December 2011 Favorites

December has been a fun month in makeup for me.  I have been trying new brands and new formulas.  I have drugstore and high end products in my favorites this month.  I completely feel that in order to find something that is high quality, it doesn’t have to have a high price tag.  This month is CHOP FULL of new favorites.  There are a couple of favorites that are being revisited.  

First up is eyeshadows.  I have 3 new favorites.  Rouge Bunny Rouge, L’Oreal Infallible, and Chanel Illusion d’Ombres.  

I love the Rouge Bunny Rouge shades I own; they are buttery, blendable, and extremely pigmented.  The shades in order are Delicate Hummingbird, Angelic Cockatiels, and Abyssinian Catbird.  The one that I use most often is Angelic Cockatiels.  I use it everyday for inner corner highlight and a lot of days I use it as just a wash of color.  I will soon own more of these!

The L’Oreal Infallible eyeshadows are beautiful!  The only one that I have pictured below is Bronzed Taupe.  It is such a beautiful color.  High shine, metallic, pigmented, long-wearing, and can we just say beautiful.  I have a few of these shades too but this one is a clear favorite.  I love that these are from the drugstore.  So cost effective.  I can buy 3 of these per the cost of one of the Rouge Bunny Rouge or Chanel eyeshadows…

Speaking of Chanel, another favorite of mine is the Illusion d’Ombres.  These are awesome cream eyeshadows that (with a base) last all day and are also high shine and metallic.  They are amazing and I am looking forward to owning a few more.  As you can see from the picture I have used up a LOT of the shade called Illusoire.  I use Mirifique as a liner.  It is everything that I ever wanted in a black sparkly liner.  I will admit that I wanted MAC Blitz n Glitz to look like this but of course it didn’t.  If they were ever to discontinue these cream eyeshadows I will repurchase another Mirifique.  Epatant is a beautiful silvery green.  

For the face items I am in love with so many new things.  Well…. at least they are new to me.  

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Nectar highlighter is such a beautiful color.  It is so natural looking on me.  I have never enjoyed a liquid highlighter as much as I am in love with this one.  

Neutrogena Healthy Skin foundation is a recent purchase but I absolutely love the finish.  It is totally something that I bought spur-of-the-moment but I am completely happy with it.  I know that people were comparing it to NARS Sheer Glow but I wasn’t a fan of that.  I will say that I think the finish is similar but the one from NARS broke me out terribly.  I have been wearing this one non-stop since I bought it and I have had no signs of a negative reaction to my face. 

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel (Bronze Universel)!  This has been a favorite of mine in the past, but it is still a favorite.  So many people complain about it turning orange on them but I must have some sort of orange tone to my face to begin with :P because it shows up just fine on me.  Of course I don’t use this heavy handed and that could be what it is…

Another recent purchase is Physician’s Formula Healthy Wear powder.  I was intrigued from a YouTube video that I saw recently and the lady in the video used this powder.  She said it reminded her of one of the MAC powders and I am a fan of all my MAC powders so I decided to pick this up.  I do not regret it.  I think it is beautiful and I actually really enjoy the packaging.  There is a sponge that comes with it but I do not use that… It is hot pink! :D

I have never been one to wear primer before but I have been trying to create a barrier between my makeup and my skin lately (due to excessive breakouts), and Becca Line and Pore Correcter has been my go to.  Not only does it create a completely smooth base for my makeup to go on top of, it also deters the production of oil for me.  When I started using this I saw a major difference in the progression of my acne.

Another acne fighting miracle worker that I have been loving lately is the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion.  I have been applying this to my fresh cleansed face every night before bed and I can see a magnificent difference in the breakout/blemish the very next morning.  This stuff is a godsend!  

A few more items that I have been completely infatuated with this month are the Sigma Sigmax Synthetic brushes in F80 and P84.  Please excuse the fact that these have concealer and foundation all over them!  I was in a rush to get this video up and just snapped the picture and kept on going! :D  

I have also been in love with a brush from Coastal Scents that is a short flat shader brush.  I know Sigma and MAC both make one very similar to this.  I bought this one on a whim while looking through brushes that were around $3-6.  I use this tiny detail brush to get the inner corner/tear duct area of my eye.  I have really been concentrating on making my eyes/face look awake and bright and this is one of the many tricks in my back pocket!  This brush is perfectly shaped for this, it is also dense and has very little give/splaying.

I have done a previous post on this mascara before but Mally’s Volumizing Mascara has been my go-to mascara ever since the day I received it.  It is one of those fail proof mascaras that I am slowly becoming obsessed with.  It is a one coat wonder.   I have NEVER been the kind of girl to only put on one coat of mascara, I am usually the girl that applies coat after coat and sometimes mixes 2 formulas.  This is a break through product for me!

On to the lip products.  I have never been the kind of person that cares too much about lip color.  I have always been a nude/MLBB kind of girl because it is easy and goes with everything.  I have recently fallen in love with a bold lip.  My lips are actually quite small and I have found that by putting a bold color on them it really fills them out.  I will say that I think it sort of balances my face out.  I get lots of compliments when I wear bold lips and that really was surprising to me at first.  

Chanel Dragon has sadly been discontinued but I am so glad that I got my hands on it.  This is a perfect dramatically bold red color.  It is perfect.  No more description is necessary for this! LOL IF you can still find it, go get it now!

Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters have taken me by storm.  I have 5 (only 4 are pictured here because these are the ones that stay in my purse, therefore the ones being used most often!) and they are amazing.  They are sheer but really give off a lot of color.  They are shiny and need no gloss added to them and they come in a wide variety of colors. The ones below are Lollipop, Raspberry Pie, Pink Truffle, and Creme Brulee.  They range from bold to nude and that is a good representation of the entire line.  

I do still like my nude/MLBB lip colors and here are a couple of those.  A long-time favorite of mine is MAC’s High Tea.  I have owned a few of these over time and it is something that works so well with my natural lip color.  

Also pictured are a few items from Essence.  The lipstick is Essence Creamy Nude.  The lipliner is Soft Rose.  Essence products never disappoint me and they are soooo cheap!  I have been completely 100% happy with every Essence purchase I have ever made.  No joke!  If you run across an Essence display, please do me a favor and try something!

This concludes my December 2011 favorites.  I am not sure that I will be doing one for the entire year of 2011.  You can take a look back through my favorites post by typing Favorites into the search bar on the top right-hand side of the blog.  Thank you for reading and I hope you have a SPECTACULAR 2012!