Hello beauties!
Today, instead of doing a monthly favourites for december, I decided I would just do a roundup of the entire year 2015 and share my favourites of the entire year with you.
These products are my top, top most loved products of 2015 that are now a staple in my collection so if you haven't checked out any of these featured products, you should definitely go and do so right after reading this blogpost.
Let's get started!
left: Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, right: my mini MAC palette (top shadow is Patina, the bottom one Nylon)
Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette
2015 has been the year of the Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette, but I personally loved the Naked 2 palette. When I heard they are coming out with a Smoky palette, I was quite interested in it but when it came out and I saw it, I was not too keen on it. It's a pretty palette, don't get me wrong but I find it quite similar to the Naked 1 palette, mixed with a bit of the Naked 2. I personally just find that if you have the 1 and 2, you do not necessarily need the Naked Smoky (unless you are a collector and just like to have them all).
The Naked 2 has to be my all time favourite Naked palette that UD did just because it is the more cool tones palette out of them all and I prefer cool over warm eyeshadows. I know I am probably alone on this but for some reason I just find cool tones work a lot better with my skin tone than warm shades do.
I love myself some good silver, grey shadows and true cool tones brown shades and the Naked 2 palette definitely fills my cool eyeshadow needs!
MAC Frost Eyeshadow "Patina"
This shadow is my go-to, everyday. Patina has never failed me, it's just a gorgeous taupe, brown kind of colour which also appears a little bit of olive sometimes. Anyway, it's just gorgeous. If I could only have one eyeshadows for the rest of my life, it would be MAC's Patina for sure!
f.l.t.r.: MAC Strobe Cream, Morphe M401 brush, Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder
MAC Strobe Cream
This little guy was my favourite product in the summer time. If you use it before your foundation, it just gives your face a highlighted, nice glow that's not too strong to the point where you look sweaty. I only got the travel size and it has lastet my so long, if you only want to try the small size first, it is definitely a good idea. It's definitely going to last you quite a long time as well!
Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder
Have we not heard about this so many times already? But for a good reason. I just recently got into the loose setting powders because I just didn't want the mess so I used to stick with pressed powders for years. But then the whole "baking" trend came up this year and everyone seemed to use loose setting powders under their eyes. I tried the e.l.f. undereye setting powder but the glitter in that one transferred on my face so heavily that it looked way off.
When I gave the Laura Mercier one a chance since I heard everyone rave about this one, I fell in love. I find it quite expensive for the small amount of powder you actually get but it is amazing. It does actually brighten my under eyes and it's such a fine powder as well. It doesn't dry out my undereye area too bad which some powders can do, overall it is a hyped product for a good reason.
Morphe "M401" Brush
Love this brush in combination with the Laura Mercier powder, it's super tapered so it fits amazingly under the eyes to set them. It's really soft and nice quality, it has lost like one bristle so far. I definitely need to get my hands on some more Morphe brushes because they are amazing quality for the price.
f.l.t.r.: Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm, Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream Lip Balm
Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm
If you like a more heavy-duty lip balm that's really thick and moisturizing for the night time, then I recommend going for the Nuxe Reve the Miel one. It is really thick and has got this wax texture and smells like grapefruit. It's extremely moisturizing and I mostly use it over night because of that. This is a cult classic in the blogger and Youtube community and I know I will repurchase this once I run out as well.
I do know they also make a stick version of this lip balm which I have not tried yet but I am keen on trying because I'm not the biggest fan of lip balms that you have to apply with your fingers just cause it gets a bit messy. So once I get my hands on the stick version, I will let you know what I think of that one compared to the pot version!
Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream Lip Balm
People have been raving about the original Elizabeth Arden 8-Hour Cream and how amazingly it works as a lip balm as well but since her products are a bit pricey, I never splurged on it. One day I saw that they actually had a lip balm version of their 8-Hour Cream which of course wasn't as pricey either since it's a small tube, but I love that little guy. The same day I got it, I ordered another one of them because I loved it. It makes your lips look really full and pouty because it's a really shiny lip balm which I personally love. Of course it also hydrates your lips really nicely. Definitely a must-try item if you love yourself some lip balm!
f.l.t.r.: Benefit Roller Lash mascara, NYX Micro Brow Pencil
Benefit Roller Lash
It's what we have all been waiting for, a new Benefit mascara since the They're Real mascara was such a big hit but has been out forever. This year, Benefit finally brought out a new mascara, the Roller Lash. This is also pretty much identical to the new Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara that also came out this year.
I do have to be honest, the They're Real is still my favourite and I prefer it over the Roller Lash for a simple reason. They're Real is close to being waterproof which means it stays on your lashes for the entire day without smudging while the Roller Lash tends to smudge on me when it's hot outside/I sweat. I do still really like it because it holds a curl a lot better than the They're Real does so for people with stick straight lashes, the Roller Lash is the one to go for.
The packaging is adorable and it does make your lashes look super long and curled. I don't find it to give loads of volume and thickness to the lashes so if that is what you are looking for, then you might not like this one as much!
