Current Favorites: Spring and Summer 2019
It’s been a semi-hectic couple months for me with wedding season in full- swing, but I’ve finally set aside time to put up a new blog post and talked about some of my personal and freelance beauty favorites. What gets me excited most about doing more freelance/bridal work is that I get to test out more products on different skin types/colors and really see the product’s effects for their intended customer. As some of you may know, I have oily skin, and while I basically try out most of the products I put on my clients, the effects on a moisturizing sheet mask or moisturizing foundation will be different on my skin vs a client that has very dry and textured skin. Doing makeup on others not only help my creativity, but also let me explore different products in the market. With that said, I have quite a few things to talk about so let’s get right on it!
Beauty and Skincare
LaMer Soft Fluid Foundation - This one is a personal favorite for myself, despite the price. I really was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved this foundation. It just delivers a beautiful glowy medium to full coverage without looking or feeling cakey. It really wears well throughout the day too, without moving or fading much. I definitely get a lot of compliments on my complexion everytime I wear this foundation. Definitely grab a sample of it on your next trip to Nordstrom or Sephora and see what I’m talking about!
Huda Beauty Tantour Contour and Bronzing Cream - I was looking forward to this release so much and oh my gosh, I love the formulation of this creme contour! They also have a great selection of colors and undertones especially for deeper skintones, although I’m sure some fairer women would appreciate one to two more shades of lighter colors. I love using the shades fair and light on my kit, and find them very creamy and easy to blend. I like to use cream contours as a base to my powder contour to help them define bone structure better without a heavy look and make the contour last a lot longer.
INC.redible Lid Slick Eye Pigment - These were such a pleasant surprise! I bought them on whim because I saw them on the sephora app and thought that for metallic pigments they sold at a pretty good price ($10 per pot). I really liked the metallic tones it had and figured these will be great eyeshadow colors, especially on the lid, if I wanted to do a very metallic/sparkly gold/bronze eyes. I ended up buying all the colors that they make to add them to my kit!
Benefit Cosmetics Brow Contour Pro - I recently ran out of my MAC brow pencils on my kit, and since MAC has reformulated them, I decided to try out Benefit’s because I love the idea of having 2 brow shades and 2 highlight shades in one pen and the fact that it’ll be so easy to spot and grab the colors in my kit. I’ve also been using the shade Brown Light to do my brows and it’s been so easy having all these shade options for brown and highlight in one pen. I love the creamy formulation that sets and lasts all day, and how easy it is for me to find the colors I need for a client. Depending on my client’s brow hair color, I sometimes add Anastasia’s brow powder to adjust the tone a bit and it works perfect as a brow powder base too!
Biossance Squalane + Micronutrient Fine Mist - I love using this mist before applying moisturizer to my clients with very dry/textured skin. It delivers such a fine mist that instantly bumps up their skin hydration which gives me a better canvas to work with applying makeup. The hyaluronic acid really helps with bumping up the moisture content of my clients, especially if they have quite dehydrated skin.
Laneige Water Pocket Sheet Mask - I have a select amount of clients that have extremely dry skin that will not do well if I just apply heavy moisturizers on them before makeup. When time permits, I find that letting them wear a hydrating sheet mask to replenish their skin’ s moisture while I’m setting up my kit goes a long way into ensuring that their skin is well-hydrated and makeup applies very well on their skin.
Patrick Ta Highlighting Mist in We Need Her - I love this highlighter as a final touch to add an extra oomph to my client’s highlighter. It just gives such a fine golden glow on the cheekbones that has a beautiful lit from within glow that makes a statement, but definitely not in your face and subtle enough to seem natural.
Bobbi Brown Bronzer - The struggle that I’ve always had with lighter skintones is that bronzer can easily look orange-y on them especially if they have cooler undertones. I find that Bobbi Browns’s range of bronzers have a very beautiful neutral to pink undertones that look very natural for women who have fairer/lighter skintone.
Belif Aqua Bomb and Moisture Bomb - Probably my favorite moisturizers for normal to oily skin (aqua bomb) and normal to dry skin (moisture bomb) . I love how well they moisturize skin without sitting on top of skin or being too heavy. They also absorb fairly quickly and my clients have always felt on how refreshing they feel when I apply it to their skin.
