The Best Beauty Discoveries of 2016: Part 1

The final fortnight of 2016 is upon us! So what better way to end the year than to discuss all of my favourite new beauty discoveries from the year. As of course there is many products to discuss, I have split this post into two so a lip product favourites will also follow this blog post on Friday!

Firstly, starting with face products I’ve been loving this year. The Mac Prep + Prime Highlighter in Light Boost has been my go-to for under eye concealing for its brightening properties. The twist pen style pen highlighter is super easy and convenient. In terms of bronzing and highlighting, I’ve found two products that I know will be long term favourites of mine! The first is the Too Faced Sweethearts bronzer which is only a fairly new addition to my stash but I am already obsessed with its glowy effect and pigmentation. Of course I also had to mention a Becca highlighter as they truly are incredible products. I love all the shades I’ve tried but in particular I am obsessed with Champagne Pop, the ultimate pigmented gold-y peachy glow.

In terms of tools, I had to mention the beauty blender. By far one of the best discoveries for me this year! I have became such a convert to the beauty blender and it is now my go-to for applying my base products. It creates the most flawless fresh base and makes even some of my poorer foundations sit better.

Moving on to eyes, for the brows there have been two products that I’ve been loving. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Pomade has been a long year favourite of mine, it is super easy to use whilst creating defined and long lasting brows. More recently, I’ve been enjoying the newer release of the Goof Proof Brow Pencil from Benefit. The twist up pencil is super easy to use and creates a minimal soft brow.

Other eye product shout-outs go to the Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara which has became a big favourite of mine this year. It has been my go-to mascara for creating voluminous and lengthened lashes. I’ve also got back into rocking eyeliner recently since I discovered the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner which is worth all the praise and hype it gets! It is incredibly pigmented and the fine nib makes it super easy to use. Lastly, the Too Faced Sweet Peach palette (which is back in stock!!) also deserves a lot of love. The Too Faced shadows are amazing quality but this palette also offers a dreamy and unique shade range!

What are your top products from 2016?

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Sephora Haul

My birthday happened and naturally Sephora happened. Being like any other UK beauty lover, I do love a good moan about not having a Sephora but I mean seriously where is our UK Sephora already!? However if there is any consolation, Sephora offer a pretty decent international shipping service! Of course after waiting for so long I finally took advantage and finally got my hands on a couple of things I had been desperate to pick up! I didn’t buy much but of course the total of my order was pretty high so I left a few things for another future order (obviously!)

In terms of actually ordering internationally, the process is luckily pretty simple. Sephora offer a flat shipping rate of £6 to the UK when you spend over £75 (which is very easy to do!) which is a pretty decent price for coming from the other side of the pond considering the cost of some shipping prices even just within the UK. The customs fees is obviously the biggest issue when it comes to ordering from overseas but the great thing about Sephora is that you get a total for all your fees and pay it at checkout so there is no extra charges when it arrives at your door and you know exactly what you are paying for. The actual delivery service itself is pretty darn impressive! It did take a while for my order to be dispatched however once it was dispatched it arrived just two days later which is amazing for something coming from such a long distance!

Anyway on the actual products, the exciting bit! Starting first with the most expensive thing I picked up that really racked up the total cost of my order. A Sephora exclusive from Sunday Riley, the Power Couple duo set including a half size bottle of both Luna Oil and Good Genes treatment. I’ve wanted to pick this up for ages as I’ve been desperate to get my hands on the cult product that is the Luna Oil. Both products individually full size are pricey and I wasn’t prepared to drop £85 on an oil and then not like it! So this set comes in a bit a cheaper and gives you the chance to try two popular products! I am currently road-testing this just now and will do a proper review later however for the time being I can’t say it has worked wonders as many people have claimed!

On to the makeup picks. I obviously had to make a little Anastasia Liquid lipstick purchase! There is so many shades it was hard to pick but I narrowed it down to Dusty Rose and Soft Lilac. I actually haven’t tried these yet but the shades look gorgeous so I am excited to give these a go!

