Happy New Year and welcome to my first blog post of 2021!
2020 was the year that I wore the least makeup since I was seventeen-years-old. I'm not just talking about the amount of makeup going on my face at once, but also the frequency in which I wore it in. I did purchase a decent amount of makeup in relation to the past few years since it was also the year of my wedding and I wasn't going to skimp out on something that'll live forever in pictures, but overall I mainly repurchased things of filled the few gaps in my collection.
My wedding day reaffirmed to me which beauty items I own that are truly my favourites so I thought I'd dedicate a post to makeup since that's how this blog started. I won't be following any type of structure (so some categories may be missing and some may contain multiples) and I will only be sharing products that I consider favourites of the last year. Most of the links will be affiliate links that will give me a few cents if you decide to make a purchase, but won't cost you anything at all. One affiliate code will be included as well!
Eyes + Brows
After years of not purchasing an eyeshadow palette (I don't include ones I received for free in PR) I finally decided to fill the gaps in my eyeshadow collection.
RawBeautyKristi AKA my favourite YouTuber for the past few years did her first collaboration ever with PÜR Cosmetics and created a double-sided eyeshadow palette. Thankfully I pre-ordered for the second launch and received my palette in late September. I could easily live off of this palette, my custom Makeup Geek palette (I talk more about this in my wedding makeup blog post) and the last palette of this post forever and be perfectly content as long as they kept magically refilling.
Too Faced Chocolate Gold eyeshadow palette - This is my last favourite of 2020. I'm pretty sure this is no longer available, but I sometimes see it for sale so I'm not 100% sure. I talked about this briefly in my wedding makeup blog post, but I did a dedicated blog post for swatches and a mini-review so check that out for more information!
ESQIDO False Lashes - 'Heart and Soul' is my favourite lash style that I own from ESQIDO and what I wore on my wedding day as well. I've had these for years and they're still going strong since I'm careful when removing and cleaning them. These were sent to me and if you use my affiliate code 'amys' you'll get 15% off your order!
L'Oreal Lash Paradise - There isn't much to say here to be honest. The brush, formula and application is all amazing. It's black, doesn't clump my lashes together and makes them look really nice and long. It's not impossible to remove, which is also always a plus for me!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade - Dark brown - best tone and with Inglot duraline it'll last you forever
Face (Base)
Nars Sheer Glow foundation - I've mentioned this countless times on my YouTube channel and Instagram page, but I've never reviewed it on this blog before! This is my favourite foundation formula out there. The coverage is good, but not too high that it looks cakey and the shade (Punjab) is perfect for the summer. Several years ago when I went outside more and gave my skin a chance to tan the shade 'Stromboli' was better, but now I no longer lay out in the sun for the purpose of tanning and spend most of my time indoors, so Punjab works well for me. This was my wedding foundation so I bought it for that purpose along with a pump because foundations are truly better when they have one. I don't have a perfect winter shade (Ceylan is the closest undertone wise, but way too light), but if i did it would replace the next foundation on the list.
Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation - This is pretty high coverage, but it works well in the winter and when my skin is acting up. I mix it with a bit of beauty oil so it applies a bit more sheer since I'm not a fan of super high coverage and the matte finish. The shade is as close to perfect for my winter skin-tone as I've ever seen. It's beautiful, but NARS is still #1 and I hope they expand their light shades to include more yellow undertones. I did a review blog post on this foundation as well as a first-impressions full-day wear test on this and other products in the line if you want to learn more!
RCMA No Makeup Powder - This is still amazing and for a lighter, more natural finish. It lasts forever and even though the price has gone up quite a bit, it's still very affordable for the amount that you get.
Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder - I used this on my wedding day and it looked beautiful. It's super thin and luxurious (the packaging is also really nice). This is so similar to the RCMA, just slightly thinner and the packaging is way nicer. If you're on a budget, stick with the RCMA, but if you're buying a translucent powder for a special event (like your wedding) I would splurge a bit on the hourglass because it does look the slightest bit better, but the experience of using feels a lot more pampering for some reason.
