2017 Favorites | Beauty
So I did a little poll over on Instagram about even doing a beauty favorites for 2017 - I thought that a majority of my favorites from 2017 were the same as years past, but many people still said they'd like to see a post. I guess I'm glad because after compiling together all my favorite products, I realized that there definitely are some new beauty discoveries that were made throughout the course of last year. This one could be a long one - so let's get on with it, yah?
But before we officially start, can we all just take a second to admire this gorgeous mirror that I scored from Target? When Amelia posted this on her IG, me and like a bajillion other people all ran to Target to snag this little baby. I looove my marble coffee table but our apartment is proving to be a tad too small to have this between our couch and media stand. With our little pup running around, the coffee table took up too much "running space."We ended up pushing it to the side and I'm making it my temporary get ready for the day station :)
I'm not really sure where to start so I'll just start with face products. Ever since I found the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation last year, it's been absolute love. A ton of people mentioned how they mixed their foundation, particularly the GA foundation, with the Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint so of course I had to try it. Clearly I fell in love with it too because I'm nearly done with my bottle and am really due to pick another one up soon. I'll admit though that I've significantly cut back on wearing foundation everyday as I've really just been using a sprig of concealer instead. My skin is much happier when it isn't covered all day, and I'm fortunate enough not to have to use it everyday. To cover up redness and the occasional spot or scar, I've been reaching for two concealers: the Glossier Stretch Concealer (same as last year) and the MILK Makeup Flex Concealer. Whenever I did reach for powder, my favorite had to be the Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Loose Powder. This one just looks flawless on your skin and never looks powdery. A close second was the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder. I hit pan on this one and was trying really hard to finish it but misplaced it when I recently moved. I found it again recently, but I think I might just give it the toss.
For highlight I've really just been alternating between two options. The first being BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal - which has definitely replaced my everyday reach, BECCA Moonstone (which is still a beautiful shade). I just loved how Opal looked on me while I had a tan in the summer, but I still also love the way it looks on my skin when I'm pale. I've been reaching for it almost daily since the summer - so that's saying a lot. When I'm not reaching for my BECCA highlighter, I'll usually reach for one of two Glossier Haloscopes. I do love Quartz more when I have color in my skin and Moonstone when I'm more pale - they're both beautiful and subtle. For blush I've really just been alternating between two options - cream and powder. When I'm going cream, hands down it has to be the Glossier Cloud Paints. These were probably one of my favorite discoveries of 2017 and of course leave it to Glossier to make me enjoy using cream blushes. These are so easy to use and it's almost impossible to mess up with these. There are 4 colors and they all mix and match effortlessly, although my two faves definitely have to be Dusk and Haze. Dusk is perfect on its own and is my most used of all the shades - and I'm nowhere near finishing it. Haze is beautiful mixed together with Dusk to neutralize the shade ever so slightly - but I love the flushed look it gives. I've been watching a lot of Supergirl lately and everything in their world is bright and light, including their makeup which is natural with flushed cheeks. I definitely feel like this helps you hit that look so if you're looking for something to do that - this. is. the. one. My favorite powder blush remains the same as last year and that's the BECCA blush in Wild Honey. Again, I'm nowhere near hitting pan on this one (although you can spot a little bit of texture in the photo below). It's the best neutral flush of color and is hands down one of my most favorite blush shades ever. Now one that I dabble between as highlight/blush color is the MILK Makeup Holographic Stick in MARS which is a beautiful golden peach color. I sometimes use this as a highlight on my cheek bones / cupid's bow, but sometimes just put it smack on my cheeks for an extra pop of color. Whichever way I wear it, it surely is a thing of beauty! I don't see myself finishing this and almost wish I had waited til' the mini version was released. If you've been debating back and forth on this, I highly recommend it.
For the brows I've still been reaching for powders. I was finishing up a NARS eyeshadow powder that I've kinda given up on (it's broken into a million pieces) but am back to using my Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Duo - it has a slight dent in the center of it but I don't think I'm anywhere near hitting pan on it. And if I need a little extra oomph for a special occasion, after I do my brows I'll brush the Glossier Boy Brow Clear to give them a little extra hold. When I'm not feeling like doing much with my brows, I usually just go in with the in with either Boy Brow in Brown or Black.
My eye base has been the same for god knows how long, but it's the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base which I'm on my 3rd+ bottle of. I haven't found a better alternative for it so I continue to buy it because the stuff works and doesn't feel heavy on my lids. I'm still rocking a brown eyeliner and winged cat-eye, and my go-to favorites have to be the Smashbox Always On Eyeliner in Sumatra and the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper. This particular eyeliner from Smashbox is always a favorite because it has an automatic sharpener which makes it the perfect option for traveling because I don't have to carry a sharpener with me and I don't have to worry about shavings dirtying up the inside of my makeup bag. I usually do use a regular pencil throughout the rest of the year and always pick up one of the automatic twist-ups whenever I travel (which I'm fortunate enough to do rather often) - and my favorite of those options is between the Smashbox pencil version or the Charlotte Tilbury Rock n Kohl pencil in Barbarella Brown. For mascara, the Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes Mascara proves to be a continued favorite. I think we're going on around 3+ years of love here and it probably isn't going to stop. I do dabble with the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara but I do find that one's a bit too clumpy for my taste. The Tarte one is perfect for thickening, lengthening, and holding a curl - and I'll need to snag a new one soon / after the Dior one I'm using dries up.
