My Favorites of 2015
Instead of writing a post about the things I have been loving in December, like I do every month, I’ve decided to just make a post dedicated to the products I have loved all year long. Some of these are more recent loves, some I’ve adored for a long time but have especially favorited this year, and some I found early in 2015. I have quite a bit to mention, but have organized it into different categories to make it a little easier. So grab some sweet tea and a snack and let’s jump right in!
Accessories:
~Bose Soundtrue Headphones~ Music has always been a big part of my life, but listening to it with little earbuds can hurt after a while and I always found most other headphones to be uncomfortable. I have loved these so much and can wear them for hours without having any discomfort. The mint color is absolutely adorable and they block out absolutely all outside noise.
~Target Sunglasses~ When my lovely puppy got ahold of my favorite pair of sunglasses, I was heartbroken. I couldn’t find the same ones to replace them with and without wanting to spend a ton of money, I was on the hunt for a good two weeks. I finally found this pair at Target. Unfortunately though, I don’t remember the brand or the name of them. If you follow me on social media, then you’ve probably seen these quite often. I just think they’re so cute. They’re comfortable to wear and feel very sturdy.
For the home:
Because I’m a complete clean freak, I’m obsessed with keeping the house smelling delicious at all times. I know I mentioned the Glade Carpet Refresher in my November empties and I am still in love with it. I use the Glade Solid Air Freshener in our closets and have multiple of the Glade Air Wick Scented Oil Warmers placed in strategic areas throughout the house. I know it may sound like it, but I’m not a Glade commercial or affiliate. I just adore their Hawaiian Breeze scent and can’t get enough of it!
For the body:
~Bath & Body Works Mist (Beautiful Day)~ I think this has to be my absolute favorite body mist of all time. I love this so much, but I only buy it in the travel size because it constantly stays in my purse. It smells so fresh and sweet. I’m almost done with this bottle and need to go buy another because I just can’t be without it.
~Taylor Swift Wonderstruck Perfume~ I know this isn’t anything new, I got it for Christmas one year and just put it to the side since I usually prefer body mists. I finally decided to pull it out to give it a try and now I can’t put it down. I don’t smell very much alcohol in it, which was the biggest factor to me. I think it smells like cotton candy and it’s definitely my go-to perfume.
~Paris Hilton Heiress Mist~ I had this when I was in high school and wore it every single day. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to find it again once I ran out, I thought they stopped making it. When I found it in TJMaxx I almost bought five bottles because I was so happy. I don’t even know where to begin on explaining the scent of it, it’s just amazing.
~Bath & Body Works Dark Kiss Lotion~ I don’t know why Bath & Body Works doesn’t keep this as a permanent scent anymore. They brought it back for the holidays, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to go away again :( I use this every night before bed because it’s so warm and relaxing.
~c.Booth Passion Fruit Body Lotion~ I mentioned this, as well as a couple other things you’ll see, in my November Favorites and here it is again making it into my yearly favorites. Of the four claims it lists, I think it only does two of them. But I love it so much because of its ingredients, how fast it absorbs, and its amazing scent that fills up the entire bathroom.
Hair:
I wrote a whole separate post about the Nume Lustrum Curling Wand Set and how much I love it, so I won’t spend too much time here. I’m still just so amazed at how these curling wands curl my hair and how long they stay throughout the day. I definitely recommend keeping an eye out for a good deal and grabbing it as soon as you can!
Primers:
~Milani Eyeshadow Primer~ I’ve mentioned many times how oily my eyelids are, which means I need something extra strong that is going to work at keeping my eyeshadow in place hours on end. This primer has not let me down and has even outperformed multiple primers from high-end brands.
~Garnier 5 Second Blur~ I got a sample of this early in the year and was so impressed with the way it performs that I had to buy the full size. It doesn’t necessarily help keep me matte throughout the day, but it definitely blurs the pores within five seconds of applying it. It doesn’t work wonders as far as prolonging the wear time of makeup, but it’s better than nothing.
For the face:
~Elf HD Undereye Setting Powder~ I’m working my way through a couple different undereye setting powders, but this one has to be my favorite. It performs just as good as any other, is the most affordable, and the easiest to find in stores. There will be haul update posts coming soon, but for now this one gets a big thumbs up.
~NYC BB Radiance Powder~ Already making an appearance in my October Favorites, I’ve clearly loved this product a lot. I was really impressed with the consistency and texture of this powder. The coverage it gives made quick makeup go by so much faster. It does oxidize a little bit, so I’m too pale to use the Naturally Beige shade that I have and am looking for a lighter one in every store I go to.
~L’oreal Infallible Setting Spray~ I was ecstatic when L’oreal released this setting spray. There weren’t very many options in the drugstore for setting sprays and the ones that were out there weren’t that great. As usual, L’oreal did an amazing job. Other than the price being so high for a drugstore item, there’s not one bad thing I can say about this product.
Foundations:
~Maybelline Dream Wonder~ This is such a good foundation and more lightweight than most BB Creams. It’s very comfortable to wear on the skin and gives close to medium coverage. It doesn’t oxidize and can be worn for long periods of time. It does tend to crease and stick to dry patches, but that’s nothing moisturizer and primer can’t fix.
