Favorites of 2017: Fashion & Beauty
I’m back for Part 2 of my 2017 favorites! I hope you enjoyed Part 1 featuring all of the best things regarding lifestyle and home. This second post will focus on all of the fashion, skincare, and beauty favorites of 2017. I was able to group a lot of them together, but I have just as much stuff (if not more) to share with you. I found a lot of good things last year, so let’s get to it and not waste any time!
Fashion
When I find a piece of clothing that I like, I usually buy multiple different colors and wear the same style over and over again. That’s exactly what I did with Target shirts! I found some long-sleeve shirts from a brand called A New Day and bought four different colors. I usually hate long-sleeves, but I’ve been living in these. In Summer, it was all about the short sleeves. Mossimo had the softest short sleeve shirts ever, and I bought four different colors of those also. When it comes to comfy clothes, Target clearly came to win.
Dresses have to be one of the best ideas ever. I mean, what’s better than having one piece of clothing to make an entire outfit? It’s genius and super comfortable (we’ve already established the importance of that aspect). I found two sun dresses at Rue21 (shown second & last in the picture below) in the early Summer. The store closest to me was closing and I got them for a super good deal. They’re so soft and can be easily taken from casual to dressy with just a few accessory switches.
Maxi dresses have also quickly become a favorite of mine. I love how they can look super fancy, but it really feels like you’re just wearing a long nightgown. All of the ones shown below were purchased for something wedding related. The first is from Amazon and was my rehearsal dress, the second (shown in the middle) is also from Amazon and was worn for our engagement photos, and the third maxi dress came from Kohl’s for one of my bridal showers. I still wear all of these very often, even after those special events.
I technically got this robe in 2016, but it was for Christmas so I didn’t really get to use it until 2017 and thankfully they still have it at Target. It’s by the brand Gilligan & O’Malley. Being the soft-clothes lover that I am, I have touched many robes before and nothing has ever come close to the comfort that this one provides. I wear it almost every single night and still thank my husband for gifting it to me.
There were a few accessories this year that got much more love than others. The first are the Maven Thread headbands. They reached out to me on Instagram to try their products and I fell in love. I’ve never felt headbands so soft before! I honestly didn’t know how much use I’d get out of them, but I reach for them all the time. They’re especially perfect for holding back those annoying baby hairs. Another hair item I’ve gone back to last year was the old school cloth scrunchies. I picked up a pack at Walmart in an attempt to keep my hair more healthy and they’ve totally worked. I literally wear them every single day!
The other two accessories I’ve been loving are these Guess mirrored sunglasses that I found at Burlington and this tan purse. Thanks to my big cheeks, I can’t wear aviators so I always have to find something that’s a little more square. These have been great and I’m super obsessed with the pink mirrored effect that they have. That’s really what I was looking for! I found the purse at Target earlier this year and haven’t used anything else. It is seriously so incredibly soft to touch and isn’t too structured, which means I can put it anywhere. The tan color goes with everything year round and even though I keep way too much stuff in it, it’s still pretty lightweight on my shoulders.
I’m pretty picky when it comes to shoes. If you were to ask anyone who knows me personally, they’d tell you that I’ve lived the past 24 years of my life in flip flops. And they wouldn’t be wrong, I really did. But I found some great shoes last year, all of which have been mentioned before. Target’s rose gold sandals were definitely my favorite and got the most use. The Skechers tennis shoes were a close second because they were so easy to slip on and always what I reached for when I knew I’d be doing a lot of walking. I never thought I’d own a pair of Crocs, but the rubber heels on these have been great for around the house or when I need to step outside quickly.
Skincare
Because of the wedding, I really made sure to focus on my skin a lot this year and make it as flawless as possible. Besides not wearing makeup unless I absolutely have to, one of the things that helped the most were these Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing Pads. I can’t even count how many of these I have gone through now and they really did help even out the texture on my cheeks. I couldn’t believe the results they gave!
The Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Night Moisturizer also had a lot to do with improving my skin’s texture. I never realized how much of an impact retinol could have on the skin and now I wish I would’ve started using it years ago. In case you missed it, this is another product that I have a full review on where I talk about it in more detail.
