Today I have a post that I worked on over the weekend, I know its late, but better late than never, its my 2013 Beauty Favorites!!
This is the first time that I have done this type of post, normally this would be a Free For All Beauty Friday thing but by then it would way too late to do this post. Last year and I believe the year before that I did my top nail polish posts, you can find them here and here.
As much as I love nail polish I do love all things beauty as well, I taught myself how to put make up on and how to use different eye shadows, and liquid liner all by watching tons of YouTube videos. My make up stash however is not nearly as big as my polish stash but its getting to the point I need more storage for make up.
Anyway to start off this post I am going to start with foundation!
My favorite foundation of 2013 is Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Foundation.
Now this isn't a new foundation out on the market but its new to me in as I have never tried it before. I have used the concealer which I don't care for but this foundation is nice. I'm a liquid foundation girl, I love the coverage I can get by building it up or just buying a decent covering foundation.
I only got this foundation towards the end of the year but from the first time I tried it which was the day I bought it I knew it would be a favorite for me.
What I like most about this foundation is the applicator, usually a sponge tip applicator to me isn't the most sanitary thing, but since I am the only one using it it doesn't bother me so much. The sponge on this foundation is very soft so when I use it under my eyes I know I'm not inflicting any damage to my already 26 year old bags.
My next beauty favorite of 2013 is: Cover Girl and Olay Simply Ageless Concealer.
I purchased this concealer back during the spring time just before I went to Florida. I had always looked at this when I saw it in the drugstores but the price tag kind of made me turn away and tell myself that I don't need it. I happened to get this concealer on clearance for half off when I bought it. I don't believe that they make this anymore, it has been replaced by a concealer/serum CC cream?
In the pot its a mix of the concealer and the Olay Regenerest. I would show you the inside of it but I have hit pan on it and its just doesn't look pretty. During the summer this was my go-to concealer, it covered up my under eye well. It is a fairly decent coverage concealer, when I was on vacation sometimes this was all I put on with some setting powder since it was so hot outside and it worked well.
I don't know if it did anything for under my eye like helping my few fine lines I have. I know, fine lines at 26? Yes I have them and I hate them. Darn insomnia.
I found myself being drawn to buying a lot of blusher this year. I think I used to only own one which is NY Color Downtown Wine I believe. ( I could be so wrong on the name). I then went to having by the end of this year five all together. Out of those five the one that I reached for the most was Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso.
I bought this blush after I heard Ingrid (Miss Glamorazzi on YouTube) talk about it all the time. I honestly thought I would never find it because sadly my local CVS is the only place to carry Milani products and they never keep anything in stock and never get anything new. Finally one day while wandering through the beauty department I just happened to look and found the last one left. This blush is beautiful! Its a rosy goldish tone that just adds this glow to your cheeks that warms up the complexion. It is a shimmery blush but its not the in-you-face shimmery.
This favorite was featured in my July favorites over the summer and I have now realized I have a love affair with this brand. I'm talking about the Lorac Pro Palette.
I cannot get enough of Lorac Cosmetics. Since featuring this in my July Favorites post, I have used it everyday since and worn the heck out of it. I love that you get eight matte shades and eight shimmery shades, you have endless combinations. Right before Thanksgiving my dad and I took a trip to our local Kohls. The first thing that I noticed was there revamped beauty bars. They now carry Lorac, and The Balm, plus a few other high end brands. I was so excited that I wasn't going to have to wait to go to Sephora, or order online. That is when I also purchased my second Lorac product. Its called The Sweet Temptations Eye Shadow Kit. I will be doing a swatch and review post of that soon!
Next up we have some lip favorites.
Revlon came out with some pretty cool lip products this fall that I fell head over heels for. They were the new Color Burst Matte Balms and Lacquer Balms. I purchased three of the Lacquer Balms and two of the Matte Balms.
The three lacquer balms I bought are called: Demur (#105) , Flirtatious (#125), and Vivacious (#120).
This Lacquer Balms are kind of the same as the Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains but there not really a stain. However the more pigmented the color, you do get a slight stain on your lips as it starts to wear off.
This fall I found myself drawn to buying brightly colored lip products and pinks and berries were most certainly on the list. Demure (middle) is a light nude-pink, which I love but it has visible bits of glitter in it and it does transfer to the lips and once the initial product wears away you are left with some glittery lips. That is the only downside of the product I have. The other two Vivacious and Flirtatious I could see shimmer but no chunks of glitter.
For the Matte Balms these are my favorites by far! I also was searching for a perfect red lip product this fall. I have never really worn red lipstick before because I always thought it made me look like a clown. So I bought shade #240 Stunning, it is a orange toned red, and I have to say I was very afraid of it. It wasn't perfect. I like how it looked on me but I think I will try it out more in the warmer months. Then I saw a YouTuber ( I can't remember who) wearing shade # 250 Standout. I knew when I saw that shade that's the red I had in mind for myself. It was dark and velvety and just amazing.
As you can see my DSLR hates reds but you can still tell the difference. Stunning is the top shade and Standout is on the bottom. Any how when I put Standout on, I fell in love with it and have worn it almost every day I have to go to work. My job was the first place I wore this red out in public. I figure if I want to get over my fear that was first step. I knew my female co-workers would give me honest opinions, were cool like that!
One of my last favorites that I got in 2013 were two Real Techniques Brushes! I found them at Kohls! I got the Expert Face Brush ( orange handle) and Stippling Brush ( pink handle). For those of you that don't know they were created by Samantha Chapman of the Pixwoo sisters on YouTube!
I have seen such a difference in how my foundation blends with the Expert Face Brush, it literally makes your foundation look airbrushed. It blends it out evenly and the bristles of the brush are super soft against your skin. The Stippling Brush I have been using to apply blusher thats why the bristles are pink. I love how it just fits nicely over my cheek bones to add the perfect amount of color.
I believe you can also get these brushes online or at Ulta, I hear even some Wal-Marts have them now too.
So thats it for my beauty favorites of 2013! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did even if everything kind of found there way to me from the summer on!
Whats your favorite things of 2013?? It can be anything! Comment below!!
Until next time!
<3 Nicole
