2017 favorites

Happy new year and happy 2018! I wanted to share my top 10 favorites  of 2017 with you.

10. NYX Away We Glow in 08 moon glow - I ran out of my beloved Becca shimmering skin perfector in pearl and replaced it with NYX for two reasons: 1) I'm a grad student on a budget, and more importantly, 2) There is no known universe where I could finish a full size shimmering skin perfector. The mini spotlight size took me 2 years! The NYX isn't a perfect dupe (not as gel like of a texture, doesn't blend as well over powder), but is 90% there and meets my needs perfectly. Like everyone else on the planet, glowy skin and I were friends all year long.

9. Whole Foods organic lip balm - I went through about a dozen of these in 2017, 50/50 lost vs. used up. I love the honey vanilla version, it moisturizes without irritating my skin and only costs about $3. Sold for life <3

8. Sheer glossy lips - My skin is too dry and I am too impatient for the perfectly carved out lip line and matte liquid lips. I need my skin and lips to feel comfortable and I'm permanently running late, so for me that means tinted lip balm, glosses, and sheer lipsticks I can apply on the bus without a mirror. Some of my favorites: Urban Decay and Too Faced La Creme lipsticks layered over lip balm, Clinique almost lipstick in black honey, Fresh tinted lip balm in rose and petal, and Bite's (discontinued?!) lip gloss in currant.

7. My Japanese brushes - My everyday brushes never fail me and I'm still amazed that some of these brands aren't more popular. Chikuhodo, Hakuhodo, Koyudo, and Mizuho all have some relatively affordable brushes (MAC or MUFE price range) that blow everything else out of the water in terms of quality. I like more natural and sheer looks with powder products, so my soft natural hair brushes deliver. Pictured: Hakuhodo tapered candle 5521, Hakuhodo J521 eyeliner, Chikuhodo Z-5 large eye shader, Mizuho PM11 brow brush, Koyudo 035 medium shader, Hakuhodo K022 blush/powder . I don't think everyone needs these exact brushes, but I do think it is worth buying high quality brushes of which ever shapes you use every day.

6. NARS Laguna - Check out that huge pan! I wear bronzer everyday and Laguna was easily my most reached for this year. Even on my cool toned fair skin, this is never too orange. I don't know how, but Laguna always makes me look healthy and pretty.

Elf Studio Tone Correcting Powder in Cool review & swatches // comparison to Essence All About Matt

I recently ran out of my beloved Essence All About Matt powder, so I decided to play around and try something else this time around. I have heard great things on YouTube about the elf Studio Tone Correcting Powder in Cool, so I gave it a try. I paid $3.99 on the Target website.

Here's the long and the short of it: it is absolutely inferior to my favorite Essence All About Matt. It is also not the worst powder I have ever tried. 

I always keep a touch up powder compact in my commuting tote bag because I get shiny throughout the day. I'm always looking for powders that are pressed in a compact, don't look cakey on the skin, and keep my shine at bay for a few hours at a minimum. Unfortunately, the elf tone correcting powder broke immediately and doesn't keep my skin matte for more than 30 minutes. I'm not particularly rough on my travel bag (I have never broken an Essence All About Matt or L'Oreal True Blend traveling) and I don't have oily skin. The elf studio tone correcting powder didn't cake up on top of foundation, but it also didn't seamlessly melt into the skin the way hd silica powders do.

Chanel Poudre Universelle Libre loose powder swatches & review // 20 Clair (translucent 1) on dry pale skin

Basics: 

• $52 for 1 ounce / 30 grams, which is a pretty good price considering that many loose powders contain less grams of product. If you use up loose powders regularly, it pays to shop in price per gram. 
• Comes in a huge mouth jar with a puff. The puff isn't great, I only used it a few times. I love the packaging for home use, but I wouldn't recommend traveling with loose powders.
• This powder is talc, nylon-12, and silica based, making it one of the most finely milled and delicate of the 'traditional' loose powders. The texture is more substantial feeling than the 100% silica powders or corn starch based formulas on the market.
• Soft matte finish, great for setting foundation. Not as good for touchups.
• It can be applied to look natural on the skin, but you will have to pay special attention to application to achieve a truly invisible look. If you are heavy handed or tend to sweep powder on with a brush, it could look dry or visible on the skin. 

