2015: MY FAVORITE THINGS! (Beauty, Fandom & Random)

Hello my friends! Today I want to share with you all of my favorite things from 2015!

I know some people break things down into separate Beauty Favorites and then Random Favorites, but I’m just going to do one post, because it’s my blog so I’m gonna do what I want! 🙂

FANDOM:

Discovering The Hillywood Show on YouTube. They are amazing and their parodies are awesome. If you haven’t checked them out you should go and watch all of their parodies RIGHT NOW. I’m including my two favorites in this post.

Spoiler warning for Supernatural up through Season 10 and for all of David Tennant’s run as The Doctor.

What the heck I’ll throw in one more parody I like from them (even though I like them ALL):

I have also found an etsy shop that has been helping me scratch my fandom itch this year: Colorful Geekiness I am now the proud owner of a tote bag and two t-shirts.

Of course I would lose all fandom cred if I didn’t mention one of my very first obsessions which was Star Wars.

You guys, The Force Awakens was amazing…I can’t even talk about it without my voice involuntarily rising and my hands start fluttering. I don’t want to give spoilers, because my own husband hasn’t seen it yet (SHAME ON HIM!) so I know there are others out there who haven’t seen it (seriously, you all need to go see it!).

Random:

My favorite tea this year is Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice! It’s so so good! You can order it directly from the Harney and Sons website or you can get it through Amazon.

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Now, on to beauty related items!

All the following items are cruelty free (not tested on animals) but I have tried, to the best of my ability, to let you know which items are also vegan.

Skin Care

Eye Love You Serum by Rosemira (vegan) My skincare philosophy tends to be to use drugstore cleansers to remove makeup but to invest my money in serums and moisturizers, especially as I’m 37 and really shouldn’t be skimping out anymore. I was gifted this serum (and several other items) by Dr. Herman late last year, but didn’t start to consistently use this serum until several months into 2015. This eye serum is so so awesome. It is expensive, but I used all of it (which is rare because I always want to try something new) and plan to order more. If you are on a budget Rosemira has a lot of affordable sample sizes so you can try it before you commit to the expense of a larger size. (I do have an affiliate link on the right side of my blog, but the link in the above text is NOT my affiliate link. I think everyone should try some of Rosemira’s products because they are such good quality and wanted to give an option that is not a benefit to me, because I know some people are uncomfortable with the idea of bloggers recommending something when they have an affiliation)

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My favorite exfoliator was Balanced Guru’s Scrub Me Nice and Gritty (vegan). I actually received this in a Petit Vour box and then decided to buy a full size because I love the coffee/spearmint combo! I also love that it can be used head to toe as long as you are gentle when using it on your face.

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My favorite facial wipes have been the Pacifica Purify Coconut Water Wipes (vegan). I’ve tried a ton of facial wipes this year, but the Coconut Water Wipes not only smell amazing, they don’t make my skin feel dried out after I use them.

Makeup Tools/Brushes

Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge I have been obsessed with this sponge for the last few months. I love the way it blends out my concealer and I love using it with the Pressed It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Powder to set my under eye area.

My most used/favorite brush this year was the Coastal Scents Angled Kabuki Stick Brush (vegan/synthetic). This actually surprised me when I was pulling items for this post. I have a lot of It Cosmetics Brushes that I love, but the brush I reach for every day to apply my CC Cream was this one from Coastal Scents!

Makeup

I actually only used one brand/foundation type product this year and it was the It Cosmetics CC Cream & It Cosmetics CC Cream Illumination. Does that make me a bad blogger/reviewer? Maybe it does, but I really love both versions of this CC Cream because they give me exactly what I need and I just couldn’t be bothered to spend money on anything else this year. I’m going to try and branch out a little more in this area in 2016, but no promises!

My favorite concealer is the BareMinerals bareSkin Complete Coverage Serum Concealer (full review here). This concealer kicked the butt of every other concealer I have ever tried (including It Cosmetics!). I love it and don’t want to ever be without it.

My favorite palette this year is not an eye palette but a face palette! I used the It Cosmetics Vitality Brightening Anti-Aging Face Disc a ton this year. I love an easy, get out the door quickly product, so the subtle highlighter, blush and matte bronzer all in one palette spoke to my almost always running late soul 🙂

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The blush that I used most often was the BECCA Beach Tint Shimmer Souffle in Watermelon/Moonstone. I actually made quite a dent in the pot! I will definitely be trying a few more shades of these Shimmer Souffle’s this year!

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My favorite eye shadows this year were Darling Girl Cosmetics Jeweled Taupe and ColourPop’s Hanky Panky (vegan). The Hanky Panky swatch below is built up several times so it would show up,it’s very close to my skin tone with just one swipe. (Just a reminder if you are looking for vegan items on ColourPop’s website, head to their FAQ page and they have a list of items that are NOT vegan, everything else on the website is vegan)

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I have a ton of lip items that I loved this year, but my hands down favorite is Bite Beauty’s Agave Lip Mask in Champagne that I bought on my birthday. The reason I included this lip mask instead of my favorites from say Lipstick Queen, of which there are a few, is that this lip mask WORKS. If you have dry/cracked/chapped lips, this product will fix you right up. Just in case you were wondering, this is called a lip mask, but it’s not the same kind of thing as a face mask. It’s a super thick and moisturizing balm, so you can totally wear this in public.