2015 Favorites
All my favorites of the year in one place! This is the best of the best people, the stuff I consistently reached for above all others... yep it's that good. So no more blah-blah, here's 2015 All-Stars!
I tried to give you a little bit of everything in this year's favorites... lifestyle, skincare, hair, makeup, and more. So I'll dive into these, give you the best in each category, and tell you why they're so awesome.
Organization
I wrote about The Inner Guide 2015 Planner in a monthly favorites here. But I used this fairly consistently all year round and I found it helpful as a planner but also as a reminder of what I have to grateful for. Also, it gives you a place to set monthly goals and reflect on each month. Definitely a reminder to slow down and savor life instead of watching it pass you by. I will definitely be getting a new one for 2016 (I better get on that!).
Entertainment
The Other Woman - I have been down right loving this movie! I'm pretty sure I watched it 5-6 times last year. And that's saying a lot for me. It's about a woman who's husband cheats on her with another woman (women actually) and she befriends 2 of the mistresses and they get back at him beautifully. It's really cute though, the friendship these ladies form.
Makeup
Although, I've tried a bit of makeup this year only a few products really stood out to me. 1st (and I realize I left this out of the picture, I can't believe it!) the Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette... this is pretty much my one and only go-to gotta have it eye shadow palette. It's been a year and I'm still in love.
Next, the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil has kept my brows looking sharp but still natural all year long! I bought it last January and it's still going strong.
Finally, the Milani Baked Blushes in Luminoso and Berry Amore. Although I haven't done a specific post on them, here's a list of posts where I used or mentioned them. These blushes have such great pigmentation and blend-ability. They do have sparkle in them, but on the face it doesn't show as glitter, just this beautiful glow. I love them!
Tools
Real Techniques rocked this year for me. I tried the sponge, the foundation brush, and a concealer brush this year. All great, but the stand out brush for me is this Expert Face Brush where I spoke more about here. It blends foundation perfectly into the skin making it look like skin, but better of course! I find it works great with liquid and cream foundations and allows me to use less product then I would with my fingers or a sponge. Definitely worth a try if you haven't yet.
Skincare
Because of this crazy I'm-in-my-30's-with-acne-for-the-first-time thing I've been dealing with for the last 2 years, I've really been focused on my skincare. I've tried a lot of products and been impressed by some of the results I've seen. I talk about my whole routine here, but below are the 2 products that I feel have made the biggest change this year.
First, the Honey Bomb Ampoule, which was my 1st foray into Korean Skincare has rocked my world! It is a ampoule/serum, toner, and moisturizer all-in-1. In the summer, especially, this replaced my toner and moisturizer. Because of my oily skin, I really wanted a light way to add moisture in the warmer months and this did it! But now because it's so dry here in Colorado and the cold it's very dry, so now I use this more as a serum step and use a toner and face oil with it. All around I love the healthy vibrancy it brings to my skin.
Second, this have been the year of exfoliating for me. I have used all kinds of exfoliators (none with micro-beads though) and found that this 5 minute mask really gets the job done for a deep exfoliation. The MyChelle Fruit Enzyme Scrub is both a chemical and physical exfoliator so I usually use it just once a week. But it makes my skin radiant and soft and I think it's helped with my acne scars as well. And you don't need much of this product so I think it'll last quite a while... always a good thing.
Haircare
My hair has definitely been my hands-down focus of the year. For the 1st time in a long time I've been trying to grow my hair out. With that has come tangles, dry ends, frizziness, lack of volume, and other funky long-haired issues. But I've been loving the versatility of the long hair, so I've been trying all different products to combat some of these concerns. Below are my top winners of the year:
Batiste Dry Shampoo, Dark and Deep Brown has been my fave for the whole year. It's great at sopping up the oil that gives me a greasy look on my second-day hair. Also, because of the brown color, it doesn't leave any white residue behind, it just matches perfectly with my roots. I could not live without this stuff... literally gone to King Soopers at 6am before work to grab some when I ran out. It's true love... and I recently found out that this may be a cruelty-free product after all. (I've had some confusion on this and found some good info, let me know if you're interested in hear more)
Next, AG Texture Defining and Finishing Spray, this is for the 1st day after I've washed my hair. Usually, it's soft but kind of limp. So this spray gives it a swift kick in the ass to get it on up! I pop some at the roots, wait a few seconds and fluff my hair up... it gives volume that lasts for a good while. Also, I'll add it to my ends as well if they need some umpf. Just a good product for helping you achieve that va-va-va-voom hair if you so desire... and I do!
Finally, the newest product on this list, but nonetheless awesome, the It's a 10 Miracle Hair Mask. I was looking for a hair mask to help with those dry ends I was telling you about and give my hair it's silky texture back. I love the It's a 10 leave-in conditioner, so I thought I'd give this a try. And it really does bring back that healthy shine, bounce, and silky smooth finish I was missing in my hair. I only use it once a week in the shower for 5 minutes. But that's all it needs to make my hair luscious. Oh yea....
Whew! That was a long post, but I do hope you enjoyed learning about my favorites from this year! I'd love to hear what your holy grail products from 2015 were, so comment below!
Also, if you'd like to learn more about how I determine which products are cruelty-free,please comment below!
Thank you and Happy New Year!
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