I'm back with my makeup favorites of 2017 - if you missed it, you can find my skincare favorites here. Like my skincare post, I pulled together everything that stuck out to me as a favorite rather than choosing one product from every category. My look for most of the year was quite minimal, glowy, and with an unexpected focus on blush.
Charlotte Tilbury Light Wonder Foundation
I rotated through foundations/tinted moisturizers like crazy this year, but the one that stuck out the most was this beautifully glowy foundation by Charlotte Tilbury. I had tried the formula before, but last year I actually bought my correct shade and was able to wear it a lot more. This smooths over any imperfections, gives a perfect light-medium coverage, and really amps up the glow. If you like dewy foundations, this is one to try for sure.
I truly didn't expect to fall in love with this concealer as much as I did. It's now pretty much the only one I reach for - it has a very natural skinlike finish and isn't drying at all on my skin. I can use it both under my eyes and on blemishes, and the Fair shade is a perfect match for me. Concealer used to be the one product I changed up the most, but I've used this consistently since it launched.
I'm so not a powder person, and yet again, Glossier converted me. This sets the skin beautifully and takes away shine without dulling your glow. It's finely-milled and doesn't appear powdery on the skin, and I've found it really blurs out your pores. I can't use pore-filling primers because they break me out, but this is a nice alternative. I use this for everything - setting under my eyes and down the center of my face where I get a little bit oily, and also recently to set the NARS Soft Matte Concealer on my eyes instead of using a dedicated eye primer - and it works even better!
If I had to choose just one makeup favorite from the entire year, it would hands-down be Cloud Paint. I wasn't even that into blush before these came out, but they really made me embrace that fresh, flushed look. I've gotten lots of use out of all four shades and they all look incredibly beautiful on the skin. They blend out effortlessly and are pretty much impossible to overdo. My favorite of them all is Puff, but I also love mixing different shades together for a custom color.
I've always been a bit of a bronzer fiend, and I was totally in love with this one for the better part of the year. When you look at the pan it looks ultra-shimmery, but on the skin that translates to the perfect amount of sheen. It's not shiny, but just adds a sunkissed glow. It's super smooth and easy to blend, and their selection of shades is quite impressive.
Lilah B. Bronzed Beauty Bronzer Duo
The first half of the year was all about the BECCA Bronzer, and the end of the year saw me obsessed with this beauty. First of all, I love the packaging so much. It's so heavy and feels so nice to hold. The shade is also perfect - not too warm and not too cool. It also has a teeny bit of sheen, though not as much as the BECCA.
NUDESTIX Nudies All Over Face Color in Illumi-Naughty
This year was all about the glossy highlights for me. Illumi-Naughty is pretty much a face gloss in a stick, with a bit of a pink shift to it. It looks absolutely beautiful on the skin and gives a healthy glow. It's quite lightweight and not sticky at all, despite it not setting down on the skin.
I think I mentioned this in my 2016 favorites, but it was certainly still my most-used of the year. I went through a whole tube of it. It's still just my all-time favorite, it gives the skin a huge dose of sheen while still looking quite natural.
Yes, another highlighter. This was an impulse buy, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised. It gives a beautiful glassy shine to the skin, and it sets down so it's easy to layer with other products.
Tom Ford Nude Dip Eyeshadow Quad
I didn't wear much eyeshadow in the past year, but when I did, it was almost always this quad. The shades look so chic, and I love that they're a little more cool-toned. The formula is beautiful - if you like in-your-face pigment you might want to give these a pass, but they build up so nicely and are really easy to use. I haven't decided what makeup I'll be using for my wedding this year, but I'm really leaning towards this for my eyeshadow.
Wander Beauty Unlashed Volume + Curl Mascara
This is definitely second to Cloud Paint as my "favorite product of the whole year." I've never found a more perfect everyday mascara. It separates and fans out my lashes and also gives them the perfect amount of volume and length, making them super fluttery. Despite not being waterproof, it also holds a curl well and doesn't smudge on me at all throughout the day. A true win!
Glossier Generation G Lipstick in Like
This was probably my most-reached-for lipstick of the year. It gives the perfect flush of pink to the lips, and the sheer matte formula makes it look super natural and like it's just your real lip color. This is a wedding lip contender for sure.
2017 was the year of Fenty Beauty, and the Gloss Bomb is hands-down my favorite product I tried from the line. It gives a glassy sheen to the lips, adds the perfect amount of shimmer, and the rosey nude shade looks beautiful on everyone I've seen wearing it. It's a thin, comfortable formula that isn't sticky or goopy, and it lasts extremely well.
NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm in Pulse
This was my other most-used lipstick of the year. The formula is lovely and balmy as the name suggests, and the shade Pulse is a really pretty plummy nude. It's a perfect "my lips but better" shade for me.
I didn't bite the bullet and try these until the fall, but I quickly fell in love with the formula and ended up with five shades in about two weeks. It's one of the most comfortable liquid lipstick formulas I've ever tried - I was over the whole liquid lipstick trend, and then NARS pulled me back in. It's a super thin, yet pigmented, formula that moves with the lips rather than cracking and flaking off. My favorite shade that I have is Save the Queen, which is a super pretty mauve.
2017 was the year I finally got into wearing perfume consistently, and it's thanks to this beauty by Byredo. I'm just a sucker for rose scents, and I bought this one without smelling it just because the rollerball of the perfume oil was so pretty, and the notes sounded like my perfect perfume. It has the rose notes of course, but it also has a bit of fruitiness and sweetness in there that keeps it out of the powdery, cloying floral territory.
I was hooked on this from the first sniff. I love that it sits close to the skin, so I'm not walking around blinding people in a cloud of scent. The musk notes make it seem like a more natural skin smell, so a lot of people don't even realize I'm wearing perfume. I get lots of compliments when I wear this, but it's never "Your perfume smells good," but rather, "You smell good." I've worn this every single day since I got it, and my bottle is still going strong!
What were your favorite products of 2017?