Pale Products and More

I've been eyeing the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer ever since I got into my balmy highlighter phase, but was holding out for some reason. I decided that I had no reason to put it off any longer so I said fuck it and here we are.

It retails for $38 for .17 oz; compared to other balm highlighters, the Ciate London Dewy Stix (review here) is $26 for .17 oz., and the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Poured Creme Highlighter is $38 for .19 oz. It is said to give a "translucent, dewy finish" without being "sticky, greasy, or glittery". Literally sounds like exactly what I'm about.

I've tried applying this both with my Real Techniques sponge as well as just my fingers and I actually like both ways, and don't see either being better than the other. It goes on very easily and blends even easier. It also doesn't fuck with my foundation/concealer at all (which the Ciate stick can do a little).

It doesn't emphasize texture at all and definitely isn't greasy or glittery. It is ever so slightly tacky, but I wouldn't call it sticky. It eventually does dry down throughout the day, but the shine stays. The downside is it can take makeup off if you're not careful, I accidentally took off part of my brow tail the other day when applying it to my brow bone. That's nothing a little more attention can't fix though.

Overall I love this shit, 10/10. I really don't have any complaints that aren't due to my own impatience or just simply not paying enough attention when I'm going my makeup, lol. Will repurchase for sure.

I bought a lot of makeup this year let's be honest. I figured I might as well talk about my favorites to try and convince myself that it wasn't all a waste! Most products I have reviews on, and if I do they will be linked.

I only have one product when it comes to foundations and that would be the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea Foundation. This gives such a beautiful skin like finish and has a shade I can wear without mixing. Its the one face product I find myself reaching for much more consistently than any others, and I even bought a second bottle, which I don't think I've ever done! I have a full review on it here if you're interested.

In the category of concealers I have two products to mention; the Kat Von D Lock It Creme Concealer (review here) and the Nyx HD Concealer in Alabaster (review here). The Kat Von D one provides serious brightening and coverage, while the Nyx one gives a more natural look. I repurchased each of these and plan on doing so when I run out again!

I'm lumping face products together in one category, and I've got a few products to talk about; the Nudestix Nudies All Over Face Color Matte in Bareback/Bondi Bae, the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powders, the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed, and the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer.
I have reviews coming on the Nudestix products, but they are great! Bare Back is a perfect contour shade for my skin tone, and Bondi Bae a really nice bronzer. They blend out great and last really well.
I have two of the Hourglass Strobe Lighting Powders, reviews here and another coming soon. They are my go to highlighters that I know will look beautiful no matter what. I really want to purchase the other shade that will work on my skin tone, Brilliant.
The Tarte Amazon Clay Blush in Exposed (review here) is the blush I wear pretty much every single day. I don't have to worry about matching it to my eyeshadow and lip product, I can just put it on hassle free and know it'll look good. Its my ride or die blush.
I just recently got the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer, so a review will be coming, but I love this shit. Its the perfect glossy/balmy highlighter I've been looking for that looks great and doesn't fuck with my base products.

As far as primers/setting sprays two products really stood out to me this year; the Too Faced Hangover 3 in 1 Replenishing Primer and Setting Spray and the Smashbox Primer Water. Both of these improve the application of foundations when used as primers, making them look more skin like. I don't use the Primer Water as setting spray, but the Too Faced one really settles powder into my skin and gives a very natural finish to my face when it may look a bit powdery or heavy. I can always count on these two products to help my base look great.

When it comes to eye products there's really only one stand out product I can think of; the Nudestix Magnetic Matte Eye in Taupe. I got this as a free gift when I bought some of their lip products (which I promptly returned bc they were shit), and boy am I glad I did. I use it when I just need something on my eyes but am too lazy to really blend an eye look. I just plop it on, blend quickly and done. I really want to purchase other colors but they're a bit pricey so we shall see. (forgot to include this in the picture, don't drag me).

It was a good year for lip products; my faves are the Fenty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer, the Tarte Quench Lip Rescue, the Butter London Sheer Wisdom Lip Oil, and the Lorac Alter Ego Glosses.
I have a review on the Fenty Gloss coming soon, but man I love this stuff. I wasn't gonna get it originally but I think Samantha Ravndahl on youtube convinced me. I was weary of the glitter but you can't even see it on the lips, it just looks juicy and beautiful.
The Tarte Quench Lip Rescues are my every day lip product when I don't want to think about my lips, but still want to look amazing. I have a review coming; they are everything I want in a lip product and more. I wish there were more shades!
Butter London really came through with these Sheer Wisdom Lip Oils (review here). They are exactly what I want in a sheer lip product and rival the Tarte Lip Rescues for my all time favorite lip product!
The Lorac Alter Ego Glosses are my favorite lip gloss formula I've found. I have a review coming soon, but they apply beautiful, and wear even better.

