The viral TikTok products that are actually worth buying, according to a beauty editor

Kosas is no stranger to TikTok success, having achieved viral fame with its concealer and setting powder in 2023. This skin tint however, has fast become our go-to for a lighweight base that doesn’t leave you looking greasy.

It’s perfect as an everyday complexion product to smooth skin, add sheer coverage and a dewy finish. The formula is rich in squalane, copper petitdes and sodium PCA to hydrate your skin while you wear it – think of this as the ultimate skincare-makeup hybrid product.

We love applying this with just our fingers and layering concealer over the top on areas we’d like a little more coverage, such as blemishes or dark circles. You can also wear it on its own if you want to even out your skin tone without committing to a full face of make-up.

It’s ideal for summer too, as it doesn’t feel heavy and maintains its dewy glow all day long. If you’re particularly oily, we’d recommend using powder to keep things in place.

La Roche-Posay’s cicaplast balm is not just a passing trend – for years now it’s been loved by influencers, dermatologists and sensitive skin types on TikTok, thanks to its skin soothing properties.

Our beauty writer has used it for years to soothe sore, cracked skin, especially on her knuckles, heels, hands and face. It’s the perfect one-off treatment to use for a few days when your skin won’t play ball, but some people on TikTok use it as a moisturiser all over their face.

We wouldn’t advise this however, simply because of its balm texture that’s very thick and slow to absorb if you’re using a lot. Instead, apply a pea sized amount to your face before bed for a few days, then let it work its magic.

Minimalist makeup brand Merit has a number of viral products on TikTok, such as its dome-shaped blushes and tinted lip oils, but for us, the standout star is this foundation stick. It’s one of the few luxury items that is well worth the splurge.

It was designed by Merit to streamline your make-up bag so you can use just this one product instead of a foundation and concealer. Scribble some all over your face and blend, or apply on only areas you’d like a little more coverage.

It’s a buildable formula too, so you can enjoy a lightweight coverage or layer it up for a medium finish, and our beauty tester uses it for everything from covering up redness to hiding dark circles.

Once blended in – fingers or a dense brush works best – our skin doesn’t look chalky or flat. Instead it’s the perfect mix of a luminous glow with the staying power of a typical matte foundation, and it doesn’t exacerbate oiliness or dryness either.

Another multi-purpose product is this moisturising mask that you can apply like a typical moisturiser, or use a thicker layer before bed to wake up with smoother, softer and dewier skin. As the name may suggest, it does a stellar job at treating dehydration that can often arise after spending hours on an airplane.

A little goes a long way, so just a 10p sized piece is needed for the whole face, and we’d recommend snapping up this mini version rather than the full-size (£49, Cultbeauty.co.uk) for a more economical option. Plus it will fit in your liquids bag much easier, trust us, we’ve brought it on holiday many times.

If you’re using it as a mask, it needs just 10 minutes to get to work. Simply apply a thin layer to skin, and when the timer goes off, wipe away with a warm towel.

Rare Beauty is one of the few celebrity beauty brands that are worth a spot in your make-up bag, as Selena Gomez has managed to build a lineup of highly pigmented, long lasting products that we can’t get enough of.

While its liquid blushes have previously taken TikTok by storm with their intense colour payoff, its bronzer stick companion is by far our most used item from the brand. The handy stick packaging makes it easy to apply directly onto your face and it blends like a dream. In seconds it melts into skin to transform into a matte, sunkissed flush of colour that’s flattering and long-lasting. What’s not to love?

It isn’t greasy, never looks cakey and can be used as eyeshadow too, without creasing on oily lids. You cannot go wrong with this in your kit.

Maybelline has always been reliable for affordable lipsticks, powders, concealers, you name it. But this skin tint has knocked it out the park.

Our beauty writer was pleasantly suprised by the medium coverage of this tint, which comes in a dropper bottle and has a very fluid texture. When applied to skin, it conceals redness, blemishes, dark circles and pigmentation so easily that she skipped concealer altogether.

It’s perfect if you don’t enjoy wearing traditional foundations thanks to its lightweight, easy-to-blend formula, and it’s much easier to customise how much you apply by adding one to two drops to the back of your hand first.

The staying power is equally impressive – after nine hours of wear in a sunny pub garden, it didn’t budge at all.

E.L.F. has no shortage of TikTok viral products, its primers, lip oils and even SPF, have amassed millions of views. When its halo glow blush beauty wand launched, everybody couldn’t stop talking about its striking similarity to Charlotte Tilbury’s beauty light wands.

For example, both have a cushion tip applicator and twist-up design, aswell as a glowy formula that makes a perfect highlighter and blush in one. The biggest difference is, of course, the price. While Charlotte Tilbury’s original retails for £30, you can snap up this from E.L.F. for under a tenner.

We love the radiant finish that brightens up cheeks without a tacky finish or shimmery formula that’s flattering even on very oily skin types. We found one dot of product was enough for a light make-up look, but for a bolder blush, two dots will suffice. Our only gripe is we wish the tube was bigger.

Korean beauty brands do sophisticated, luxurious suncreams better than anyone else. Case and point, the Beauty of Joseon relief sun: rice + probiotics SPF50+.

It’s everything you could want from a suncream, especially if you hate the traditional thick, sticky lotions you wore as a kid. It has the texture of a lightweight moisuriser and rubs in just as fast. Plus it doesn’t leave our oily skin looking greasy, nor does it disrupt make-up applied on top. You can reapply throughout the day without feeling sticky by the time you get home, too.

The formula is rich in rice extracts, grain probiotics and ginseng, which help to balance the skin’s microbiome and reduce inflammation – our writer found it didn’t cause any reaction on her sensitive, acne-prone skin.

While Clarins’s lip oils have been around years, when TikTok’s beauty crowd discovered them, they quickly became a viral success story, and one of our most used lip products.

Firstly, we love the cushioned doe-foot applicator that spreads a glossy shine across lips with one swipe, as well as the satisfyingly luxurious embossed packaging and metal lid.

Made with a blend of plant-based oils, it provides the perfect high-shine finish that’s ultra-moisturising too. You can wear it as you would a lip balm, or over the top of your favourite lipstick for an extra dose of hydration and sheer colour payoff.

Our writer’s favourite shade is 04 ‘pitaya’, a sheer pink that compliments every makeup look. We can’t leave the house without it.

If you love a glowy, radiant complexion, this gel highlighter is a must-have. It’s a fluid gel that melts into the skin beautifully. A tiny dot goes a long way and leaves behind the most flattering glow we’ve ever seen.

It’s not sticky, greasy or hard to blend, nor does it highlight texture. Instead you can dab it into skin in seconds with your ring finger (our writer’s peference) or buff into the tops of cheekbones with a fluffy brush.

There are two shades available; ‘starglow’ is a universal champagne shade, while ‘sunglow’ is a bronze gold tone.

It is expensive however, so if you’re keen to try it but don’t want to break the bank, we’d recommend picking up the mini verison (£16, Cultbeauty.co.uk) instead.