My 2020 Beauty Favourites

Hey guys! Today I am sharing my favourite makeup and skincare favourites of 2020! I didn’t necessarily wear a lot of makeup in 2020, but there were still some gems that I discover. If you want to see these products in action, check out the Youtube video version of the post! Okay, let’s get into it.

My favourite primer is the Touch in Sol Pretty Filter Glassy Balm. I got this in my Boxycharm at some point but I rediscovered it this summer when it was one of my products of the month. This primer is a moisturizer hybrid that helps smooth the skin and give it a natural glow. It’s unlike other glowy primers because it isn’t glittery or metallic look. It’s not heavy like other moisturizing primers. If you have acne-prone skin but still want to add a little natural glow to this skin, this is the primer to try.

This year I have two foundations favourites, a new one and a rediscovered one. My new foundation favourite is the Bite Beauty Changemaker Foundation. This is a long-lasting foundation that is medium coverage and has a natural finish. It’s the perfect everyday foundation because it’s not too much nor too little. It provides enough coverage to even out my skin tone and it gives me a bit of glow but still lasts. The Bite Beauty foundation is also clean and vegan! My other favourite is the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Foundation. When I started working I need something with good coverage and would last me through my shift. This foundation was perfect. Combining it with a dewy primer, like the Touch in Sol one, helped make the finish less matte and more natural. If you haven’t tried this foundation yet, I highly recommend it.

For once my favourite concealer is the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. Don’t get me wrong, I still love it but I have two new ones to mention. The first is the Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer. This one reminds me of the Nars one. It’s lightweight and has good coverage, but not so full that it looks odd with a lighter coverage foundation. There is a good shade range as well. The second one is a more recent favourite but I’ve been using the Sephora Collection Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer every day single I got it. It’s had serum concealer that is light in coverage than the Makeup Revolution concealer, but still enough to help brighten my under eyes. It also lasts well. I’ll wear it all day and it still looks good.

This shouldn’t be a surprise if you follow my blog or Youtube, but this year I fell in love with creams. My favourite bronzer is hands down the Milk Makeup Matte Bronzer. It’s so creamy so it’s easy to apply on the face and blend out. Sometimes if a product is creamy it doesn’t last, but this bronzer lasts so long on the skin. The only downside is that it’s very warm tone, so I can’t use it to contour. If I put it under my chin it looks like an orange strip haha.

Everyone loved blush this year, myself included. I liberally applied blush all over my face. I have two favourites. The first is the Nudestix Nudies Blush in In The Nude. This blush blends so easily on the skin unlike a lot of other cream blushes. It also has a matte finish, which is nice if I’m wearing a dewy foundation and/or primer underneath. And the shade is the perfect neutral. I want to get more shades! The other favourite is the Burt’s Bee Blush in the shade Fresh Apricot. This is such a beautiful shade that has an ever-so-slight shimmer that just adds to the face. It’s pretty pigmented so I just need to go in with a light hand. There are a few other shades as well – and it’s drugstore so a great price!

This year I haven’t loved many highlights. Since I was gravitating to dewier primers and foundations I didn’t feel the need to use a highlight. That being said, my favourite this year is the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter. This is technically a “complexion booster” so all the shades are skin toned. That leads to the highlight being very natural and blending seamlessly into the skin. It just makes me look naturally glowy. Highly recommend it if you find other highlights to be too strong or unnatural.

Two categories where I don’t have a favourite is powder and setting spray. I didn’t purchase anything new in these categories this year, so I was just rotating through what I already own. Nothing stood out in my mind as a new favourite. Like sure I have my holy grails but nothing worth noting. Let me know what your favourite powder or setting spray was this year.

Up next is brows. This year I tried to diversify my brow selection and found a few gems. But my number one this year is the Glossier Brow Flick. It’s a brush-tip pen similar to an eyeliner that can define and add depth. It’s also amazing at creating a natural, feather-like stroke. I think it’s good for people with a lot or a little amount of brow hair. I know other brands have come out with similar style brow pencils, so maybe that’s something I’ll try in the future.

I tried out so many good new eyeshadow palettes this year. I decided to pick one colourful and one neutral. My colourful palette is the Jaclyn Hill X Morphe Vol II. This is such a gorgeous palette, every time I look at it I’m inspired. I think the layout is smart and all the shades work well together. And the quality is amazing. They blend easily, they are bright and are easy to work with. The second palette is the KASH Beauty Secret Treasure palette. Ever since I got the palette I’ve found myself reaching for it. While it does have some warm shades, I find that two of the browns (Face and Wreck) and quite neutral and therefore great for whatever look I need. The shimmers are also quite beautiful. This is the perfect palette to pair with a sparkly eye topper. It’s hard to create a good neutral palette but this one is the best.

I have two eyeliners this year! The first is the Tarte Tarteist Double Take Eyeliner in the shade Brown. I love using brown eyeliner, I just find it softer than black. I like using this to create a nice baby wing on the days where I don’t feel like doing eyeshadow. I also find it handy that there is a liquid and a pencil in one. The second liner is the Make Up For Ever Artist Color Pencil in the shade Boundless Bisque. This is a great beige that works perfectly in my waterline. Sometimes I don’t want to wear a dark colour but want something there. This beige just brightens up my whole eye look. I don’t know how I did my makeup without it.

