14 Favorite Beauty Finds

Through a year of a lot of Psssssssstttt you've got to try this (major thanks to everyone who does this!), outdoor concert festivals in sweltering heat, bike rides in the blazing sun, spritzes of water, teary eyes at the movies, an ever growing collection of beauty bits have been by my side. Standing up to everything... lasting well into the wee hours of the night surprisingly intact. Bought in triplicate many have turned into little gifts to dole out and pass along too. So in honor of a great year of beauty discoveries to take into the next here are 14 favorites...

THE LIST >

The year before last the beauty most appealing theme was the whole nude, no makeup look and feel which was addictive enough to carry into last year. On top of that, thanks to so many vaselined 70's flicks making their way online, I loved this sheer wash of shimmer which could only be described as gossamer or something along the lines of an iridescent chrysalis shell. This year is going to be mostly the same with maybe a brighter lip here and there. Oh and it needed to stay put and travel well.

In the gossamer area a number of pretty things turned up which I've been meaning to share. Starting out with the:

EYES

For my birthday, Cultured Pearl by bareMinerals turned out to be that perfect glistening sheer wash that looks really pretty by itself all over the lid (which is basically all I do now) or lightly dabbed in the inner corners, in the center of the lid or over a cream shadow. And speaking of cream shadows that do not crease or budge and really a liner, is tarte's emphasEYES in bronze. It has a lovely warm coppery shimmer to it that looks good smoked out on the outer corners or as a simple flick. I'm really into the gentler brown and gray liners now and this one ended up being perfect.

Next is something really, really cheap. It's by the brand L.A. Colors and literally only a buck. This seriously ended up being one of the best bottom waterline colors I have ever found. A sort of off white leaning on the taupe side. Not too pink, not too cream, it's just right and stays on all day. The brown is not bad either and it has a built in sharpener. Look for their Duo Eye Shadow Pencil in Mocha Java and try not to clear the shelf.

Another find with a too good to be true price is e.l.f.'s (eyes lips face) new Prism Eyeshadow palette in Naked. I had a feeling this would be good but it was even better than I had expected. Creamy, stays on all day, each shade in the palette is gorgeous and so on par with many higher end shadows including cult favorite stila. At first I thought one of the shades might be a dupe for my all time favorite of stila's, Kitten but it sadly was rather different yet the quality and finish of all the Prism shadows were similar and one, the darkest brown on the end, was a slightly cooler dupe of another stila shadow, Golightly (see below).

Keeping on the shimmery goodness of stila, another drugstore dupe that has been out for a little while now is Milani's Shadow Eyes 12 hour wear eyeshadow pencils which I actually prefer to wear as a liner. This one in the shade 11 Sand Dunes is a slight warmer, more salmon and sheer version of Kitten (also see the side by side below). The drugstore is starting to blow my mind.

A couple of other things for the eyes is a new mascara by Rimmel London called the, mouth full alert, Lash Accelerator Endless Fibers mascara. My eyes immediately zoomed to the fibers part as I've always wondered about those sorts of lash thickeners. Mine is in 003 Extreme Black which is pretty accurate but looking at the super skinny, rubbery brush wand with super short bristles... where are the fibers? Same question when I was putting it on. This really did not thicken anything nor did it make my lashes look any longer but it;s surprisingly agile on bottom lashes and man does it stay on. This one isn't waterproof but it sure feels that way when you're trying to get it off. Coconut oil and cold cream friends, lot's of coconut oil and cold cream. One day I got caught in a real downpour and thought 30 minutes later oh no, raccoon eyes!? Nope, not with this.

Similar to that was my it cosmetics by Jimie Kern Bye Bye Under Eye. By now this has a cult following so I was beyond pleased to finally give this a try. Full coverage, waterproof, contains hydro-collagen and vitamin K. Yeah sign me up.  This stuff is no joke and covers everything. It also has a salmon undertone to help neutralize blue black and it does not budge. Since it has a sort of tacky texture I light to use it under foundation or some setting powder.

