Best Beauty Buys 2024: Top Products For Dull Skin

Best Beauty Buys is The Singapore Women’s Weekly’s annual awards to discover the most effective and game-changing skincare, haircare and makeup products for busy women and their families. The products were road-tested by a group of mums, and these are their picks.

Dull skin looks tired, washed out, lacklustre, colourless, and sickly. And there are plenty of culprits: lack of sleep, dehydration, stress, diet and hormonal changes, to start.

While you can’t halt ageing and certain hormonal changes, dull skin can usually be addressed with good skincare in the form of exfoliation, hydration and brightening. Of course, prioritising sleep, water intake and a balanced diet will go a long way to reclaiming your glow too.

When it comes to skincare products that promise radiance revival, these are the cream of the crop. Ready, set, glow!

1. Best Refreshing Cleanser: Bifesta Micellar Cleansing Water Perfect Glow

Start your skincare routine on the right, bright note with Bifesta’s vitamin C enriched micellar cleansing water. It removes makeup effortlessly, and your skin gets a vitamin C boost while at it. Japanese yuzu extract locks moisture into your skin and balances it out, leaving you with refreshed, brighter skin.

$18.20 for 400ml

Shop at Watsons (via Amazon Fresh) | Guardian

2. Best Makeup-Removing Wipes: Bifesta Micellar Cleansing Sheet Perfect Glow

One sheet is all you need to remove your day’s makeup and impurities. No need for vigorous scrubbing or tugging, thanks to its low-friction formula. Each sheet is infused with vitamin C, moisturising Japanese yuzu extract, and skin-repairing amino acids, so you can look forward to clean and dewy skin.

$14.80 for 46 sheets

Shop at Watsons (via Amazon Fresh) | Guardian

3. Best Luxurious Serum: Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Serum

This long-running Sulwhasoo serum is specifically created to alleviate the stress on your skin, stat. The serum is turbo-charged with ginseng concentrate and a concoction of five different herbs to hydrate, brighten, reduce wrinkles, and repair the skin's moisture barrier.

$35 for 15ml

Shop at Sephora | Sulwhasoo Flagship Store (via Lazada)

4. Best Value-For-Money Toner: Bio Essence Bio-Gold 24K Gold Water

The Bio Essence 24K Gold Water proves that all that glitters is indeed gold. The visible gold flakes don't just look gorgeous, they are also meant to be absorbed by skin to stimulate collagen production and improve microcirculation for a firmer, more radiant visage.

$39.70 for 100ml

Shop at Watsons (via Amazon Fresh) | Guardian

5. Best Gentle Serum: Cetaphil Bright Healthy Radiance Perfecting Serum

For a radiance that springs forth from within, you’ll need to keep your skin healthy and happy. Cetaphil’s Bright Healthy Radiance Perfecting Serum does precisely this. It’s formulated with vitamin C and sea daffodil extract to even out skin tone and lighten dark spots; as well as peptides to strengthen the skin barrier.

$47.35 for 30ml

Shop at Amazon | Watsons

6. Best Nourishing Serum For Dull Skin: Shiseido Ultimune Power Infusing Concentrate 

Dewy, silky and fresh – this serum is a joy to use even on days when you feel down in the dumps. A thin layer infuses your tired skin with a nourishing dose of reishi mushroom and iris root extract. This is for days when your skin needs that extra glow from within.

$125 for 30ml

Shop at Shiseido Flagship Store (via Lazada) | Sephora

7. Best Overnight Serum: Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum Synchronized Multi-Recovery Complex

Estee Lauder’s Advanced Night Repair serum is one hard worker. It’s created with an exclusive technology that repairs and rejuvenates your face when you sleep, and protects it from environmental damage in the day. 

$140 for 30ml

Shop at Estee Lauder Flagship Store (via Lazada) | Sephora | Amazon

8. Best Exfoliating Mask: Pestlo Spicule Reborn Peeling Mask

A peel-off mask that delivers the benefits of microneedling from home? Consider us sold. This peel-off exfoliating mask does the job with fine bio spicules, which work by penetrating deep layers of the skin to stimulate cell renewal and collagen production. Ingredients like maritime pine bark, green tea, and wormwood protect skin from environmental damage while keeping it moist and supple.

