Reviews and Other Stuff

Ilia Liquid Light Serum Highlighter in Nova

Loving Right Now. Winter Faves

best beauty skincare products this winter

 

In a few weeks, Spring will be here and I’m pretty sure we can’t wait to welcome it. Aren’t you just glad to see some colors and more sunshine again? But before this chilly season ends, I’m about to feature some of the stuff I’m loving lately in this post. I will also be releasing another post featuring some of the products I’ll be reaching out constantly for Spring. I will definitely update you guys soon. For now, check these out.

 

COMPACTS

 

Hourglass Ghost Blush Palette

 

There are a lot of face compacts released this Winter, but I’ve been especially loving the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look In A Palette in Gorgeous, Glowing Beauty because it has everything I wanted in a palette. It’s an all-in-one face compact that is easy to use, well-pigmented, and perfect for when you’re on-the-go. See the swatch here. For blushes, there are a lot of lovely blushes lately and I really love them all. I do have a special liking for the Hourglass Ghost Blush Palette because it gives a multidimensional pop of color on the cheeks, so each shade won’t make your face look flat. Read the review of this blush quad here. For bronzers, I’m surprisingly amazed by the Too Faced Toasted Peach Bronzer because it’s so creamy and it’s easy to blend. I don’t think I’ve ever tried a very creamy bronzer like this before, and it’s so good. Also, it stays on the skin for hours and it smells divine. Its packaging is also very beautiful. On the other note, I hit pan on my Armani Neo Nude Fusion Powder in #4, so I repurchased it in shade #3 because my skin lightened quite a bit this Winter. Read more about my favorite compact setting powders here.

 

Armani Neo Nude Fusion Powder in #3 swatch

 

BROW

 

Burberry Beauty Full Brow Effortless All-in-One Brow Builder in #3 Ash Brown

 

I’m testing several eyebrow products lately ever since I got disappointed with my Anastasia and Benefit brow products which kept on breaking every time I travel. So far, I’m really impressed with the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil in Ash because it gives a nice volumizing effect. It will give you that kind of Hepburn-ish brows, and it can make you look youthful. Also, the spooley of this is really soft and not scratchy on the brow. I am also enjoying the Burberry Beauty Full Brow Effortless All-in-One Brow Builder in #3 Ash Brown, although it’s a little tricky to use, but it does give a nice volumizing effect as well. The one I seem to love the most is the Shiseido Brow Ink Trio Pencil, Powder, Brush in #3 Deep Brown. This is a very interesting brow product because you can apply this using its pencil tip or using the powder that’s also incorporated in this product. On top of that, this also comes with a spooley. I find myself using the powder and sponge tip applicator a lot because it’s fast, easy, and precise to use. It gives me a nice natural volumized brow in a few seconds, and the formula adheres well and is long-wearing. All three of these brow products have robust packagings.

 

Burberry Beauty Full Brow Effortless All-in-One Brow Builder in #3 Ash Brown

 

 

 

FOUNDATIONS

 

Tom Ford Illuminating Primer

 

I’ve repurchased the Tom Ford Illuminating Primer because it’s still one of the best skincare primers I’ve ever tried and it’s moisturizing for this dry season. The Marc Jacobs Beauty Under(cover) Perfecting Coconut Face Primer is also a very good hydrating primer that I tend to use this Winter as well. I’m also finishing up the Sunday Riley The Influencer Foundation which is an overall good foundation that gives a natural matte sort of second-skin effect and has skincare benefits. It’s a pity that it’s already discontinued. Additionally, I really love using the Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Foundation in 2N2 Linen because it gives a really nice lightweight matte coverage on the skin. See the swatch here.

 

Armani Beauty Power Fabric Concealer in #4.5

 

As an eyeshadow primer, I use the Too Faced Shadow Insurance because it’s creamy and easy to apply on the lids. For concealers, I have a couple of them that I like and I will be reviewing them pretty soon here in the blog. One of them is this Armani Beauty Power Fabric Concealer in #4.5. I like this a lot for my undereyes and it’s creamy, easy to spread, and it covers well. It also lasts a long time. On the other hand, the Ilia Liquid Light Serum Highlighter in Nova (see the swatch here) is a beautiful golden highlighter that you can use alone or combine with your favorite foundations, which I like a lot. I’m also finishing up the Urban Decay Quick Fix Hydracharged Complexion Prep Priming Spray in mini size and I’m planning to have it in regular size because it’s so easy to use. You just spray it on your face and you get a nice prep and primed skin in seconds.

 

For lippies, I am so in love with the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in Stoned Rose. It’s a warm coral rose that is perfect for Winter and its formula is hydrating. Also, as a lip conditioner, I’m enjoying the Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Berry. It’s a very delicious yummy lip balm that I think is way more sanitary to use than its lip sleeping mask counterpart.

