In April 2019, Amy Liu named her new brand after a lifeguard tower in Santa Monica, the one where she met friends and family. She launched Tower 28 with three products: SOS Spray, SuperDew and ShineOn Lip Jelly. A brand named after a spot on the beach, and a first launch you could carry in a tote. I have been thinking about that ever since, because the makeup brands I keep returning to all feel like a place someone actually goes.

So this is a short list, not a ranking. These are the makeup brands we love most, and I will go brand by brand. Each one has a person behind it and a point of view you can feel in the bag. Some are old friends and some are new, and I have left out the ones I only admire from a distance. Tower 28 comes at the end, in the last grid, with Merit, Rare Beauty, Westman Atelier and Kosas.

First, Saie. Laney Crowell, who spent nearly five years at Estée Lauder and worked at ELLE, started it in 2019 with the idea of beauty being better. She began a blog called The Moment, asked readers what clean makeup was missing, and the answer became the brand's you-say-it-we-create-it ethos. The trick is to think of Saie as cheeks, skin and lips. Dew Blush is the soft cream flush, and SuperSuede Baked Powder Blush is the powder one. Slip Tint is the lightweight tinted moisturizer, which Crowell has said has SPF 35. Sun Melt Natural Cream Bronzer and Glow Sculpt add shape, Hydrabeam is the under-eye concealer, and Glossybounce is the lip oil. Mascara 101 is the plain, dependable one.

Start with the lips. Rhode began on June 15, 2022 as Hailey Bieber's skincare line, and the Peptide Lip Treatment was one of the first three products. That is the right way to shop the brand: lips first, everything else after.

The Peptide Lip Treatment Nourishing Glaze and Peptide Lip Tint Nourishing Glaze are the pair I would put side by side, one clear and one with a wash of colour. Peptide Lip Boost is the plumping mask for the evening, and Peptide Lip Shape is the contouring lip shaper for anyone who likes a line. Bieber has said her goal is essential skin care and hybrid makeup you can use every day, and Pocket Blush and Pocket Bronze are that idea in a compact you can throw in a jacket.

Highlight milk 02 is the glow, and the Peptide Eye Prep depuffing patches are the thing I would use on a morning after a late night. e.l.f. Beauty bought the brand in 2025, and Bieber stays on as founder, chief creative officer and head of innovation.

A pairing I like: the Pocket Blush pressed over the Lip Tint on the cheekbone, then a little highlight milk on top. One colour, three places.

What I would skip: the lip shaper on a dry mouth. Use the lip mask the night before and it will glide.

One rule for a brand with a big name behind it: read the products, not the press. The brand began in 2008 as Gwyneth Paltrow's weekly newsletter, and its beauty push started in 2016 with a six-piece certified-organic capsule made with Juice Beauty. Its own lines followed after that.

The goop Beauty makeup is a pared-back edit. Colorblur Glow Balm and the Glow Skin Highlighter Stick are the two glow products, and Summertone Bronzing Gel is the warmth. Morning Skin Superpowder is the finishing touch that keeps a shine in check. Featherlash Lifting Serum Mascara is the lash product.

The lips are the strongest part of the shelf. Clean Nourishing Lip Balm is the everyday one, the Nourishing Lip Repair Mask is the overnight one, and Hydra-Barrier Gel Gloss is the one with shine.

A pairing I like: Lip Repair Mask before bed, the Lip Balm through the day and Gel Gloss on top for an evening.

What I would skip: the bronzing gel on skin that is already very oily by midday. Save it for the days you are dry, and use the Superpowder over it.

Here is how I would build a small bag from five different brands: choose one complexion product, one cheek product and one glow, and do not double up.

Merit was created by Katherine Power, co-founder of Who What Wear, and launched on January 12, 2021 with a short edit of makeup and a brush. The brand says it is vegan, cruelty-free and formulated to EU clean standards. Its Bronze Balm is the sheer sculpting bronzer. Rare Beauty came from Selena Gomez in 2020, with the Rare Impact Fund attached, and Warm Wishes is the soft matte bronzer, Positive Light the silky highlighter.

For skin, Westman Atelier's Vital Skincare Concealer comes from Gucci Westman, a celebrity makeup artist who launched the brand in 2018. Kosas' Revealer Skin-Improving Foundation SPF 25 is the brand's medium buildable coverage, and Blush is Life is its baked, talc-free blush. Kosas says its concealer came from the founder's own experience of makeup irritating sensitive, acne-prone skin. Tower 28's Swipe Foundation is the base, and SuperDew, a shimmer-free highlight balm, is the one from the very first launch.

A pairing I like: Revealer on the face, Merit's Bronze Balm on top, SuperDew on the cheekbones.

What I would skip: two bronzers in one look. Rare's powder and Merit's balm are both lovely, but pick one for the day.

I think the makeup brands worth loving are the ones with a real reason behind them, and this list is full of them. Tower 28 has a founder with eczema and a lifeguard tower, Kosas has a founder with a biology degree and sensitive skin, and Saie has a blog of readers who told her what was missing.

If I had to pack one bag, it would be a Saie Slip Tint, a Tower 28 SuperDew, a rhode lip glaze and a Merit Bronze Balm. Four things, four brands. It fits in a pocket, like a first launch from a lifeguard tower. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Maybelline Mascara Sky High, Lined Up Against Lancôme, Prada and Rare Beauty and Westmore Beauty.

For a shorter list of the best makeup brands I trust on bare skin, I pulled together clean picks from ILIA, RMS Beauty and Kosas.