Beauty editor Ash Cometti shares her top picks from eight award-winning skincare brands.
Skincare shopping is confusing at best, what with so many competing formulas and textures all vying for a spot in your daily rotation.
The vision for Viva’s beauty pillar has always been to cut through
This year’s Viva Beauty Awards 2025, presented by Glow Lab, aimed to continue on this mission with a much-anticipated celebration of the skincare formulations that lead from the front, with innovative ingredient profiles, clinical backing and a knack for achieving real, visible results.
Read the full list of Viva Beauty Award 2025 winners here.
Below, beauty editor Ash Cometti dives into the eight skincare brands that won their category in this year’s awards or were recognised as a runner-up, along with her recommendations of the best products to shop for from each.
Emma Lewisham
For the second consecutive year, Emma Lewisham and her eponymous skincare line took out the top prize as Brand Founder Of The Year, an award that recognises the forward-thinking contributions of a brand founder to the wider beauty industry as a whole. In addition, the plant-powered, high-performance skincare brand was recognised as a runner-up in the New Zealand Beauty Brand Of The Year Award and Sustainability Award categories for its circular business model and climate-positive status.
As far as products go, it was the Supernatural Face Creme Riche, $158, that was awarded runner-up in the Best For Hydration category. It’s a hydration hero promising advanced hydration for up to 72 hours while boosting skin firmness and collagen production. But this hardworking hydrator isn’t my only go-to from the market-leading local beauty brand – I’ve joked for years that I should be on commission for its Vitale Face Elixir, $158, a patented serum that targets the visible signs of ageing. It harnesses the power of a unique peptide complex alongside a suite of plant-based extracts to hydrate and plump skin from the inside out.
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La Roche-Posay
French pharmaceutical brand La Roche-Posay is famed for its use of thermal spring water throughout its suite of clinically-proven skincare, not least its La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400 Invisible Fluid SPF50+. The reformulated sunscreen took out the Innovation Award and Best SPF for the use of the new UV filter called Mexoryl 400, which takes broad-spectrum sun protection to the next level by targeting longer wavelengths of UVA rays.
The brand was awarded a third accolade with Best For Hydration for its Cicaplast Baume B5+, a multi-use balm that relieves dryness on cuticles, lips, dry patches and more. A staple in my handbag and countless others.
Beyond these two signature skincare heroes, La Roche-Posay excels in the facial mist space with its Thermal Spring Water spray a welcome drink for dry or dehydrated skin, or to refresh makeup throughout the day.
Equally impressive is SeroZinc, a mattifying facial mist for oily or combo skin types. While it’s not yet available in Aotearoa, it’s worth picking up during your next trip across the Ditch.
CeraVe
The pharmaceutical skincare brands led the charge in this year’s Viva Beauty Awards 2025, with CeraVe awarded in two categories – Best For Cleansing and Best For Overnight.
Its Hydrating Cleanser, $18, has long been my go-to as the second step in my double cleansing routine, gently washing away any surface impurities, sunscreen or makeup, without interrupting the skin’s delicate moisture barrier.
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Advertise with NZME.As with all CeraVe products, a combination of three essential ceramides provides skin with 24-hour deep hydration. This includes the CeraVe Renewing Night Cream, $45, which is designed to refresh a tired, dull or dehydrated complexion while you slumber.
Other product picks from CeraVe include the new Facial Moisturising Lotion SPF50, $28, a Chemist Warehouse exclusive, which couples the brand’s signature hydration with broad-spectrum protection sunscreen to defend against harmful UVA and UVB rays on all skin types. Struggling with rough, bumpy skin? Look no further than the SA Smoothing Cream, $24, a rich moisturiser that exfoliates, softens and smoothes dry, rough or bumpy skin in one fell swoop.
