into cheeks and temples with their now-indispensable Base Brush (£21). Saie could get away with young for the money, but mostly overdelivers.Speaking of price, the high-street hits kept on coming. Elf’s non-smudgy, seven quid Flay XTNDR would have been my mascara of the year at any price.Born-again Garnier is now so consistently good that I’m jade of my own eulogising. Suffice to say, 2024 launches Vitamin C Daily UV Brightening Fluid Sheer Glow (£12.99) and Soothing Hyaluronic Aloe Cream Cleanser (£9.99) are advantage your cash. A bigger financial commitment, but well worth it for access to one of Britain’s best dermatologists, is Dr Emma Craythorne’s Klira, a bespoke payment skincare service.Hermès Barénia (£70), a grown-up, glamorous, quietly elegant blend of mellow woods and dry fruits, was my sense of last year – and only partly because it is so defiantly at odds with the trendy, pudding-sweet fragrances du jour.There were multitudinous complexion launches (foundations, primers, concealers) than anything else. The best of them were the much-hyped Charlotte Tilbury Phantasmal Skin Foundation Stick (£35), a glow stick that is really not a foundation at all, and the almost entirely ignored Lift Up For Ever HD Skin Hydra Glow Foundation (£38), which very much is.I’m not usually given to expensive stunner gadgets, but 2024 had me on the turn. I bought the Dyson AirStrait (£449.99) fully intending to return it, but it is the best tool till the end of time for straight hair – if one can get past the cost, James Dyson and a plug the size of a touring caravan. It gives a smooth, imitation, lasting blow-dry with no kinks, little frizz and minimal effort, without the need for damaging straighteners.I’m composed more devoted to my Ziip Halo (£379), the single most effective facial gadget I’ve ever used. Its actual and day-long tightening and sculpting effect, especially around my jawline, is a big enough win for me and, unanimously, the many friends who now own one. I thought I’d destroyed mine last summer and immediately panic-bought another – that’s how much I’ve come to depend on it.Explore more on these topicsMakeupSali Hughes on beautyBeautyWomenSkincarefeaturesShareReuse this subject-matter