Now moving on to the:

FACE

One of my most favorite discoveries this year was Femme Couture's get radiant complexion enhancer in pearl. Not only is it very inexpensive for such a large tube (the tiniest dot is all you need) but remember the now defunct Boots no 7 High Lights Illuminating Lotion? The very liquid one with that almost peachy durochrome quality that looked so good in a healthy glowing sort of way? Femme Couture's got that same thing going. It's hard to explain and see this from looking at the tube itself, it definitely morphs on the skin, sheering out and giving this hint of sun kissed flush depending on how the light hits it. Similar to a golden hour photo filter. The only downside is Sally Beauty Supply seems to be the only place that sells it. They do have an online store too.

Next is another highlighter along with a blush and bronzer in this all day wear palette by Lancome. Mine is in the color combo 335 Manage A Trois Kissed. Lancome will forever be one of my go to beauty brands, especially for lipstick. Their eye shadows and blushes are always indeed very sheer and this set is no exception. While the blush looks bright in the pan and the highlighter starkly white it's actually very realistically pink on the cheeks and, the highlight, along the lines of NARS albatross. This and a lipstick is perfect on the go.

Back in the drugstore isle it's hard not to notice just how many new primers have come out. There are so many. One that I really liked was Garnier's new 5 sec Blur with light reflecting technology. I just noticed that last bit now and never noticed any shimmer or reflective anything with this, instead it really fills in any imperfections and actually leaves your face mat. It's a thick pink cream that works like spackle. The fun I had with this stuff before coming to terms my skin in badly allergic to dimethicone which this and most primers are oozing with. I'm giving this away but if you're lucky and dimethicone is cool with you, this stuff is soft focus in a tube.
Blame it on the snow and a that darn rabbit hole effect but I've been addicted to Amazon recently and ordering up a storm. There are so many gems to be found, dupes in particular, for super cheap. One are blotting sheets which are always tucked in my handbag. Always. These by Day by Day Beauty, which kindly sent a few for me to try, can be found over here on Amazon. They're really economical (you get 200 sheets!) and have never taken off any of my base or powder, only the over dewiness. Do before a selfie, especially at night!
Can you ever have enough brushes? I'm going to have to say no here. Switching out, disinfecting, and keeping brushes in a closed holder or bag has done wonders for my skin. I know it's super pretty to use old candle glasses to display brushes on ones vanity but I headed the warning of those with beautiful skin and stopped doing that. Having a full travel brush roll is probably the easiest way to keep everything clean. Petunia Skincare kindly offered to send their latest brush collection over and I've been enjoying their super soft face and fluffy eye blending brushes. Completely vegan and synthetic, these have a really substantially weighted handle and solid ferrule that shows no sign of popping off any time soon. The powder brush is so soft... they all are actually but the powder has been getting the most use along with it's friend angled blush brush. The price for the complete set of 12 brushes is surprisingly on par with e.l.f. but the quality is far superior. Find it on Amazon over here.

Lastly are the:

LIPS

Just one, promise. Well one brand in three shades actually but you know... they're L'Oreal Paris' Colour Riche Extraordinaire Lipcolour collection in the shiny gold tubes that look rather luxe. They look as if they could be a traditional lipstick but in actuality they fake you out by unscrewing to reveal a weirdly flat and fuzzy applicator. The colors I have here are 202 Coral Encore, 304 Ruby Opera and 103 Blushing Harmony. Yes they all have melodic names attached to each hue. These are nice. Especially 103 Blushing Harmony which is my kind of color. That nude mauve plush pout. Do they last long? Not really. Sticky? A little. Are they moisturizing? Yes mam. They're also slightly sheer and plumping which is nice in the moisture sucking winter right now.
Brush set c/o Petunia Skincare, Luxury Blotting Papers c/o Day by Day Beauty


Image: mam for Gave That