who dreams of moon, of stars, and nice cup of coffee with cinnamon roll in the morning.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

2017 Best of Beauty

2017 is a pleasant surprise in term of beauty, I didn't expect myself to get so into it. What I thought will be a rather chill year with less money spent on makeup took a 180 degree turn, and, voila, I think I ended up with more new products that I did in 2016?

I ventured a little bit away from high end, in fact, the only high end products I got this year were NARS eyeshadow duo and foundations, which is a major level up from last year when most of things I bought were from high end category. What can I say, I'm that shallow and I do love good, high quality makeup product.

In 2017, rather than going drugstore, I think it's more appropriate to say I fell in love with an old love, being korean beauty. While I do love k-skincare consistently through the years, I stopped trying their makeup products because I used to think they're not pigmented enough for my skin tone. Plus, in the phase when I was all for k-beauty, they never really wow-ed me.

It could be for their aesthetic, and as I sit down here, contemplating, maybe; yes, they didn't wow me because of their aesthetic. I wasn't that into the whole shimmer/glitter on the lids, wasn't that big on brows either, not even reds on the eyes! But they're definitely what k-beauty is all about, and now, they fit me to the t!

Prior to UD Naked Heat, it was sooooo difficult to find warm-toned eyeshadow, can you believe it? Not the neutral-warm with good selection of reddish brown, but the warm-warm with tasteful picks of red, pink, and orange. Thankfully, k-beauty is all about them, and after the initial purchase of red matte eyeshadow, I'm hooked! Now, I have enough warm-warm toned eyeshadow to last me a lifetime (I talked about my collection here).

2017 was also the year when I finally embraced eyebrows. I'm still far from the instagram-worthy on the fleek! brows, but at least they're no longer looking like a sad, overgrown, caterpillars. INNISFREE AUTO EYEBROW PENCIL is a very beginner friendly product, it comes with spoolie  and a waxy, yet soft pencil on the other. Mine is in darker brow color, it isn't highly pigmented which is perfect as I'm still learning.

Another love that I rekindle is for eyeliner. Since I have hooded eyelids on top of small lid space, I have to choose between my eyeliner of eyeshadow. In the end, because I have too many eyeshadow to even finish, I always forego eyeliner. THE SAEM POWERPROOF SUPER SLIM EYELINER changed it! This pencil liner is very soft without being smudge-party (which I find often happen with soft pencil liner). The fine, yet blunt end allows me to tight-end easily. Usually, I just fill the outer corner of  my eyes to give appearance of fuller eyes. I'm not in the epic-liner level yet, but, just watch!

Still on the topic of eyes, out of the many eyeshadow purchases I did this year, ultimately, my choices fall on these three. NARS DUO IN ISOLDE was something I've always wanted ever since I started blogging. It's your perfect duo for quick, fuss-free eyes; swipe the gold all over the lid, smudge the darker bronze on the outer and some on lash lines.

For a cream eyeshadow with bright, reddish-orange color and sparkling glitters, ETUDE HOUSE ENAMEL EYES sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially put on my oily lids. The truth is, it's nothing like! I can pack them all on the lids for bright red eyes with a hint of golds, or swipe them with light hand for more understated look. It doesn't transfer throughout the day either, which is always my problem with cream eyeshadow.

To finish everything, I love to pat ARITAUM MONO EYES in CORAL MOD on the center of my lids. It gives such a nice sparkles and breathe of coral. No matter what color I wear underneath, pat, pat, and my eyes look instantly better!!

Of course I must no forget mentioning NARS SMUDGE ROOF EYESHADOW BASE. It's been favorite of many, especially for people with oily lids and I can see why. This is the first time a base managed to stop my eyeshadow from becoming a horrid smush of color by the end of the day.

On the cheek, I got SLEEK CONTOUR KIT for birthday present, and it's the only thing I've been putting on my face ever since? It's like, I mean, I forgot I even have something called blush?? It might not be as pigmented as NARS' contour kit, plus, it's more on neutral shade and has no ounce of redness on it. Strangely, my cheeks always look polished? as in I do not need blusher to top it, just the contour shade and dusting of highlighter on the cheek bones, and I'm done?? It's, well, strange, magical I'd say. Whatever it is; I love it!
I talked about my base products and routine (in this post), but the stand out definitely belong to THE SAEM PERFECT PORE POWDER, UD ONE AND DONE HYBRID SKIN, PAUL & JOE PROTECTING FOUNDATION PRIMER, and UD ALL NIGHTER to seal everything and promising me a flawless face throughout the day.

Lazier day will find me smoothing PAUL & JOE all over my face, dust loose powder with big, fluffy brush, and be done with it. Productive morning, or on weekend before a day out, I'd take time to make sure my base is perfectly done, committing to full face routine from primer-concealer-foundation-powder-setting spray.

To be honest, it's rather difficult to find a morning when I could summon enough will power to properly apply my makeup like my whole life depends on whether I have them on or not. But on the days I do, I pampered myself by using the extra time to either apply blusher again on top of contoured-cheeks, or swipe highlighter on top of my cupid bow.
On the lips, I've been loving everyone and their mother's favorite NYX SOFT MATTE LIP CREAMS. At first, I only have one in PRAGUE. My lisptick stash was in dire need of variety, I only had dark berry colors and nothing else! This one came swooping to save the day, and followed by its sister in BUDAPEST, a darker brown color with hint of red. My definition of MLBB?

They're what I always wear for the latter half of the year, and I'm not seeing myself stopping, unless one of them come to end of course (I think PRAGUE is getting there! How exciting!). I'm tempted to try another color, but I'm hanging on until I finish one of this. Have any color suggestion?

That rounded up my 2017 beauty favorites. Do you spot any of yours?
Be First to Post Comment !
Post a Comment