My 15 Favorite Products & Discoveries of 2015

2015 was such a full year for me! I struggled a lot with my job at school. I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree. I spent the summer traveling all across the United States, including visiting 8 states for the first time (Alaska, Washington, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky,  and Tennessee). I attended the first funerals I’ve been to since I was 9, and unfortunately that was funerals in the plural. This means I’ve been so, so incredibly lucky not to have lost anyone close to me since then, but it made this particular year really rough. I started graduate school and managed a 3.82 GPA last semester.

It was so hard to develop my “best of” list for this past year. In 2014 I discovered a lot about the basics of beauty, but while I did learn a lot in 2015, this year was more about delving in and figuring out what I liked most. I still don’t have any true holy grails (I haven’t tried quite enough products for that!), but I’m getting there. After all, isn’t that what this whole process is about?

1. Serums & Oils

This year was the year I discovered the wide world of serums and oils. My interest in serum-type products started back in the summer of 2014 when I purchased the Nutriganics Drops of Youth Concentrate, but this year I expanded the number of serums I own by a huge amount through sampling and started using serums regularly in my routine. Now I have too many serums, and am struggling to get through them at a fast enough pace. Oops!

In March I received an oil from Paula’s Choice in my Birchbox and liked it so much I ordered a full size. Then I tried out a rosehip oil and a serum-in-oil, as well as transitioning to using a body oil and starting to test out hair oils. I even started using a cleansing oil!

A Relaxed Thursday Makeup Look

I didn’t have anything to do until late in the day today, so I decided to take my time getting ready. Still, I wanted to keep my look simple. Here’s the skincare and makeup I chose this morning as an alternative to my usually rushed routine.

First, a photo of the finished look…

 

And now, how to do it!

My 14 Favorite Products and Discoveries of 2014

2014 was the year that I got really into “beauty”: developing a skincare routine, exploring new brands and types of products, wearing makeup much more often, and starting this blog. I put beauty in quotes, because as we all know beauty is so much more than skin-deep. Part of the inspiration for this was spending the spring in Paris — surrounded by people caring about skincare, fashion, and otherwise looking good.

Since I just recently entered the beauty blogging world, I have made so many discoveries this year — new types of products, new brands, and new ways to apply makeup. Every month on this blog I’ve also been doing a “monthly favorites” list, and I’ve been trying hard not to repeat any products. Now, here come the repeats in this compilation of what I loved most about beauty in 2014.

 

#LOTD: New Year’s Eve

While this is probably not what I’m actually going to wear on New Year’s Eve, since I plan on staying at home listening to jazz and sipping champagne with family, I think it would be a suitable look for another activity! I could see myself wearing this makeup to either a glamorous holiday party or for a night of dancing at a club.

November Favorites

November is over, and I’m actually glad. This month felt very empty because I couldn’t seem to focus on schoolwork, my job, or maintaining friendships. I’m fortunate it ended with Thanksgiving weekend, because I think that break was what I needed to restart and get back on track. This month’s products are somewhat focused around that rejuvenation.

#LOTD: Fresh-Faced Weekend

Welcome to the first #LOTD, or Look Of The Day post! I don’t imagine that I will be doing these too frequently, maybe just once a week, because the vast majority of the time I wear very similar makeup and I feel like that would be really repetitive!

Today’s look is very fresh-faced and natural. To me, it’s perfect for a lazy Sunday when all I want to do is go to a long brunch with a friend, do some grocery shopping, and then sit on the porch talking or reading in the sunshine (yes, that is what I did today).

My Everyday Makeup Routine

Most days, I’m too rushed in the morning to do anything special with my makeup. I’m so focused on getting out the door and to class on time that I don’t have the presence of mind to deviate from the routine I’ve fallen into. I didn’t really devote any time to developing this in a scientific manner; it just sort of fell into place around the products I’ve been using the most in the past few months. Without further ado, here is that very simple routine (ignore the huge number of products in this photo; all will be explained!).

October Favorites

Fall is in the air! This month has been pretty stressful for me, with college midterms, a host of group projects, and some friendship troubles. These are the top five beauty products that have been getting me through each day.

Princess Anna Makeup Tutorial

For Halloween this year, I went as Princess Anna from Frozen. I love Frozen, and think there are a lot of similarities between Anna and me (although part of the reason I chose Anna is because I was able to cobble together her outfit from things already in my wardrobe!).

 

I’d like to share with you the makeup I did for this costume. I consulted a couple of YouTube videos to develop this, notably tutorials by Alex Poletti and dope2111.

I know it’s after Halloween, but I hope that this look is simple and everyday enough that you could wear it any day and feel like you’re secretly channeling Anna. My main goal was to create something that reflected Anna but that I would still feel comfortable wearing. Therefore, I didn’t add any makeup that I would never wear as myself. This means that, if you normally wear foundation or fake eyelashes, you should feel free to include those into this look and make it your own!

Coastal Scents Haul

Ever since I received a quad sample of the Revealed 2 palette in my July Birchbox, I’ve wanted the full thing. However, I knew that Coastal Scents does frequent sales, and so I pledged to wait until the palette was 50% off. That happened this past week, and now the Revealed 2 palette is at my doorstep. It’s not alone, though; I figured since I was paying for shipping anyway, why not try a few more products?