Here is my (better late than never) 2016 favorites! This collection of products are things I enjoyed throughout the year. They may have been new releases or they may have been oldies but I loved them up! Comment below and tell me what you fell in love with this past year! I would love to hear! I'm always on the lookout for new things to try out.

Tarte's BB Tinted Treatment 12-Hour Primer with SPF 30 (wew a mouthful!) is a new found favorite of mine. I love the mousse-like texture and the silky feeling on my face. It has build able coverage so it can be worn as more of a BB/tinted moisturizer cream but also doubles as a primer underneath your everyday foundation.

While away on vacation I found myself wearing this by itself with just my Mac Mineralize Natural powder on top to finish. It gave a "my skin but better" finish and I didn't feel like I was wearing any makeup.

Tarte states that it is also a skin treatment (like BB creams usually are or are supposed to be) and I do think it has been helping my skin look clearer. If you have been looking for a BB cream this is definitely a great option.

I don't think it lasts 12 hours but I think it does have some staying power especially underneath foundation or a powder. I can see this being a great product in the winter time as well as summer because the texture is light but also moisturizing.

I'm not sure if someone with oily skin will like this or not because it can feel slippery but those of you with normal/combo to dry skin will love it.


Here is the breakdown from Sephora's website:

What it is:
An innovative BB treatment with multiple skincare and makeup benefits in one eco-chic tube. 

What it does:
- This state-of-the-art BB cream offers numerous benefits for smooth, youthful-looking skin 
- Features SPF 30 sun protection 
- Comes in five shades 

Indulge your skin with this powerful multitasker that works as a primer, moisturizer, light foundation, antiaging treatment, and sunscreen to give you a youthful-looking glow. Worn alone or as the perfect base for makeup, this 12-hour, age-defying, oil-free primer offers light-to-medium, buildable coverage that helps even skintone and other skin imperfections while diffusing light to minimize the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and pores. The creamy, silky formula goes on smooth and blends easily, leaving you with a natural-looking, flawless finish with a broad-spectrum, chemical-free SPF 30 that offers ideal protection from the sun’s harmful UVA/UVB rays. 

What else you need to know:
Beauty Balms or BB Creams were originally developed as a perfect post-procedure cream used to treat, hydrate, prime, protect, and camouflage the skin. Great for all skin types including those with sensitive skin, these versatile “five-in-one” formulas are designed to do it all: treat with high levels of active skincare ingredients; moisturize and smooth dehydrated skin; prime and perfect skin’s surface; camouflage and color correct the skintone; and protect skin from the sun with SPF. They can be used as a last step for their skincare benefits or used on their own as an instant beautifier.

This product is powered by tripleB complex, a proprietary blend of natural diamond dust, plants, and lipoamino acids that diffuses light and minimizes the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and pores while improving the appearance of skin luminosity. 

Research results:
In a consumer panel study:
- 100% of women immediately saw an improvement in the surface texture of skin for smoother makeup application 
- 97% of women saw and felt smoother, softer skin 
- 91% of women said fine lines appeared minimized 
- 94% of women said pores appeared less visible after 4 weeks

Usually Monday's call for quick makeup and running out the door. Today I share with you what I use to "wake myself up" on Monday mornings. It only takes 5-10 minutes and you are ready to go on your merry way!

Everything below is pretty self explanatory. Apply a moisturizer with SPF after cleansing. SPF is super important in your skincare routine. Don't leave home without it, even in a rush.

Powder and bronzer are optional but I like to use them to add a glow and just cleanup my skin a little bit especially if I decide not to use a tinted moisturizer or BB cream. I dust the powder over my entire face and neck (a quick contour with the bronzer) and I'm left with a more even complexion.

Use the pearl eyeliner on the inner corner of your eyes to brighten them up. The Venus eyeshadow or the eyeliner can be used for that but I used the eyeliner today and then the shadow to highlight my brow bone and my lips a little bit. Just dab a bit of eyeshadow on top of your lip balm or gloss for a little dimension.

I use the brown eyeshadow in my crease and the darker one as an eyeliner for a softer and quicker application. I love eyeshadow for the bottom lash line. You have the option to smudge it or wet it for more precision.

Finish up by applying your favorite mascara and any desired lip products.




You Will Need:

Pearl or Silver Eyeliner - I love Urban Decay's Venus
Brown Eyeshadow - Mac's Soft Brown or Soba, Urban Decay's Naked 2 Eyeshadow
Highlighting Shadow - Urban Decay's Venus Eyeshadow is perfect!
Mascara of your choice - Of course I will not be without my Younique 3D Fiber Lash Mascara
Moisturizer - one with an SPF
Brow product of your choice


Optional Products:

Tinted Moisturizer and or liquid bronzer
Concealer
Bronzer/Blush
Powder - I like Mac's Mineralize Skinfinish Natural or Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder
Eyeliner - Mac's Brun Eyeshadow
Lip Product - if I am on the run I do a balm or gloss

A new found love of mine is Josie Maran's Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelée. It is so gorgeous and definitely something different that I've never tried before. If you like cream blushes I think you will like this. But I also think if you haven't tried cream blushes but like a nice wash of color for any season then you will love it as well.

