January 2016 Beauty Favorites

Welcome to my first ever favorites post! I've put off doing one of these because, while I love purchasing new makeup and beauty items, I'm also pretty faithful to my holy grails. Well, recently, that has changed and I've made some purchases that have bumped their way up to the tippy top of my list. Forewarning you, though, I definitely won't be doing these every month--only when I have some new and cool products to share with you all.


The first two products that I want to mention have been instrumental changes that I've made to my skin care routine. As we all know, if your skin isn't doing well, your makeup won't look good either, so as someone who suffers with acne, my routine is something I constantly have to work on. This Vanity Planet Mini Pro 360 Facial Cleansing Brush is a device that has been very much hyped up across social media and the only reason I decided to try it out is because using my hands with my cleanser just wasn't doing it for me in terms of really getting that deep clean after wearing a full face of makeup. I like this system because it comes with three brush heads (silicone, daily cleansing, and exfoliating), but my absolute favorite has to be the daily cleansing one. My skin has really visibly improved and my acne scarring has diminished significantly. In additon to using the cleansing brush, I also like to use a Comedone Extractor. This little torture device takes out all of the disgusting gunk that has been hiding in my pores, waiting to cause another break out.

Next up, there have been a ton of face products that I find myself reaching for every single time I do my makeup. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know that I always use the Sephora Radiant Luminizing Drops in Ultralight for my highlight. It's such an affordable, versatile product that can be mixed in with foundation for an all-over glow or be used to create a subtle highlight on the high points of the face. For contouring I can really appreciate the ELF Contour Brush, a hidden gem that easily sculpts and blends out any product I'm using on my cheekbones. And talking about cheekbones, I've been obsessed with the Tarte Big Blush Book. I know it seems like I'm teasing you all because it's not available anymore, but I thought I would include it anyway because each of the blushes in this palette are available for purchase individually and (and this is a BIG and) there are rumors that Tarte will be coming out with more of these blush books in different combinations.

The last bits and bobs don't fit in any other category, but they were definitely necessary for me to include. Though I've already reviewed and demo'd the Nyx Tame & Frame Tinted Brow Pomade, I figured I would reiterate how much I've been loving this for my brows, especially with a great, thin synthetic angled brush. Also, no look is complete without the perfect lippie combo. For those of you who prefer peachy nudes like I do, you will really enjoy the RK Matte Lipstick by Kiss. The range itself has a ton of shades and the formula is nice and creamy, yet long-wearing for such an affordable matte lipstick. However, if you find a nude lippie too stark against your skintone, the Maybelline Color Elixir Lipgloss in Nude Illusion is an excellent one to ground the shade.


XO♥