~ELF Acne Fighting Foundation~ I was worried that this would be too heavy feeling, but I was pleasantly surprised and it’s actually very comfortable to wear. It does oxidize, making it too dark for me right now unfortunately. But I love the ingredients that are in it and the natural finish it leaves on the skin.
Cheeks:
~Makeup Geek Blush (Spellbound)~ I have mentioned how much I love Makeup Geek blushes multiple times, particularly this shade. Since it’s made without talc, I don’t have to worry about putting this on my face and wearing it for a long amount of time. It stays all day and looks beautiful with everything!
~ELF Blush & Bronzer Duo (Fiji Matte)~ This duo is so wonderful and I don’t think they could have picked two better colors to put together. They compliment each other so well and look gorgeous on the skin. The bronzer is a little on the light side, but gives a very natural shading to the face.
Eyebrows:
~It Cosmetics Brow Power (Universal Taupe) and NYX Micro Brow Pencil (Ash Brown)~ There’s no way I could choose between either of these products, they both have done wonderful things for me this past year! The IT Cosmetics pencil is faster to use because it’s thicker and easier to build up. The NYX pencil is very small and precise, which allows for more specific shaping.
Eyeshadow:
~ELF Mad for Matte Palette~ I was so impressed with the quality of these eyeshadows and the color selection in this palette. The fact that they’re all matte, yet still super pigmented was the biggest selling point for me. It’s great for travelling and an easy palette to reach for every day.
~L’oreal La Palette Nude 2~ L’oreal products always amaze me with the quality they bring to the drugstore and this palette was nothing but exceptional. I have an entire separate review of it with more swatches and all the specific details. It’s basically perfect in every way a palette can be.
~Wet n Wild palette (The Naked Truth)~ As far as price and quality is concerned, there is absolutely nothing that beats Wet n Wild eyeshadows. Most of their palettes are all shimmers, so it was refreshing when they released a product with different finishes. It’s so perfect for an easy, natural look. I feel like I’ve reached for this palette more than anything else.
~Makeup Geek Eyeshadows (Shimma Shimma, Unexpected, Barcelona Beach)~ This year was the first time I had ever tried Makeup Geek eyeshadows. I know, I was totally late to the party. I had thought about it for a while, but didn’t know if it was just a bunch of hype. Now that I’ve tried them, I can tell you no it definitely wasn’t. These shadows are wonderful. So pigmented, smooth, and super easy to blend. I have a list of others I want to try, but am very impatiently waiting until they release their contour powders.
Pictures top to bottom: Mad for Matte, La Palette Nude 2, 3 Makeup Geek on left 3 Wet n Wild on right
Lips:
~Jordana Easyliner Retractable Lip Pencil (Rock N’ Rose)~ You can obviously tell by there only being one product in this category that I’m not the biggest fan of lip products. I have a tinted lip balm and about two lip butters that I rotate through and that’s about it. This year I paid more attention to lip liners than I ever have before and this one was my favorite. It gives just the right amount of definition and can be paired with so many colors.
Nails:
~Nicole by OPI (On a Gilt Trip)~ I don’t think I’ve ever worn a glitter polish so many times before. This is such a beautiful gold and you can’t feel even the slightest bit of glitter after applying a top coat. It doesn’t have chunky glitter in it and looks gorgeous by itself or paired with any color.
~Sinful Colors (Mauvelous)~ We all know by now that Sinful is my favorite polish brand ever, the quality is perfect and the price is just right. I love the balance between purple and gray in this polish. I don’t usually follow “rules” as far as what colors to use in each season and would
definitely wear this year round.
~Ulta (Out on a Lime)~ When I saw they were releasing this color earlier in the year, I was literally in Ulta every single day until they put it on the shelf. Quality and wear time in neon and pastel colors are usually much less than in other polishes. I’ve had good luck with Ulta nail polishes and the formula in this is consistent with the rest of their shades. When you can’t stop staring at a color, you know it’s good!
Brushes:
~Target Up & Up Complexion Brush~ I love everything about this brush. It applies concealer flawlessly and gives amazing coverage. I’ll probably end up with multiples of this brush so I always have a clean one because nothing gets the job done better.
~BH Cosmetics Round Buffing Brush~ This is from the original Sculpt and Blend Brush Set, as well as the other BH Cosmetics brush that I’m going to mention. This brush is absolutely perfect for applying blush. It distributes the product only where I need it and blends it out beautifully.
~ELF Blending Brush~ This brush has so many uses, it’s unbelievable. You can use it for foundation, bronzer, powder, whatever. My favorite is with foundation because the shape is perfect to get all areas around the face. It’s so soft and does a great job of buffing the product into the skin.
~BH Cosmetics Small Angled Buffing Brush~ There is no better brush for sculpting the nose than this little guy. This brush is so small and the shape is ideal for blending bronzer (or contour powder) down the sides of the nose. Because of the angle it also makes it easy to shade the sides of the tip of the nose for a more slimming effect.
~Real Techniques Blush Brush~ I don’t know why I never picked this brush up sooner, it’s the best for applying bronzer. It’s just big enough to give a natural warm glow to the face without throwing product everywhere and making things look muddy.
I know it was a lot, but I really do love all of these products so much and definitely recommend every single one of them. I’d love to hear what your favorites are in the comments and if you’ve tried any of these, let me know your thoughts. Hope you have a fabulous day!
