For anyone catching up, at the end of every year, I share your top favorite finds based on what items were most popular when I take the time to go through my analytics but this series is a little different. I thought a little check-in halfway through the year where I highlighted my very favorite finds organized by category might be of interest because I personally love this kind of stuff. (And you know I’d truly LOVE to hear about any of your favorite finds of the year so far below!)
To qualify in this list, the items must be new-t0-me finds I personally discovered in this year. You guys know by now that I can be a little longwinded when I really love something, so I figured morphing this into a mini series on the blog might help break things up and prevent it from being to overwhelming.
Today’s focus is makeup and I’ve subdivided it into face makeup, eye makeup and lips! And please feel free to join in the fun and tell me about any makeup discoveries you made this year that now have a permanent place in your makeup bag. I always get some of my best recommendations from YOU!
Face Makeup
I’ve never used a skin illuminator before but my gosh this stuff is magical. I use it when I want to bring the heat (aka it’s not an everyday makeup for me but a “special” find I use when I want to look my very best). It works as a makeup primer but also an illuminator that truly transforms my skin to make it look more luminous and bright. It can also be used as a highlighter which I’ll do on occasion on the tops of my cheekbones before a night out. It’s such a unique makeup product to me and unlike anything else in my makeup bag. (I use color Love Me, Love Me Not.)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: One added benefit of a girls’ trip is that I also always seem to discover some new favorite things to try! We’ll often swap beauty and fashion finds on girls’ trips (as well as book recommendations, favorite snacks, recipes, etc.) and it’s one of those small things that adds to the fun for me. On a girls’ mountain trip earlier this year, I shared a room and bathroom with my friend Lauren and tried out her Tower 28 Sunny Days Tinted Sunscreen and quickly fell in love with this clean beauty find.
It’s a fantastic everyday tinted sunscreen that I wear instead of foundation most days. I love that it offers clean sun protection with a little bit of color that feels light but also makes my skin look more even and my face look brighter and more awake. It’s that perfect no makeup makeup kind of look that provides daily sun protection. (I use the shade 20 Mulholland.)
I adore my Tarte Shape Tape concealer (truly, my favorite I’ve ever used) but sometimes I want a lighter coverage and a less makeup-y concealer. This Merit Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Stick is fantastic clean beauty find because it can be many things: An all-over foundation, a spot concealer or just the perfect stick for swiping on your face to help with discoloration in a way that looks incredibly natural. I have makeup I use for different things and and this complexion stick falls firmly in my “everyday wear” makeup category. It never looks like “too much” and my skin looks like my skin but better (more even, less dull) whenever I use it. I primarily use it in place of concealer under my eyes, over some dark spots or blemishes and absolutely love it. (I use the color sand.) Also worth noting, as I get older I’m sensitive to how products settle on my face and this one seems to work well on skin that is maturing. (Hi, this is 40.)
This translucent setting powder is another “special” makeup find I reserve for when I go all-in on my makeup and want to look my best. It’s not a part of my daily super low maintenance mom life makeup routine but it is an absolute necessity for me when I want my makeup to look great for an extended period of time. I also use it if I feel like my skin looks a little too greasy because it’s the BEST at taking away greasy-looking shine. It’s a translucent setting powder that sets makeup and helps it last for hours and hours. I truly notice a MAJOR difference in the longevity of my makeup when I use this powder!
I’ve slowly become more comfortable attempting contouring makeup and this duo stick is one of those genius little products that combines an ultra-creamy contour stick with a shimmery blush that adds the perfect pop of color to my cheeks. The best tip I’ve seen that seems to work best on my face for contouring is to apply the contour just above the hollow of your cheekbones before blending rather than directly in them. I then blend the contour with my kabuki makeup brush and add the blush above that with a beauty blender makeup sponge. It’s a beautiful combination that takes day-to-day makeup to the next level. I have the Starlit color stick.
Lips
(This one isn’t technically makeup but I didn’t know where else to put it and it deserved a mention!)
You know those lip balms or lip treatments that are goopy and sticky and barely last on your lips for more than 5 minutes? This Revision Skincare YouthFull Lip Replenisher is the exact opposite of that. I bought this during Amazon Prime Day back in July and have used it every single evening before bed (and throughout the day sometimes, too!) as it very quickly surpassed my love of any other overnight lip treatments. The texture is smooth without feeling sticky or thin and stays ON my lips for a long time! It works to restore lip volume (gimme that) while smoothing lip lines and hydrating lips with peptides, vitamin C and antioxidants. Bottom line: It feels good, works well and lasts.
I’m always so intrigued by pH-reactive lip products as the way the pH reactive pigment changes color in response to the acidity of your lips feels like magic in a tube to me. And the color always feels spot-on! This Pixi LipTone pH Reactive Lip Gloss was an $8 Amazon find that called to me and one I love for a quick pop of perfectly pink glossy color. It’s also very hydrating and leaves my lips feeling smooth and moisturized after use.
These are two lip finds I found at Sephora this year that have both majorly impressed me in different ways.