Another Sephora exclusive product I have been desperate to try is from their own brand and one of their brushes. The brush in question is the Pro Airbush #55. I have heard so much about this foundation brush so naturally I had to pick it up! I’ve used this a handful of times so far and I am obsessed already! It blends product in so well and quickly! It’s even worked wonders with some foundations that I have struggled with application so I definitely recommend this brush! Any recommendations from their brush line as I definitely need to try more now!

Lastly, as it was my birthday I obviously also picked up my birthday gift from Sephora. There was a choice between a Fresh beauty set and a Marc Jacobs gift and obviously I went for Marc Jacobs as I have been desperate to try out the range. It includes a mini lipstick and gel eyeliner which I am very much looking forward to trying!

Have you tried any of these products?

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Current Beauty Wishlist

As a beauty obsessive, I have a wishlist much longer than my arm on a regular basis. Although instead of boring you all with a list the length of the yellow pages, I have rounded up some of my top picks that I have been lusting over!

There is quite a few eyeshadow products as I do love a good eye palette, I just can’t get enough really! I have two quads on my list from Chanel and Charlotte Tilbury. The first is from the new fall Chanel Le Rouge collection. The quad is basically autumn in a palette, a gorgeous trio of warm brown shades and a beautiful and slightly daring red shade. It is pricey but you can’t go wrong with a beautiful monochrome Chanel compact eh! The Charlotte Tilbury option is slightly different being a collection of gold-y neutral shades that looks very seasonally appropriate! Again I think this one is limited edition so hopefully I can snap up this one soon!

The last eyeshadow option is from Anastasia and their well hyped Modern Renaissance palette. What drew me to this palette, other than the fact that I’ve seen it everywhere is that the colour selection is beautifully unique. The warm shade selection looks well up my street and could even persuade me to experiment a bit with colour! The packaging looks super cute too!

I am also so incredibly hyped to see that Kat Von D makeup is finally coming to the UK. Hallelujah! I’ve been desperate to try the ever so popular liquid lipsticks so I can’t wait to finally get my hands on a couple. I am not particularly sure what shades yet, any recommendations?

Lastly, is the Sweethearts bronzer from Too Faced. I’ve not tried much from Too Faced but everything I have, I have really liked! This bronzer looks so pretty and that’s not just the packaging! The light and dark shade combination looks perfect for my skin tone and I’ve heard that the pigmentation is pretty good too! So hopefully I can nab this one quick!

What is on your wishlist?

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The 5 Product Face

Now and again when I do not have much time on my hands, I like to adopt a quick and easy makeup routine that is not only convenient but also reliable. I thought I would share my 5 product face selection that are my go-to products if I am ever in a rush but also those products that I couldn’t live without which make such a difference to my face.

Firstly, base. This is one of the most crucial steps and probably the one that will take the most time to apply. I opted for Nars Sheer Glow, my still all-time favourite base. The great thing with this foundation is that it offers superb coverage so you can easily miss out on the concealer for this one which is why I have not included any. The satin finish makes my skin look and feel much healthier and it applies well and also lasts well too.

If you asked me about a year ago if I was a blush or bronzer gal, I would’ve said blush all day any day. However whilst blush is still one of my favourite products, bronzer comes first for me these days. I never really understood the need for bronzer but now I can’t go without my added warmth to my pale face! The Body Shop Honey Bronzer is another all-time favourite for me with the light shade working perfectly with my pale skin.

So with my base perfected, the next step is eyes and an area that I particularly like to pay the most attention to. Since I wear glasses and my eyes appear smaller, I always can’t go without mascara. For me, mascara is the one product that I rely on the most. I basically want the most out there lashes going and right now I am enjoying the Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant which adds enough length and volume to create impact.

