Makeup
Face
My favorite primers of the year have been the Smashbox photo finish primers. As you can see my color correcting green primer is almost gone (don't worry I already bought a backup). I use these primers almost every single day that I wear makeup because they smooth and mattify the skin without drying it out. I know that a lot of people are not fans of heavy silicon based primers, but I feel that these are really light on the skin and have never clogged my pores even when I wear them all day. I also always recommend these primers because the huge range means that there is a primer for everyone. From moisturizing to illuminating versions of the original, Smashbox has made it really easy for everyone to have primed and perfect skin.
I don't wear foundation except on special occasions, but I do love my bb creams and the one I wore the most this year was the Benefit Cosmetics Bigger than BB Big Easy. This product has been around for a couple of years now but I only decided to pick it up in April of last year. It is a little thicker than most bb creams I have tried in the past so it provides a teensy bit more coverage without feeling heavy on the skin. This product is perfect for beginners because it is really hard to mess up the application. I love using this product with a damp sponge to make sure that it applies evenly and doesn't look cakey. And best of all, this product has an SPF of 35 so if you don't always remember to put on sunscreen in the morning this product will make up for it.
My favorite powder cheek products of the year have hands down come from the Tarte Cosmetics Amazonian Clay contour palette volume 2 not only because the products themselves are amazing, but also because of the convenience and versatility of the products. This palette contains Tarte's famous matte Park Avenue Princess bronzer which is perfectly in between warm and cool toned so it provides warmth while still sculpting the face. There is also Tarte's blush in Glisten which is a beautiful coraly pink with gold shimmers. It provides a really nice flush to the cheeks and gives you a healthy glow. Finally, this palette has a stunning highlighter in the shade Champagne. Both the bronzer and the the blush shades are permanent products but the highlighter can only be found in this palette which makes me really sad because not only have I almost hit pan, but this is the most beautiful and blinding highlight I own. Whenever I wear this highlighter, I get so many
compliments and questions about where it's from. Tarte, if you ever read this, please make this a permanent product. Now, I don't only love this palette because of each of the individual products, but also because of convenience of the palette. I love traveling with this palette because it has all the cheek products I need to go with every look possible. I also always use this palette if I know that I have to get ready in a hurry or on the go because the highlighter is gorgeous on the lid and bronzer looks really good in the crease.
This year I really started getting into cream products and my favorite kind of cream products are cream highlighters. The one that stole the show for me this year has been the Smashbox L.A. Lights Blendable Lip and Cheek Color in the shade Hollywood and Highlight. Unlike most cream highlighters, which are really stiff and hard to blend, this one is super creamy. It almost has a wet feeling when you first apply it, but after you blend it in, it sits really nicely on the skin. Now, I know this is against all makeup rules to apply creams on top of powders, but this products sets really nicely on top of powders so I do it anyway.
(From Top to Bottom: Tarte Highlighter in Champagne, Tarte Blush in Glisten, Tarte Parkave Princess Bronzer, Smashbox cream highlighter in Hollywood and Highlight)
Eyes
Another one of my favorite cream products is cream eyeshadows and the one I love the most is the MAC Pro Longwear Waterproof Colour Stick in the shade At the Beach. Unlike the Smashbox cream highlighter, this cream eyeshadow has a stiffer formula so as soon as you apply it you have to blend it in right away or it will set in place. It isn't hard to work with but I love that it sets really fast because it is really easy to blend other eyeshadows on top of it
It was really hard for me at first to pick just one eyeshadow palette that was my favorite this year, but then I thought about every time I went on a trip and the makeup I took with me. Every time that I took a road trip or hopped on a plane in 2017, I took my Kyeshadow Burgundy Eyeshadow palette. I know that there is always a huge controversy about Kylie cosmetics and the quality of her products, but in my opinion, her eyeshadows were done really well. This is the perfect warm toned palette with a beautiful mixture of matte and shimmer shades. It is small enough to travel with, but has a large enough selection of light and dark shades to transition from day to night.
Lips
All my lipsticks and lip glosses are like my babies and I never thought that I could ever pick just one, but if I was forced to only have one lipstick for the rest of my life, it would hands down be the Urban Decay lipstick in the shade Naked. I literally love this lipstick so much that this is my second tube of it. The one I have now is in the old packaging and the old formula, but the color is still the thing that gets me every time. It is honestly the perfect your lips but better nude with a perfect pink and peachy undertone. It lasts all day and will apply super smoothly on your lips and won't settle into them.
