Need to save space in your luggage? Don’t have the time for a multi-step morning routine? Trying to cut back your beauty budget? There are many reasons to consider adding multi-tasking products to your makeup, skin care and hair regimens. Saving time and money aside, there are products out there that can actually benefit you in the long run.
To uncover these versatile sprays, creams and shadows, we tapped lifestyle and beauty expert Bahar Takhtehchian to share her favorite 2-in-1 (and sometimes more!) products that are changing the game in the beauty space. And her picks don’t disappoint, from a “Quick Stick” that creates a complete eye look in seconds to a hot tool that can give you a blowout or revamp three-day hair with just a few passes. We even found a brow tint that can help your hair thicken over time.
Check out our top finds below, starting at just $7. You’ll even find a few editor favorites that we think you’ll love just as much as we do.
Multitasking beauty products seen on the 3rd hour of TODAY
Grande Cosmetics GrandeBROW 2-in-1
Whether your brows never fully recovered from the great plucking period of the ‘90s or your hair is naturally sparse, you’ll want to consider all the benefits this brow product has to offer. Not only can it give you an instant tint and volume, but its formula can also help your brows thicken over time, according to the brand. Simply stroke the gel across each brow and allow the mini fibers within the serum to do the work of filling and shaping along your natural brow line.
Bioré UV Aqua Rich Daily Hydrating Facial Moisturizer
With summer coming and spring weather already warming up our faces, you may be starting the switch to lighter skin care formulas. Takhtehchian recommends adding this Bioré item to your new routine since it not only acts as a moisturizer and SPF, , but also can serve as a primer for your makeup. You never have to worry about it leaving a white cast because it absorbs quickly and invisibly. Plus, it contains some powerful ingredients that make it safe for mature skin types and won’t allow it to clog up your pores.
Now through May 2, TODAY readers can receive an extra 20% off at checkout on Amazon with code 20TODAY.
Jones Road Beauty Miracle Balm
This Shop TODAY editor-loved balm is a one-stop shop for giving your complexion an all-over glow. “[It’s] ideal for anyone who is looking for a ‘no-makeup makeup look,’ this balm can be worn on bare skin or layered on foundation or tinted moisturizer,” says Takhtehchian.
Plus, using it is easy since all you need are your trusty fingers. Use them to warm up the product, and then add the tinted balm (in one of the 10 shades of your choosing!) wherever you want a soft, natural-looking glow: cheeks, nose, lips, eyebrow bone, you name it!
Tarte Quick Stick™ Waterproof Shadow & Liner
“Eyes in 30 seconds!” That’s what Tarte says this trending 2-in-1 Quick Stick offers. And if you’re not exactly a morning person, or don’t like spending most of your AM routine applying makeup, this is a beauty item that is perfect for creating quick and easy makeup magic. With a shadow on one side and its perfect liner match on the other, you’ll have a complete eye look in no time, without having to reach for other products.
The stick comes in six colors, all formulated to feel as smooth as velvet and deliver rich pigment. They are also waterproof, crease-proof and nourishing to the eyelid area, per the brand. Since it’s so compact, it’s perfect for adding to your bag for touchups or intensifying your color while on the go.
Vaseline Cocoa Shimmer Jelly Stick
At this point, I think we all know the many benefits Vaseline seems to provide in the beauty space. (The pure petroleum jelly is a staple for fighting signs of aging, healing chapped skin, boosting hydration, and more recently, as an eye cream substitute.) But if you haven’t heard of the brand’s Jelly Sticks, you could also be missing out on some luminizing results.
This multitasking gem can be used all over the body to add moisture and a pop of highlight where you want to glow. You’ll want to add this to your travel bag so you can take care of dry spots anywhere, and without making a mess, thanks to its hands-free design.
Amika Blowout Babethermal Ionic Hairbrush
While we love a fresh blowout, going to the salon can be both time-consuming and expensive. We’re obsessed with this hot tool that can style your hair, pump up its volume and create frizz-free results at the same time. Its secrets? A ceramic barrel that heats the hair in half the time than more conventional tools. It’s also designed with an ionic generator that gives your locks a shinier and smoother finish. For fuller roots, Takhtehchian says to spray dry shampoo on the area and use the Amika tool to refresh two or even three-day-old hair.
More multitasking beauty products to shop
E.l.f. Monochromatic Multi Stick
Only $6 for an eye, lip and cheek tint? Leave it to E.l.f. to create a product that sounds too good to be true, but actually delivers. Available in seven shades, this cream-to-powder multi-stick is the only product you need to create a stunning monochromatic look. The formula is made to glide on seamlessly and smoothly, and it’s also infused with shea butter to leave a nourishing finish behind.
