2014 Beauty Favourites

I often find it a hard task collating my ‘favourite’ products each month – the pressure for rounding up an entire year’s worth is therefore quite a daunting thing! I guess the finality of the end of year matches a post like this though, so here I go with my favourites for 2014.

Skincare

It seemed I either adored supermarket cheapies or products tipping the other end of the scale this year – the new line released by Garnier blew me away, but the pricy Lancome Dreamtone serum* also made a mark in my skincare drawers (or rather, it faded some of my marks!) I switched out my Bioderma for the Garnier Micellar Water and it’s quite hard to look back now – the quality is excellent and the cheap price point is welcomed in my limited beauty budget (I picked this huge bottle up for less than $10 on sale!) so much so that I already have a backup bottle waiting in the wings. I also tried out the Garnier Moisture Match moisturiser (not pictured as I used it up) when it was first released and can’t remember the last time I liked a facial moisturiser so much – it softens my skin and is easily absorbed, the only thing I dislike about it is that I run through a tube quite fast (a small niggle considering it retails for $10…)

Lip Products

Bourjois knocked it out of the park with their Rouge Edition Velvets this year, and I adore the 3 shades that I picked up when they first launched (Pink Pong, Ole Flamingo and Frambourjoise) If ever I’m in need of a peppy bright lip I can rely on these babies, and I love how long-lasting but comfortable they are on the lips. For a more casual lip look I loved the Chapstick Cake Batter lip balm (even though it contains some nasties) or the gorgeous Maybelline Colour Elixir in Caramel Infused. My 2013 Christmas gift also got a good run, the NYX Butter Glosses which I now have in Tiramisu, Vanilla Cream Pie, Crème Brulee and Éclair. Anyone else hungry for some sweets right now…?

Eye Products

For all the palettes I loved during the year, this was the only one to really jump out as worthy of this post. I’m yet to wear this custom Inglot Palette without receiving a compliment and I am always chuffed with how my makeup looks when I use this, all sure signs of a stellar product. Another true love of mine is something I wear every day and couldn’t imagine being without – the essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Hot Chocolate, which I run along my upper lash line every morning. I added a lower lash line shade into the mix this year with the NYX Retractable Eye Liner in Silky Cashmere and all year long I loved how it ‘finished off’ every eye look for me with ease. I threw my all-time-so-far favourite mascara into the mix of favourites (Covergirl Clump Crusher) as well as the Australis Cray for Colour Eyes shadow pencil in Soiling the Fun. Terrible name aside, this is something I should’ve used more often as it’s lovely and such a pretty shade!

Scent & Nails

Every time I spray this I wish it wasn’t associated with the word ‘flirty’, but nevertheless one of my most loved fragrances this year was Vivienne Westwood’s Flirty Alice* which is lovely and fresh and something different from the rest of my scent stash. Another brilliant discovery in 2014 was the Elizabeth & James fragrances (Nirvana Black and Nirvana White, only one pictured as the other has gone walkabout) which are strong and sexy, which is what I often need to feign confidence on some days. Nails were a tricky one as I switch up my nail colour so often, but the shade that made the most impact and one I look forward to wearing is definitely the beautiful Essie Ruffles and Feathers*.

Face/Cheeks

Maybelline Dream Matte Powder would forever make this list had it not been discontinued, but thankfully I hoarded two pans in anticipation of the wedding and now I get to enjoy my favourite powder for a while longer. Blushes are my favourite thing to read about/discuss/hoard and so I stretched it out to 3 even though my Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in 80 Jersey easily won the top prize (and was the single blush I took overseas with me!) It’s followed closely by MAC Poised which I’ve mentioned quite often this year and I wore the heck out of. It was all about the nude and neutral blushes in 2014, they really were my obsession for the year. A brighter blush did manage to sneak into the line-up though, mainly due to the incredible formula…Hourglass were a big player in the beauty world this year and I enjoyed my pan of Ambient Lighting Blush in Radiant Magenta! It gives my skin that cliché ‘lit from within’ look that no other blush I own has managed to capture, and I’m looking forward to ripping into my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette in the new year!

 

Sending out best wishes for your NYE celebrations and for the year ahead – 2014 was a big one for me with the wedding and a big honeymoon, so hopefully 2015 will be relaxing and productive!

Cheers! Emma x

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Current Favourites - October 2014

I'm at the stage where I need to do another beauty room tidy in order to appreciate the whole of my stash, but for now these are the products that are knockin' my socks off!

I'm all about playing up the eyes at the moment, and my neutral palettes have been loving the limelight. I'll forever love my Urban Decay Naked Palette (need new singles of Virgin + Sin!) but the Nars And God Created the Woman palette is already a firm favourite, too. A nice little sweep of my NYX Retractable Eyeliner in Silky Cashmere on my lower lashline seals the deal - highly recommend it!

Now that my focus has turned to perfecting the neutral eye look, I've been loving fuss free balms and tints on my lips most days. The Chapstick Cake Batter Lip Balm is out of this world delicious (I'll be real for a moment, cake batter tastes way better than actual cake!) and the new Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Neon Lip Balms* are so much more pigmented than I thought they would be!

Perfume has been quite the rushed affair lately, I seem to be slapping the snooze button a few too many times (shall we blame the stress of wedding planning on my sleep cycle?) I can't stop reaching for my Ralph Lauren Midnight Romance* perfume - it's a nice but slightly sexy fruity floral and a note I can suss out is raspberry. Another sweet option is kept in my handbag in case I forget to apply anything before I leave the house - my beloved Urban Rituelle purse spray in Cotton Candy.