I've got one product to talk about in the personal hygiene category and that would be the Lush Aramaco Deodorant (review here). This year was a long journey to finding a non-aluminum deodorant that worked for me (no I'm not avoiding aluminum because I'm afraid of cancer or whatever, it just fucks up my armpits). This product was a godsend after many failed attempts, and many armpit rashes.

And my final category, skincare, has a few contenders; the Corsx Oil Free Moisturizing Lotion, Corsx BHA Blackhead Liquid, and the It's Skin Grean Tea Calming Cleansing Oil (somewhat old review here).
When I started using the Cosrx Oil Free Moisturizing Lotion it was like the missing puzzle piece in my routine. It provides the perfect amount of light moisture after my more liquidy products, and preps my skin for the more heavy duty ones.
I've been using the Corsx BHA Blackhead Liquid since before 2017, but I really started continued use this year. This product really makes a difference in the quality of my skin, texture wise. Even if I skip it for one night, I can physically feel a difference putting on products that night, as well as in the morning applying makeup.
I've also used the It's Skin Calming Cleansing Oil since before 2017, but this is the only cleansing oil I've wanted to use the entire year, whereas before I was still trying out others. This just gets all my makeup off, doesn't leave any residue, and doesn't strip my skin at all. Added bonus it smells nice! I think I'm on my third or fourth bottle of this stuff.

Okay done. That's it for my 2017 favorite products! This year I found some really good shit! I'm looking forward to what 2018 has in store :-)

The year has ended and so have several of my products. I usually either flat out don't run out of things, or only run out of one thing in like five months, so I never really have any content for empties posts, but now I do!

I've tried a few eye primers but I usually stick with the Nyx primer as it works well and is cheap. Ran out of this a few months ago and repurchased! It lasts for ever, I think I had the other tube for well over a year (yeah yeah expiration and all that, if I paid money for it, it expires when its gone).

Another product from Nyx that I ran out of was the Nyx HD Concealer in Alabaster. This stuff is great, although I do wish it was a little bit lighter. Its definitely doable though (even better when mixed with the same product in Lavender), and I repurchased this as well!

While on the topic of concealers, I also went through my Kat Von D Lock It Concealer Creme in L1. I really love this stuff its sooooo light! I wear it almost every day in rotation with the Nyx one, so I wasn't shocked at all when I ran out, and of course purchased a new one.

This technically isn't an empty but I think its close enough to include. I'm almost done with my bottle of the Tarte Rainforest of the Sea in Porcelain. I have a review here on it, but its so great! Skin-like, color I don't have to mix in to wear, nice finish etc etc. I already repurchased it so I'm counting it as an empty!!!!

Now onto skincare empties. I've had the The Face shop BlanClouding Cream since I went to Canada like two Spring Breaks ago....refer to what I already said about expiration dates. I finally am coming to the end! This stuff served me well, was a great second to last step in my routine, but it is time to be replaced! Partially because I want to try something knew, and partially because I can't actually find it anywhere online, lmao.

I stopped regularly using my Cosrx BHA Liquid at some point, and when I went to use it again, I realized the shit had expired. This is an exception to what I already said, because its an active and there's no point in it if its expired. So technically I didn't empty this product, but was forced to replace it. Nonetheless I love this shit and will continue to repurchase, maybe this time I'll actually empty it!

I got the Corsx Honey Ceramide Full Moisture Cream forever ago and was convinced I would never see the end of it. Well it sure took a while but I finally emptied it! That shit was so thick so I could only use a little, therefor making it last even longer. I mainly used it as a neck cream, as it was too thick for my face unless I applied the tiniest bit. Not a repurchase, but a product that still served me well.

The It's Skin Green Tea Calming Cleansing Oil is my HQ cleansing oil so its no surprise I ran out, and repurchased. Not much else to say, this stuff is the shit.

Usually I use the Barbasol Soothing Aloe Shaving Cream, but when I ran out I purchased the Extra Moisutirzing version. That said I'll definitely be switching back to Aloe as its much thicker and better imo!

And that's it for empties, I emptied all of these probably within the last few months, so October/November/December. Like I said this is an impressive empty "haul" for me, lmao.