It's been months since my last post and I've done an awful job at making good on my attempts to blog more - does anyone still read beauty blogs? Regardless, I wanted to share some rediscovered favorites as well as a few things I've been loving that I purchased in August when I was in Asia.
Apologies in advance for the photo quality. It literally looks like I took these with a flip phone made in the early 2000s.... The sun was setting and I haven't quite mastered the settings on my new-ish camera yet.
Let's start with two of the makeup items I purchased in Asia that I've been really impressed with. I read several rave reviews for the rom&nd Juicy Lasting Tint in Jujube so I picked it up at Olive Young when I was in Seoul. I rarely wear a full on lipstick because I feel too "made up"; I much prefer lip tints and Korean brands make great tints. I like this tint because it's super buildable; you can achieve a sheer look with one light layer or build it up to get a deeper color. I like to apply it to the inner part of my lips and dab the color out with my finger to achieve an easy gradient lip. The color is a subdued rose red and it looks really nice any time of year. Another plus is the price - it's only about $7.50 on YesStyle. The only downside is that it doesn't last as long as other lip tints for me. After I eat a meal, this basically disappears so you just have to keep reapplying.
I don't often reach for liquid liners because I can do my eyeliner faster with pencil or gel but I wanted to try the popular Love Liner brand when I was in Japan. I purchased the dark brown shade since I rarely wear black eyeliner anymore. I can see why people like this eyeliner! The brush tip is very fine and easy to manipulate. The color glides on smoothly and lasts all day without flaking or smudging, even without eye primer. I really like this for days I want a clean, crisp eyeliner look.
I dusted off last year's Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Palette Unlocked Edition and have been really enjoying it as a complete cheek palette. This is the only 6-pan Hourglass palette I have and I think it's a rather good one with wearable shades for my skin tone. I swirl the top middle and bronzer shades together to make a more natural bronzer and I tend to mix the two blushes together as well. I'm not sure how I feel about this year's holiday 6-pan palette because the shades don't appeal to me as much but I might snag the 4-pan blush palette.
The Lorac Pro 2 Palette is one I go back to very few months and really enjoy as an everyday eyeshadow palette. The only problem is that I only use the same four shadows in the palette, which you can tell by the dips in the pans. I use Light Brown in my crease, Rosé on the inner corner, Mocha on the lid and Cocoa on the outer corner. All of the shadows are pretty easy to dupe so I'm sure I'll be able to find comparable shades once I use up this palette.
If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you'll know my HG mascara has been the L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara for years and I've gone through probably over a dozen tubes of it. Well, I tried the Maybelline The Falsies Push Up Angel Waterproof Mascara on a whim and I was shocked to find that I like it more than the L'Oreal one! This mascara is excellent at separating my lashes and gives them a nice lift to make them look extra long. The comb wand is also easier to use compared to the L'Oreal Million Lashes which has a really thick brush. I've already bought a few backups of the Maybelline mascara and will use this one until I find a new HG!
I have a bunch of face powders I can reach for but it's been hard to put down the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder. I have the shade medium which I think is a nice match for my skin tone. This pressed powder feels weightless on my skin, blurs my pores and imperfections and never looks cakey. It has a really beautiful, natural finish and I love the rose gold compact as well. The only downside is that it's rather pricey at $45 and I've already hit pan on it after using it for not that long. That being said, I like the formula so much that I would repurchase this.
With the amount of makeup I have in my collection, I feel like I'm constantly finding new favorites and rediscovering things that I didn't use enough when I first bought it. I've been eyeing some of the holiday releases but so far not much is catching my eye in the makeup department. Let me know if there are any makeup releases you're excited about!