I started 2017 not with good intentions to eat healthier and go to the gym more often, but with a beauty bucket list. I sat down last December to think about what made me excited for beauty releases to come, brands to check out and products to try. Let’s see what happened with all that, shall we? Was everything so good as I had hoped?
Brands and products – revisited
Skincare
The Ordinary
I started my TO journey with a lot of enthusiasm and was disappointed again and again. It’s not that the products are bad, but they aren’t for me, my lifestyle and my other favourite products I combined them with. Nevertheless, I’m a curious creature, and I get sucked into their new releases again and again…
I usually prefer other, more expensive products that are more ‘elegantly’ formulated – case in point is TO’s Niacinamide versus Paula’s Choice Niacinamide Booster. While TO’s Niacinamide causes my moisturiser and sunscreen so pill and roll off my skin, the 40EUR more expensive PC product just works better with my other products, is easier to apply and feels nicer on my skin. I couldn’t detect a difference how they work – they both work fine. But that’s only one example. Find another (positive) review here.
Cosrx
Cosrx, like TO, was a brand that appealed enormously to my ingredients-loving skincare geek brain – extremely well formulated products, cheap prices, appealing aesthetic all rolled into one pleasing package. And I wasn’t disappointed. Some products immediately jumped into the holy grail category for me, like the Honey Overnight Mask (review here). Highly recommended.
Anti-pollution skincare
A category I really didn’t get into, for reasons unknown. I’m still living in China, my skin is always better when I’m not in China, so reason stands that it’s quite likely pollution that’s the reason for that. I find it fiendishly difficult to find products I want to test though – my fave Clarins sunscreen (written about here and here) has anti-pollution properties, but that’s not the reason it’s my fave. Any recommendations?
Makeup
Foundation
I had big plans to get back into the foundation game and trying all those lauded foundations. I really had. And then I went to Korea and got cushion foundations galore and realised that I just prefer BB/ CC creams and cushions. I don’t want to try anything else, to be honest. Also, it takes me ages to use up foundations, and I don’t want to add any new bottles to my slooooooowly dwindling stash.
Primer
I tried two that were crap (TO’s High-Adherence Silicone Primer, see here, and Bobbi Brown’s Instant Confident Stick that gave me nothing), and have two more lined up to try. But slowly I’m thinking that I’m looking for the unicorn of primers that just doesn’t exist. I hatehatehate that silicone-y old-school primer feeling and I want one that’s not like that. I don’t need extra moisture, I don’t need oil-control, I just need something that’ll make my skin look smoother and prolong wear-time. Is that too much to ask?! Help?
Metallic lips
Still wanting a good liquid matte metallic lipstick (and no, I won’t buy Limecrime on principle) or a good proper matte metallic lipstick. But, so far, no luck. Oh well, I dipped my toes into the water with NYX’s Cosmic Metals in Speed of Light that is quite nice.
Eyeshadows
Natasha Denona proved to be just a bit too pricey for me, but finally have both Viseart and Kat von D here to try. And I’m again just a bit excited for having a new palette, something that hadn’t happened in a long time.
Brands to try
Sadly, one of the brands I wanted to try already bit the dust – byebye, ill-conceived and badly thought out Estée Edit! Sad I couldn’t try your eyeshadow palettes. I couldn’t, in fact, try any of the brands on the list (Jo Loves and Charlotte Tilbury) because I haven’t been in a city where there were counters to test and try. I still want to try them, though.
Gadgets to try
One fail, two misses – I did get a Beautylight, and, confession time – I’ve maybe tried it three times. At home, I find it cumbersome to use, and if I try to take pics in its light, pictures get weirdly streaky. When I’m travelling, I always forget to bring it, because hotels don’t usually advertise with ‘our mirror and lighting are absolutely rubbish/awesome’. Maybe I would remember it better if I found it awesome in the first place?
I wanted to try some oval brushes, but – redundant if you’re not getting into liquid foundation again.
I’m still on the hunt for a silk pillowcase (like this one), but I can’t find one large enough for my pillow… how sad is that?!
Launches
I’ll just say it like it is – the time of the big launches is over. Nowadays, brands announce an LE on IG, three days later it’s available and three weeks later it’s forgotten. MAC doesn’t even do a Fall collection this year!!! The most exciting launch of the year so far was Sephora’s arrival in Germany for me.
Brands to skip
I named high-end brands like Chanel, Dior etc. in my original post. And while I got a few bits and bobs in the last months (Chanel highlighter, Burberry blush) I could’ve easily done without. I’m also starting to skip Enchanted Polish releases (too much hassle), am slightly over all Indie nail polish brands because IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME, and skipped ColourPop because their CS was incredibly snotty and then I was over it.
In conclusion, if you’re making me jump through hoops, build up too much expectation the final product can’t meet (looking at you, TO!), and are a snobby, uncreative brand churning out basically the same collection again and again (basically all high-end brands), you’ve lost me.
Now, if most indie makeup brands were more easily available – I’m ready to branch out.
