MECCA’s 24 Bestselling Products of 2024
December 17 | 5 minute read
Words by MECCA Memo
It was a big year for the colour green, and an even bigger year for Australian and Aotearoan beauty lovers. Charli XCX had us smudging our liner club-style, Tower 28 saved the skin of Pilates princesses everywhere, Glossier You’s notes of pink pepper and ambrox became the scent memory of 2024, and together in tandem, Sabrina Carpenter and Summer Fridays fuelled our espresso addiction.
We've crunched the numbers to bring you a list of the best (and bestselling) beauty of 2024. Out of the millions of products sold this year at MECCA, here are the 24 you purchased again and again (in no particular order)...
Can candles be born iconic, or do they have icon status thrust upon them? It’s a question we ponder every time we strike a match to one of Diptyque’s Baies candles (mini, original or 1.5kg - collect them like babushka dolls). Loved by the Bradshaws and the Beckhams of this world, the candle’s fruity, floral, stemmy tendencies allow it to be lit anywhere, anytime, for - and with - anyone, to great delight. It’s the G.O.A.T!
Tower 28 SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray
In 2024 we said goodbye to untimely breakouts, lingering redness and irritation thanks to this lifesaving toner. Powered by soothing and anti-bacterial hyperchlorous acid, the SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray lives up to the hype. Spritz anytime - post hot pilates, on a plane, after cleansing - for skin that stays even and clear.
Kerastase Nutritive 8 Hr Hair Serum
While you’re deep in your REM Cycle, this hair serum does the night shift and breathes new life into dry lengths. Add a few pumps of this nocturnal wonder before bed and let a blend of iris root extract and niacinamide restore your hair. Now we wake up with hair that feels like silk! It’s also rinse-free, fast absorbing, leaves no residue, and now permanently lives on our bedside table.
Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm
The emotional support balm of it-girls around the world, this balm-meets-mask formula is as nourishing as its tube is aesthetically pleasing. And we thank the lip balm gods (i.e. Summer Fridays founders Lauren Ireland and Mariana Hewitt) for the three new flavours added to this collection this year (Iced Coffee, limited-edition Birthday Cake and Hot Cocoa) . Use them on their own to hydrate dry lips or pair with your favourite lip liner for a dressier, more defined look. You’d be hard-pressed to find a bag in MECCA HQ without at least two of these stashed inside.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Dew Drops
Sure, this pink translucent bottle is photogenic as it sweeps across your feed but the serum inside will leave you with effortlessly dewy skin. Packed with brightening niacinamide and plumping hyaluronic acid, this versatile gel can be used on its own, as a primer or over makeup. Consider it your instant shortcut to a radiant glow.
DS & DURGA Auto Fragrance Big Sur
It’s a MECCA HQ right of passage to have one of these dangling in your car windshield. And we’ll favour cars on the road who do. Turning from the wrong lane? Cutting us off? Parked like an absolute knob? No stress! You’re one of us. You get it. This scented card doubles as a portal to take you on a drive down the Californian Coast (when in reality you’re driving to the supermarket), and as a badge of beauty honour.
Bumble & Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Primer
This six-in-one conditioning spray does it all. It fights frizz (by up to 50 percent), deeply hydrates, protects against heat, defends against UV damage and colour fading, and detangles – all in a few spritzes. Spray onto damp hair before styling and re-apply the following day for hair that’s beautifully soft and shiny. If you invest in one styling spray, make it this.
MECCA MAX Off Duty Contour Stick
Since the day this product dropped, it has worked overtime to chisel the cheekbones and jawlines of five-minutes-and-under makeup wearers across the country. It’s buttery, non-draggy, blends easily with fingers (or a brush; choose your fighter), and is the perfect neutral shade - not grey enough to leave you ghoulish, and not so warm to leave you looking like an extra from Jersey Shore.
Laura Mercier Translucent Powder
Always reliable and never cakey, this loose setting powder is the definition of a makeup icon. Ultra-lightweight and super finely-milled it’s at home in every kind of beauty bag. Whether you prefer a light dusting across the t-zone or a party-ready-bake under the eyes, this translucent powder has you set.
What do TikTok it-girls and MECCA’s IT department have in common? A deep love for this 2024 MECCA Beauty Election winner. Enriched with honey direct from the Mirsalehi family bee farm, this cult-favourite hair oil does it all - from moisturising dry strands to controlling frizz and adding a glass-like shine. It’s a certified crowd pleaser.
