Monday, December 29, 2014

LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014!

  
LLPT's Best Beauty of 2014

  Well, C's and my Christmas vacation is drawing to a close and before we both head off to work tomorrow morning, we will have devoured three boxes of chocolates in four days.  I'll get back on the workout bandwagon tomorrow, as well, but in the meantime, I'll just savor a breakfast (now lunch, lol) truffle or two.and tell you all about my favorite beauty products of 2014, both new launches and products I just discovered this year.


  Maybelline DreamLUMI Touch Highlighting Concealer

  Maybelline DreamLUMI Touch Highlighting Concealer
Maybelline DreamLUMI Touch Highlighting Concealer
  I've never done well with eye products but this highlighting/concealing dual action product not only does the best job of disguising my German birthright undereye circles of anything I've tried, it feels great and is totally affordable.  The soft, synthetic brush is very gentle and the formula does exactly what it claims without exacerbating problems in that delicate, sensitive area.  I adore this stuff-- total makeup game changer for me.


L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Day/Night Cream

L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Day/Night Cream
L'Oreal Youth Code Texture Perfector Day/Night Cream
  SO much love for this stuff.  Where should I begin?  I've tried numerous daytime moisturizers over the years and nothing has stuck, until now.  This pale pink, serum-like formula is perfect for my combination skin, light enough for summer and adequately taking me into winter, as well.  It's not greasy or heavy, wears beautifully under primer, and best of all, doesn't exacerbate my eczema when it flares.  My only complaint is the fragrance, which is clean, floral, and stronger than I'd prefer (I go fragrance free in my face care products whenever possible) but it doesn't change this creme's holy grail status for me.


Neuma Moisture Intensive Masque

Neuma Moisture Intensive Masque
Neuma Moisture Intensive Masque
  Keeping my long hair sufficiently moisturized has been an uphill battle, especially since I decided I was meant to live life in an unnaturally occurring shade of burgundy.  I've used the deep conditioning treatments that come in home coloring kits and various drugstore brand hair masques but nothing, NOTHING, delivers like this Neuma masque.  I'm picky about fragrance-- this has a fairly strong herbal scent to it; not my favorite, but natural enough to not feel overly perfumey; and again, certainly not a deal breaker for how it performs.  It claims to contain less water and therefore be more concentrated than drugstore brand masques, and that may or may not be true-- it's still the first ingredient listed.  All I know is how it makes my hair feel, which is soft, silky, and utterly touchable, and therefore worth its hefty pricetag.  It retails for $40 in salons but can be found on Amazon for 30-40% less.


e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder

e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder
e.l.f. Tone Correcting Powder
  If you've been reading for a while, you now I'm not a daily makeup wearer-- at least, not full face.  I'd heard great things about this e.l.f. compact and was excited to see what it could do for me on the increasing days where I just want pretty skin with minimal effort.  The colors, blended together, are meant to balance yellow and ruddiness and provide an altogether more even tone.  If you're not careful, it can look a little chalky on; swirling and applying lightly with a soft face brush minimizes this.  It's a great one-step hack to applying my bb cream and setting powder.  It does require reapplication on my t-zone and the green and yellow side tend to crumble but at $3, it's a minor nuisance and a good excuse to pop over to Target, anyway.  It's been a mainstay in my purse since my local Target started carrying it this summer.


Milani Bella Blue Lipstick

Milani Bella Blue lipstick
Milani Bella Blue lipstick
  This one is all me.  I read mostly complaints about how this color looked nothing like its press release photos and that might be true.  Bella Blue applies fairly sheer and doesn't wear overly well but it's such a fun, out there statement that I wish I'd have bought a backup before the limited edition set was pulled from the shelves.  I love it.  I feel like a rock star in this lipstick.  


Bath & Body Works Wild Madagascar Vanilla 

Bath & Body Works Wild Madagascar Vanilla
Bath & Body Works Wild Madagascar Vanilla
  It's been a while since I've fallen in love with a Bath & Body Works fragrance.  I generally don't have much use for that store because most everything is a little on the sweet and fruity side, to my taste.  This was a scent I'd picked out as a gift for one of C's grandmas and liked it enough to grab an extra tube for myself.  It is sweet, to be sure, but there's something light, floral, and somewhat exotic about this vanilla-- and it layers beautifully with my beloved Chanel No.5.  I'll enjoy this beauty until Bath & Body Works inevitably axes it for no apparent reason (cue wistful reminiscing over Freesia and Juniper Breeze).