Can fair skin use 20 Clair?
 One of my concerns was if the shade 20 clair was appropriate for very light or fair skin. I'm neutral and very fair (L'Oreal True Match N1 or Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk 2) and was worried 20 clair would be too dark. As you can see in the swatch below, 20 Clair works for fair skin. I tapped the powder on heavily for a swatch because a sheer swatch is translucent on my skin.

Review: Wet n Wild take on the day mattifying translucent powder compact

I was shopping at Target a few weeks ago and saw the Wet N Wild Fergie Take On The Day mattifying powder on clearance. Wet N Wild is phasing out the Fergie line and putting the products in different packaging into their regular line, so retailers are clearing out the old packaging. I was almost out of my beloved Essence All About Matt translucent mattifying powder compact, but Target doesn't sell Essence and this one was on clearance for $1.40 so I figured I would try it out instead.

Empties & mini reviews - Skin79, Bite, NARS, Clinique, Essence & more

I love seeing other people's empties, so today I have a bunch of makeup & beauty products that I have used up. I'm not always good about keeping my empties, but I remembered to take a few pictures of these before I tossed them. Let's get started!

Face Products

• Skin79 Diamond BB cream - this one actually went bad on me after I powered through about a quarter of it and gave up. The Diamond version is very accurately named and made me look reflective in a greasy way instead of glowy in a healthy way. Would not repurchase.
• Skin79 VIP Gold BB cream - one of my favorite BB creams of all time - natural medium coverage that looks invisible on the skin and lasts all day. This is my 2nd empty VIP Gold, I will definitely repurchase. 
• Paula's Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint - this tinted sunscreen is a great option for wearing under makeup. I have a full review here if you want to see more, but I will repurchase. 
• Essence All About Matt powder - awesome affordable translucent pressed powder. The packaging broke on me but the powder looks invisible on the skin. I didn't feel like using up the outer rim of powder because it is a pain to get even coverage with a brush, but I already repurchased so I felt comfortable saying goodbye to the last remnants.  

My top 3 favorite colorless beauty products

I usually focus on color products on this blog, but I thought I would do a post honoring my favorite colorless products. Colorless cosmetics are easy to overlook, but each of these three are absolute must haves in my collection. Plus, each of these cost under $5.

Without further ado, my favorite three colorless products: the NYX Matte Blotting Paper ($3.99), Essence All About Matt Fixing Compact Powder ($3.99), and adhesive magnetic tape (about $5).

Makeup Forever HD powder DIY dupe? TKB Trading Silica Microspheres & 30g Jar review

I was really curious about translucent HD powders, but I wasn't ready to shell out $34 for Makeup Forever's Microfinish HD powder. Instead, I bought generic silica microspheres and an empty 30 gram jar from TKB trading to see if HD powders are worth the hype. I bought 1 ounce of silica microspheres for $4.95 and a 30 gram jar with sifter for $.90.

HD Powders
HD powders are very fine powders that are supposed to be invisible on the skin. Many on the market, like the ever popular Makeup Forever HD and the elf studio HD, are silica based and translucent. Loose HD powders are great for applying a thin layer of powder over the face before applying foundation (a la Wayne Goss), setting foundation without adding extra coverage, and touching up during the day. Silica powders are notoriously bad for flash photography, so I recommend staying away from them for special events.

The Makeup Forever HD powder ($34) is comprised of silica microspheres and the elf studio HD powder ($6) is comprised of silica microspheres and fillers. I would like to note that not all silica microspheres are created equal - as with all powders, there are different particle sizes and some are more finely milled than others.

Bare Minerals Multi Tasking Stars Kit review & swatches

I admit, I'm a total sucker for value sets. I saw this in Sephora and had to pick it up! The Multi-Tasking Stars kit from Bare Minerals is a limited edition set that sells at Sephora for $49. The set includes:

- A pink neoprene padded bag, 9" x 6.5"
- Natural Light Mineral Veil Finishing Powder, 0.07 oz (mini)
- Lash Domination 10-In-1 Volumizing Mascara in Intense Black (full size)
- Spring2Triple Take Color, Gloss & Stain in Coral Pink, 0.12 oz (exclusive, full size)
- 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow in Candlelit Peach, .1 fl oz (exclusive preview, full size)
- bareMinerals Ready Bronzer in The Skinny Dip & Cheek Tint in The Endless Summer Duo (exclusive, full size compact)

Before this set, I had tried only a few items from Bare Minerals before - their classic mineral foundation and a Ready eyeshadow quad, so I was excited to try out lots of products from the brand! Let's break it down: