I started this year off thinking it wouldn't be a big one for makeup. I'd figured out a quick and easy routine that I liked in the second half of last year and thought I would just spend the year following that, but isn't that what always happens? You find a look you thought would be your 'signature look' and two months later you're already chopping and changing things up.
I started wearing more makeup in the second half of the year because my taught courses were finally done and without early morning classes ('early' by my standards, which means around 10am), I had a lot more time to spend on doing my face in the morning. I've always been intrigued by the igari makeup look and also started getting into that sunburnt blush look during the summer, so this year was the year I started getting comfortable with putting on more than just a dab of blush.
This list is more about what I've enjoyed using and been excited to use, and does not cover all categories of makeup because honestly some of them I just find a little boring. Sorry. Anyway - without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my eight most-loved items of the year:
1. Burberry Almond Eye Contour Stick
By far the most used out of all the products I own. Like most people who frequent beauty blogs, I usually research excessively on whatever I was thinking of spending money on, but this purchase was a bit of an anomaly. I wanted the Almond powder eyeshadow but my local Sephora only stocked the stick version. A quick google search in front of the Burberry stand pulled up maybe two reviews on this, but I decided to buy it anyway. I'd been looking for something a little warmer, and was initially a little disappointed at how cool-toned it looked when I tried this on my eyelids the first time. However, it turned out to be perfect for just a little definition with one layer, and for that slightly-grungy, lived-in eyeshadow look with a couple more swipes. It's also perfect for layering underneath other colours to give a little more dimension. This has become one of the maybe six things I bring whenever I need to pack a very streamlined makeup bag.
I can't in good conscience fully recommend this, because both sticks I've bought have broken off at some point, and I really expect more from something at the price point. What I will say though - after my first one became unusable, I didn't immediately repurchase and tried to give my other eyeshadow sticks some love. I lasted about two weeks before biting the bullet. It is and will be for the foreseeable future an indispensable part of my everyday makeup routine.
2. MAC Soft Brown
An eyeshadow bought in search of something that would give me that warm, grungy eye look. I was previously using Urban Decay's Buck from my Naked Palette, but was getting leery of using something so old near my eyes (I've had it since 2013) and had wanted something with a more orange base. I had tried in on the back of my hand in store and it looked perfect, but once I got home and tried it on my lids, it looked way too orange. On top of the aforementioned Burberry eyeshadow stick though - perfection. It has been my eyeshadow combination of choice for the most of the year, sometimes with a little dark brown eyeshadow near my lashline for more definition.
3. Burberry Earthy
A product I had been lusting over for years, ever since I first saw it on Messy Wands (at one time my favourite beauty blog ever - her old posts are still definitely worth a read). I won't lie - getting into a graduate degree in London was what pushed me to finally buy this. Burberry's classically minimal yet effortlessly grungy makeup look really speaks to me, and if I can't try to rock that while I was in London, then when else would I do it?
This is far and away the best powder blush formula I've ever tried. It's silky and soft and so, so blendable. The colour is utter perfection, never overbearing, and for the first half of the year this was often the only cheek product I had on. It softly sculpts the face without screaming 'contour!' and, due to the slightly pink undertone, always looks natural. Sometimes I also use this as eyeshadow for that monochromatic, cohesive look, and loved it so much that I tried to hunt down an actual, unscented eyeshadow in the same colour to no avail. Also, that checked gunmental packaging. Swoon.
4. Victoria Beckham x Estée Lauder bronzer in Java Sun
Prior to this year, I had never owned a bronzer before and had no interest in doing so. But being in a country where there was an actual winter and people actually looked forward to summer for the first time made me appreciate summertime too, and with it, that sunkissed look. I had been debating getting the Chanel Les Beiges powder in a darker colour as a reward for finishing my exams, but wanted something more red-toned. donothingdilletante's comment on this Reddit post made me take a look at this product. I dithered for a couple of months, thought about getting the new Becca bronzer in Maui Nights, found out it was sold out on Cult Beauty, dithered some more and finally put in the order for this at the end of summer. I don't have great timing. I've used this almost everyday since I got it. The formula is so, so finely-milled, and the colour is perfect for my purposes. I usually brush it across my face, right over the top of my cheekbones and on my nose-bridge. With a few swipes, I come out looking effortlessly, perfectly sunkissed.
5. Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk and Beam
Like many others, I had been waiting for Glossier to ship to the UK for the longest time, and ordered pretty much the first day it happened. At first I had been planning on getting Beam by itself, but the praises I had seen online were all pretty much directed at Dusk, so I ended up getting both. First things first - the formula is not my favourite. I know this has been widely praised precisely for the formula, but I find it slightly hard to blend, and a tad patchy too - something like the Becca Beach Tints have a much more elegant formula, in my opinion. Despite that, it is the Cloud Paints that are on my favourites because these two colours combined make the most perfect burnt peach, which was exactly what I had been searching for. I do use Dusk by itself, but Beam is slightly too bright for my colouring. Together, however - this combination has not left my cheeks in months.
