You want to know what beauty insiders are really excited about this year?

SKII's AirTouch Foundation, Frederic Fekkai's Ageless Damage-Defense Capsules and Shiseido's White Lucent Brightening Moisturizing Cream are among the products to win CEW Beauty Awards earlier this month.

The honors are given out by Cosmetic Executive Women Inc., a nonprofit trade organization made up of more than 4,000 industry experts in the fields of beauty, cosmetics and fragrance. Each category is further divided into two price brackets.

What really seemed to catch people's eye were products with unique ingredients or delivery systems, reported Carlotta Jacobsen, CEW president. There were 10,000 products introduced in 2006 so the winners really had to stand out in a crowd — and they had to impress a jaded audience, she said.

"Breakthrough products, that's what eventually makes something a winner," Jacobsen said. "Anti-aging is still really big. As boomers get older, they're looking for even more specific products."

A fairly new group of products — at least in the U.S. market — is skin brighteners. Jacobsen said that while they've been used in Asia for years, American women are just discovering that age doesn't only put you at risk for wrinkles, but dull and uneven skin, too.

And, she added, they're also paying more attention to their hair, which has the same aging issues as skin.

One winning product, though, solved a different problem shared by so many of the voters: no time for a manicure, let alone wait for polish to dry. Avon's Instant Manicure Dry Nail Enamel Strips is polish in a pressed form with an adhesive. (Avon also recently released Instant Pedicure.)

"I was so fascinated," said Jacobsen. "It lasts for 14 days. It's much better for someone like me who can't get nail polish on straight. It's another problem solver. It's instant and fast and it's fun."

That's straight from the mouth of a beauty insider. But what does your average Jane think?

Revlon's No Smudge Dry Oil is the best nail product, according to Self magazine's Healthy Beauty Awards, which are published in the May issue.

Self relies on readers who double as product testers. This year, more than 1,100 readers evaluated 1,368 products.

They chose Burt's Bees Radiance Eye Cream as best eye-brightening cream, Dove Pro-Age as best bar soap, La Mer The Treatment Fluid Foundation SPF 15 as best anti-aging foundation and Benefit Rush Hour, which can add color to eyes, lips and cheeks, as best makeup multitasker.

The full lists of winners are available at www.cew.org and www.self.com.