LLPT's Best Beauty Site



  I had the pleasure of being introduced to the most fun beauty product site this year.  Gloss48.com is a store full of niche and indie beauty brands you've both seen around and never heard of.  The lovely gals running the show have tested and curated everything featured and the feel of the site is like shopping your beauty savvy girlfriend's product stash, complete with descriptions on why each product is awesome enough to be in the collection.  They carry gorgeous and innovative products from companies like Senna CosmeticsFurlesse, and Besame... Sign up for their daily newsletter for weekly featured deals and blogger reviews and just try and keep yourself from running up a wishlist a mile long.

  And that's all, folks!  I've had a lot of fun discovering and rediscovering this year and I'm excited to see what's in store for 2015.  Thank you for reading, have a gorgeous day, see you in the new year, and excuse me while I finish my chocolates ;)

30 comments:

  1. I wish I had the guts to wear blue lipstick! It looks awesome on you!

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    1. Thanks so much, Anne! ♥ I can do blue lipstick but I can't do blue eyeshadow, lol.

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  2. That blue lipstick is so awesome! Great picks :)

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  3. Great beauty favorite picks for 2014. That blue lipstick is so fun but definitely not a color I would be confident enough to wear. Your totally rocking it though.

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    1. Thanks, Lisa ♥ We all have our things, lol... I can't do nail art (literally and figuratively,lol) so this is where I get a little crazy :)

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  4. Awesome post! I'm a huge fan of Gloss48!

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    1. Thanks Jess :) Gloss48's awesome! I can't wait until they do a Besame restock.

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  5. Good for you wearing that blue lipstick and making it look amazing! I would never have the guts!

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    1. One makeup I've never shied from is a bold lip, lol ;) Thanks, Valesha :)

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  6. You are simply gorgeous. I mean, seriously. I'm totally checking out that Maybelline concealer, and I love YouthCode products as well. I'm trying out Mario Badescu products right now, but I might be going back to YouthCode.

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    1. Well thank you, doll! What a lovely thing to say ♥ I've never tried MB, not sure why. I do like this moisturizer a lot. I tried the primer and wasn't sold, it smells chemically to me and is a little bit astringent on. I keep meaning to do a write up but then I don't, lol.

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    2. My skin pretty much hates anything when it comes to cleaning & moisturizing, so I've been pleasantly surprised with MB. I'd love to read a write-up on the primer!

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    3. I'll consider it a challenge, lol ;)

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  7. I'll admit, I thought Milani Bella Blue was pretty awesome as well.

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  8. Great picks! I've always heard great things about that ELF powder, it seems really interesting! Oh, and I may or may not have devoured some Ferrero Rocher just now….lol holiday sweets are the hardest to resist!

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    1. Yes, yes they are! I've actually been pretty good this season but those chocolates, combined with so many days off, combined with the whole post-Christmas finally get to relax thing, lol, were to much, I was weak ;) Mmmmm, Rocher... ♥♥♥

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  9. You pull off that blue lippie like nobody's business! Somehow, I thought that the Milani blue would change colour to the wearer's shade of pink lol.

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    1. Thank you so much! A color changing lippie would be cool and it seems like I remember some differently colored lipsticks doing just that... I don't remember the brand, though. Maybe I'm craaaaazaaay!

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  10. Woah, that blue lippie! So edgy and cool!

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  11. You seriously pull off that blue lippie so well! Love it!

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  12. I NEED to try that hair masque. I'm addicted to two beauty items: concealers and hair masques. =)

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    1. Right on! The masque is so great! I find I don't need as much of it as I have the other masques I've used. Do check Amazon, though-- really decent prices on this whole line.

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  13. Nice lippy! I like it, oh wow! Hope you have a great new year and see you at the other side :-D

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    1. Thank so much, Ananka! I hope you and your husband had an awesome NYE :)

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  14. Love your picks- & have you seen ELF is coming out with a skincare range??? I'll be check that out in 2015!

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    1. Is that right? I hadn't heard! How exciting!! And thank you :)

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