6. Lily Maymac x 3CE Matte Lip Colour in #908 Warm and Sweet
I've been obsessed with Lily's lipsticks forever, so when I heard she collaborated with 3CE, I was pretty much first in line for the online order. Again, I had been wanting an MLBB colour and considered MAC's Velvet Teddy and Charlotte Tilbury's Pillowtalk lip pencil (this was before the lipstick came out) but decided I wanted something that had a peachier undertone to it. So when I saw this, I snapped it up. It's been my go-to lipstick of choice ever since - I even wore this to my graduation! It's a terracotta peach colour, and toes that line between being bright enough to give some freshness to my face but still being muted enough that it melds in gorgeously with my complexion.
7. MAC Chili
I first heard about this years ago on The Anna Edit, back when it was Vivianna Does Makeup, but really only thought about getting it when I heard about its reputation as the Suzy lipstick due to this cover. I mean, just look at it.
Although it turned out her makeup artist actually used a different colour, my mind was stuck on Chili. Having seen it recommended so many times on the muacjdiscussion subreddit by lgbtqbbq only made me want it more. Autumn seemed like the perfect time to be rocking a terracotta, burnt red lip, and unlike with the bronzer, I wanted to get this in time to actually enjoy it in the season I felt it most suited. So I decided to make a day out of it and go to the V&A and make a pitstop on the way back at Harrods for a 10% discount on the lipstick.
This is pretty much the most longwearing lipstick I have. The colour is absolutely what I wanted and looks amazing on, both a full-strength and applied lightly as a stain. I've been loving wearing this as a slightly smudged, lived-in red lip, rather than a meticulously applied lip with sharp edges. I find it's much easier to wear a bold colour when you softly blur the outer edges, giving it that effortless, casual feel.
8. Topshop Jelly Pot in Phenomenon
There are unfortunately no pictures of this as I threw it out when it had reached the end of its shelf life, but this was what really started me on the orange blush hunt. The colour was the most impeccable translucent true orange and was excellent for that watercolour blush effect. The emollient formula meant that it was incredibly easy to blend but meant that it didn't last very long, so I started looking for another cream blush that would last longer on my face. I think this was discontinued a while ago, since I picked it up back when I was living in Sydney in 2015 for half-price. A shame, really.
I started wearing more makeup in the second half of the year because my taught courses were finally done and without early morning classes ('early' by my standards, which means around 10am), I had a lot more time to spend on doing my face in the morning. I've always been intrigued by the igari makeup look and also started getting into that sunburnt blush look during the summer, so this year was the year I started getting comfortable with putting on more than just a dab of blush.
This list is more about what I've enjoyed using and been excited to use, and does not cover all categories of makeup because honestly some of them I just find a little boring. Sorry. Anyway - without further ado, and in no particular order, here are my eight most-loved items of the year:
1. Burberry Almond Eye Contour Stick
By far the most used out of all the products I own. Like most people who frequent beauty blogs, I usually research excessively on whatever I was thinking of spending money on, but this purchase was a bit of an anomaly. I wanted the Almond powder eyeshadow but my local Sephora only stocked the stick version. A quick google search in front of the Burberry stand pulled up maybe two reviews on this, but I decided to buy it anyway. I'd been looking for something a little warmer, and was initially a little disappointed at how cool-toned it looked when I tried this on my eyelids the first time. However, it turned out to be perfect for just a little definition with one layer, and for that slightly-grungy, lived-in eyeshadow look with a couple more swipes. It's also perfect for layering underneath other colours to give a little more dimension. This has become one of the maybe six things I bring whenever I need to pack a very streamlined makeup bag.
I can't in good conscience fully recommend this, because both sticks I've bought have broken off at some point, and I really expect more from something at the price point. What I will say though - after my first one became unusable, I didn't immediately repurchase and tried to give my other eyeshadow sticks some love. I lasted about two weeks before biting the bullet. It is and will be for the foreseeable future an indispensable part of my everyday makeup routine.
2. MAC Soft Brown
An eyeshadow bought in search of something that would give me that warm, grungy eye look. I was previously using Urban Decay's Buck from my Naked Palette, but was getting leery of using something so old near my eyes (I've had it since 2013) and had wanted something with a more orange base. I had tried in on the back of my hand in store and it looked perfect, but once I got home and tried it on my lids, it looked way too orange. On top of the aforementioned Burberry eyeshadow stick though - perfection. It has been my eyeshadow combination of choice for the most of the year, sometimes with a little dark brown eyeshadow near my lashline for more definition.
