Happy New Year! ❤
This post idea came up last year when I posted my yearly favourite discoveries. I did discover some gems in 2017 but I thought it would be more useful for me to list out all my Holy Grail (HG) items instead.
I’m going to force myself to just name ONE item for each category. I feel like embarking on this project is like choosing a favourite child. I love you all equally! ❤ Continue reading
This is my first quarterly favourites post for 2017. I’ve been taking down notes on various items that I’ve enjoyed between January and March:
I try to have a balance of items but it looks like this is more heavy on the makeup front. 😛
The title of this post is misleading since January was neither No- or Low-Buy. It was the magnificent month of Haulaury! 😀
I can’t be the only one who succumbed to all the post-holiday sales?
When I look at it all together like this, I think I got a bit carried away with makeup hauling…
But when you pick up a little bit here, a little bit there, it doesn’t seem like it’s that much! 😉 I wasn’t able to go on actual Boxing Day to shop but many of the deals are available for the whole month of January – basically when stores sell out of stuff is when the sales end! 😛
And here it is – as you can imagine, trying to narrow down the best items was difficult! These items are new to me but may not be new launches in 2016. Also, these items may not necessarily be my absolute “Holy Grail” of all time – they’re simply the best from the past year (I probably should do a “Holy Grail of All Time” post one of these days…) Here’s what made it into my Best of 2016 Discoveries list:
A departure from previous years, instead of doing Top 10 or “Top xx of 20xx” (ie. Top 16 of 2016), I’ll list top items within categories: makeup, skincare, nails, body care etc. This post is long but rather than breaking into several posts, I decided to do it all in one – I just hate it when they break movies into 2 parts – I don’t want to do that to you! 😛
At the beginning of every month, I think to myself, “this month I probably won’t have too many empties, I might have 2 or 3 max”. Then around the third week of the month, I am suddenly faced with a bag full of empties. Go figure.
I finished some big containers too.
I’m a very light packer when it comes to makeup during vacation. I’ve learned over the years that I end up not using at least half of what I pack when I give myself too many options. While on holidays, I essentially stick to one makeup look. Here’s my makeup menu for the next 2 weeks:
• Lorac Behind the Scenes Eyeshadow primer
• Shiseido Sheer & Perfect Foundation in O20 – I debated about which foundation to bring (the Vincent Long Water Canvas was a contender) and this one ultimately won out because it contains SPF, wears well, and can be applied with fingers.
• Becca Under Eye Brightening Corrector – the glass pot is too cumbersome to pack with me so I’ve scooped out a little bit into this tiny sample container (review here)
• Shiseido Natural Finish Cream Concealer in #2 Light Medium – I also debated about which concealer(s) to bring. At first I was going to bring a separate one for under eye and another for general face concealing. This one is a good all-around concealer – I don’t love it for under eyes but it’s workable. Unfortunately, I think this concealer is discontinued.
• MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 – I compromised by bringing a concealing pencil – I like this concealer pencil for pinpoint concealing and it’s handy for highlighting the brow area or inner eye.
I probably should have listened to my intuition about this palette – I wasn’t completely sold on the concept but I really wanted to try Becca eye shadows since the quality looked stellar (and with Ingrid whispering in my ear).
I bought this in January – I was torn between the Ombre Rouge or the Ombre Nude (varying shades of brown), but in the end I went with the Rouge since the makeup artist recommended it over the Nude. The palette cost $48 CAD for 5 shades, with 1.6g of product each for a total of 8g for this palette – it is made in the US.
This week is dedicated to all the beauty items that haven’t worked for me. I didn’t purposely plan this but when I assessed my upcoming posts for the week, I realized every one of them scored less than a 5 on my Stash Worthiness scale. These posts will be filled with rants and possibly some snark. You’ve been warned! First up:
The official name of this UD concealer is Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer:
I have the shade Light Neutral. I redeemed for this item during the Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Points event in February, so it didn’t cost me anything, but it normally retails for $35 CAD for 5ml of product.
I’m baaaack. 🙂 Thanks for all the well wishes last week! I’m about 50% better simply because it’s unavoidable for me to not be on the computer at work. I’m looking into an ergonomic assessment for my desk, and possibly doing some physio. I’ll be scaling back on my posting slightly but it’s challenging because I have so many backlogged posts! Here’s a post that I meant to post last week:
I waffle back and forth about doing monthly favourites but I think a quarterly list works for me. Here are the items that have been standouts for me lately:
All of these items would be rated 8 out of 10 or above in my Stash Worthiness! 🙂
stash matters 