I never really think about talking about makeup brushes, but I thought I'd share a few that I use pretty much every single day. I love using this mini Zoeva 110 brush to blend in my concealer because these days I'm not really wearing much foundation. But when I am, I'll usually go in with the full sized version. Speaking of Zoeva, I usually go in with the 127 angled blush brush when I'm reaching for a powdered blush. The NARS Yachiyo Brush is still one of my faves, and I love that it picks up the perfect amount of product which doesn't really linger on the brush. I can use this for bronzer, blush, and highlighter - which also makes it a perfect brush for traveling. My favorite highlighting brush has to be this Hakuhodo Fan brush - it disperses the product perfectly and helps me achieve that perfect glow. I use a small angled liner MAC brush to do my brows everyday - not really much else to say on that lol. And the last is one of my faves, which is a Hakuhodo angled brush which I use to apply my powder. It's the perfect size to get under my eyes, around my nose, and is large enough to cover the forehead/cheeks/chin with ease. If you'd like to read, I did an entire post on my Hakuhodo brush haul from Japan here.
For the lips I'll be honest that I haven't really been wearing too much lipstick. I've gotten really lazy about this and after getting a dog, I didn't particularly love how his hair got stuck on my lips all the damn time (anyone else struggle with this??) or that if I kissed him I'd smudge some lipstick on his fur lol. I was really into lip balms this year and I fell in love with the flavored Glossier Balm Dot Coms - tbh they're all really great! I also discovered Go-To skincare this year and am low-key obsessed with their Go-To Lips! Super Balm that I got during my blogger swap with Jennifer (read more on my post here !) I wasn't too adventurous with lip products this year and had a bit more self control as I knew it wasn't something I used a lot so shouldn't splurge on. I did pick up a few lipsticks although they were just new shades in my already tried and true favorite brands/formulas. One of my new standout lip products from the year had to go to the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Do Me Baby, which is closely followed by NARS Walkyrie (which was a fav from back in 2015). These had to be my two most-used lip products as one was always in my purse at all times. After that was my NARS lipstick in Tonkin (which has sadly been discontinued..) that I featured in my faves from 2016. I also still very much love my Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks in Bond Girl & Very Victoria (hello, more faves from 2016) - I'm never letting these go and would probably repurchase if/when I ever finish them . I did pick up Pillow Talk earlier this year (partially due to hype), but just don't love how it looks on me :(. On the neutral side of things, I picked up pretty much every single Glossier Gen G lipstick color (lol) - but my standout favorites have to be Like and Leo. They're extremely neutral shades and can easily be built up to pack in more color - perfection.
The last category I'm going to speak about are fragrances. I did an entire post on my current fragrance wardrobe here, but two additions have jumped up as some of my favorite discoveries from last year - Byredo Bal d'Afrique + Glossier You. I had been wanting to add a Byredo scent into my collection for the longest time and Lou helped me find my perfect scent. I have a pretty sensitive nose so anything overly powerful is too much and gives me a headache. I was so sad when I got some samples from Neiman Marcus in Stanford and all the samples shattered in my purse. I couldn't use my purse for a good 3-4 months because the mixture of scents gave me the worst headache ever and I low-key think it ruined Mojave Ghost for me forever lol. Glossier You was also one of my favorite launches from the brand (coming in second after the Cloud Paints), and it's a scent I'm surprised to have fallen in love with. It's a musky scent that smells different on everyone. I was out at lunch last Friday and when I handed my card over to the guy at the register he stopped to say, "You smell good." I giggled to myself because that's also one of the promotional tag lines for Glossier You - which makes it all the more perfect. I know a lot of people say it doesn't linger on them, but I actually find that to be the opposite. If I spray something and wear a jacket, I can usually smell it on the same jacket a few wears later. Love.
Well that's a wrap for my 2017 beauty favorites - stay tuned for my favorite skincare discoveries from last year! Post to come soon - photos are done but writing is in the works.
(If you'd like to catch my beauty favorite posts from previous years, you can read my posts here from 2015 and 2016.)
* * *
If you shop my Glossier rep link (glossier.com/reps/cindy), you can score 10% off your first order. Even if it isn't your first purchase, any purchase made through my link allows me to earn a small commission. You can read more on my disclaimer here.
This post contains affiliate links. All earnings from my blog are invested back in this space + and is used to host giveaways.