Vogue Shopping: How We Select and Test Products

Photo: Fujio Emura

Why You Should Trust Us

Our Testing Philosophy

Since Vogue’s first issue in 1892, the magazine has always considered the wider world through the lens of fashion—a point of view that extends to beauty, lifestyle, culture, and travel. Our curated shopping edits follow suit.

We hope you come to Vogue Shopping for inspiration, but stay for the thoughtful curations you won’t find anywhere else. Everyone has an idea of what you should buy—our goal is simple: to help you shop like a Vogue editor, with confidence. Think of it as a direct line to what our team is loving right now, filtered through years of expertise and exclusive access before you see it everywhere.

Here’s an inside, no-nonsense look at our process.

Crowd-sourced reviews and star ratings mean little to us since taste is so subjective. It’s important for us to be familiar with every brand, designer, and product we recommend—as such, we test IRL to see how something feels, wears, and performs over a period of time.

We bring subject-matter expertise and a nuanced perspective to all our content, considering everything from personal style preferences to skin tones, hair textures, body types, lifestyles, and price points. The long and short of it: We wouldn’t recommend anything that we wouldn’t obsessively use and hoard ourselves.

Beauty products are tested by Vogue editors and contributors with extensive experience in skincare, makeup, hair, wellness, and fragrance. In addition, we consult our roster of trusted industry experts—from celebrity makeup artists and hairstylists to estheticians, dieticians, and dermatologists—to bring deep personal experience and intel you can only get from immersing yourself in the subject matter for years. Each expert we tap offers a unique POV on the subject matter at hand or products in question. Relevant credentials or industry experience are always disclosed within reviews when applicable. We’d never ask a dietician to weigh in on a mascara, just as we wouldn’t ask a makeup artist to speak to a multivitamin—that way you get the most intentional insight to inform your buy.

Each product featured in our content is put through rigorous editorial review—and chosen with the utmost care to represent a wide range of price points, ages, skin types, hair textures, and aesthetic preferences. Before we include it in any of our lists, we’re sure to test shade ranges, comb through ingredient lists, scrutinize brand claims, and, as it relates to certain skincare and supplements, consult FDA approvals for efficacy. Sometimes, we’ll even dig deeper into peer-reviewed medical and clinical brand studies to back up why a product could be suitable for you. Safety is a key consideration; we will always flag if there are any potential risks associated with use.

From Vogue HQ in New York City to Paris and Seoul, our recommendations spotlight various beauty rituals, alongside the emerging formulas and well-established classics and trending products from those markets.

Testing varies by category and is designed to reflect real-world use—in homes, offices, studios, and travel—rather than controlled labs. We call in samples from brands to test the items we’re curious about, and keep them in the Vogue Beauty Closet to have on hand for shoots and long-term testing and comparisons.

Below, a look at our methodology for each category, including skin, makeup, hair, tools and devices, as well as ingestible wellness products.

• Skincare: Tested over days to weeks, following recommended usage, with attention to ingredients, texture, absorption, efficacy, irritation, and compatibility with other products.
• Haircare: Evaluated across multiple washes and styling routines, considering hair type, curl pattern, ingredients, density, and chemically treated vs. untreated hair.
• Makeup: Worn for extended periods to assess wear, finish, comfort, oxidation, and performance across lighting and weather conditions—with regard to how the ingredient composition will affect skin over time.
• Tools & Devices: Tested for ease of use, durability, safety, visible results over time, and how certain modalities pair with other ingredients or devices.
• Supplements & Ingestibles: Tested over several weeks and reviewed with caution, focusing on ingredient transparency, dosage clarity, expert input, third-party certifications, and user experience.

We keep a close eye on the market and routinely update our guides to reevaluate product performance; if something goes out of stock, our opinion changes, or something better comes along, we will tweak our lists accordingly. That way, you’ll always know that our Vogue-approved picks are up to date.

The Vogue Beauty Board is our handpicked community of beauty experts, founders, and industry insiders who bring an additional layer of expertise and real-world experience to Vogue’s beauty coverage. Our editors have always relied on a trusted network of experts when researching and testing products. The Beauty Board formalizes that community, allowing us to incorporate their expertise more regularly into our reviews, product testing, and broader beauty coverage.

What does the Vogue Beauty Board do?

Each month, Beauty Board members test products hand-selected by Vogue editors and share candid feedback on everything from ingredients and efficacy to texture, ease of use, packaging, and more. Depending on their area of expertise, members may also weigh in on emerging ingredients, treatments, technologies, and larger shifts within the industry.

Their insights help inform our coverage, including product reviews and recommendations, and give our editors another perspective as we evaluate what is truly worth your time and money. Board feedback is one part of Vogue’s larger editorial testing and selection process; final editorial decisions remain with Vogue’s editors.