When looking through my collection, picking my most worn glosses was really easy. The Anastasia Beverly Hills glosses are some of the best that I have tried because not only are they super pigmented, but they are super smooth and not sticky whatsoever. My two most worn shades are Sunset Strip and Socialite. Sunset Strip is the light sparkly orange shade and I wear this lipgloss almost every single day, either on its own or on top of a tinted lip balm, because it looks super natural while giving your lips a little more volume and dimension. Socialite, on the other hand, is the perfect true red. I used to really only wear a red lip a couple of times a year because the application has to be incredibly precise and it tends to bleed and fade really easily. All of that changed with this gloss. Not only do you not need a lipstick underneath because of the high opacity of the gloss, but the thin applicator makes it really easy to perfectly line your lips. The first time I wore this gloss, I went out to dinner and I was almost scared to look in the mirror and see the patchy mess that usually comes after your eat with a bright lip. But to my surprise, I only had to reapply to add glossiness because the gloss stained my lips perfectly evenly and the color didn't fade even after a full dinner.
(From to bottom: Urban Decay Lipstick in Naked, Anastasia Beverly Hills lip gloss in Sunset Strip, Anastasia Beverly Hills lip gloss in Socialite)
Skincare
Every time I wear makeup, I always make sure that I use a separate makeup remover and then a cleanser because I found that there is less makeup residue and dirt left on my face. My favorite makeup remover is the Bioderma Micelle Solution for oily/combination skin. I always thought that this product was not available in the United States, but when I happened to come across it in the small store in Little Tokyo, I had to grab some and was immediately hooked. I think that the reason that I love this product so much is that it can be used on the eyes, lips, and face without breaking me out. It will dissolve all my makeup, even waterproof. As you can tell, my bottle is almost empty so it is pretty obvious that this is a top shelf product for me and I will definitely have to order some more as soon as I completely run out.
Another one of my favorite skincare products I also discovered in the same small shop in Little Tokyo. I do have oily combination skin, but that doesn't mean that I don't love my skin to be hydrated and this is my favorite face mask of ALL TIME. It is from the brand Pure Smile and it is the Milk Essence mask. One of the best things about this face mask is that you can get them in a pack of eight for eight dollars!!! Not only is the price phenomenal, but so is the actual product because after just 15 minutes, your skin will be plump and glowing. I use this mask before I go to bed or right before I apply makeup whenever my skin feels dry and tight because it keeps your face moisturized for a long period of time.
I did quite a bit of traveling and just because I am away from home does not mean that I take my skincare any less seriously. However, the bottle of cleanser that I use at home is huge and it just takes up too much space in my bag. I usually love to travel with sample or mini cleansers but when I go on trip that is one or two weeks, those tiny bottles never last. But don't worry because in 2017 I found the perfect travel cleanser. The Sephora Collection Charcoal Cleansing cream is the perfect product because not only is the actual product an amazing cleanser, but the size makes it ideal for travel. The formula is super creamy and gentle while still being able to get off all the dirt and excess makeup from your skin. There are also various versions of this cleanser so depending on your skin type, there is something for you. My favorite thing about this cleanser is the small yet long lasting bottle. If you use this cleanser two times a day everyday, one bottle will last you about a month. That makes it ideal for trips where a sample cleanser is too small but you are too lazy to take a full size bottle. In addition to the cleanser, Sephora also released matching makeup remover wipes and micellar water which are also great for travel.
Even though I have oily skin most of the time, I tend to get really dry patches as the weather gets cooler. I love to fix that by exfoliating a couple of times a week because it makes my skin feel super smooth and it helps control my oil glands. I at first bought this product solely to use on my body, but then there was one day when I was in the shower and I was too lazy to go get my other exfoliator. The LUSH Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub makes a really nice face scrub as well because the salt is abrasive enough to get off all the dry skin, but smooth enough to not be painful. This scrub is made of all natural ingredients such as avocado butter and coconut oil which will help moisturize your skin and ingredients like lime and vodka which will brighten your complexion.