 

Pat McGrath Labs MatteTrance Lipstick in Femmebot

 

Another lippy I’m loving is the Nars Satin Finish Lipstick in Tolรจde, which is a pink rose shade that feels hydrating and looks like a natural pop of rose flush on the lips. Speaking of rosy lips, I’m also loving the Rouge Dior Ultra Care Liquid Lipstick in 786 Rosewoodย (swatched here) because of its long-wearing, diffused, and blotted rosy lip shade that looks so stunning. Another lip shade I’m loving lately is the Pat McGrath Labs MatteTrance Lipstick in Femmebot. It’s a pretty natural nude pinkish shade. I will be reviewing my favorite PMG MatteTrance Lipsticks soon, so stay tuned for that.ย 

 

nars satin lipstick tolede swatch

 

BRUSHES

 

Sephora Collection PRO Contour Blender #77

 

There are four brushes I’m loving lately and will probably be loving forever. The brushes from Real Techniques are really superb and they’re really affordable too. I’m really impressed with their Blush Brush and Eye Blend Brush because they’re so soft, so functional, and they feel like high-end brushes or way better. The Eye Blend Brush can pretty much work as my eye shader brush and blending brush at the same time. The Make Up For Ever 122 Blending Brush is a brush with a very interesting shape and design. Some people don’t like it, but I really do. I find that it has a specific purpose, and at first, you may feel like it’s way too light and too fluffy to use that it may not pick up enough product. Well, that’s exactly its purpose – to pick up less products. I love to use it with my Armani Neo Nude powder or with any setting powder because it will help set the foundation in a very light natural way, thus, minimizing cakiness. Also, as an easy contour brush, I love the Sephora Collection PRO Contour Blender #77 because it gives you a more defined well-chiseled cheekbone.

Another thing that I really find interesting lately is the Beauty Blender Wave Shadeshifter Makeup Sponge. One of my old beautyblenders broke, and I had to replace it with this cool and fun makeup sponge that changes its color depending on the water’s temperature. For nail colors, I’m still in love with vampy nail polishes, but the Dior Limited Edition Diorfic Vernis in Dream shade is too pretty to ignore. It’s a gorgeous berry purple color contained in a luxe bottle.

 

Dior Limited Edition Diorfic Vernis in Dream

 

Last but not the least of the stuff I’m loving lately is the Boscia Yes, She Can Peppermint Blotting Linens which smell great and an oily-skin savior. This absorbs excess oil from the pores and it smells fabulous like real peppermints on your fingers.

 

These are the products I’m loving lately, and stay tuned for more beauty and skincare items I will be loving this coming Spring.

 

Boscia Yes, She Can Peppermint Blotting Linens

 

Have you tried or had any of these before? What are your beauty/skin-care go-tos every Winter?

 

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Ilia The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette Review + Swatches

ilia clean beauty eyeshadow palette

 

Ilia Beauty is a brand of makeup and skincare that I’ve been investigating lately. I really love their concept of delivering clean beauty with high-impact colors. Their products have been hitting Instagram and so far, I’ve only heard and seen really good things about their stuff.

 

I was particularly interested in their clean eyeshadow palettes because I really love the cohesiveness of the colors in each of the compacts even though so far, they’ve only released two eyeshadow palettes which cater to those with warm or cool skin undertones. Also, clean eyeshadows are very important especially for those who tend to react or are sensitive to non-clean ones. However, most of the clean eyeshadows I’ve tried in the past tend to lack good pigments and staying power.

 

These Ilia eyeshadows are talc-free, sulfate-free, SLS/SLES-free, paraben-free, formaldehyde-free, cruelty-free, etc. Also, they are vegan and their packaging is recyclable. The texture of each shade is quite velvety because it contains Jojoba Seed oil. Each compact contains six shades that are a mixture of nude and neutral tones together with deeply pigmented colors, while the finishes are a mix of mattes to mildly shimmery ones.

 

The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette (0.05 oz: 38 USD)

 

ilia the necessary eyeshadow palette

 

Cool Nude – This may be made for those with cool skin undertones, but anyone with neutral or warm undertone can pull this off as well.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette cool nude swatches review

 

ilia beauty

 

Warm Nude – The shades of these remind me a lot of Urban Decay’s Naked Heat, but with cleaner ingredients.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette warm nude

 

I definitely think that these Ilia eyeshadows are not your typical basic neutral eyeshadows. They may be on the neutral side but their colors are definitely dramatic and highly-pigmented. Their lasting power is really good considering that they’re made of clean ingredients, and on top of that, there is no fallout. So far, I’m very impressed with these.

 

ilia liquid light serum highlighter in nova review

 

I happen to have a sample of Ilia’s Liquid Light Serum Highlighter in Nova (0.5 oz: 42 USD) which is a soft gold shimmer. There is a lot of buzz about this gel highlighter lately and that’s because this highlighter is really wonderful and totally versatile. The consistency of this is actually quite creamy, thus, making this very easy to blend on the skin. There are a lot of ways you can use this highlighter. First, you can use this as a basic all-around highlighter where you can highlight the high-points of your face. Second, you can mix this with your favorite foundation and customize your glow. Third, you can use this as a lid topper, and last but not the least, you can use this on the collarbone, shoulder, and everywhere on the upper body for maximum highlighting effect. What I also love about this highlighter is its lasting power and its good adherence to the skin which can pretty much last the whole day. On top of that, this highlighter is also made of clean ingredients.

 

ILIA The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette cool nude

 

The Ilia brand of beauty and skincare has very good high-quality products that don’t compromise color impact and saturation while being made of clean and natural ingredients. I find this brand to be very promising and I hope they will keep making more exciting clean beauty and skincare products soon.

 

Have you tried this brand already? What are your favorite clean beauty brands?

 

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