Australia's independent beauty edit
Find the best in beauty.
We buy, test and score skincare, makeup, hair, tan and beauty devices out of ten, in plain English and genuinely independent. No brand pays to be here.
Sun season
Three numbers to know before summer
What the label is worth, what could change on it, and what price really buys.
popular SPF 50 and 50+ sunscreens fell short of their label when CHOICE tested them. One measured SPF 4.
Which sunscreens passed, and which failed →
Explainer · TGA review 3optionsfor sunscreen labels sit in the TGA's 2026 consultation. Only one of them swaps the SPF number for words.
Is Australia scrapping the SPF number? →
GLOW Research · August 2026 r =0.11is how weakly price predicts performance across the 134 products we have scored. Paying four times more buys a tenth of a point.
Does price predict performance? →
GLOW Briefs
The latest, in brief
Short, sourced answers: recalls, lab results, label changes and price checks.
All briefs →Browse by category
What are you looking for?
Rankings
Best beauty products by category
Independently tested and ranked against the GLOW Standard.
All rankings →
Sun careBest Sunscreen →
Four picks: one we wore all summer, three that passed an independent lab test. La Roche-Posay Anthelios leads at 9.3.
TanBest Self Tan →
Worn for six weeks, with 14-day fade tracking.
DevicesBest LED Masks →
Five masks, six weeks. Omnilux Contour Face leads at 9.3.
SkincareBest Retinol →
From a $12 beginner pick to Alpha-H at 9.1.
SkincareBest Vitamin C Serum →
Three that stay stable. SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic leads at 9.4.
MakeupBest Foundation →
Mecca Max Future Skin takes best overall at $26.
HairBest Shampoo →
Five shampoos, four weeks of daily wear. Olaplex No.4 leads at 9.0.
WellnessBest Magnesium →
Eighteen tested, four ranked. BioCeuticals UltraMuscleze Night leads at 9.1.
Reviews
Latest product reviews
Every product scored on the 10-point GLOW Score.
All reviews →
Salons & clinics
Find trusted salons and skin clinics
Editor-vetted beauty destinations across Australia's major cities.
Our method
How GLOW reviews
Every review and ranking is judged using the GLOW Standard, a clear framework for performance, value, ingredients, experience and whether we would genuinely recommend it.
- 01Performance
- 02Value
- 03Ingredients
- 04Experience
- 05Would we genuinely recommend it
About GLOW
Australia's independent beauty review platform
GLOW was founded in Melbourne in 2014 to answer one question honestly: what is actually worth buying? Today the platform holds 94 brand profiles, 88 in-depth product and brand reviews, 55 category rankings and coverage of around 200 salons and clinics across 10 Australian cities, spanning skincare, makeup, hair, tan, devices and wellness. Nothing on GLOW is a paid placement. Brands cannot buy a score, a ranking position or a recommendation, and our editorial standards and corrections policy are public.