Frank Body Glycolic Body Scrub
From dry brushing our bodies to moisturising our elbows (yes, it’s a thing), body care was the topic du jour at MECCA HQ this year. This dual physical and chemical scrub makes glycolic acid (one of our favourite chemical exfoliants) a body care essential - purifying clogged pores and exfoliating dead skin to leave you soft and smooth all over.
MECCA COSMETICA To Save Face SPF 50+ Superscreen
Surprising to no one (but thrilling to all at MECCA HQ) is to spot our favourite child, the chic black tube that is MECCA COSMETICA’s bestselling SPF, on this list. It means that all the work we’ve done to ensure you’re wearing SPF all day, every day, is paying off! It’s an easy feat when your ‘screen is as comfy, lightweight, hydrating and non-greasy as this one is.
Another MECCA Beauty Election Hall of Famer, this little purple tub is the secret to plump, glassy, radiant-looking skin. With hydrating, restorative Japanese purple rice bran and skin-plumping Okinawa algae blend, this is the ultimate under-makeup moisturiser and comes with a delicate golden spoon, which adds a luxurious touch to the getting-ready experience.
Accidentally-on-purpose had an all-nighter on the dance floor? Feeling end-of-year-fatigue but need your game face on as you party-hop every day until the end of January? Reach for this serum-drenched sheet mask when you need to look alive-r, fast. Simply pop the sheet on, wait 10 minutes, and watch your dull, tired skin become plump, bright and hydrated with the help of kakadu plum and niacinamide.
It’s true that this globally coveted skin scent smells a little different on everyone, but you couldn’t walk two paces at MECCA HQ without getting a whiff of Glossier You in 2024. Notes of creamy ambrox and bright pink pepper give this fragrance its signature sweet-yet-warm-yet-fresh scent and make it a true icon.
NARS Light Reflecting™ Makeup Setting Mist
Considering NARS is known for their legendary complexion products, it should be no surprise that this multi-tasking mist has the setting spray game on lock. With an atomiser that mists to perfection, this spray primes and hydrates skin while its Invisible Lock Technology provides a weightless veil, ensuring your makeup stays vibrant and in place all day long.
sans [ceuticals] Activator 7 Body + Hair + Face Oil
This hard-working oil has earned a cult-like following for being a true multitasker. You can apply it to your hair for extra hydration, use it to cap off your “everything shower” routine or even use it as an eye makeup remover. Plus, it will leave your skin glowier than ever thanks to vitamins C, A and E.
Briogeo Style+Treat Sleek Stick
Frizzy-haired friends, this is how you achieve that Bella Hadid-esque slick bun. Despite providing a 24-hour hold, it never feels crunchy, sticky or oily. Keep it in your handbag for touch-ups (not that you’ll need them).
Living Proof Perfect Hair Day Dry Shampoo
Meet the dry shampoo we (and you!) added to our shopping carts again and again. It gives gritty hair an instant boost and is the master of deception – everyone will think you’ve just stepped out of the shower with freshly washed hair. We also love that this dry shampoo never leaves a powdery residue and will give oily roots a confidence boost.
Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540
A collaboration between historical crystal house Baccarat and revered French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, Baccarat Rouge 540 was originally released as a one-off – 250 bottles in celebration of 250 years of Baccarat. But when it sold out immediately, Kurkdjian decided to add it to the permanent collection – and we’re so glad he did. It’s made of two distinctly polarising ingredients – ethyl maltol, which smells like cotton candy and jam, and ambroxan, which has a salty, amber, root-like quality. It shouldn’t work but it absolutely does – an eternal compliment-getter and a truly heavenly fragrance.
Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray
If you asked us for our desert-island setting spray, it would be All Nighter – because makeup will hold up in 40-degree heat with a few spritzes of this. For a formula that’s truly smudge, crack, melt and transfer-proof, it’s also surprisingly comfortable. Apparently, this is how some women preserve full glam while giving birth – do with that what you will.
Sol de Janeiro Cheirosa 59 Mist
This vanilla mist (the newest addition to the wildly popular Cheirosa range) has quickly become a favourite among Sol de Janeiro devotees since launching at MECCA in January. With a light yet moreish sweet scent, it’s pure nostalgia to those who grew up with the gourmand mists that ruled the early 2000s.
