Yes, I know, I know –
doing 2015 favorites in May isn’t exactly current. But nevertheless, I wanted
to share the make-up products that impressed me the most in 2015 with you. It
was difficult to choose the best of the best, but here are the ones that I enjoyed
the most. I suggest you get a cup of coffee and a snack, since it’s going to be
a looooong post!
Let’s start with the
face. As I mentioned in my Friday Superstarts post about Melvita, my skin has
really been acting up during pregnancy, so I used a very heavy-duty foundation
– the Estee Lauder Double wear in 1W2 (Sand). It’s not the easiest foundation
to apply since it’s very heavy and you definitely feel it on the skin, but it
conceals imperfections perfectly. It’s also not the cheapest foundation on the
market but a definite must from now on in my make-up drawer.
The problem with using
such heavy foundation is that the fact ends up looking flat, two-dimensional.
For that reason, I enjoyed using the Gerard Cosmetics BB Illumination Facial
Cream and mixed a couple of drops in with the foundation on days when I wanted
to give my face a bit more life. The cream comes in a tan shade so it doesn’t
change your foundation color if used sparingly. At about 22 € per 50 ml, it’s
not exactly a cheap product, but I think it will last me at least two years, so
I think it’s a good purchase.
In 2015 I’ve been
loving two concealers. The first is the Coleur Caramel concealer (n. 12) which
is a creamy concealer in a salmon shade – I already wrote about it here.
I use it to cover up my dark circles and it does the job beautifully. I bought
mine in Muller. The second concealer I used all the time is the Maybelline Fit
me concealer in n.10 – it is a good match for my skin so I use it to cover any
imperfections. Since it’s a liquid concealer, I use a Beauty Blender to really
blend it in and the results are more than satisfying. I am not sure if these
are available in Slovenia yet since I bought mine in Austria, but you can order
them from various online stores.
I am a big believer in
setting the foundation and the product I used the most in 2015 and the months
leading to this post is the Avon Ideal Flawless pressed powder in light
medium. It works really well with any
brush I use and doesn’t produce a lot of kick-out which I’ve come to associate
with many other pressed powders. I am also a big fan of the sturdy packaging
with a large mirror.
I won’t do a lot of
talking about Mary-Lou Manizer from the Balm since it’s one of the most loved
highlighters among beauty bloggers so you’ve surely read about it before. Since
shooting these photos I’ve already hit pan on it and that’s saying something
considering I own about 10 other highlighters as well. If you don’t own one, go
ahead and buy it – you can get it at Licila.si for about 22 € and I guarantee
you won’t regret it.
The Kat Von D Shade
& Light contour palette is my second attempt to buy a good contouring
palette after I hated the Anastasia BH palette – you can read about that here.
This palette gives me everything I need and more to give some real dimension
for my face. I use the middle shade on the top, named lyric, for highlighting
and the bottom left shade, named sombre, for contour, so those are the shades I
use the most, but I also use others for different purposes – I sometimes do a
light dusting of upper left shade (lucid) over my entire eye to cover the
redness and veins on days I’m not wearing any eyeshadow, and I use the bottom
far right shade (subconsciously) for my eyebrows when my hair color is a bit
darker. I absolutely love this palette and I can’t wait to get my hands on some
more Kat Von D products since I think they are absolutely gorgeous. If you want
to see a more detailed review of this palette, let me know in the comments
below!
Last but not least in
the face category is the Urban Decay De-slick Makeup setting spray. This is my
second bottle and I will probably keep repurchasing it although it’s again not
the cheapest setting spray out there. I tend to use it more in the summer to
prevent my face from shining like a lightbulb and to make sure my make-up
doesn’t sweat off.
By now you must be
thinking – it’s easy to get a good face going on if you spend 20+ Euro on each
product. True, I think that I spend the most money to make my skin look good,
but I find that the most important part of my make-up routine so I really don’t
think about money much when buying new items – I am much more stingy in other
areas as make-up is concerned.
Continuing with the
eyes, I’ve been loving two mascaras, one high-end and one drugstore priced. The
Lancome Hypnose Volume-a-porter mascara gives my lashes a nice length and the
bristles are really designed in a way that they coat each individual lash. But
if you’re looking for something that’s also kind to your wallet, I’d suggest
you try the Giordani Gold Incredible Length Mascara! This mascara gave me both
volume and length. The wand is the perfect size for my eye and the bristles are
long and close together. The formula is a bit thicker as in the Lancome mascara
so it did clump up faster, but I got a solid three months out of it which is
more than enough in my opinion.
I was curious to
try the Avon Eyeshadow Primer – Light
Beige. I can now say that it easily compares to the more expensive eye primers
I’ve used before and really does the job well. I have quite oily eyelids so I
was worried about the thicker texture, but it doesn’t crease at all. I also
sometimes use it to cancel out the veins in my eyes even when not using any
eyeshadow and it works great. The amount of the product in the jar is
impressive and I can barely tell I’ve been using mine after a solid two months
so I think that it’s definitely worth a try if you’re on a hunt for a good
primer!
As for eyeliners, I
didn’t really have a favorite in the liquid category last year, but I’ve again
been loving the Lord&Berry pencil eyeliner which I talked so much about
already. I use it mainly in my waterline and it doesn’t transfer at all. I now
have four of these so I expect them to last me quite some time.
Last but not least I
have been loving the Golden Rose eyebrow powder. They come in quite a few
shades so I was able to match my eyebrows to my hair quite well. What I love
about this powder is the fact that it works beautifully with all of my brushes
so I don’t have to give a second thought to which one I’m going to grab. And as
all Golden Rose products, it’s really inexpensive for the amount of product you’re
getting!
Last but not least,
let’s talk about lipsticks. 2015 wasn’t that good to me in that department (but
that changed in 2016 dramatically with the matte and neutral trend) so I only
have four lip products to share with you.
The first one is again
by Golden Rose and it’s their Golden Rose Matte Lipstick Crayon in color 04
which is a nice plumy red color. I’ve worn this a ton during autumn. I usually
just dab a couple of spots on my lips and then smudge them out with my fingers
since the color is quite deep and I often didn’t have the time to apply it
properly, let alone reapply it when on the go. I’ve already purchased this
crayon in another color since it’s an absolute must in any collection as far as
I’m concerned.
I’ve been loving the
liquid lipsticks that so many brands came out with in the past year. My
absolute favorite were the Essence liquid lipsticks in 04 Show Off (above) and
06 – Make a statement (below). The price of these is a bargain and I love the
way they easily apply with the doe foot wand. Although they are in liquid form,
these liquid lipsticks are more than reasonably pigmented and you can apply
them in no time at all!
Finally, I also
enjoyed the Essence lipstick from the Merry Berry collection in shade Pink
& Perfect. This lipstick is a nice, deep purple red with a nice shine to
it. It’s a bit different from the shades and a bit too dark to wear to work,
but I really enjoyed wearing it when out and about and got quite a few compliments
on it. As all Essence products, this purchase didn’t really affect my bank
balance at all.
And this is it for my
make-up favorites in 2015. Let me know some of yours in the comments below so I
can check them out!
Until next time, stay
beautiful!
