January Favorites
I seriously couldn’t even wait to write this post and share all of my favorite things for this month. I’ve been trying so much new stuff and it’s all so amazing! I feel like that rarely ever happens, when I’m impressed with so many things all at once, but I love it when it does. 2018 is off to a good start! I mentioned a lot of my favorite beauty and home products in my yearly favorites, so I’m mainly tried to include all new things that I’ve discovered within the past month. You better get ready!
There’s a lot going on in this picture that I want to talk about. I guess we’ll start with the cardigan because that’s the most obvious. I bought this during Macy’s Black Friday sales and I love how soft it is. My favorite part about it is the perfect placement of the pockets. I can relax my hands in them without keeping my arms up and being uncomfortable.
The tank top came from Old Navy, I got three different colors. They’re super soft and I love that they just flow along the body without being too tight. It’s also a little bit longer in the back, so I don’t have to worry about showing too much booty when I wear it with leggings. Remember to keep it classy, y’all.
And speaking of leggings, I cannot get enough of these! I’ve never been a leggings girl just because I’ve never felt any that have been comfortable. I hate how I always have to adjust them throughout the day. But not with these! I don’t buy into brands like LuLaRoe, but I imagine this is probably what everyone says they feel like. These seriously feel like butter! They stay in place all day and even keep me warm in the cold Winter weather we’ve been having lately. They’re from the VIV Collection on Amazon and are super affordable. Like $12 a piece kind of affordable! I’ll definitely be getting a few more styles very soon!
These Target shirts from the brand called A New Day have been all over my blog and social media recently, but I can’t even be sorry about it because I just love them so much. If you haven’t gone and picked up at least one, you definitely need to! They have the softest shirts you will ever find, and so affordable too. It doesn’t get any better!
Jacob got me this sweater at Kohl’s for Christmas and I have been wearing it constantly. It is so soft on the inside and I love that it even has little cutouts for my thumbs. My hands are always cold and this is a great solution! I’ve been really into gray shirts lately and I love that the style of this can be paired with jeans or even yoga pants for a more sporty look.
Another Christmas present from my amazing husband is this mermaid blanket. He actually bought a lot of things I’ll be mentioning in this post, he’s the best!! He ordered this one off of Amazon and it’s perfect. It is a little thin, so I initially thought that it wasn’t going to be very warm to use in the Winter but it has proven me wrong. It keeps me very cozy and what’s more fun than pretending you’re a mermaid. I even ask Jacob to flare out the tail so I can look at it?! Is that weird? No!
There’s a space under a window in my office that I didn’t really know what to do with. I finally decided I wanted a storage ottoman to go underneath. My parents got me this one for my birthday. I love it because it provides extra seating and storage, which I definitely needed more of for my makeup. I’ve been having to do some serious decluttering this past month. The ottoman has been wonderful to have around!
Another husband purchase: this makeup mirror. Y’all thought I was just being sweet by calling him the best earlier. Nope! Look at this thing! He ordered this one off of Amazon also. I didn’t really need a new makeup mirror, other than the fact that mine was just outdated and the lighting on it wasn’t the best. This one is super compact, has really bright LED lights, three sides of mirrors with a few being magnified, and a fun touch screen button to turn the lights on. The lights can also be dimmed to your personal preference. I love it! It’s the best makeup mirror I’ve ever had!
I’ve finally made my way into the PopSocket world! Ever since I got my new phone, I’ve been so afraid that I was going to drop it. I’ve seriously been babying this thing so much, but was holding out until Christmas and my birthday in case someone wanted to get it for me as a present, which my parents did. I’m so happy I have this now! It makes me feel so much more secure and safe holding my phone, and it doesn’t get in the way at all when I put it in my purse or back pocket.
I have been on the hunt for a good bubble bath for the longest time and I couldn’t ever seem to find one that made enough bubbles as I wanted. My sister got me these two from Bath & Body Works for my birthday and honestly, I didn’t have high hopes for them. She said they were good, but I never purchased them myself before because I thought it was too pricey for how much you typically have to use. She got me the scents Sage & Mint and Bergamot & Mandarin. They both smell really good and actually produce a nice amount of bubbles. I’d still like to see more bubbles, but am happy with how much scent these provide.
As you might have seen on my Instagram, Pixi sent this Glow Tonic toner to me right before the holidays. It has my name on it!! How cute is that?! It’s actually pretty embarrassing, but I didn’t fully read it when I opened it because I was too surprised by their packaging that I thought it said ‘Christmas’ on it until my husband pointed out that it was actually my name, which obviously made it so much more exciting.
I’ve heard so many good things about this product, but haven’t ever used it until receiving this bottle. Everyone is right, this stuff is awesome. I’ve only been using it for a month now and I can already see a difference in my skin. I will definitely be purchasing more once this is gone, but totally keeping and refilling the bottle of course!
Two other skincare products that I’ve been enjoying this month are the St. Ives Renewing Collagen Elastin body lotion and the Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads. I’ve loved my c.Booth body lotion for years and never thought to try anything different until Influenster sent me this lotion. I’m actually surprised with how much I’ve been enjoying it. It’s really lightweight and absorbs quickly into the skin. It has such a delicious scent, but I can’t figure out what it is and can’t find a description of it anywhere. It’s so refreshing!
I’ve talked a lot about how the Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing Pads have improved the texture of my skin and I’ve repurchased those quite a few times. But recently, I’ve been testing out the night version of those to see if it’s any different. The scent is slightly different, as well as a few of the ingredients. But as far as the results it gave my skin, it’s pretty much the same. I’ll see if anything changes, though, as I finish through the rest of them.
