2014 Favorites

I had a lot of fun making the list of my favorite products of the year.  2014 was the year that I really started indulging my love of makeup and exploring new products, colors and techniques.  Bolder lip colors, winged liner, bronzer; it was my year of stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things.

Macadamia Deep Repair Masque

Anyone that keeps up with any sort of beauty blog or YouTuber know that the Macadamia Deep Repair Masque has gotten a lot of love over the last few years.  I can justify the hefty price to myself for a couple of reasons: one, it does an amazing job making my hair feel healthy, despite all the heat trauma I put it through; two, it lasts forever; and three, it smells delightful.  I use it as my daily conditioner in conjunction with an everyday clean shampoo and I don't find that it's too heavy or intense for everyday use.

Urban Decay Naked Palette

Ah, the Naked palette.  I started watching YouTube beauty videos right around the time that the Naked 2 came out, and I pounced on the third edition as soon as it came out, but the original was never really on my list until I watched a simple smoky eye tutorial over the summer.  Luckily, my birthday was not long after the realization that I had to own this beauty.

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara

Holy grail status alert: I love, love, love this mascara.  Even the non-waterproof version doesn't flake, smudge, or transfer on me, and I am just crazy about what it does for my lashes.

Aveeno Smart Essentials Nighttime Moisture Infusion

I love a good drugstore find.  I'm more than willing to splurge on skin care items as an investment in the longevity of my skin, but I'm definitely not going to complain that I can find a great product at Walgreens for an entirely reasonable price.  As an added bonus, I started using this moisturizer not long after our wedding early in the year, so the scent will always make me feel incredibly nostalgic for this phase of my life.  Memories!

MAC Turquatic Perfume

Oh, wow.  There is something about this scent that reminds me of high school, but ever-so-slightly more grown up.  I will absolutely continue to purchase this fragrance; I love it for everyday wear.

Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creme in Cannes

Along with the rest of the world, my primary goal for the latter half of 2014 was to find the perfect Kylie Jenner lip option.  I may or may not have done an embarrassing amount of research on the subject... At any rate, this is one of the more affordable products that I put to the test, and it swiftly became a daily staple for me.  For a matte lip color, it's not overly drying, it sets quickly, and it lasts for quite a while on the lips.

Urban Decay Naked Basics 2 Palette

For all the love I gave to the original Naked palette with all its shimmer, once I got my hands on the Naked Basics 2, I had a hard time putting it down.  Around Thanksgiving, we had pretty limited access to our house while we were doing some remodeling, and this was the only palette I brought with me during our various times out of the house.

What were your favorite products of 2014?  What are you looking forward to trying in 2015?

ipsy Unboxing: April 2014

The second I heard that the April ipsy bags would include an Urban Decay eyeliner, my usual quest to stay unspoiled until my own bag arrived went out the window.  I was hearing from all different sources that this month's selection of products were some of the best that ipsy had assembled in recent months; on the whole, I'm usually pretty satisfied with ipsy, but there have been some off months here and there.

Loving this funky bag

Products!  Wee!

Beginning with the products I forgot to take closeups of (it was a crazy morning), there's a healthy-sized can of Big Sexy Hair Root Pump, which I'm excited to try out on my fine hair, and an equally generous tube (for skin care, anyway) of the Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant (hey, who couldn't use a good exfoliation every now and again?).

On to the fun stuff!

As I mentioned, the item I was most excited about was the Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil in Black Velvet.  I am powerless to resist a good black liner, be it liquid, felt-tip or pencil.  To date, I've only used the original formula pencil in Demolition (a rich, chocolatey brown), and I've loved it for well over a year now.  I'm excited to play around with this new formula and see how it holds up, especially on my waterline (another perennial quest of mine).

Left: initial swatch. Right: after light smudging with my finger.

A girl can always use a good champagne shadow, right?  This Elizabeth Mott shadow swatches beautifully, and I'm excited to try it out.  A few notes: the packaging, while cute and clear, feels a little cheap, and the pan has already dislodged itself from the glue holding into place.  No matter, though, because the shadow is gorgeous and I can easily pop into a Z Palette instead.

The last goody that arrived in my ipsy this month is an adorable jelly lip gloss from Mary Kay.  I have a couple of MK lipsticks that I like quite a bit, and I recently used up a mascara that I loved but whose name escapes me at the moment.  This gloss is a beautiful nude color, and surprisingly opaque.  I'm thinking it might be nice for a sweet Easter look...

Was your ipsy bag different than mine this month?  What did you love from your bag?

Makeup Mess of the Day

I don't normally bother with a full face of makeup on my days off, especially not when we're about to head out on a 5-hour car ride, but I pinned a Naked 3 look this morning that I was anxious to try out, so I wound up just going for it.

Foundation: Cover Girl Outlast Stay Fabulous 3-in-1

Concealer: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte

Bronzer: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil

Brows: Billion Dollar Brow Universal Brow Pencil

Cheeks: Benefit Rockateur

Eyes: Milani Shadow Stick in Champagne Toast, Urban Decay Named 3 palette, Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Demolition, Rimmel Scandal Eyes in Nude

Lashes: L'Oreal Lash Out Butterfly

Lips: Butter London Tinted Lip Balm in Teddy Boy

Selfie time!