Allure's Best of Beauty Live 2026 Drew 1,500 Attendees to Lower Manhattan

Allure's fourth annual Best of Beauty Live drew roughly 1,500 attendees to a subterranean venue in Lower Manhattan on Oct. 18, 2026. The event, held a short distance from where Succession filmed its exterior shots, handed out crimson totes at the door and dispensed treatments, consultations and product education across two session spaces, the Salon and the Gallery.

Allure editor in chief Jessica Cruel opened the programming with an Insider Session. Rose Siard, co-founder of Rose and Ben Beauty and the 2026 Allure Readers' Choice Top Beauty Creator, hosted "Complexion Tailoring with Rose and Ben Beauty" in the burgundy-draped Salon. "It does feel a little strange to be out of my dark room where I normally film," Siard said before demonstrating color correction.

What did the treatments floor offer?

The medical activations carried real stakes. Attendees received consultations for Botox and Juvéderm lip filler from SkinSpirit providers, and a brand representative said many attendees left the event with their first-ever neuromodulator. Allure did not disclose how many treatments were administered or at what cost to attendees. Next door, DiamondGlow ran microdermabrasion treatments on the backs of guests' hands.

The services were not the only draw. Amazon's Beauty Atelier makeup artists built full looks from Best of Beauty winners; Beauty of Joseon offered shade matching for its Tinted Mineral Dayscreen and gave away its award-winning Ginseng Cleansing Oil; and Amazon's K-Beauty Experience brought editors from Allure Korea to field questions.

Who taught the master classes?

Fresh off a shoot with Madonna, makeup artist Marcelo Gutierrez demonstrated a sultry fall look sealed with 3D Hydra Lipgloss. When attendees tapped excess product off their brushes in unison, Gutierrez joked the room had created "great ASMR."

Makeup artist Jerry Johnson revealed Laura Mercier's setting techniques, then locked looks in with the brand's setting spray. Anastasia Soare, founder of Anastasia Beverly Hills, shared her brow-shaping method ahead of "Mastering the Perfect Brow" — brows should be darker on the ends than at the front. ColorWow's head of global education, Giles Robinson, opened with a demonstration of Dream Coat Supernatural Spray and then walked attendees through a blowout.

Makeup artist Karol Rodriguez demoed looks using Wonderskin's BoB-winning 1440 Longwear Eyeliner and rejected the mystique around professional artistry. "Makeup artists are no different than regular people; we don't hold a pencil any differently than you do, we don't have different eyes than you do. We just really know how to finesse; that's really what makeup artistry is," she said. "Knowing your way around formulas, knowing how to fix things, knowing how to finesse."

How did derm brands play it?

EltaMD paired guests with board-certified dermatologist Dustin Portela, DO, for personalized skin consultations inside a game-day-themed booth staffed by jersey-clad staffers. La Roche-Posay promoted its Mela B3 dark-spot line, including the Double Dose Discoloration Treatment, and distributed purple metallic totes.

Justin Parker Ollivierre, La Roche-Posay's head of engagement and a first-time attendee, said the crowd's questions impressed him more than the activations did. "You see people going up, asking what ingredients are in the products, what the latest innovations are. So, it feels [richer] in dialogue than a traditional beauty convention," he said.

BeautyStat founder Ron Robinson, also attending his first Best of Beauty, echoed that observation. "It's been really interesting, how everyone's really yearning to understand more about the products," he said. "How to use them, how to incorporate them into their routine. I just applaud Allure for being able to bring all this together!"

What else ran on the floor?

Plenty, and much of it free:

• Laneige's Robby Ramsarran hosted "Meet Your Milky Hydration Match"; several guests wore the brand's eye masks for the rest of the day.
• The Hair Edit styled French twists and chignons using the award-winning Gilded Ellipse Flat Lay Claw Clip.
• Wella promoted its Ultimate Repair 5-in-1-Leave-In; Rizos Curls ran textured-hair consultations and demos of its Heat Protection Multivitamin Leave-In.
• Glamnetic applied press-ons by appointment; Octavia Morgan Fragrances let guests layer and engrave the award-winning Vanillin Supreme.
• Alle operated a claw machine with reward-code boxes; every player took home goodies regardless of skill.
• The Allure Beauty Box activation offered a spin for a free one-year subscription; the "Pick a Card" counter awarded winning products by card draw.

Attendees left with four tote bags in total — crimson at entry, purple metallic from La Roche-Posay, cream canvas from Allure, and an Allure-emblazoned duffel at the door. No sales figures, ticket prices or sponsorship revenue were disclosed. Now in its fourth year, the event's formula of pairing injectables with education appears to be converting curiosity into first-time procedures — a pipeline any aesthetics brand watching the consumer market will notice.