November Favorites
Y’all! I almost completely forgot about posting my November Favorites and didn’t even realize it until this morning! So, needless to say November was another crazy busy month for me. I do have a couple new products that I’ve quickly fallen in love with, but I was mostly reaching for products that were quick, effortless, and that I knew I could trust. I steered away a little bit from the coppers that I loved in October and went for a couple Thanksgiving-festive and fresh-faced items this month instead.
The first items I want to mention are these little container cups that I got at the front $1 section of Target. I love that spot! But I was running out of space for my makeup brushes (and might have also just ordered more on Cyber Monday), so I needed some extra storage. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted, but as soon as I laid eyes on these I grabbed them immediately! They had other colors too, but white and black are what match the theme in my beauty room.
I also picked up this Real Techniques Blush Brush at the beginning of the month. I love this brand for face brushes! However, I realllyyyy do not like using this for blush. The brush is way too big and didn’t allow for enough control to put the blush only where I wanted it. But for bronzer, yesss!! It’s perfect! Obviously not precise enough for contouring (which is a complete different thing), but blends bronzer around the face like a charm for a nice warm, sun-kissed look.
The next thing is one of those items I fell in love with immediately. I only got this last week, but have been absolutely loving using it every night! I picked up this c.Booth 4-in-1 Multi-Action Passion Fruit Body Lotion at Ulta because it was on sale 50% off, making it $5. After using it, I’d even pay the full $10 for this huge bottle (32 oz). Besides the smell, what interested me most was that it’s free of parabens, sulfates, mineral oil, and petroleum. It also has malic acid to exfoliate and caffeine to firm! This lotion feels so good on my skin, keeps me moisturized all day without feel heavy. I already know I’ll be repurchasing this when I’m done and couldn’t imagine going back to anything else.
Next up is this Garnier 5 Second Blur Skin Renew Instant Smoother. I had a small sample of this a while ago and remembered really enjoying it, but I was trying to use up my other primers I had first. When I finally did, I went out and purchased this one. It is a little on the pricey side for a drugstore item, but it really works! It keeps my makeup on longer and instantly smooths my skin. Even just testing this on my hand I could see a difference. It doesn’t feel heavy, which I appreciate when I have makeup on all day long. It comes out white with a hint of pink, but blends clear on the skin.
Mentioning bronzer earlier, I’ve always loved the NYC Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder in Sunny. But since it has talc in it, I tried to stay away from it for a little bit to clear up my skin. Now that I’ve been using the Real Techniques brush, it applies the product more swiftly without focusing it in heavy areas. Once I started using it again, I remembered how much I loved it and the fact that it’s completely matte is a super bonus! It’s said to be a dupe for Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer, but I don’t own that. If you do, though, check it out! It’s pretty obvious how much I’ve loved this product since you can see I’ve hit pan quite a bit. In the swatch, the right side is just one application and the left is to show you how much it can be built up for different skin tones or preference.
The Thanksgiving-festive type products I used throughout the month were this Be a Bombshell Eye Base in Submissive ($14 for .09 oz on their website) and Wet N’ Wild’s trio in Sun-Set to See. Unfortunately this trio was limited edition last summer and is no longer readily available in stores. But I love that all of the shades are completely matte and am amazed at how incredibly pigmented they are! Even though they’re matte and most Wet N’ Wild trios aren’t, they still kept the same amazing texture as the ones in their regular line. If you haven’t touched a Wet N’ Wild trio eyeshadow, you need to get your hands on one. They’re so luxurious and more than just affordable! Submissive also made it into last month’s favorites and works perfect as a base underneath this trio.
For a fresh-faced look, I’ve just been putting a light brown in the crease and mixing the first two shadows in the Elf Prism Eyeshadow Palette in Naked all over the lid. I’m not the biggest fan of most Elf eyeshadows, but this palette is one of the few they did an amazing job on. All of the shadows are packed with shimmer, but very smooth and buttery. Lasting power is about average and you could also get a darker, more smokey look from the other shades to mix it up.
A favorite natural and effortless look of mine is to use Makeup Geek’s eyeshadow in Barcelona Beach ($6 on their website) in the crease and outer corner and put Shimma Shimma on the rest of the lid. Barcelona Beach is definitely one of my favorite browns of all time. It’s completely matte and can be applied with a light hand to just add dimension in the crease or can be built up for a naturally glam look. Shimma Shimma is also an all-time favorite of mine. It can be used beautifully as an eyeshadow or a cheek highlight. These last all day with a primer and take no effort to blend out. One of my favorite parts is that they’re talc free!
I’ve loved all of these products so much this month and definitely recommend them all to anyone. If you’ve tried any of these or would like a more in-depth review on anything I mentioned, let me know in the comments. I’d also love to hear what your favorites were in November! Have a fantastic weekend!