Continuing on with the eye area, eyebrows are another important step in my routine. It is weird to think how I never did anything with my eyebrows a good couple of years ago but now I can’t have a face of makeup without those eyebrows on fleek (sorry). Eyebrows frame your face so much so it is so important to pay attention to them. I am currently enjoying using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade which seems intimidating at first but is actually a super easy to use and long wearing product! My pot has definitely seen better days though…

Last up is lips. One of my favourite parts of my makeup routine is switching up my lipstick and it really finishes off the look. Whilst for quickness and if I am just running some errands, I like to apply the Clarins Instant Lip Balm Perfector however I love a good lipstick particularly those mauve-y dusky rose shades that are my favourites. The likes of Mac Mehr is one of those shades I can always rely on and wear constantly.

What is your go-to 5 product face?

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Trying out Anastasia Beverly Hills: Contour Kit and DipBrow Pomade

When it comes to cult products I just have to get my hands on them to see what all the fuss is about. Anastasia Beverly Hills is an incredibly hyped up brand but for quite a while they were difficult to get a hold of in the UK, to be honest a lot of their products still are (liquid lipsticks I am looking at you!) but luckily now quite a few of their best sellers are available on UK soil. That of course includes the well hyped Contour Kit and the very popular DipBrow Pomade which I both obviously had to pick up especially when I nabbed a little 20% off online code!

I am not one for the full on contouring business but I can’t deny that I have always had my eye on the ABH Contour Kit. I picked up the Light to Medium palette which features six shades; three for highlight and three for contour. The first shade Vanilla is a matte pale cream powder which works best on me as an all over powder. Next is Banana, the cult yellow toned powder perfect for setting and highlighting the under eyes. Sand is the last highlighting shade and is a soft pearl shimmer shade great for the cheekbones. The last three shades are contour shades, Java, Fawn and Havana, personally Fawn is my pick of the three as it is just the perfect shade for my skin without being too warm or muddy. Each of the powders are beautifully soft and are easy to work with and blend on the skin. The sand shade is the only shimmer shade in the palette and has received criticism for being too gritty but personally I find it as soft as the matte powders. The great thing as well about the palette is that the shades are removable and refill pans can be purchased to fill up the palette and customise it to your own shades.

It is one of those products that does seem a little intimidating especially with the cult following but it is a super wearable palette and so easy to work with. It is one I’ve been reaching for a lot and will always be there for when I need those killer chiseled cheekbones.

After getting my eyebrows done and my fave Benefit Gimme Brow on its last legs, I wanted to try something new in the brow dept. I had heard a lot about the DipBrow Pomade so I had to try it out. I picked up the shade Soft Brown which was a total guess in terms of colour but it has worked out pretty well although I would go a shade lighter next time. That does mean though that it is one I use pretty light-handedly although the good thing about that is it will last such a long time as I only use so little each time. I use the Real Techniques brow brush to brush it through my brows and it stays put all day. It is really buildable and is just the perfect brow product.

Are you a fan of Anastasia Beverly Hills?

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December Favourites

It’s favourites time again and also the final favourites post of the year! How scary! Although keep your eyes peeled for a special favourites post coming next week! Back to the festive month of December though, I picked up quite a few new exciting bits and pieces over the month which I am truly loving and also fell for some products that I already had in my stash! So without further ado, here is my December favourites…

If you read Monday’s monthly roundup post, you would remember my mention of starting a Makeup Geek palette. Not too long ago Beauty Bay started stocking Makeup Geek eyeshadows much to my excitement. These single eyeshadows have been so raved about from the likes of Jaclyn Hill who even stated that they were her all time favourite eyeshadows (even better than Mac!). Obviously for that reason I had to pick up a few! The shadows are super affordable and there is such an incredible range to choose from. I have five shadows so far and I also picked up a large Z Palette to put them in. Jaclyn is so right, the quality of these are so amazing and they last so long on my oily eyelids! If anyone has any shade recommendations, fire away! A few of my favourites have to be Peach Smoothie, Prom Night and Homecoming! I now can’t wait to start filling up my palette!

