Best of Beauty 2015

best of beauty 2015

1. Buxom Lipstick:  I found this lipstick this fall in the shade ‘forbidden berry’.  I am obsessed with the formula!!  It is so smooth and creamy and lasts so long!  This shade has been my favorite go to shade all fall and winter.  I love it!  It’s the perfect berry shade!  Last week I got the shade ‘guilty angle’ and I’m just as obsessed!

2. NARS Lipliner:  This liner goes on so creamy and lasts forever!  I have this liner in the red color.  I wore it out for a date and it made my red lipstick last for more than 6 hours.  No bleeding, so smudging and not drying.

3. Beauty Blender:  I am very late to the beauty blender train.  Yes, I bought my first beauty blender this year.  And I don’t know why I waited so long.  I kept thinking it was just a hype and a fad and it really wasn’t that awesome.  I finally decided to find out for myself.  And it is amazing!!!  I don’t know how I lived without it!  It blends out my concealer so well and makes it look so natural and glowing.  Must have for everyone!

4. Champagne Pop Highlighter:  Of course this is a favorite of 2015!!!  It’s probably everyone’s favorite who tried it!  It’s the best highlighter ever!  It’s the perfect shade that works on all skin tones.  The glow is heavenly!  If you haven’t gotten this yet, it is a must have for any woman who wears makeup!  And the best news ever… they just announced Champagne Pop is permanent!  Ahhhh!!  You can read my full review on Champagne Pop Here.

5. Hourglass Ambient Bronzer:  This bronzer goes on so nicely, giving a natural glowing bronzed look.  I wore this almost every single day in the summer.  In the winter I put it on to give my face some color (since my face hasn’t seen the sun since September!).  The formula and color is beautiful.  It truly looks like a natural sun kissed face.

6. L’Occitane Hand Cream:  I have dry skin and live in a dry climate so I am always on the hunt for the best hand cream.  This one has been the only one I have used for over 6 months!!  It is thick and creamy, absorbs quickly and doesn’t feel sticky or tacky.  I apply this every night before bed.  And this winter I have not had any issues with dry hands or dry cuticles.  I have finally found the perfect hand cream!

7. Ghd Curve Classic Wand:  I purchased this curling wand on a whim because I heard this is the wand used for the Victoria Secret runway show.  I didn’t think it would meet the hype or my expectation.  But, it exceeded my expectation.  I have never used another curling wand since getting this one.  It curls my hair so easy and makes the curls look effortless and tousled.  Because I barely have to hold it on my hair to get my curl and the advanced ceramic technology, it is much less damaging to my hair.  And it holds my curl all day!

8. Mascara:  I have 2 favorite mascaras, Too Faced ‘better than sex’ and Dior ‘overcurl’.  The one from Too Faced lengthens and thickens.  I live for this mascara!  This is the one that makes my lashes look the way they look.  The one from Dior makes my lashes look fluffy.  The wand separates the lashes, thickens and fluffs them up.  I first apply the Too Faced mascara, then the Dior mascara.  The 2 mascara step is essential for me.  If I just apply the Too Faced mascara the fibers will fall out during the day.  The Dior mascara takes away any unwanted thickness and locks in the fibers.  Applying both mascaras in this order gives my lashes the look I want without any fall out.

9. Sigma f80 Kabuki Foundation Brush:  Best foundation brush ever!  This brush gives the skin an airbrushed even look to your foundation.  The surface of the brush is the perfect size, not to big and not to small.  So it covers the face quickly while giving you a lot of control.

10. Dr. Jart Sheet Mask:  I’ve always loved facial masks.  I think they are a great way to give your skin that boost or enhancement that it needs.  This year I discovered sheet masks, they are ah-mazing!!!  They deliver so much more powerful results than a traditional mask.  The hydrating mask has never made my skin look more hydrated after just 20 minutes!  I also love that they come individually wrapped.  It is so much more sanitary and makes it so easy to bring one with when traveling.