I am not faithful when it comes to mascara. I generally have a bunch of tubes open and will just rotate around depending on my mood and the look I’m going for. Therefore I have three favourites lol. The first is the Lancome Monsieur Big Volumizing Mascara. At first, I didn’t like the mascara because I found it didn’t do anything. But once it dried a bit I fell in love. This mascara is volumizing and is perfect for those days where I want dramatic lashes sans false lashes. The next mascara is the Hourglass Unlocked Instant Extensions Lengthening Mascara. This mascara is perfect for those days where I don’t feel like wearing lots of makeup just a little mascara. What I like the most is how easy it is to remove. Because it’s a tubing mascara that just peels off with a little micellar water. Just don’t wear this one if you’re planning to watch a sad movie. And the final mascara is the Benefit They’re Real! Lengthening Mascara. This was my go-to in late high school/early university. I finished the tube and hadn’t purchased it again so I forgot how good this is. It’s good and lengthening but also separating the lashes to make it seem like your lashes are just naturally long. Oooh I love this mascara!

The final category is lips. Which I didn’t wear a lot because of the pandemic – I don’t leave the house much and when I do I wear a mask. But despite that, I have four favourites. The first is a lip balm, which is something everyone needs. I have many favourites but if I had to pick one it would be the Tarte SEA Quench Lip Rescue Balm. The twisty tube makes it easy to apply. This balm is super moisturizing and has a slight tint to it as well. My favourite lip liner is one I got in my Boxycharm – the Steve Laurant Lip Liner in Chic. It’s creamy enough that it’s easy to apply but stiff enough that it lasts long on the lips. And the shade is perfect for me, just slightly darker than my natural lip colour. I don’t use lip liner very often, but when I do it’s this one. For lip gloss, my favourite is the Essence Shine Shine Shine Lipgloss. It’s a clear lip gloss, so it can be worn over top of any lipstick or lip liner without altering the shade. It’s super shiny and almost has an oil consistency so it’s very comfortable on the lips. The first of two lipsticks is the Burt’s Bee Satin Lipstick in the shade Blush Basin. The satin finish means that it’s very comfortable on the lips and has a slight shine. But it’s a lipstick so the colour is opaque. It’s also a great price because it’s from the drugstore! The final lipstick is the Glossier Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick. The formula adds just a hint of colour, which I think on more natural days. The matte formula means that it lasts longer than using a gloss or balm. I have the shade Cake, which they describe as a subtle peach but there are some brown undertones to it. I do enjoy wearing this lipstick.

Okay, that’s all for makeup, let’s get into skincare! So let’s get into it with my favourite cleanser: the OLEHENRIKSEN Truth Juice Daily Cleanser. This has been my morning cleanser for months now. It goes the job of cleaning my skin without leaving it feeling stripped. The citrusy scent is also so nice for the morning. I have oily, acne-prone skin but I could see this working for people with normal and combo as well.

Up next is toner, with my favourite being the OLEHENRIKSEN Balancing Force Oil Control Toner. This is what helps keep my skin from breaking out and evens out my skin texture. For all my oily friends this is the toner for you. If you have dry skin stay away because this will be too strong for you.

My favourite serum is a very pricey one but it makes such a difference in my skin. The Biossance Squalane + Vitamin C Rose Oil is just so good. This oil hydrates my skin making me look so dewy and glowy. But the vitamin c does such a good job helping heal my acne scarring and just brightening my whole complexion. I don’t find it clogs my pores or breaks me out, which can happen with other hydrating serum. I am just so in love with this.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t think that eye cream is necessary. I mean it’s good to hydrate the area but you probably don’t need anything fancy. Unless you are like me and have super sensitive under eyes. A lot of creams burn my skin and give me dry patches. The Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream is one of the few that work for me. I’m going to be honest and say that I don’t see a huge difference with brightness and puffiness, but I’m fine because it hydrates me which is all I need.

This year I focused on finding products that help with my acne scarring. A mask that makes a difference is the Glow Recipe Watermelon + AHA Glow Sleeping Mask. I didn’t like this mask at first because I didn’t get it, but after using it a few times I started to notice a difference. I don’t use it as a sleeping mask but just as a normal mask that I’ll leave on for 15 minutes. I do notice that my skin is brighter, softer and plumper after using it. The fragrance is strong in this so just keep that in mind.

A makeup remover that I loved was the Farmacy Very Cherry Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm. I don’t know why but I find that the limited edition cherry version doesn’t irritate my eyes. If you need to remove a full face of makeup, this is the cleansing balm for you. It does a great job of removing everything from liquid lipstick to glitter. If I’m wearing a lot of makeup I will double cleanse, but if it wasn’t a lot sometimes I just use this and call it a day with cleansing. My skin doesn’t feel dry or stripped after which is nice.

On the days where I feel I need to double cleanse after using a cleansing balm, I will use the Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Pads. I got these in my Boxycharm and wanted to use them up, but I fell in love. Sometimes after using a cleansing balm I don’t feel like wetting my face again but I still want to clean it. These pads are convenient and do the job. For an exfoliating product, these pads are pretty gentle. I know Elemis is hard to get in Canada, but for all my US and UK followers check these out.

And those are my 2020 beauty favourites! Wow, that was a long list! Let me know in the comments what YOUR favourite beauty products were last year. I hope everyone had a good holiday, I am so excited to start this year and kick some ass! Woooo!

xoxo

Lea