Sephora Watermelon Moisturizing Lip Balm
Anyone else out there remember loving Bonne Bell lip balms back in the ’90s and early 2ooos? (Dr. Pepper Bonne Bell was my jam.) This Sephora moisturizing lip balm is like the grown up version on Bonne Bell. It is lightly flavored (but good — not weird!) and super moisturizing. It’s kind of like a chapstick meets lip gloss as it adds a subtle pop of color but glides on easily like chapstick. It’s one of those lip balms I liked enough to buy in multiples so I could keep them in various places (car, purse, makeup bag, etc.).
Sephora Totally Juicy Lip Tint
My lips are basically flesh-colored so I’m all about long-lasting lip tints and this one is a slam dunk in terms of lip color that lasts and lasts. It’s one of the best lip products I’ve tried in a while because it’s highly pigmented (without being overwhelming), doesn’t feather into the lines around my lips, and doesn’t dry out my lips at all the way many lip tints seem to do. It applies more like a gloss than a stain and somehow makes my lips look a little fuller, too, which isn’t easy to do with virtually non-existent lips like mine. My one complaint is that the lip stain has a perfume-like fragrance when you first apply it that I really, really wish didn’t exist. It doesn’t bother me after it’s applied but I wish it wasn’t there at all.
Eye Makeup
As a natural blonde with light eyes and practically iridescent eyelashes, my eyes all but disappear if I don’t do a little something to define them. I don’t love the look of severe eyeliner or eyeliner that’s too dark as it overwhelms my face. But THIS eyeliner… this eyeliner glides on with one creamy swipe and adds definition to my eyes in a way that looks light and natural. I use the mink greige color and it glides so effortlessly across my eyelid (I totally get why they call it “satin eyeliner”). If you like a more natural look when it comes to eye makeup but still feel like your eyes could use a little help, this eyeliner is such a good find, especially in the subtle mink greige color.
My Julep eyeshadow stick has been a staple in my life for years (it’s fantastic!) but during the Sephora spring sale, I decided to give ILIA’s eyeshadow stick a try. I’m happy to report I ended up loving the ILIA version and use it in the exact same way I used the Julep eyeshadow stick: I actually do NOT use it as a typical eyeshadow but rather as a way to smudge my eyeliner and give my eyeliner a less severe look. I first apply eyeliner on my top eyelid as close to my eyelashes as possible (but stopping just past my pupil to avoid making my eyes look smaller than they already are) and then run this eyeshadow stick directly over my eyeliner line to soften it up and make it look a little more smudgy and undone. It’s a perfect soft, subtle way to enhance your eyes. I use the brocade shade which is a gorgeous rich bronze color.
If you’ve stopped by the blog recently, you may have seen me go on and on about these two clean beauty mascara finds. If there is a beauty product I feel most picky about, it is, without a doubt, my mascara. I cannot stand the vast majority of mascaras on the market, as I feel like most clump lashes or only do one of the two things I desire — either add volume or lengthen. When a mascara can hit the trifecta — make my lashes look voluminous, long and not clumpy — I’ll be a fan for life. I’ve been using ILIA Fullest Volumizing Mascara for years and love it. (I switched from L’Oreal Volumizing Mascara which I liked for years because I wanted a clean beauty option since mascara is something I wear daily.)
This may make me sound crazy, but I often like my mascara a month or two after I begin using it, when the formula gets a little tackier and less goopy. That’s the sweet spot and then it’s fantastic, and that was always the case with my ILIA mascara.
Every so often I get the itch to try a new mascara and I almost always regret it but over the course of the past few months I’ve tried two new-to-me clean beauty mascaras that have both blown me away. They both check all of the boxes detailed above and will be mascaras I purchase on repeat in the future. And BOTH were wonderful at first swipe — I didn’t have to wait a few months for their formulas to get a little tackier which is usually the case for me with mascara. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.
Neen Pretty Extra Mascara
This clean-beauty mascara needs to be on all the top beauty product lists. It fills and separates lashes in a gorgeously feathery way while also adding length and volume. It’s stunning and does so much to make my blonde lashes look lush and long. I love it for both day and night wear and really appreciate the way it stays on my lashes with zero flaking or smudging — even in crazy-hot Florida heat and humidity. I actually have a discount code I can pass along for this one — PBFINGERS15 will save you 15%!
Gee Beauty The Multi Mascara
I wanted to try a brown mascara for a less intense look, especially during the summer months when I will often go makeup-free except for tinted sunscreen on my face. As someone with basically clear eyelashes, a swipe of mascara goes a long way to give my eyes some life and this Gee Beauty mascara is the mascara of my dreams for natural-looking lashes that are voluminous and long. It’s also available in black and I love the way the formula seems to adhere to each individual lash. Note: I’ve also been loving Gee Beauty’s Prime Skin primer. I has a gorgeously buildable color that warms the skin with a soft blurring effect. I use shade #4.
Question of the Day
Any new makeup discoveries so far this year that have quickly become a favorite in your makeup bag? Please share!
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