This next one might have "secret" in the name, but it is definitely no secret how much I love it. The Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay has been my favorite for years and I always make sure to mention it in my favorites because it has done such wonders for my skin. Over the three and a half years that I’ve been using it, I’ve noticed the redness in my skin go away, blemishes are kept to a minimum, and the size of my pores has shrunk incredibly. There’s nothing better that $12 can get you!
More information here.
I’ve always loved St. Ives face scrubs in the past and didn’t know what to expect from this Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion exfoliator. Sometimes high-end products like this don’t impress me much, but this particular one left my skin feeling wonderful. I loved how small the beads were and that it still delivered a more rough exfoliation. The price tag is pretty up there unless you can catch it on sale, so I don’t know that I’ll be repurchasing it anytime soon.
My last skincare favorite is a new find of 2017, but one that has been around in the beauty community for quite a while. I finally tried the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion and I can’t believe it has taken me so long. When I first got this and saw how amazing it was, I actually kinda looked forward to finding a blemish just so that I could watch it do its magic. This one is also a little pricey, but it’s so worth it and I’ve never found anything that compares.
More information here.
Makeup
The only new brush/makeup tool that I found and really enjoyed this year is the Royal & Langnickel BMX-250 Chisel brush. This is meant for contour, but I prefer to use it to blend in my concealer. Because of its angled shape and how densely packed the bristles are, it’s great for blending concealer around the nose and eye area. It also has quite a bit of weight to it which adds the perfect amount of pressure for complete coverage.
I’ve been obsessed with this Garnier BB Cream this year. When I first added it to my collection, I couldn’t shut up about it. I included it everywhere I could because I felt like I had to shout it to the world how amazing it is. I still use it very frequently, it’s one of my favorite face products ever. I love how much coverage it provides while feeling totally weightless on the skin and lasts all day long.
More information here.
Another face product that I’ve really been enjoying is the Elf Acne Fighting Foundation. I have mine in the shade Buff and it’s the perfect shade for when I have a good self tan going on. I also really wanna pick up a lighter shade of it for the Winter months. It provides pretty full coverage and feels extremely lightweight on the skin. This is actually the foundation I used on my wedding day and it looked flawless the entire night without having to touch up once!
More information here.
I actually wanted to throw this Temptu Shimmer Bronzer away when I first received it in my Boxycharm. First of all, I don’t have an airbrush system. Second, I want to stay away from anything that has the word “shimmer” in it. I didn’t think I had any use for it, but I gave it a shot anyway and ended up completely loving it. I like blending it in with my Real Techniques sponge. It provides the most beautiful, natural bronze look to the skin that I’ve ever seen. Thankfully, you can’t see any shimmer once it’s blended on the skin and set it with powder.
I found two new eyebrow pencils last year that I love. This first being Mac’s eyebrow pencil in the shade Spiked. I love how skinny and precise this pencil is. It lasts all day and is dark enough to make my brows not disappear in pictures. Another wedding day product!
The second pencil I’ve been enjoying is Elf’s eyebrow pencil. I wish I would’ve gotten a darker shade, but the actual product itself is very nice. For only being $2, it’s super easy to work with and is what I typically reach for when I want to fill my brows in quickly because it’s a little bit more of a thicker pencil.
More information here.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Maybelline Color Tattoos, but I’ve been obsessing over the Color Tattoo Eye Chromes last year. They’re super pigmented and hold onto eyeshadow amazingly well. Not only do they intensify the color of the shadow, they also last all day long even on my extremely oily eyelids. I use them all the time and even think they got more love last year than my favorite Milani eyeshadow primer.
More information here.
If you’ve been on my blog at all within the past year, then my favorite eyeshadow palettes will probably come as no surprise to you. I have four different palettes that I’ve constantly been switching between and using almost exclusively. The first is the Kat Von D Shade + Light Eyeshadow Palette. This is the only product of hers that I’ve ever tried and being the nude matte eyeshadow lover that I am, I adore all that this palette has to offer.