$48 for 120g

Shop at Asian Beauty X

9. Best Clay Mask: Benefit Cosmetics The Porefessional Deep Retreat Pore Clearing Clay Mask

We hear that one of the secrets to radiant skin is clean pores. Slather on a generous dollop of this creamy clay mask and watch dots of oil get sucked out of your pores. Ingredients like jojoba seed oil and prickly pear flower extract seal the glow in your face long after the mask is washed off.

$68 for 75ml

Shop at Sephora

10. Best Gentle Exfoliating Mask: Future Heritage Mask

Exfoliation is the key to shedding dead skin cells and revealing bright, smooth skin beneath. And a gentle and nourishing exfoliator is always welcomed. Proteins, oils, herbs and spices come together to purify skin and balance its pH levels, bringing it back to radiant life.

$152 for 75ml

Shop at Freia247

11. Best Brightening Mask: Sulwhasoo First Care Activating Mask

It's all the goodness of Sulwhasoo's First Care Activating Serum, drenched in a silky smooth, cooling mask sheet. Your skin will absolutely soak up the nourishing formula based on Sulwhasoo's anti-ageing technology, giving you visibly brightened and regenerated skin.

$75 for 5 sheets

Shop at Sephora | Sulwhasoo Flagship Store (via Lazada)

12. Best Rejuvenating Mask: Filorga Meso-Mask

Thirty minutes of this nourishing mask once weekly is all it takes to significantly brighten tired skin. Filorga’s Meso Mask contains ingredients like collagen, elastin, and skin-protecting rhamnose polysaccharides for an intense dose of hydration, plumping, smoothing and brightening.

$81.75 for 50ml

Shop at Lazada | Shopee

13. Best Brightening Sunscreen: Jung Beauty Probiotics Tinted Sun Serum

We love a multitasking sunscreen, and this 3-in-1 Jung Beauty sunscreen is a real champ, delivering protection from harmful rays, nourishing skincare benefits (thanks to niacinamide, panthenol and probiotics), and a natural tone-up effect.

$45 for 50ml

Shop at Ksisters

14. Best Brightening Supplement: Eight Karats Eighteen Vitaskin Nutricosmetic Supplement

If you can’t always afford to slather on a mask and load up on antioxidant-rich food, taking supplements like this one is a good bet. The Eight Karats’ Eighteen Vitaskin Nutricosmetic Supplement contains essential nutrients from a cocktail of fruits and veggies for healthy, glowing skin. 

$45 for 30 capsules

Shop at Eight Karats

15. Best Hydrating Serum For Dull Skin: Decorte Whiteologist Neogenesis Brightening Concentrate

Give your skin a radiance boost every morning and night with this deep-reaching Decorte serum. Kojic acid and Decorte's Bright Concentrate Complex tag team to lighten dark spots and prevent further discolouration on skin, while feverfew extract keeps the skin moisturised and plump. The result is clear, bright and dewy skin.

$170 for 40ml

Shop at Takashimaya

16. Best Brightening Serum: Sigi Skin Daylight Oasis Vitamin C Brightening Serum

L-Ascorbic Acid is one of the purest forms of vitamin C in skincare, and the most potent – which can be found in the Sigi Skin Daylight Oasis Vitamin C Brightening Serum. Touted as a medical-grade serum, it also contains exosomes to promote skin healing, copper tripeptide to protect the skin from free radical damage, and turmeric to lighten dark spots. 

$109 for 30ml

Shop at Sigi Skin | Sigi Skin Official Store (via Lazada)

17. Best Multitasking Serum For Dull Skin: Rationale #3 The Tinted Serum SPF50+

This daily serum imparts an ethereal glow to the skin while offering heavy-duty sun protection. Its secret? Zinc oxide for its antioxidant and anti-aging properties, and bioactive light-reflecting particles for a beautiful luminosity from within. 

$222 for 30ml

Shop at Rationale | Freia247

18. Best Lightweight Serum For Under-Eye: Mtm Labo Custom-Blended Realize Eye Primo

Take your eye care to the next level with Mtm Labo’s box of five different serums. Each bottle of lightweight serum targets specific needs: yellowing skin, dark circles, pigmentation, loose skin, and wrinkles.

$428 for 5ml x 6 bottles

Shop at Mtm Labo

Prices are accurate at time of publication.

All the items are independently selected by our editorial team. If you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. But we only recommend products we love. Promise.