How We Chose the Vogue Beauty Board Members

Beauty Board members are selected by Vogue editors for their expertise, experience, and distinct point of view. The group spans a range of disciplines across the beauty industry, from skincare and makeup to hair, fragrance, wellness, and aesthetics. Above all, we look for people who are deeply immersed in their categories, thoughtful about what they recommend, and able to offer our readers a perspective that goes beyond what's trending. Current members include:

• Neada Deters is the founder of LESSE, the organic skin-care brand known for its minimalist, inclusive approach to skin health and daily ritual.
• Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali is a board-certified dermatologist, researcher, and formulator bringing science-led innovation to some of beauty’s most talked-about products.
• Michelle Lee is an award-winning beauty executive, former editor in chief of Allure, and trusted authority on K-beauty and industry trends.
• Mara Roszak is a celebrated celebrity hairstylist and the founder of RŌZ, the high-performance hair-care line inspired by her decades behind the chair.
• Fara Homidi is an acclaimed makeup artist and founder of Fara Homidi Beauty, known for her expressive use of color and artful, lived-in approach to makeup.
• Marianna Hewitt is a pioneering beauty creator and the cofounder of Summer Fridays, the cult-favorite skin-care and hybrid makeup brand she launched in 2018.
• Sean Garrette is a licensed esthetician, skin-care educator, and founder of Sean Garrette Skin, celebrated for making expert skin knowledge feel accessible.
• Toni Bravo is a Los Angeles–based beauty and lifestyle creator known for her colorful artistry, candid product reviews, and particular love of blush.
• Jawara Wauchope is an influential editorial hairstylist whose imaginative work celebrates the artistry, versatility, and cultural power of hair.
• Dr. Lara Devgan is a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon and founder of Dr. Devgan Scientific Beauty, known for her precise, natural aesthetic.
• Chriselle Lim is a pioneering digital creator, entrepreneur, and the co-founder and creative director of fragrance brand Phlur.
• Evelyn Effrim-Botchey is an international model bringing her distinctive style and perspective to the conversation around mature beauty.

Together, the Board represents a range of specialties, experiences, and approaches to beauty, allowing us to match products and topics with members whose expertise is most relevant to what we’re testing.

Our in-house team of market editors handpick every fashion item we choose to feature. As much as we’d like to, not every item of clothing can be tried in real life (trends are ephemeral, collections sell out quickly, and there’s only so much closet space we have!) but our editors pair their extensive industry knowledge with access to samples and brand desksides to inform their choices. Fit, design, and quality all play a deciding role in our selection, as well as price point and availability—there’s nothing worse than finding a product you love and realizing it’s almost sold out. When we do try or buy something that we love, you can read about it in any of our editor's picks stories—contrary to popular belief, we don’t like to gatekeep!

Seasonal runway collections inform our spring and fall trend reports; but beyond what we see during fashion month, our shopping editors are on the ground attending weekly market appointments to discover new brands and learn about upcoming drops. We strive to give options across a range of price points and style sensibilities—from luxury designer finds in our New Arrivals edit, to the best fashion you can buy under $300. The best style is a mix of high and low, after all.

For items where function and/or fit is the priority—think activewear or petite-friendly denim—testing may include: wearing (and washing!) items over extended periods, size consistency, comfort and quality, fabric feel and performance, and of course, price per wear (girl math!). We’ll usually call in samples to test, shoot, and return, or if it’s something we already own, will speak to it first-hand.

Vogue editors, writers, and contributors independently select every hotel and Airbnb property. Our experts all have backgrounds in travel writing, extensive knowledge of each destination, and, more often than not, the ability to tell you exactly where to snag the best dinner reservation in whatever city you are visiting. We incorporate first-hand notes of a stay whenever possible and regularly update travel recommendations to prioritize insider experiences year-round.

We aim to include a mix of buzzy boutique gems, luxury heritage spots steeped in history, and under-the-radar (at least, for now) new stays within each destination guide, so you have a variety of hospitality options to peruse. Elevated design is always a priority—we have been guilty of booking a hotel based on its beautiful tiles alone—and hotels are further evaluated with price point, location, and service all top of mind. The goal is to incorporate a wide range of locations that suit an equally wide range of travel styles; you’re likely to find a stately grande dame in the same edit as a cozy six-bedroom inn.

Every product featured is independently selected and vetted by our editors—we’d never recommend something we wouldn’t add to our own shopping carts—however we may earn commission when you shop with us.

Our content is created by a team of shopping-obsessed editors, writers, and contributors who bring expertise across fashion, beauty, wellness, travel, and home. Get to know—and shop with—us.

• Executive Shopping Director: Libby Page
• Shopping Directors: Talia Abbas, Madeline Fass
• Shopping Editor, Beauty: Kiana Murden
• Shopping Editor, Lifestyle: Elly Leavitt
• Shopping Market Editors: Minty Mellon, Andrea Zendejas
• Senior Shopping Writer: Cortne Bonilla
• Shopping Writer, Beauty: Conçetta Ciarlo
• Marketing & Production Manager: Kasey Busiel
• Associate Producers: Alexandra Ditch, Fred Sahai

For more information about the Vogue editorial team, please visit our masthead.