For face products, I’ve been using two new Neutrogena products that I’ve never tried before. I featured both of these in a makeup look on my Instagram and have been really impressed with the quality of them. The Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup feels a little heavy and dewy on the skin after initial application, but melts into nothing and looks super natural after using my few favorite hacks. The shade I use is Nude and it matches me pretty well right now.
I was a little excited and concerned when I first tried the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Concealer. I had never tried a stick concealer that I had liked and with its moisturizing core, I thought it wasn’t going to be the best thing for my oily skin. The first thing I noticed about it was how smooth it is when applying it on the skin, and how effortlessly it blended in. I barely touched it a few times with my brush and it had already melted into the skin. It also has really good coverage! In this product, I use the shade Light.
Another face product I’ve really been enjoying is the IBY Beauty Highlight & Contour palette. I saw this in my collection earlier this month and realized that I hadn’t been reaching for it very often, even though I liked the formula of it when I first got it. So I brought it back out and have used it so much ever since. I even posted a tutorial showing four different ways I use this palette when I need to get ready quickly. It’s a wonderful product with amazing quality!
Aside from those liquid face products, Neutrogena sent me a few other things to test out. One of them being the Healthy Skin Blends Bronzer in the shade Sunkissed. This is one that has four different colors to it, I just swirl them all together. I really love the quality and pigmentation of it, and the color is so beautiful. It blends in extremely well on the skin and looks super natural. I’ve definitely been reaching for this more than any other bronzer this month.
I have two blushes that I’ve been going back and forth between. One is the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blush in the shade Vibrant and the second is the Makeup Geek blush in the shade Heart Throb. What I said about the Neutrogena bronzer also goes for the blush. They’re basically the same exact formula, but in different colors. It’s very smooth, easy to blend, extremely pigmented, and lasts all day.
The Makeup Geek blush formula is something I knew I loved years ago, but I recently just added the Heart Throb shade during their Black Friday sales. I’ve had it sitting on top of my vanity and used it a lot this month. I love how unique the color is. Something happened to the colors in the swatch picture below, but in person it’s a beautiful matte salmon brown. I don’t have anything else like it!
I mentioned this It Cosmetics Universal Brow Pencil in Friday’s Boxycharm post and how funny it was that I received two of these within a few weeks of each other. This has always been one of my favorite eyebrow pencils, but I haven’t had it in quite a while. Now that it’s back in my collection, I’ve been enjoying using it every day and remembering how much I love the results it provides. It claims to be universal and while I can’t speak for everyone, I can say that one of the reasons I love this pencil so much is because it’s such a perfect color match for me. Stay tuned for a full review coming next week!
The two eyeshadow palettes that I’ve been obsessing over this month will probably come as no surprise. I have not been able to put down the It Cosmetics Naturally Pretty palette since I got it during the Cyber Monday sales. The quality in this palette has impressed me so much and the color selection is absolute perfection. In case you missed it, you can catch up on my full review and tutorial that I posted featuring this palette.
After using the Pür Cosmetics Soirée Diaries eyeshadow palette on my wedding day and seeing what it can do, I’ve been obsessed with recreating that look all the time. Just like with the It Cosmetics palette, the color selection is stunning and the quality of the shadows is one of the best I’ve ever tried. I have a full review and tutorial on this palette as well, if you’d like more information on it.
I’ve been enjoying two new mascaras this month, both of which have actually surprised me. The Neutrogena Healthy Lengths mascara (first picture) didn’t look like much from the outside. This is the one I had the least expectations of. I don’t really pay much attention to mascara claims anymore because I think they’ve just kinda gotten out of control at this point. But from the first application, my jaw dropped. It’s a really nice formula, almost like a gel. It’s really easy to build up and provides enough length and volume to be used on its own. This is definitely one of those underrated drugstore products that has never gotten as much exposure as it deserves!
The Tarte Tarteist Lash Paint looks really cool from the outside and I liked that it had rubber bristles, but I was still a little skeptical of it. Sometimes when you pull it out of the tube, excess product can still be gathered at the tip of the wand which made me think it was going to be thick and difficult to work with. But it’s actually really nice! To put into perspective how much this improves the lashes, even my husband told me that my eyelashes looked fake. He had no idea I had used a new mascara and he never pays attention to makeup, so that’s really saying something about how great this mascara really is. A full review is coming up soon on this one as well!
The two lip products that I’ve been using the most this month are both like a lip crayon. The first is Wet n Wild’s Lip Stain Balm in the shade Rico Mauve. I tested this out a while ago and didn’t think it held up against the other lip stains that I tried, but lately I’ve been enjoying it a lot. It stains much better than I remember and the color has been a perfect berry shade for the makeup I’ve been doing.
I had always heard wonderful things about the Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Sticks, but hadn’t ever tried the formula until recently. It’s super comfortable to wear on the lips and I’ve been obsessed with the Fresh Papaya shade. It does have a little bit of a strong scent to it, which isn’t my favorite. The color is just so pretty, I can’t get over it!
I told you I had so many good things to share with you this month! A lot of the Neutrogena products have really impressed me lately, and I’m still ridiculously obsessed over all the wonderful gifts my husband and family got for me. Having my birthday at the beginning of January is the best timing!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them for me in the comments section below. Have you used any of these products before? What have you been loving this past month?
~Christina~
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