Most Disappointing Beauty Products of 2015

Disclaimer: we all have different taste in products and different needs. As such, the products that I don't like might be favorites of yours. This post isn't meant to offend anyone, by all means, if it works for you, great! These are all products that I just didn't get along with, they're not necessarily bad products.

Kicking it off with this Physician's Formula City Glow Daily Defense bronzer in New York, my problem with this is the color more than anything. I use and love the Physician's Formula Bronze Booster in light/medium, but this bronzer is just straight-up orange on me. In the pan it doesn't look like it should be so orange, and I've tried it several different ways—colors mixed, separate, different brushes—and no matter what I do it always comes up orange on me. Such a bummer because it's an otherwise great formula.

Next up is the Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Blur Primer, which I reviewed here. Not only did this primer give me cystic acne spots, it's just an all-around blasé product. It doesn't make foundation last longer, it doesn't make it look better, and it doesn't give a glow to the skin. Even if this hadn't broken me out, it still would have made it on this list because it just doesn't do what it's supposed to. Laaaame.

I purchased two Hurraw lip balms after hearing Shaaanxo talk about them, but this one really came down to personal preference. If you like thin, light, slick balms, you'll probably love this, but I like a nice thick balm like the Tokyomilk Dark balm. I've heard several other people sing the praises of Hurraw lip balm, but it just wasn't what I was hoping for. It may work well for keeping lips hydrated, but I really wouldn't know because I could never keep it on for very long since it came off every time I took a sip of water.

Ahh, Julep Queen Anne, you fickle minx.

Read More

My Favorite Make Up and Skincare Products of 2015 (Plus a few non-beauty favorites!)

Most of these year-end favorites posts begin with a look back on the year, but to be honest I really don't care, and you probably don't either, so let's just get to the good stuff.

Eyes:

Makeup Geek Poppy (coral) and Creme Bruleé (peachy tan) have become two of my all-time favorite eye shadows. Both blend beautifully, and on my pale skin, Creme Bruleé is an awesome transition. Poppy is easily one of my most-used shadows of the past year, and I've said before that I'll find any excuse to work it into a look because I just love the warmth that it adds, especially to neutral looks. Confession: I've actually used Poppy on my brows when they were coming off a bit too cool-toned for my liking. Sounds horrifying, but as long as you use a light hand, it works wonders and no one will be able to tell that you have a coral eye shadow in your brows.

I love these two palettes from Anastasia Beverly Hills (World Traveler, bottom, and Self-Made, top). I think they're an excellent value for the money and with the exception of one shadow in each palette, they perform beautifully. I'm especially fond of the titanium finish shadow included in both of these palettes, Pink Champagne. It has an incredible reflective quality, similar to a foiled eye shadow, and it can really alter the look of other shadows depending on how you layer it. I also really love Morocco and Intense Gaze from the World Traveler palette, and Blush and Sherbert (especially in the crease) from the Self-Made palette. In general, I love the formula of the ABH eye shadows and I can't wait to get more (come to mommy, Henna, you beautiful orange gem).

The Julep Gel Eye Gliders are such an underrated product. These are the softest, silkiest eye pencils I've ever used. Not even Urban Decay makes liners as soft as these, and I don't have the same problem with these smearing that I do with many of the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils. These truly do glide when you apply them, so much so that I'm sometimes not even sure if I'm touching the pencil to my skin. The formula of these is just absolutely beautiful, and I plan on purchasing the entire line eventually. I already have several more of these, but I wanted to include my two most-used shades, which are Champagne Shimmer and Bronze Shimmer. I love Champagne Shimmer as an inner corner highlight, and Bronze Shimmer is a great alternative to black for adding definition without the harshness of a black liner.

You can tell I really love a product when I've worn the writing off of it! On the right is ColourPop Super Shock Shadow in XO, which was part of the limited edition collaboration with Shannon from Shaaanxo. I love all of the shadows in her ColourPop collection, but this one is my absolute favorite. I love it as an inner corner highlight or all over the lid. It's a more neutral gold than many of the others in my collection, which is part of why I wear it so much, it's just so versatile! I'm going to be so sad when I run out of this shadow. On the left is ColourPop Mixed Tape which also gets a lot of use from me. Because of my uber-dark under-eye circles, I have trouble wearing purple eye shadows without emphasizing the darkness under my eyes, but between the satin finish and the slight grey and brown tones, Mixed Tape is a lot more flattering on me than most other purples.

Face:

Read More