NYX Micro Brow Pencil
Probably one of my favourite eyebrow products. I am usually not a big fan of any kind of brow pencils, I have never really found a nice shade for me, the pencil was too hard as to where you have to push really hard to get some pigment on your skin, it wasn't pigmented at all, all sorts of things. I never bothered doing my eyebrows because I find them to be okay looking, if I went somewhere fancy, I would use my ModelCo fibre gel thing to make them stay in place and appear just a little more thicker but the NYX Micro Brown is fabulous. Right the first time I tried it, my brows were on fleek even though I usually struggle to make them look decent. People say it is very comparable to the ABH Brow Wiz because they're both dual ended with the pencil on one side and a brush on the other side. The tip is super tiny on both products (hence the name Micro Brow) and the shade is perfect for me as well (I use Ash Brown).
clockwise & f.l.t.r.: Maybelline Creamy Mattes "Nude Embrace", MAC Faux, NYX Soft Matte Lip Creams "Copenhagen" and "Abu Dhabi", Colourpop Lippie Stix "Cookie" and "Tootsie", Maybelline Creamy Mattes "Touch of Spice", Colourpop Lippie Stix "Lumiere", Dose of Colors "Stone"
Maybelline Creamy Matte Lipsticks
Finally we got these badboys in Europe! There has never been any US make-up that I have been waiting for so badly as with these. Which is upsetting is that we did not get the full colour range from the US, I believe we have 4 or 6 different shades where only one of them was appealing to me. I did try it out and fell in love so I did order two more from Ebay (Devine Wine and Touch of Spice). These are exactly what their name says, a creamy matte lipstick. These are an amazing formula and still look matte, absolutely not drying at all and the colour range (at least the US one) is amazing as well! I really hope they continue to make different shades of these little guys!
Colourpop Lippie Stix
I only recently got to try out some Colourpop stuff and while the Ultra Matte lips have amazing colours, I am not the biggest fan of liquid lipsticks to be honest, because I do have dry lips and liquid lippies just tend to dry them out even more. But for the Lippie Stix there are so many different formulas they have brought out, even matte ones so if you love yourself a good, matte lip they got you covered! They are not as drying as liquid lipsticks either and I just love their different formulas as well. The price is incomparable, so affordable and the colour selection is amazing as well, they do matching lip pencils for their Lippie Stix too and they are so easy to throw on your purse for on the go! Definitely will order some more CP stuff in the future!
MAC Faux
My go-to, ride or die lipstick. If there is one lipstick I have to have in my purse at any times, it is definitely Faux by MAC. I love this colour deeply, it's the perfect everyday mauve shade for my skin tone. I have honestly never found a lipstick that suits my skintone that well! Definitely a must-have item for me!
Dose of Colours "Stone"
When Dose of Colours brought back their limited edition liquid lipstick in "Stone" from their previous Terra Collection, everybody went crazy for it. Of course I had to grab one myself to see what the fuzz was all about and I love it.
The colour is absolutely stunning, the perfect mauve and the DOC liquid lipsticks last so long on my lips, it's incredible. I find that they do transfer a bit when I am drinking but the colour on my lips does not really fade. It stayed put the entire day and I didn't have to re-apply it at all. I put it on in the morning and it was still looking as good around 6 hours after. Even my mother asked me if I had re-applied my lip product because after all this time it still looks good and I could proudly tell her that I was not touching it.
I believe it is currently out of stock again but if you have the chance to grab it when it's back, definitely do. I promise you will not regret it!
Nyx Soft Matte Lip Creams
These have to be my favourite product in the liquid lipsticks/lip creams category. I like them because they are extremely affordable, have nice pigmentation but they are not too pigmented. Especially with light, nude liquid lipstick kind of products I personally don't like this really crisp, sharp application. With darker colours, yes, of course, but for nudes I find it looks a bit weird and too in-your-face when with a nude lip, I don't want it to be a stand-out lip. So I find the NYX lip creams are amazing, because they don't give you that crisp, sharp application. It does not look messy at all, it just creates a nice gradient effect I find, it gives a lot of pigment on the actual lips and kind of fades outwards to your skin as to where it still looks neat but not too sharp and perfect.
I know this is probably really hard to understand but I really hope you understand what I mean.
Also, there colour selection is amazing, they have so many different kind of nudes which I personally find that most liquid lipstick companies seem to lack. But with the Soft Matte Lip Creams, you will definitely find a perfect nude for your personal skin tone!
Marc Jacobs "Decandence" Perfume
If you know Marc Jacobs and his perfumes, you know they are the floral, sweet kinds. To me, all his perfumes like Dot, Honey, Daisy etc. spell kind of similar so I only ever bothered to get one of them (which I have Daisy Eau so Fresh Delight), I barely ever use it though. But with his new perfume that came out torwards the end of 2015, he definitely turned around 360° and made something completely different. It has such a strong woody, powdery smell where it smells like a sexy man but it also has got some more girly notes to it as well. I absolutely love woody scents, it's definitely a love or hate kind of perfume but for me, I love it.
In case you are interested, here are the notes to it:
Top Notes: Plum, Iris, Saffron
Middle Notes: Bulgarian Rose, Jasmine Sambac, Orris
Base Notes: Amber, Vetiver, Papyrus
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish in Mauve Along
Sally Hansen "Mauve Along"
This has been my go to nail polish for the year, I use to be obsessed with Essie's Mint Candy Apple in 2014, where as in 2015, I was definitely into more nude nails and Sally Hansen "Mauve Along" was definitely my favourite! The Sally Hansen polishes are nice quality in general, the brush is really nice and thick and they last a good amount of time on my nails as well!
Frends Layla Headphones
These rose gold headphones have been all over Youtube like a year or two ago and I have always wanted them but just could not get myself to spend all that money on headphones (especially since I do love the in-ear Apple ones that you get with all their products). This year I started my extreme obsession with rose gold and so I came across these headphones again and just took the punch when I saw they had -25% off their website.
I know a lot of people say the sound quality is off on the Frends headphones, but I personally can't really tell a difference between headphones ever. I am just not a big headphone freak, they do their job and they look super cute, that's all that matters to me. I am not a professional musician or anything so I don't really need the best of the best sound qualities.
One thing I can say about these though is that they are extremely comfortable on the ears!
These are all my favourite products of 2015, if you want to see more products I have been loving over this year you can go check out my monthly favourites posts on my blog as well :)
xox, Julia
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