Skincare has been the usual, I'm a bit scared to change anything in my routine as the wedding looms (I currently have 3 blemishes that have taken residence on my face and I don't want any more to join the party!) Lancôme Dreamtone* is seriously heavenly and working at kicking the pigmentation on my cheeks to the curb, and le bod has been loving the Victoria's Secret Amber Romance that was in my latest skincare post.

What are you currently loving?

Emma x

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

Current Favourites // July 2014

For a while now my life has been a tumble of wedding planning, house cleaning and honeymoon dreaming, and through it all I spent a lot of time in my beauty room enjoying my almost-organised stash. It was actually with ease that I chose my current favourites, which is a nice change from scrabbling to make up my mind.

When I originally came across the Revlon Cheek Boutique I took home the one that swatched the nicest – Mauvelous! It wasn’t until Chemist Warehouse took down their Revlon products to half price that I grabbed Naughty Nude as an afterthought, and wouldn’t you know it I’ve barely had it off my cheeks since that day! I’m obsessed with neutral cheek shades at the moment and this one is nice to dig into – something worth nothing about the Revlon shades is that they swatch terribly, but look amazing on the cheek when applied with a blush so don’t let the swatch put you off!

It’s all about my obsessions at the moment – my bright pink obsession is still going strong! I wanted to pick up some new shades to add to my gel nail stash (in love with my Sensationail machine!) and one of them ended up being Sally Hansen’s Back to the Fuchsia which is a seriously gorgeous hot pink that I needed in my life. I was a bit put off when I saw the blue shimmery base when I opened the bottle but it just looks like a shiny crème finish on my nails so happy days! It matches my constant pink lips perfectly – I’ve been rocking my Maybelline Color Bloom lip balm in Pink Bloom underneath my Elixir in Fuchsia Flourish for low-key makeup days, and Bourjois Rouge Velvet Edition in Pink Pong for work days and weekend wear alike. All bright, all right!

Each and every day has been an ode to my beloved – the essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Hot Chocolate. The perfect pencil for defined eyes that aren’t harsh, I’ve been swiping this on my top lash line every single day for so long now that I’ve just about used up the whole pencil. I have already procured a back-up (and added some other colours into my stash, too) and the next round of empties will see my current one finito. It’s as soft as a crayon but in thin pencil form and is a wind up, negating the need for a messy and annoying sharpener.

 

I couldn’t ignore my current skincare loves in this post, so in steps the exxy Lancome Dreamtone* which I wish I didn’t love (three digits, painful) but I totally completely do. It is the first product that has actually reduced the acne scarring on my cheeks (and all over my face) and for that it is worth each and every penny – though the day I have to repurchase this will be a painful one, and I’m stretching this PR sample out as far as it will take me. It softens my skin, soothes it, lightly moisturises it and actually does give my skin a ‘dreamy’ tone I’ve never had before.

The final favourite is a reoccurring one on the blog, my La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo which banishes crappy skin, works at blemish build-ups underneath the surface and stops pimples from appearing. I’ve seen a lot of people mention that this isn’t very effective on skin with pre-formed pimples, but I use this every night/every second night and apart from perhaps a monthly spot I don’t have any blemishes come to the surface at all...prevention people, not cure! I’ve found that using preventative methods works best for my skin, and this in conjunction with my Mario Badescu loves means happy skin territory for me.

What are your current favourites? Pink lip recommendations anyone?

Emma x

*Provided for consideration! Honest favourites though ;)

The Skincare Edit

I’ve decided to try and be one of those bloggers who uses things up before moving onto new bottles. I find it equal parts simple and difficult, it’s nice to have my routine set out for myself but I tend to get bored of using the same item for an extended period of time. The joy I will feel at finishing some skincare is pushing me forward, but my new Boots skincare is sitting on my desk taunting me on a daily basis…

In the morning I’ve been using my Garnier Micellar Water to remove the PM layover excess (build-up of night cream etc) and then going in with my Guinot Refreshing Cleansing Milk*. I’ve just switched out from my Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion +* (which wasn’t doing much in terms of hydration for me) to the Garnier Moisture Match for Normal-Dry Skin which is one of the new releases from the brand. If I am going to get any sun exposure I use my Dermalogica Oil-Free Matte Sunscreen *instead of the Garnier, and this also acts as a great primer to wear underneath my makeup. I’m too lazy to apply serums or eye cream in the morning, until my morning coffee has sunk in I’m quite useless to be honest.

When I get home from work I remove my eye makeup with my Neutrogena Oil-Free Makeup Remover which has replaced the Clarins Instant Eye Make-Up Remover* that I used up. I then continue my routine in the shower where I use my Thalgo Pure Velvet Cleansing Cream* and my Guinot, but I’m sort of looking for a thicker balm-like cleanser so that my double cleanse feels more thorough, you know?

I then apply my serums or treatments, which changes depending on how my skin is acting at any given time. Acne being a pain or skin looking a bit bumpy? Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion sorts that out followed by some Effaclar Duo. General tone looking dull and in need of a pep up? Lancome Dreamtone Serum* is my luxe option, or a moisture mask like Origins Drink-Up Intensive Overnight Mask is slapped on.

Mister Bovary won’t let his lids fall unless he has enjoyed a spritz of the Jurlique Balancing Rosewater Mist that he bought me for Christmas two years back, and I quite like a bit of L’Occitane Lavande* on my pillow (which isn’t strictly skincare but does wonders for my sanity, which I’m sure in turn keeps my skin happy!) I then pop on a bit of the Korres Jasmine Lip Butter, Aveeno Postively Radiant Intensive Night Cream* and I’m ready to hit the hay. 

That is my skincare round up right now – I’d love some recommendations for balm-like cleansers or just awesome cleansers in general!

What cleanser are you using right now?

Emma @ emmabovarybeauty

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.