The best beauty and grooming products we tested in 2020

CNN Underscored is constantly testing products — be it coffee makers or office chairs — to find the absolute best in each respective category.

Our testing process is rigorous, consisting of hours of research (consulting experts, reading editorial reviews and perusing user ratings) to find the top products in each category. Once we settle on a testing pool, we spend weeks — if not months — testing and retesting each product multiple times in real-world settings. All this in an effort to settle on the absolute best products.

This year, we tested dozens of beauty and grooming products — from beard trimmers to matte lipsticks. Here are the winners in each respective category.

The best women’s razors

One of the first subscription-based razors solely for women, Billie The Razor Starter Kit took first place for its user-friendly design, close shave and overall durability. With built-in charcoal soap for easy lubrication and a rubbery grip for easy handling, it made for a quick, comfortable shaving experience. The blades are sharp but don’t irritate skin, and the magnetic holder ensures that the razor blades stay clean and dry.

Coming in close was the Flamingo Razor, which looks way more expensive and chic than it actually is (just $9, FYI). It has a more substantial, weightier handle with a rubber grip to make it easy to hold, and its cartridge is made to be flexible so you can shave backward, sideways and upside down with ease. It delivers a close shave, too, though not quite to the level of Billie.

Oui the People the Single Rose Gold Safety Razor comes from a Black woman-owned beauty brand that set out to rethink the safety razor — and did it ever deliver. While this may not be your best bet if you’re in a rush, it offered the closest, smoothest shave of any razor we tried. The handle lasts forever and has a weighted head, but at $75, it’s more of an investment. As great as it is, it might not be the best choice for someone who wants an easy, everyday razor.

Read more from our testing of women’s razors here.

The best beard trimmers

The Remington Smart Beard Trimmer was the clear winner in our testing pool. At $66.35, it delivers a consistent, quick trim, can take a beating, and is packed with tons of useful technology that prioritizes convenience, making every trim as easy as possible.

Nipping at the heels of our top pick was the Braun Beard trimmer BT7240, a trimmer that provides a solid, quick clip without all the bells and whistles of the Remington. Priced at $69.94, it has plenty of versatility with 39 different lengths, multiple attachments and a long-lasting battery that establishes it as one of the best overall trimmers we tested.

The Wahl Lithium Ion+ Stainless Steel Grooming Kit also stood out due to its precise, efficient trim that can handle any job from shearing down a Jeremiah Johnson–caliber beard to detailing precise lines on your neck and cheeks. At $59.99, it’s the trimmer for people who care about performance above all else.

Read more from our testing of beard trimmers here.

The best liquid eyeliner

The Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner ($22) is a longtime customer favorite — hence its nearly 7,500 5-star reviews on Sephora — and for good reason. We found it requires little to no effort to create a precise wing, the liner has superior staying power and it didn’t irritate those of us with sensitive skin after full days of wear. As an added bonus, it’s available in a whopping 12 shades.

The Tarteist Double Take Eyeliner ($24) is named as such because it’s double-sided: on one, a felt-tip liner that dries to a semi-matte finish, and on the other, a gel pencil eyeliner ideal for your bottom lash line, for creating a smoky look or even for drawing an outline for your wing. The Tarteist liner raked in points for its smooth and precise application, ability to stand up to sweat and moisture and, most notably, its deep pigmentation. It’s the perfect liner for anyone who prefers a bold, dramatic look that’ll stay in place the whole day.

The NYX Epic Ink Liner (starting at $6.99) is a drugstore eyeliner that provides stiff competition to its beauty-store counterparts. With a paintbrush-like tip, it glides on smooth as butter and retains its pigment throughout the day; in fact, it scored the highest among all our liners in the application and precision categories. While it lost a few points in the sweat- and waterproof department (after long walks on a hot day, we had to fill in a few — but only a few — places that had faded), you won’t find a better overall liner at this budget-friendly price point.

Read more from our testing of liquid eyeliners here.

The best matte lipsticks

The Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick ($22) has thousands of 5-star ratings across the internet, and it’s easy to see why. True to its name, this product clings to your lips for hours upon hours, burritos and messy breakfast sandwiches be damned. It’s also surprisingly moisturizing for such a superior stay-put formula, a combo that’s rare to come by.

Uoma Beauty Badass Icon Matte Lipstick ($24) is basically butter in a tube (but in the least gross way possible), gliding on effortlessly. It’s impossibly moisturizing and has a beautiful bold pigment, and its staying power is impressive for such a hydrating formula.

Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick ($7.89) is a drugstore-brand lipstick that you’d never guess was budget-priced based on how incredibly well it stays put all day long. It’s also available in 35 colors, including some funky shades like blue and black.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream ($6.50) gave a lot of the beauty-store and luxury-brand products in our testing pool a run for their money. While not as long-lasting as Maybelline, this matte lipstick offers more in the moisturizing department, which might be a draw for those prone to dry lips who don’t want to break the bank.

Read more from our testing of matte lipsticks here.