The two StudioMakeup On-The-Go palettes have been all over my blog, but I just can’t get over how amazing they are. I’ve never heard of this brand before until Boxycharm introduced them. Through all the travelling I did last year, these were the only two eyeshadow palettes that I brought with me. The Warm Up palette had all the browns and the Cool Down palette provided all the taupes and purples. If you can find these, I’d highly recommend picking them up!
The last palette that I found in 2017 is the Soirée Diaries eyeshadow palette by Pür Cosmetics. I already knew that I love their eyeshadow formula and immediately became obsessed with the colors included in this palette. It might not have a bright shimmer shade that I always look for, but it has everything else. This is the only palette I used on my eyes on my wedding day!
Aside from palettes, there were a few single eyeshadows that I kept reaching for last year also. The first being a product that is actually marketed as a highlight. This is Ofra’s highlighter in the shade Rodeo Drive. As much of a shock as this may be, I never wear highlight. So anytime a highlighter does end up in my collection, I typically put it on my eyelids instead. The formula of this is so smooth and the pigmentation is out of this world. I can pair it with any color eyeshadows, any time of the year and I know it’s always going to look stunning.
The other single eyeshadows that I’ve been enjoying are all in the pan that I put in an empty magnetic palette. The top two shown in the picture below are Creme Brulee and Cocoa Bear by Makeup Geek. I always talk about how much I adore that brand, so I won’t spend too much time going on about that. But these are two different shades that I’ve been reaching for constantly.
To go along with those eyeshadows, I’ve also been using Soft Brown by Mac (bottom left shown below) and another camel tan shade by Ofra. Unfortunately, Ofra doesn’t print the shade name on the back of the pan, so I have absolutely no idea what color this is. I’ve obviously been loving more warm-toned shades this year and enjoy making different combinations of these four shadows.
The one mascara that I loved all year long is the L’oreal Lash Paradise mascara. I love both the waterproof and the original version. It’s a very rare thing for me to ever find a mascara that I can use on its own without needing to pair it with something else, and this is one of the best. I love the formula of it, the wand, the results, the wear time, everything. It’s definitely the best there is in the drugstore right now.
More information here.
I found these two lipsticks pretty early on in 2017 and they continued to be products that I reached for all year long, and they’re both by Ulta. The first product (shown on the left in the picture below) is their matte lipstick in the shade Petal. It’s pretty comfortable on its own, but I still wear a lightweight lip balm underneath to provide a more healthy look.
The second one is their Lip Butter in the shade Enticing. I actually prefer that one because it’s more comfortable to wear and is a bit more shiny looking. They look extremely similar, but Petal is just slightly darker.
The only liquid lipstick type of a product that I actually enjoyed is the Rimmel Provocalips in the shade Wish Upon A Berry. This is the lip product that I wore on my wedding day and I am so obsessed with the color. It’s the perfect combination of pink and berry. This lasted on my lips all night long and was really comfortable to wear. It’s still what I reach for when I want the most long-lasting lip.
More information here.
Nails
The only two nail products that I have to mention look almost identical, but they are just slightly different. The first one is by Sinful Colors and the shade I specifically wanted to include is Soul Mate. This is a nail polish that I know I can wear anytime of year, for whatever event I need to and it’s going to look beautiful. It’s such a classic shade that looks so soft and feminine. I love it!
The second polish is by Essence and is in the shade called Perfect Match. These shades are very close to one another and even have very similar names. However, they are slightly different and since they’re both priced at only $1.99 each, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t need both!
But aside from the color, I love the formula on both of these. I just recently found Essence polishes and almost prefer those because the brush is so much better. However, I’ve also loved Sinful Colors for many, many years and they do have a much bigger shade selection. Either way, both of these are definitely worth looking into!
Oh my goodness gracious, I thought this post was never going to end. I’m pretty sure this has to be one of the longest, most involved posts I’ve ever done even though I broke it down into two parts. But I didn’t want to leave anything out because I love all of these things so much and they all deserve to be mentioned. I hope 2018 brings just as many wonderful new goodies!
If you have any questions about anything I mentioned, please feel free to leave them for me in the comments section below. Have you used any of these items before? What are some of your fashion and beauty favorites of 2017?
~Christina~
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