A product I had been lusting over for years, ever since I first saw it on Messy Wands (at one time my favourite beauty blog ever - her old posts are still definitely worth a read). I won't lie - getting into a graduate degree in London was what pushed me to finally buy this. Burberry's classically minimal yet effortlessly grungy makeup look really speaks to me, and if I can't try to rock that while I was in London, then when else would I do it?
This is far and away the best powder blush formula I've ever tried. It's silky and soft and so, so blendable. The colour is utter perfection, never overbearing, and for the first half of the year this was often the only cheek product I had on. It softly sculpts the face without screaming 'contour!' and, due to the slightly pink undertone, always looks natural. Sometimes I also use this as eyeshadow for that monochromatic, cohesive look, and loved it so much that I tried to hunt down an actual, unscented eyeshadow in the same colour to no avail. Also, that checked gunmental packaging. Swoon.
4. Victoria Beckham x Estée Lauder bronzer in Java Sun
Prior to this year, I had never owned a bronzer before and had no interest in doing so. But being in a country where there was an actual winter and people actually looked forward to summer for the first time made me appreciate summertime too, and with it, that sunkissed look. I had been debating getting the Chanel Les Beiges powder in a darker colour as a reward for finishing my exams, but wanted something more red-toned. donothingdilletante's comment on this Reddit post made me take a look at this product. I dithered for a couple of months, thought about getting the new Becca bronzer in Maui Nights, found out it was sold out on Cult Beauty, dithered some more and finally put in the order for this at the end of summer. I don't have great timing. I've used this almost everyday since I got it. The formula is so, so finely-milled, and the colour is perfect for my purposes. I usually brush it across my face, right over the top of my cheekbones and on my nose-bridge. With a few swipes, I come out looking effortlessly, perfectly sunkissed.
5. Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk and Beam
Like many others, I had been waiting for Glossier to ship to the UK for the longest time, and ordered pretty much the first day it happened. At first I had been planning on getting Beam by itself, but the praises I had seen online were all pretty much directed at Dusk, so I ended up getting both. First things first - the formula is not my favourite. I know this has been widely praised precisely for the formula, but I find it slightly hard to blend, and a tad patchy too - something like the Becca Beach Tints have a much more elegant formula, in my opinion. Despite that, it is the Cloud Paints that are on my favourites because these two colours combined make the most perfect burnt peach, which was exactly what I had been searching for. I do use Dusk by itself, but Beam is slightly too bright for my colouring. Together, however - this combination has not left my cheeks in months.
6. Lily Maymac x 3CE Matte Lip Colour in #908 Warm and Sweet
I've been obsessed with Lily's lipsticks forever, so when I heard she collaborated with 3CE, I was pretty much first in line for the online order. Again, I had been wanting an MLBB colour and considered MAC's Velvet Teddy and Charlotte Tilbury's Pillowtalk lip pencil (this was before the lipstick came out) but decided I wanted something that had a peachier undertone to it. So when I saw this, I snapped it up. It's been my go-to lipstick of choice ever since - I even wore this to my graduation! It's a terracotta peach colour, and toes that line between being bright enough to give some freshness to my face but still being muted enough that it melds in gorgeously with my complexion.
7. MAC Chili
I first heard about this years ago on The Anna Edit, back when it was Vivianna Does Makeup, but really only thought about getting it when I heard about its reputation as the Suzy lipstick due to this cover. I mean, just look at it.
Although it turned out her makeup artist actually used a different colour, my mind was stuck on Chili. Having seen it recommended so many times on the muacjdiscussion subreddit by lgbtqbbq only made me want it more. Autumn seemed like the perfect time to be rocking a terracotta, burnt red lip, and unlike with the bronzer, I wanted to get this in time to actually enjoy it in the season I felt it most suited. So I decided to make a day out of it and go to the V&A and make a pitstop on the way back at Harrods for a 10% discount on the lipstick.
This is pretty much the most longwearing lipstick I have. The colour is absolutely what I wanted and looks amazing on, both a full-strength and applied lightly as a stain. I've been loving wearing this as a slightly smudged, lived-in red lip, rather than a meticulously applied lip with sharp edges. I find it's much easier to wear a bold colour when you softly blur the outer edges, giving it that effortless, casual feel.
8. Topshop Jelly Pot in Phenomenon
There are unfortunately no pictures of this as I threw it out when it had reached the end of its shelf life, but this was what really started me on the orange blush hunt. The colour was the most impeccable translucent true orange and was excellent for that watercolour blush effect. The emollient formula meant that it was incredibly easy to blend but meant that it didn't last very long, so I started looking for another cream blush that would last longer on my face. I think this was discontinued a while ago, since I picked it up back when I was living in Sydney in 2015 for half-price. A shame, really.