1.)YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer: This primer quickly became my favorite in 2016 for creating a smooth canvas, blurring out fine lines and pores and helping my makeup stay on all day long. The gold flecks in the primer are supposed to add radiance but I didn’t notice much of that I must say. This is a great primer for all skin types for those wanting to blur imperfections on the skin. If you are looking for strictly radiance I would suggest Becca Highlighting Primer or Mac Strobe Cream.
2.) Dolce & Gabbana Perfect Matte Liquid Foundation: This continued to be my favorite foundation throughout 2016. I have been wearing this foundation since 2015 and it is still my holy grail! In 2016 I tried the Marc Jacobs ReMarcable foundation (great for full coverage but finish wasn’t as good as the D&G) Hourglass Vanish Foundation Stick (great for full coverage but settled into my fine lines) Makeup Forever Foundation Stick (not enough coverage for me) and the Josie Maran Argan Oil Foundation (excellent for light foundation days but I am a girl who needs full coverage). All in all nothing could touch my beloved Dolce & Gabbana Matte!
3.) Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer: This little piece of magic changed the concealer game in 2016! Before this came on the market there were pretty much 3 concealers that every makeup blogger gravitated towards; MAC prolongwear concealer, Urban Decay Naked concealer and the Nars radiant creamy concealer. Every blogger and youtube artist had their favorite and then BOOM! Tarte released this little gem and you can’t watch one youtube tutorial without seeing it everywhere and with good reason. I was a MAC prolongwear concealer fanatic and loyal devotee for the last several years but one try of the new Tarte Shape Tape concealer and I was hooked! This concealer has insane coverage and blends out like a dream. I would recommend blending out with a beauty blender immediately after applying- don’t let it sit on skin and start to dry out- it will be harder to blend the edges!
4. Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade: When it comes to eyebrows ABH is the top of the game and nobody knocked her off of that pedestal this year! I have been using Dipbrow Pomade for several years now and it continues to deliver the filled in, stay all day flawless eyebrow that I desire! If you have sparse eyebrows and need to create more shape and have lots of area to fill in this is your product! If you have thicker eyebrows and just need to fill in lightly I would suggest her brow definer!
5. Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel: In 2016 I traded in my powder bronzer for this beautiful cream bronzer for everyday wear (when doing a heavy contour I use Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Almond) but for everyday bronzing I reached for this product and it is beautiful! This cream bronzer is applied after foundation and before powder and dries perfectly. I bronze my cheeks, forehead and jawline with this and the color provides just enough bronzing for my skin tone whether I am tanned or not. This will not be a great bronzer for skin tones that are almond or above.. it will just blend in with your skin/foundation color and not bronze. For medium to dark skin tones I would suggest the Marc Jacobs Powder Bronzer- you can build up the coverage and it won’t look cakey- a great powder bronzer!
6. Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel: Like I mentioned above with the brow pomade, when it comes to eyebrows no one can come close to ABH products and this brow gel remained the best one for me in 2016. Plain and simple. Your brows WILL NOT move when you apply this product and I will even admit sometimes I don’t wash my eyebrows off at night just so I don’t have to re do them in the morning (Oh the shame) and because of this product they and my pomade have literally not budged in the morning. Its crazy. Crazy and great all at the same time!
7. Marc Jacobs Le Marc Liquid Lip Creme: There are a ton of liquid lipsticks on the market and Anastasia Beverly Hills & Hourglass have long been my favorite but this year I noticed that my Holy Grail Hourglass Liquid Lip in color Canvas seemed to have changed color on me so I went looking for another liquid lip that was similar in color and I discovered these gems! I bought one and became obsessed so I bought 2 more.. you know how it goes. I personally really adore Marc Jacobs Beauty products and have been highly impressed with everything I have tried so I am not surprised that I loved these. I will say that I don’t find this formulation to be superior to ABH or Hourglass but they seem to not be as fast drying (I discovered this kissing my baby who then had a huge lip print on his cheek..whoops) and the colors are beautiful! As with all liquid lips I suggest using a lip primer to stop the dreaded liquid lip cracked lips look. ABH and MAC both make excellent lip primers!
8. Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray: I have been using this product for 2 years now and although other brands are jumping on the bandwagon after this product received so much attention I still haven’t found one that works as well as this one! In 2016 I tried the NYX setting spray and went back to my MAC Fix plus for awhile but neither of them really made my makeup stay all day long but this one. If you have oily skin and struggle with your T Zone getting oily throughout the day go with the Urban Decay Oil De Slick Setting Spray. With all setting sprays be heavy handed..spritz ALOT of product..then wait without making any facial expressions for a good minute or two so that the makeup settles less into fine lines!
9. NARS Blush: I am not a huge blush aficionado but Nars blushes in Deep throat, orgasm, super orgasm and impassioned remained my go-to’s in 2016. The names are embarrassing to type but boy are they pretty on those cheeks. I will say that I didn’t try out any new blushes in 2016 probably because I already love these so much!
10. Laura Mercier Translucent Powder: In 2016 this powder stayed at the top of my list as it has been for several years now. It just never fails me and I like reliability. I did try the RCMA no color powder but I didn’t love it enough to leave my Laura Mercier behind. This powder is just perfect for making sure you don’t have white cast under your eyes and giving you a beautiful matte finish. If you like a more dewy look to your makeup only put the powder under your eyes to set your concealer and on your T-zone to combat oil throughout the day.
I realized after creating my product collage that I had left 1 HUGE life changing Product off the list and that is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Master Palette by Mario!!! (Kim K’s Makeup Artist) This darn thing keeps selling out like hot cakes but I finally managed to get my hands on it and now I see why. Since purchasing this in October I have literally not used 1 other eyeshadow in my collection! It is that good. ABH eyeshadow formulation is fantastic and the colors Mario chose are gorgeous on tons of skin tones. I highly, highly recommend that you stalk your local Sephora store until you can grab this masterpiece!
So there it is.. the makeup products I used most in 2016 and what I love about them. I hope this was helpful and if you have questions about any products listed comment below 🙂
Xo
Lael
What color in the foundation do you use?
I use 100 Natural Glow year round and during the summer or when I am more tan I add in the bronze colored custom FX drops to make it darker 🙂