Beauty

We’ve plucked, tinted and shaped our way to bring you the very best brow bars in Auckland. 

Welcome to the most fabulous corner of the internet—Urban List's destination for the picks of the beauty crop. This month, our fave haircare has a glow up, there's new scents galore, indie brands are having a *moment* and a new immersive beauty space. 

Pampering yourself doesn’t come much better than a sleek set of nails. 

We all deserve a bit of relaxation time now and again, let’s face it. Tired? Needing a pick-me-up? Feel like treating yo'self? 

​Auckland is a mecca for hair salons and when it comes to choosing “the one”, selecting a hairdresser to entrust with your precious locks is a big freakin’ deal.

Welcome to 2024, where advent calendars are as big of a deal for adults as they are for children, and filled with so much more than cheap choccy. We're talking beauty products, booze, and even treats for in the bedroom (there's a reason Santa has a naughty list).

In the season known to wreak havoc on your skin and beauty rituals, it’s all about working smarter, not harder. Here are the holy-grailers to do the heavy lifting for your face, hair and body.

Skincare is everywhere—these are the brands that actually work and the hero products that made them famous. 

Upgrade everything from picnic dates to love-making with these great gifts.

Shop our selection of the best Christmas gift ideas this side of the North Pole.

Shopping sustainably is becoming easier and easier, with more local NZ brands being launched all the time specifically developed to be way better for the environment than their predecessors. We've filled our list with some of the lesser-known brands, so you can support small business while you build your more sustainable life.

Add some sparkle to your beauty lover's festive season. 

Not many people can say they started a beauty brand in their own kitchen, but Brianne West did just that when launching Ethique.

Here is exactly what order you should be applying our skincare products. 

Multi-award-winning NZ clean skincare brand Emma Lewisham has just dropped a next-level Sleeping Mask which is basically beauty sleep in a bottle.

While the rest of us are settling into the new norm of an already strange 2022, luxe skincare brand Emma Lewisham has been busy proving itself a sustainability powerhouse once again by recently gaining a B-Corp certification. This means the brand is now recognised as meeting the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, joining the ranks of a global community of businesses that balance profit and purpose. Talk about a guilt-free shelfie. 

Blessing users with soft, tangle-free hair and smooth, nourished skin, switching to a silk pillowcase is like investing in a long-term spa treatment. Lucky for you, we’ve got the buzz on where to find the best ones available in NZ. Kiss your bedhead goodbye, you’ll be waking up feeling pampered in no time!

Start cleaning out your make-up drawer, because Charlotte Tilbury’s makeup and skincare range is finally launching in Australian and New Zealand stores.

So we’re locked down and you’re pretty confident you have all you need. But what’s this? The repeat prescription you got six months ago is dwindling and you’re definitely not keen on joining the queues at the pharmacy. Fear not, for a whole raft of pharmacies are now offering to deliver their products and prescriptions direct to your door, anywhere in New Zealand.

Ethique have gone and launched the line of eco-friendly lip balms we’ve all been waiting for.  

Kiss goodbye those roots and split ends the environmentally-friendly way, here are the very best of the sustainable salons in Auckland. 

When it comes to advent calendars, why should the kid have all the fun? Well they don't, as it turns out—because a growing number of brands are cashing in on the festivities with their very own boujee versions that, quite frankly, are a whole lot better than the choccy numbers of our youth.

Lush's 2020 Christmas range has just dropped, and you're going to want one of everything.

Lush’s dreamy bath bombs are pretty much the best at creating that perfectly steaming, sweet scented tub—which is why we can’t wait to sink into a bath with their latest number, the IRL Bomb. 

Lucy Macdougald, Dermal Specialist at Biologi, lets us know how to get your glow back and treat the effects of maskne.

​Auckland is a mecca for hair salons and when it comes to choosing “the one”, selecting a hairdresser to entrust with your precious locks is a big freakin’ deal.

Do you feel like your skin needs extra love in winter? From dryness to breakouts, winter can make your skin crazy. The solution? Change up your skincare routine. Here’s what to do differently in winter, and which products we think make all the difference.

Have you ever looked at the skincare in your bathroom cabinet and just wished for a fairy wand to make everything natural, ethical, and sustainable—as it should be? Maybe you've even given yourself a retinol burn, or seen a depressing Vice article on what really happens to the plastic you think you've dutifully recycled.

With nothing but wintery weather ahead of us, here’s what I’m shopping for to embrace the big chill, indoors and out. 

Tanning has certainly had a ‘glow-up’ of its own in recent years. In the last decade, we’ve said toodles to tanning beds and hello to a brand new era of bronzing. No longer are we taking a tangerine-toned gamble when stepping into the tanning booth. Nope, tanning has taken a far more natural turn (both in colour and ingredients), and Auckland’s salons are testament to this. 

Brow lamination is an innovative brow shaping technique that’s taking the beauty world by storm—here's what you need to know.

After the crazy year it’s been already, you deserve a time out. Not just a few hours, but a massive day of calm to reset and recharge.

If your brows are starting to look a little worse for wear after a few weeks in iso, here's some tips from a professional for how to tame them at home.

So we’re locked down and you’re pretty confident you have all you need. But what’s this? The repeat prescription you got six months ago is dwindling and you’re definitely not keen on joining the queues at the pharmacy. Fear not, for a whole raft of pharmacies are now offering to deliver their products and prescriptions direct to your door, anywhere in New Zealand.

From sugar lip scrubs to homemade hair masks, here’s how to have a DIY spa day at home. 

You heard it here first, fellow health buffs. Cryotherapy is the—quite literally—coolest kid on the wellness block that you'll want to introduce to your wellness routine to. We’ve found the best place in Auckland to give it a whirl, so say hello to Cryo Health Solutions. 

We get it, finding the perfect hairdresser can be a lifelong journey. Trusting someone to work their magic on your hair is a decision that requires dedicated research and often referral. It’s a journey we take quite seriously here at Urban List so whether your hair’s in need of some serious TLC or you’re just wanting a trim, we've found the best hairdressers in Queenstown. You're welcome.

Leave it to the pros, these are the best hairdressers in Christchurch…

Edna Swart is the considerable brains behind the ed&i swimwear and body care range and recently starred on TVNZ's Boss Babes. We caught up with Swart to find out how she made the transition from part-time side hustle to full-time head of a thriving business.

Clear out your makeup bag Christchurch, MECCA is opening a new store and you won’t want to miss this one.

The wait is finally over. 

Perth-born entrepreneur Iris Smit is certainly one to watch. The not even mid-20s beauty tycoon is already a multimillionaire, and her stocks are set to rise with her latest invention.

If we know one thing to be true, it’s that selecting a hairdresser to entrust with your precious locks is a big freakin’ deal.

It’s time to drop everything and brace our bank accounts because the countdown is ON.

The bus will be a truly interactive experience that showcases an exclusive selection of products that will be available to swatch, try and play at the custom-built makeups stations.