Antipodes
Now this was really exciting... Aotearoa legacy beauty brand Antipodes was awarded Best For Mature Skin for its Jasmine Flower Menopause Facial Cream, $55. It’s one of the newer products in Antipodes’ stable of natural skincare, which highlights the use of New Zealand native ingredients in every product. The launch came as a poignant reminder of an often-forgotten segment of society, those experiencing the symptoms associated with menopause. In response, Antipodes’ rich cream helps to combat the visible signs of menopause, including redness, irritation, hormonal blemishes or sensitivity with its blend of organic oat extract and fermented jasmine flowers.
Another gold-standard product from the brand includes its new Aura Gold Mānuka Honey Radiance Mask, $60, a must-have for hydrated, radiant skin with vitamin C, AHAs, sustainably sourced manuka honey and plant-based hyaluronic acid.
Milou Beauty
Female-founded Milou Beauty champions New Zealand botanicals throughout its range of conscious skincare, developed in collaboration between Libby Boxall and Bailee Wilson-Pledger. The cornerstone product of the range is the Clean Slate Superfruit Cleanser, $63, which helped Milou Beauty take out the runner-up spot in the Breakthrough Brand Of The Year category. The three-in-one formulation is designed to purify, brighten and exfoliate all skin types with its combination of superfruits and nutrient-dense New Zealand pink seaweed.
Another excellent option is the Plump Me Up Hyaluronic Acid Serum, $65, which works to calm, de-puff and plump complexions immediately and in the long-term with its blend of niacinamide, New Zealand Mamaku fern and red seaweed extract.
Raaie
We’ve had the pleasure of profiling Raaie founder Katey Mandy many times and celebrating its recent expansion into Sephora, so it was with much excitement that we celebrate the brand for its runner-up status in the Best For Cleansing and Best SPF categories.
The Raaie Golden Nectar Manuka Honey Enzyme Cleanser, $110, gently exfoliates skin while washing away surface debris to leave skin plump, hydrated and luminous, while the Raaie Sun Milk Drops SPF50+, $100, is an ultra-lightweight skin tint that promises broad-spectrum protection. The peach-tinted formulation sits beautifully on all skin types, while the mineral filters help to fend off harmful UVA, UVB, pollution, blue light and infrared rays.
Murad
Available from your local Caci clinic, Murad was recognised in the Best For Overnight category, awarded runner-up for its Retinal ReSculpt Overnight Treatment, $199. The next-generation serum is clinically proven to address the visible signs of ageing, helping to lift neck and jowl sagging and boost skin elasticity, while smoothing fine lines, wrinkles and crepiness.
It does so with encapsulated retinal, which is suspended in a special delivery system to ensure deep penetration into skin without the irritation that some forms of vitamin A can cause. The formulation also looks to calming ingredients such as olive, oat and alpha-glucan to supercharge skin resilience, fortify the skin barrier and fend off any dryness or irritation.
Another excellent Murad pick? The Cellular Hydration Barrier Repair Oil Drops, $164, a multi-tasking facial oil said to restore the skin barrier thanks to its blend of omegas and six vitamins to alleviate redness and promote an even skin texture.
Environ
Last but certainly not least is Environ’s 3D Synerge Filler Cream, $164, which took out the runner-up spot in the Best For Mature Skin category. It’s the second time this efficacious serum has been celebrated in the Viva Beauty Awards, having scored highly in last year’s awards, too.
Developed by leading dermatologist Dr Des Fernandes, this unique formulation draws inspiration from dermal filler techniques to target the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and volume loss with its patented hydro-lipidic approach to skin ageing.
Mature skin types will also enjoy the Environ Serience Night Cream, $151, an overnight skin booster that combats the effects of stress on skin to reveal a luminous complexion come morning. How exactly does it do so, I hear you ask? With the brand’s unique Malachite-Neuropeptide Complex, which rebuilds skin at a cellular level.
CREDITS
Photographer | Guy Coombes
Fashion and creative director | Dan Ahwa
Beauty editor | Ashleigh Cometti
Hair and makeup | Leisa Welch
Model | Yali Cottan from Super MGMT.
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