So here it is, the year’s least loved month – November. In dire need of something to cheer both us up, we found some pretty fantastic beauty products that made the month a bit more bearable!
Dorit’s November beauty favourites
Bourjois City Radiance Skin Protecting Foundation
While Astrid, lucky gal, is lounging around the fab beaches of Indonesia, the well-known cloud of smog settled over Shanghai. With air pollution well in the reds, I broke out my first anti-pollution product – Bourjois City Radiance Skin Protecting Foundation. It boasts an anti-pollution screen, SPF30 and radiance boosting pigments (meaning some shimmer that makes you look glowy). I use 01 Ivoire Rose that suits my complexion well (it needs a tiny bit of tweaking at the moment because I’m still a bit more tanned than usual, but nothing a bit of bronzer around the perimeters around the face cannot fix!).
This is very sunscreen-like (read: a bit thick), but I sheered it out easily with a beauty blender. It’s a bit glowy, and it. Stays. On. No. Matter. What. I wore a freaking face mask over this (I was out and about during a bad day of smog), and those things usually destroy any base in five seconds flat. But wearing the Bourjois City Radiance Foundation, I actually looked still quite fresh in the evening, and this is no mean feat for any foundation. The limited shade range, though, is a disgrace. SIX shades? Come on Bourjois!
ColourPop Lunch Money
Highlighter – gloomy weather equals highlighter for me. The glow has to come from somewhere, y’know? (Please, anyone, make me stop using the word ‘glow’. Thank you!) When I ordered my first items from ColourPop, my reaction was lukewarm at best, but Lunch Money was one of my favourites back then and still is. It has a pearlized finish and the regular ColourPop ‘creamy-but-no-cream’ texture. Its champagne base with shimmer is wonderful for my skintone – it truly gives just some kind of glow lit-from-within finish without a discernible colour. I just use my finger, dab it on my cheekbones and bam! Highlight in five seconds. Done. Also, you won’t get a better highlighter for 6$. Promise.
MAC Vamplify lipgloss Pamela
I love the creamy consistency of MAC’s Vamplify lipglosses, I’m totally into brown lips right now and the Brooke Candy LE packaging is so cute! All three points in favour of ‘Pamela’, the lipgloss I love right now. It’s nearly always in my bag because it’s a nice neutral that goes with nearly any look, it’s also quite hydrating if your lips need some TLC during the colder weather. Although it was LE, you can still find it on MAC’s website. Or, if it’s sold out where you are, get MAC’s Nutcracker Sweet Nude lipbag – the Vamplify lipgloss that’s included in the bag is very, very similar to Pamela. (The nude bag is also totally worth it and you should get it anyway.)
Astrid’s November beauty favourites
L’Occitane Pivoine Sublime Tinted Lip Balm in Rose Amber (SPF 25)
I’m always looking for a lip product with added SPF when I’m on the beach, but I want some colour on my lips nevertheless. L’Occitane’s Pivoine Sublime Tinted Lip Balm in Rose Amber fits the bill perfectly (so perfectly that I actually bring that along for vacations quite often and it has featured in my faves before). It has a nice dose of shea butter in it so it’s moisturizing; it’s not overly shiny and a nice rosey nude on my skintone. It smells like peonies, too. (Dealbreaker for some, but not for me.) Also it’s totally easy to reapply without a mirror, which makes it perfect as a vacation lipbalm. It’s 16$, 14£ and 16€.
it cosmetics cc+color correcting full coverage cream with spf50 (tan).
We both caved more or less simultaneously after seeing all the glowing reviews on the net and got the it cosmetics cc cream. I tested this thoroughly in the hot and humid climate of Indonesia, and it hold up very well from shopping in Singapore, hectic city life of Jakarta, family time in Bandung and also on the beaches of Bali. I’m impressed. On top of its impressive longevity, it has the nicest texture (not too thin, not too thick). Its coverage is medium at most, but it evens out my skin nicely. Perfect base for holidays! (And it has a good range of shades as well.) It has a good broad-spectrum mineral sunscreen, so I just use it on top of my Caudalie serum without any added moisturizer or sunscreen. I use my fingers to work it into my skin, which has yielded a very natural, skin-like result. Got it at Sephora in Singapore for about 38$/38€.
Chanel Sunkiss Ribbon Blush Harmony
One of the prettiest designs Chanel ever did, and sadly limited edition (Spring 2016). We both got it, reviewed it here and it went directly to one of the top spots of my most loved blushes ever. It’s so easy to work with, looks rosy-natural on me and it stays the whole day without fading. One of the best things Chanel created this year, and it’s so versatile and goes with nearly every look. That’s the reason I take it on vacations – it’s really a no-brainer! I highly suggest to snatch it up if you ever see it around, because it looks great on every skintone.
