I’ve spent the year testing out a wide variety of beauty products from subscription boxes and purchases at drug stores, Ulta, Sephora, and beyond!
Overall Brand Winner: IT Cosmetics
IT Cosmetics founder Jamie Kern Lima celebrates diversity and reminds us that we are all beautiful, and we love her for it. IT’s product line is an impressive array of makeup and skincare and makeup that has skincare quality ingredients within.
Bye Bye Under Eye has become my goto under eye cream because it packs all the skin-loving ingredients you’d want in one great product – caffeine, collagen, hyaluronic acid, and more. For the price, few eye creams can compete!
I’m also loving their CC+ line. I use the powder some days and the cream other days, and some days both! These light to full coverage, buildable products contain wonderful moisturizing and anti-aging ingredients while brightening and evening your skin.
Surprise Skincare Stars: Cold Pressed Rosehip Oil and Granactive Retinol in Squalane by The Ordinary
The Ordinary has an entire line of high quality, science-driven skincare products. I use their vitamin c, retinoid, and hyaluronic acid products, but the the big standouts for me this year were my discovery of rosehip oil and squalane.
These superstars hydrate, help prevent acne, brighten – I’m telling y’all, they are just all around game-changing skincare ingredients that I do not know how I lived without!
Notable Mention: Decium, parent company of The Ordinary, also makes other skincare products. This year they launched ESHO, an oft sold out line of lipcare products. I’ve been loving PAUSE, which is said to help maintain lip injections between treatments. I’m not sure if it will really make my lip injection last longer, but I do like the smoothing, nourishing effect.
Favorite K-Beauty Product: Tony Moly Green Tea Facial Mist
This year I became addicted to refreshing facial sprays. This one is my favorite because it has a lovely scent, antioxidant properties, and the nozzle provides the finest mist of any product I’ve tried so far, making it suitable to apply after makeup. I just wish they made a travel size that I could throw in my carry-on!
Physician’s Formula Mineral Glow
A fabulous mineral, bronzey, glowey powder! Always cruelty free, paraben free, etc. etc. 🙂
Best Celebrity Line: Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty
Holy crap, queen RiRi has slayed the makeup world and shows no signs of stopping. With 40 shades of fabulous foundation, contour and highlight sticks with convenient magnetic packaging, and one of my favorite lip glosses of all time – Rihanna wins by a landslide!
Best Celebrity Novelty Item: Unicorn Mist
Paris HIlton’s unicorn mist is a lovely rose scented refreshing facial mist packaged in an adorable, sturdy bottle. Loves it! The downside here is that it does have perfume and alcohol as main ingredients.
Favorite Beauty Gadget: HACK ALERT! LED Plant Growing Light
Every couple of days I hold a plant growing light full of red and blue LEDs very close to my face for 15 minutes. It was $25 on Amazon, and has the same type of lights and wavelengths as the much pricer led facemasks and devices.