Speaking of Jaclyn Hill and exciting UK launches, Becca Champagne Pop finally made its way over to the UK! Yay! I don’t think I’ve ever gotten so excited about a makeup product before and I even pre-ordered it as soon as I seen it on the Space NK website, sad I know! It is so easy to see why this is such a raved about highlighter. The peachy champagne-y shade looks gorgeous on so many skin-tones and the formula is a complete dream to work with, super buttery smooth. It is pretty intense but I just love it so much that I’ve basically been wearing it everyday,but I mean its Christmas so why not!

A more surprising favourite this month is the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. I say surprising as I really didn’t get this product when I first tried it. Although I’ve found myself using this everyday over the month and it just seems so perfect for blending out concealer and ensuring my base is flawless. I do really want to try the Beauty Blender though now as I hear that one is far superior…

One thing I just have to have at Christmas time is a bottle of Lush Snow Fairy! I just can’t go without my precious amazingly scented Snow Fairy at this time of year. It just makes me feel so Christmassy and I couldn’t help but stock up during the Lush sales!

Another product that I’ve came back to is my holy grail primer! Nothing will ever beat the Smashbox Photo Finish primer. With nights out and parties during the month, this primer came to the rescue by helping my makeup last that bit longer and still look fresh by the end of the night! It creates such a smooth base to the skin which allows makeup to glide on beautifully and basically is the key to a flawless base!

I also finally discovered Anastasia Beverly Hills this month. After spotting a 20% off deal online I just had to get that contour palette! I picked up the original contour kit in the lighter shade and I have been using it constantly over the month. The powders are super blendable and last so well too. After I got my eyebrows done not too long ago and my beloved Benefit Gimme Brow is on its last legs I wanted to try out something new. I picked up the Dipbrow Pomade in Soft Brown and it’s became my new go-to. I don’t want to go into too much detail with these products as I will be having a separate review post coming soon but both are well loved new additions to my makeup routine.

What have you been loving this month?

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Monthly Roundup: December

The very last monthly roundup of the year! It’s crazy to believe December is coming to an end and Christmas is over! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and were cherished with lots of lovely gifts! I certainly had a nice quiet Christmas and got some lovely gifts, some of which I will be sharing with you at a later date! Whilst I was back at work again for Boxing Day I did pick up a few bargains here and there. I have to say though I am a little underwhelmed by the sales this year! Nevertheless I did pick up a few nice things including finally being able to access the Lush sale!  Anyone else suffer from the Lush website crash whilst trying to desperately stock up on Snow Fairy or just me!?

Over the month, I’ve got well and truly in the Christmas spirit. I am obsessed with glitter nails at the moment and I am loving the combo of Essie Sand Tropez and Essie Summit of Style as an accent nail! You just can’t beat a bit of glitter at Christmas time, I even did a little post talking about all my favourite sparkly stuff here. As well as that I also picked up a few new beauty bits over the month. I finally caved on the well hyped ABH Contour Kit! I just had to do it! I spotted a 20% off online and just couldn’t resist it! I will be speaking in more detail about it later but I have to say I am loving it! I also got super excited to see that Makeup Geek is now available in the UK via Beauty Bay! Their eyeshadows are super popular and at such an affordable price so I obviously had to start my own palette! I am just a bit too excited now about filling it up but I will let you see it all shortly!

This month has been a lot more relaxing on the whole compared to previous especially with my uni semester at an end until January. I was so relieved to get all my coursework out the way and just have a little down time! I do have an exam in the next month which I need to start preparing for very soon! Although I have been working over the festive period which is never too great although it has been nice to have some free time and also time to properly blog! I can imagine things will get busy and hectic again as soon as I return to uni so I am hoping to just enjoy my time off 🙂

Catch up on December posts: The Best Holiday Beauty Buys, Christmas Party Makeup, Nars x Steven Klein, The Highlighter Edit and Exporing NYX.

How was your Christmas?

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