2015 makeup, brush & beauty favorites

I am really excited to share my 2015 makeup, brush, and beauty favorites with you! These were my most used products of 2015 and ones I would confidently travel with. Most of the products shown below will likely be familiar to longtime blog readers - I tend to stick with products I love using. If I have a post about a product listed, I included a link for you.

A note about the type of of products I like - I use quite a few makeup products on a daily basis, but I like my makeup to look invisible on the skin and give a natural, healthy, flattering effect. This group of products are the ones I lean on to consistently give me the impact I'm looking for without looking too much like makeup. I have dry, sensitive skin, so I'm always on the hunt for moisturizing and non irritating formulas.

In addition to specific product favorites, I have a few bigger picture makeup favorites. My top makeup favorite of the year is my getting ready time every morning. Sometimes its only 15 minutes, but I love taking the time to make a cup of coffee and do my makeup in the morning. It helps me wake up, plan for the day, and I appreciate the luxury of quiet morning time. Another 2015 favorite is Japanese brushes, particularly Koyudo and Chikuhodo. I fell in love with Hakuhodo brushes in 2014 which encouraged me to try Koyudo and Chikuhodo. I think Japanese brushes are highly underrated in the beauty community, especially considering that many brushes are cheaper or price competitive to mid range brands like MAC or NARS but much higher quality. My last big picture favorite is a favorite technique - applying powder with a damp beauty sponge. Applying loose setting powder or pressed powder foundation with a damp sponge gives a beautiful natural matte finish and I highly recommend trying it!

Face

• Favorite foundation/bb cream: It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC cream in Fair. I love applying this with my fingers for a quick, easy base. The It Cosmetics CC cream is not full coverage as advertised, but the medium coverage and dewy finish works well to hide my persistent redness and even out my skin. I also appreciate the SPF 50!
• Favorite sunscreen: Paula's Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint in 1.  I am a big believer in wearing sunscreen everyday, and the Paula's Choice tinted sunscreen blends into the skin easily and sits under makeup well. I have a full review here if you want more details. 
• Favorite powder foundation: L'Oreal True Match powder in N1. Finding dry skin friendly powder foundations can be tricky, but the L'Oreal True Match powder gives me light coverage with a natural finish. I love applying this powder with a damp Real Techniques sponge. This powder also works well as a setting powder or for mid day touch-ups.
• Favorite touch-up powder: Essence All About Matt!. This is an underrated Essence gem. For less than $4, All About Matt is the perfect invisible mattifying touch-up and setting powder. I think I went through 3 of them in 2015!
• Favorite face brushes: Real Techniques Buffing Brush & Miracle Complexion Sponge. The Real Techniques Core Collection is worth the price for the Buffing Brush alone - the shape and density work so well together to blend foundation. I have many expensive brushes, and the Buffing Brush is my absolute favorite for liquid base products. I also adore the Miracle Complexion Sponge from Real Techniques and prefer it to the Beauty Blender for its density and shape. I love it for applying liquid foundation and powder.  
• Honorable mentions:  The Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage concealer is a champ for covering up break outs, but the dense, waxy texture doesn't work under the eyes. I love it as a specialty product, but I don't use it daily. I chose not to include the Skin79 hot pink BB cream as a favorite intentionally - I love everything about the formula, coverage, and finish on the skin, but the color is a bit dark and pink for me. In the correct shade, the Skin79 BB cream would be a definite favorite.

Hello again!

Sergio Rola - Unsplash

I'm back from my break! I am a bad blogger for taking an (unannounced) break from the online makeup world, so apologies are in order. I have some posts planned that will be up soon - keep posted for my 2015 favorites, a new series on destashing and decluttering, and some reviews.

I took a break for a few reasons. First and foremost, I had lots of family events in December and January and my husband and I took a (long for us) trip to see family around the holidays. I absolutely adore our families and was excited to take time to visit, read books, play board games, and stay far away from my computer and phone. In fact, I didn't even take my laptop with me on my trip! On the positive side, I packed makeup I loved for my trip and many of those items are in my 2015 favorites.

Second, through the tail end of 2015, I have been working on focusing my collection, destashing, and trimming down my beauty spending. I gave a lot of products to my sister, who is an ideal recipient of items that don't work for me - her skin is warmer, a shade deeper, and shares my shade preferences for color products. I was happy to re-home lots of products to her and I also tossed expired products  and sold some on online. I do plan to publish a few blog posts I wrote about strategies for trimming down collections and reducing beauty spending.

Finally, I took a break from the online makeup world because it stopped being interesting to me. I think it is natural to wax and wane in makeup interest, but I felt like the online beauty community began to feel like a pundit echo chamber. I trimmed down my YouTube subscriptions, accounts I follow on Instagram, and blogs I follow. Over 2015, I have learned more about the type of content I value vs. the type I don't and I think it is natural that my media consumption has followed that. My focus now is on people who seem discerning and detailed - I just don't have the time and patience for Trendmood style hype or  Morphe code pushing gurus or I'm So Obsessed Seriously favorites.

Long story short, I'm back and excited to get back to blogging! I've been reading Terry Pratchett's Discworld and watching The Great British Bake Off lately, and for some reason this picture by Sergio Rola felt right for me right now. I hope all of you had a great holiday season!

Makeup conspiracy theory- bottomless Becca shimmering skin perfectors

So you know how restaurants advertise bottomless fries or infinity drink refills? I've been thinking (probably Thanksgiving inspired if we're being honest) and I have a makeup conspiracy theory to share - Becca's shimmering skin perfectors are bottomless. I'm not sure how the Becca fairies do such a great job coming over to my house and topping up my SSPs, but I have magically yet to run out despite near everyday use.

I bought the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Spotlights set last year (about 14 months ago). The set contained mini SSPs in Pearl, Champagne Gold, and Opal, each with .17oz of product. The full size is ten times larger at 1.7 ounces. I absolutely adore the Becca SSP formula and use one of these shades almost every day.

Based on my photo showing how much I have used over 14 months, I have gone through about half of Pearl, about a third of Champagne Gold and a quarter of Opal. I also have a picture below (shade: Opal) of the typical amount I use on a daily basis - I apply to my cheekbones, inner corner of my eye, lightly on my browbone, and cupid's bow.

By my estimate, if I'm using up about a mini size (.17oz) per year, it would take me around 10 years to finish up a full (1.7oz) size bottle! Assuming I'm gross and don't care about expired products or bacteria, that is a serious commitment to a highlighter. I think I am so used to using up and repurchasing cream base products (concealer, BB cream, foundation) it has been truly baffling to me that I am nowhere near empty on these. Thus, I can only conclude the Becca fairies are coming to my house for free refills :)

I am left with two questions: Why is the full size so gigantic? If you have finished a full size Becca shimmering skin perfector, how did you do that? I would love to know where and how you apply it.