Real Techniques Makeupsaver Sponge
Love the look of a makeup application with a beauty sponge, but hate how much product is sucked up into your tool? Real Techniques feels your pain, so the brand decided to do something about it by creating a sponge that can create that same look without absorbing your expensive makeup. It is designed with a patented angular shape and makeup-saving technology that easily wipes clean and saves 90% of your foundations, concealers, bronzers and more from going to waste.
Skintimate 2-in-1 Shave Oil & Moisturizer
This new launch from Skintimate pulls double duty as a shaving oil and a moisturizer. According to the brand, the formula is safe to apply all over the body — including that sensitive bikini area! — and can help prevent bumps, ingrown hairs, and irritation that comes with shaving. Reapply afterwards to award your skin with 24-hour moisture.
NYX Professional Makeup Primer & Makeup Setting Spray
It’s better to ask what this NYX spray can’t do, because the list of what it can accomplish is quite long. It can prime, it can set, it can hydrate — and it can do all that for up to eight hours straight. It’s also infused with aloe and cucumber to keep your complexion feeling as refreshed as it looks.
Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dewy Flush
At first glance, this Glow Recipe product looks like a cute and compact blush. But it’s so much more than that — a skin care-meets-makeup hybrid, if you will. According to the brand, the “Flush” is packed with jojoba oil-coated pigments to create a soft glow, as well as, niacinamide to plump, smooth and hydrate the skin.
“The perks of this formula is that it is incredibly lightweight, so no matter the amount you layer, the formula doesn’t spread or feel heavy,” says editorial assistant Madison San Miguel. She adds that it doesn’t require any setting and displays impressive staying power.
Clinique Pop Lip + Cheek Oil
We’ve all heard of Clinique’s Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, but did you know the same iconic shade is available in an oil formula? This cheek and lip product is the perfect choice if you prefer a glassy pout or dewy pop of color on your cheekbone. It’s designed to blend with ease and even helps to condition the skin, thanks to a formula that is packed with safflower oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, sunflower seed oil and castor oil.
Virtue 6-in-1 Hair Styler
This 6-in-1 styling cream might be the only product you need in your hair routine. “I use it on day one to air dry, as a leave-in, for dry ends and as a heat protectant,” says editorial director Adrianna Brach. “Or, when my hair is greasy on day three, I put some all over and it almost gives it a texture and beach wave look.” Best of all, the brand says it’s safe to use on all hair types, even strands that have been colored!
Ouai Hair Gloss In-Shower Shine Treatment
Production associate Audrey Ekman keeps this hair gloss in her styling routine to keep her hair feeling silky and looking glamorous, among other reasons. She’s a big fan of the fact that she doesn’t need to use extra products while blow-drying, “since the brand says the gloss does all the hydrating and smoothing, and even protects hair from heat damage up to 450 degrees.” She adds: “My usually unruly, frizzy split ends were tamed and glassy, sans smoothing balm or hair oil. I swear the color looked more vibrant and dimensional, too. Even my coworkers noticed a difference, commenting on how “glossy” and “beautiful” my hair looked.”
Supergoop! Glowscreen Soft-Radiance Drops
With bathing suit season on the horizon, you might be preparing many ways to give your body an all-over glow. This Supergoop! drop can help, but it can also keep your skin protected with its SPF 40 formula. We love the mineral tint that works with your skin to boost your natural radiance and visibly brightens it (per the brand), but we like the hydrating ingredients even more: strawberry oil, blue pea flower and a plant-derived prebiotic.
BondiBoost Mini Hair Straightener Brush and Curling Iron
When it’s time to pack your hair tools for a trip, it usually turns into a “pick one” situation (because bringing your hair dryer, curler and straightener is a space-consuming nightmare for a suitcase). But this mini multi-styler might just change the game. The 2-in-1 tool comes with two attachments — a straightening brush and curling iron — to help you style your hair however you want. And wherever you want, since it comes in a travel-friendly design and conveniently comes with a travel case and heat mat.
Plus, it’s under $60 — that’s a price we don’t normally see in the hair tool category.
How we chose
The Shop TODAY editors and writers search the internet to find the best products out there. We interview expert sources, comb through customer reviews and even use our own personal experiences to make shopping easier for our readers.
As an editorial team, we independently create content and determine coverage based on research, reporting and what we think TODAY.com readers would like to read about. The goal of our content is to provide a service and inform readers who are on the hunt for the latest products to help make their life better. Items are sold by retailer, not TODAY. Pricing and availability are accurate as of publish time. The items here were chosen by our team of editors, producers and Bahar Takhtehchian.
Meet the expert
- Bahar Takhtehchian is a lifestyle and beauty expert who formerly stopped by the show to highlight multitasking cleaning items, travel products and more.