Becca Hydramist Set&Refresh Powder - Setting foundation with powder can easily be a problem especially when your client’s skin is very dry and textured. This powder is 50% water and glycerin, so it has a very cooling feeling when you’re applying it and basically vaporizes into a mist once it hits the skin. This means that you can set liquid foundation without making dry skin look too cakey or powdery, and the best part is this powder smooths and blurs any unevenness on the skin. Last, the packaging is the best I’ve seen out there for a loose powder, it incorporated both a mesh and a lid to cover it to ensure that are is minimal spillage.
Becca Highlighter in Vanilla Quartz - I love how this highlighter looks on fairer skintones because it’s a little bit lighter than Becca’s Moonstone highlighter, but has a bit more transparency to it, so it doesn’t standout too much as it’s not as opaque as most lighter highlighters are. This translates very well for those with fairer skintones who want a highlight, but not necessarily that silver streak of shimmer on their cheeks that some lighter highlighters tend to have.
Body and Haircare
Kerastase Resistance Serum for Severely Damaged Hair - This hair serum has been a lifesaver for me! It really has significantly improved the way my hair feels, especially now that I’ve regularly lightened my hair twice a year to keep up my blonde ends. I didn’t realize how much this serum has helped my hair until I went on a long weekend vacation and was without this hair serum.
Olaplex No. 4 and No. 5 Shampoo and Conditioner - I think I’ve finally found the best hair products to help repair my hair damage. Ever since I’ve started bleaching my hair, I’ve been trying one shampoo and conditioner after another, and have only felt inclined to repurchase these ones. I love how well it moisturizes and repairs my hair, which is something I want to make sure I do after putting them through the bleaching process.
Method Body Wash in Wind Down - I have slowly been more conscious about body products that I use and their ingredients. This body wash is all natural and plant-based, made from a sustainable factory. I love the smell of this body wash so much, it just calms me and the best part is I can purchase it from my local target.
Dyson Airwrap - I’ve recently become a big Dyson fan and not only am I in love with their cordless vacuum but I’ve also been loving their Airwrap system. It definitely has a very steep learning curve aside from a steep price (I know), but trust me when I say that once you learn and get used to how to use it, it’s just a lifesaver when you’re blowing out your hair. I have been using this at least 1-2 times a week (only wash my hair 2-3 times a week) and will be posting a detailed review of it very soon. What I love about this product the most is that it gives me beautifully blown out hair with enough fluffiness and volume at home.
Keihl’s Creme de Corps Body Moisturizer - So, in the past six months I haven’t been very good with moisturizing my skin and has gotten very dry and a bit rough lately. I’ve wanted to keep it more hydrated and smooth, so I went back to my trusted and favorite body moisturizer. I’ve always loved that it’s such a hydrating moisturizer but does not feel heavy, especially during the warm Summer months. The best part? It doesn’t have any scent so you can wear any perfume on top of it without worrying about competing scents. Right now it is currently part of Nordstrom’s Anniversary deals, which gives you 33.8oz of products for $49, which is a steal compared to the usual 16.9oz at $48!
Lifestyle/Fashion
Saint Laurent Loulou Metalasse Cosmetics Bag - I’ve been looking for a makeup bag in this shape and size for a long time! Most designer cosmetics case I‘ve seen have more of that half moon shape which can take up a lot of space without storing as much product as I would like. I’ve been hunting down this cosmetics case silhouette, when I saw this online at Nordstrom and immediately checked the dimensions, lo and behold, it definitely had the dimensions I was looking for. What was the cherry on top for this makeup case is that Saint Laurent carries it in the most beautiful shade of blush pink! It fits most all of my makeup essentials and then some. I can definitely see myself using this case for years to come!
Lightroom Mobile App - I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting so many ads for Lightroom Presets on Instagram lately. I’ve resisted for so long until one day, I saw one for a great deal with the aesthetic I was looking for. It’s definitely been a game changer in livening up a lot of my photos, especially the ones I’ve taken in less than ideal lighting circumstances. You will definitely see more of my photos edited with these presets in the coming weeks. The one I have is from Light and Airy Photography, and I’m pretty sure they were doing a massive sale then because I believe I only paid $30-$40 for the entire preset collection.
Ok, I feel like that was quite a list of products to go through, but I had so much fun writing about these products and sharing them with you! I definitely need to get into doing faves post more often! What are your current favorites? Did any from my list make it to yours? Go ahead and share them in the comments below! I’m always excited to see who else loves the same products as I do and other products to try out.