Under Eyes
Too Faced Multi-Use Sculpting concealer - I have the shades Vanilla and Swan and these on their own and together cover my skin-tones throughout the seasons. These are HUGE (about 1.5 the regular amount) so I can justify the high price tag of $40. I always go a few shades lighter for concealer so for me it works well. I used both on my wedding day and now that it's winter I exclusively use a tiny bit of Swan under my eyes and lightly under foundation to cover dark spots. This concealer was also featured in the full-day wear test from two years ago (as well as the chocolate gold palette) so that's a good video to watch if you want to see a lot of these products in action.
Revlon Candid Antioxidant Concealer - This is fairly light coverage, but I love both shades I have. They're SO yellow, which is all I've ever wanted in a concealer. It blends out beautifully and doesn't look cakey whatsoever. It's not very affordable considering it's 'drugstore' since that means it's normally around $10 nowadays, but if you don't want to deal with a high coverage concealer, this is worth it!
Becca Undereye Brightening Corrector - I got the light/medium shade Colour corrector - After watching tutorials on how to use this (spoiler alert: barely use any at all) I fell in love. I also used this on my wedding day and I use it any time I'm wearing a full face of makeup. Originally this was only going to be for special events, but since I don't buy makeup often and this makes such a huge difference in making me look healthy and awake since it reflects light in a way that hides my darker under eyes, I've decided to use it any time I wear more than just the absolute basic face of makeup.
Lipstick
MAC 'Cosmo' - This has been my #1 favourite lipstick of all time since I first bought it back in 2014, on the day my husband officially asked me to be his girlfriend. The medium pinky brown colour looks amazing with my yellow undertone and the formula is really comfortable. I also wore this on my wedding day which shouldn't be shocking to anyone who follows my Instagram page or YouTube channel due to a million mentions over the past six years. This is the 'Amplified' formula, which is definitely my favourite.
Rimmel London 'Notting Hill Nude' - This is definitely my second favourite of all time. It's very similar to the MAC 'Amplified' formula, but just a bit thinner. It's the same undertone as 'Cosmo', but the colour itself is more brown-nude so it all depends on what colour I'm feeling more like on a specific day. I'm almost out of this so I really need to get a new one if it still exists. I'll be really sad if it's been discontinued so I really should have a look sooner than later.
Anastasia Beverly Hills 'Pure Hollywood' - This one is a liquid lipstick, which I rarely wear anymore, but if I'm going to throw something onto my lips, especially if I'll have to wear a mask at some point, this is the only lipstick I grab for. The colour is perfect and the formula isn't too drying, but will not come off once you blot (I just kiss the back of my hand a few times after it's dry).
Face (The rest of it)
NYX Bare With Me Setting Spray - This is technically also a priming spray, but I find it doesn't really do anything for that. This works great to set my face and make me feel less dry. It doesn't give me any type of dewy or luminous finish, but it certainly makes the makeup look a bit more natural and helps make it look like my skin is showing through a bit, including my natural sheen.
Lancôme Fix it Forget it Setting Spray - I spray this on days that I feel like I'm looking really oily (depends on the time of month) or if I used something too shiny on my skin while applying makeup. This helps make the makeup look a bit less cakey (not quite as good as MAC fix +, but decent) while keeping my forehead and chin from getting shiny. It also helps my makeup stay in place, which is helpful with masks since they love to rub off makeup from my nose or chin. While I've used this a lot and it's a favourite for 2020, I do think I'll pass on it once it's gone and give MAC another try just to make sure I don't like that one better.
Milani 'Luminoso' Blush - Another long-standing favourite of mine that I wore on my wedding day. The tone is perfect, the application is great and the sheen is also really nice for not making my cheeks look dry. It works well with my skin-tone, no matter the time of year, and just makes me look healthy without making my face look red and defeating the purpose of putting foundation on in the first place. This is also a drugstore product so I highly recommend picking it up!
The Balm 'Mary-Lou Manizer' Highlighter - This has always made the top of my highlighter list and 2020 is no exception. At this point it's pretty much useless to link back to mentions of it because there are so many, so I'll let you know again that I wore this on my wedding day!
That's it for my 2020 makeup favourites! I'm not sure if I'll do any other posts since my skincare and haircare favourites haven't changed and if you scroll for one or two pages you'll see what I used for my wedding and that sums it up.
2020 wasn't a great year aside from getting married (it actually sucked quite a bit aside from the wedding) so let's hope that 2021 will be better. If you can, stay at home and stay safe!
See you soon!