11. Korres Lip Butter:  Can’t live without this!  I have one in every room of my house and in my purse.  So creamy and moisturizing!  I also love that it has a slight sheen to it, it almost looks like a lipgloss.  I love the clear most.  I also really love the Jasmine color, it’s the color of a natural lip.

12. Murrad Hydro-Dynamic Eye Cream:  Having dry skin I can also get dryness in my under eye area.  A couple months back I had dry patches of skin in my under eye area and I couldn’t get rid of it.  I got this eye cream that was suggested to me from a Sephora cast member and it worked perfectly!  My dry skin was completely gone within a week.  This is the only eye cream that has ever worked for me to keep my under eye area hydrated throughout the winter months.

13. Oribe Supershine Moisturizing Cream:  This is a leave in conditioner, that is also a styling cream, frizz tamer and heat protector.  This will not weigh down your hair!  Apply the smallest amount to wet hair and style as normal.  This has been my saving grace with all the highlighting and coloring I have done to my hair in the last year.  It is a little pricey for a hair product, but I use the smallest amount so it lasts sooooo long.

14. Fresh Black Tea Age-Delay Moisturizer:  2015 was a year I was on a hunt for a perfect moisturizer.  In years past I have used Fresh Lotus Cream and have loved it.  There wasn’t anything wrong with it.  But I had been using it for a long time and wanted to try something new.  Every moisturizer I tried wasn’t as good.  One actually made me break out (yikes!).  I was about to go back to my trusty Lotus Cream, but decided to give the Black Tea Moisturizer a try.  It is more moisturizing and helps with aging effects like fine lines, firming, smoothing and retexurizing.  And I love!!  This is something I would recommend for someone over 30, with normal to dry skin.  The price point is higher than the Lotus Cream, so if you don’t need all the benefits of the Black Tea Cream I would recommend the Lotus Cream.  I still think it is an amazing moisturizer and it is for all skin types.

15. Shiseido Essence:  I found this when I dove head first into the Korean skin care regimen.  It is completely amazing and there is no product like it.  This gets applied to a clean face before anything else.  It is hydrating and prepares the skin to accept the products you are about to put on.  Making all the products you put on after much more effective.

16. Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation:  This is my Holy Grail foundation!  This is a medium to full coverage, feels weightless on the skin and have a natural luminous finish.  It is also build-able, meaning you can apply another layer until you get the desired coverage and look you want without it getting cakey looking.

17. Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer:  The fact that I switched my concealer is a huge deal!  I have been ride or die MAC pro-longwear concealer for yeeears (at least 5!).  I loved everything about it except it is a little drying.  The Urban Decay concealer has everything I loved about the MAC concealer but it is creamy and not drying.  I don’t know how Urban Decay made a concealer that isn’t drying, is a full coverage and doesn’t crease or budge all day.  I also use this concealer as my eyeshadow primer.  I apply it all over the eye area with my beauty blender, under the eye, eye lid; then I set it with MAC emphasize powder or Anastasia banana powder.  It gives a natural look, covers any dark circles and stays in place all day.

Thank you all for such an amazing year!  Thank you for reading my blog, I couldn’t do it without you!!  I am looking so forward to this year!  I really feel like 2016 is going to be a year full of exciting things!  I can’t wait to see what happens.

If you have any questions leave a comment and I will answer :)

10 thoughts on “Best of Beauty 2015

  1. Hey Rachel! What color bronzer do you use for the Hourglass Ambient Bronzer?? We are very similar in skin tone! Thanks girl! Love your favorites! We shares a lot :)

  2. Hi Rachel I was wondering if you could recommend an eye creme for me. I’m 25 and I need to start preventing wrinkles. I should have started a while ago but, better late than never. I have normal skin sometimes more on the dry side if that makes a difference in eye creams. Thanks in advance!

    1. Currently (in the winter) I wear shade 2. In the summer I wear shade 4. When I am in between I mix the 2 and 4, because the shade 3 is not the in between shade and never matches me (weird I know!)

  3. Hey Rachel! Your eye makeup always looks perfect. Do you wear false eyelashes or just mascara?

Comments are closed.