I apply it with my Real Techniques stippling brush and leave it light but it is totally build able to a more dramatic look. It can also be used on your lips which is an added bonus. The cooling sensation is so refreshing that this will be fabulous for summertime and the beach!

The Shades:
Coral Oasis - tangerine orange
Poppy Paradise - warm toned hot pink
Pink Escape - cool toned pink
Getaway Red - true red
Berry Bliss - deep wine
Honeymoon Honey - neutral brown

I have it in Coral Oasis and Honeymoon Honey. They are just gorgeous! Coral Oasis gives the most energizing glow to my cheeks. It's so happy to look at too. Honeymoon Honey is almost like a bronzer. I have to play with this one still but I think it would work really nice as a contour. I love brown makeup for cheeks and lips. I am always very drawn to it. I guess it's my 90's child inside.

It claims to have up to 14 hours of color... I don't know if I believe that but other than that I think these are fabulous.

The brand Too Faced is starting to phase out their old packaging some a slimmer, more travel friendly version. It is an aluminum container and I think it is the perfect size complete with a magnetic closure. They have been releasing all of their new palettes in this form but now they are starting to re-release original versions which is so exciting! I have been talking myself out of some of their original palettes because of the packaging.

So here is their first re-release, the Natural Eye Neutral Palette.




This palette is so great for creating day to night looks and I have been especially loving it this week for a daytime smokey eye. The colors are so rich and buttery soft like you would expect from Too Faced.



The Shades:
Heaven - matte ivory cream
Cashmere Bunny - matte milk chocolate with an extra dash of milk
Sexpresso - matte dark chocolate
Silk Teddy - golden shimmery pink
Push-up - medium rose gold shimmer
Erotica - cool toned deep brown with golden glitter specks
Nudie - matte taupe
Honey Pot - coppery gold shimmer
Chocolate Martini - deep warm toned espresso with golden glitter specks

shades used: heaven, cashmere bunny, and erotica

I am always on the lookout for lip balms, creams, etc. that will keep my chapped lips at bay. Well I have finally found my holy grail product! It's from the brand Bite and it's their Agave Lip Mask. It retails at $26.00 which is pricey but this tube will last forever.

Now don't get confused, it's not a "mask" as in you need to wash it off or anything. It has a thick ointment consistency and the hint of vanilla fragrance. There is no taste which is nice and the scent is in no way overpowering. You only need a tiny (and I mean tiny) amount for this stuff to make a huge difference in your lips. It is not a product which needs to be reapplied every hour either. I put it on in the morning and I am good until noon.

I have never found anything that actually healed my lips and made them softer, smoother, and healthy like this. I even bought a backup to keep in my nightstand.


Sephora's Description:

What it is:
A soothing, leave-on lip mask that replenishes moisture in lips. 

What it does:
This innovative, natural formula smooths, nourishes, and moisturizes lips with a bio-active blend of organic agave nectar, jojoba oil, vanilla CO2 extract, and triple the amount of antioxidant trans-resveratrol found in red wine. 

What else you need to know:
This product does not contain gluten or petroleum.

Sephora is the exclusive beauty retailer for this product.

I have been MIA because my little sister just got married on Saturday! It was such an exciting weekend and an emotional one at that (waterproof mascara anyone?). I was honored with the job to be her Matron of Honor. It was also a Halloween theme so we could dress up. I added accessories such as a boa, flapper headband, and rhinestone mask for the reception. It was so fun!

One of the fun things about a wedding is the makeup of course! I did my own for the occasion. Below, I gathered a list of the products and attached a few photos of the look. It is what I would call a natural evening look.

You may not know but for a wedding or any special occasion where photos will be taken, the more makeup usually the better. What may look like too much to you in the mirror could be perfect under the camera lenses and lights. A helpful hint is that SPF is not necessarily a good thing with photography as the SPF reflects the flash the same it would the sun and can wash you out on camera. Shimmer and glitter is not always a good thing either. They can also reflect light back at the camera and accentuate imperfections. I still like a soft shimmer to give my skin some glow since it is dry.







The products I used for the wedding:

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation - 3.5

Nyx HD Concealer - Porcelain - used for concealing and highlighting

Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil - Milk - used as an eyeshadow primer

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Liner - Intense Black - waterproof liner and super black! 

Mac Eye Kohl - Fascinating - used as an inner rim liner to brighten and "open" the eyes

Stila Magnificent Metals Foil Eyeshadow - Vintage Black Gold  - used over the other shadows to add some shimmer and dimension 

Mac Blush - Harmony & Taupe Shape - I used both of these for contouring. 

Benefit Bronzer - Hoola  - contouring

Nars Eyeshadow - Lhasa - also used for contour on the cheek bones (it has a great shadow color)

Lorac Neutralizer - after primer to reduce redness on my fair skin 

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Limited Edition palette - highlighting

Mac Natural Radiance Primer

Cover FX Illuminating Setting Powder - Light - finishing powder with illuminating qualities for a glow

Mac Monster's Bride Palette 

Anastasia Brow Liner - Dark Brown

Illamasqua Intense Lip Gloss - Facade (a grey pink) - this is one of my favorite glosses it has an almost brown tone to it and is very opaque