As much as I resent 2016 for being a pretty bad year all round, I also feel like it was the year where I found a lot of really great beauty products that just work for me - dare I say HG products?! I stopped wasting money buying stuff because so and so on youtube raved about it and spent waaaay too much time and money on beautybay.
EYES:
Anastasia Beverley Hills Modern Renaissance Palette - this is honestly the only palette I've used for a few months now, I can't get enough of it. Super pigmented, buttery shadows that are an absolute dream to blend? Say no more. I normally tend to reach for the more cool tones (Buon Fresco is my absolute fave!) but the warm tones in this palette are absolutely beaut.
MUG eyeshadows - Remember when beautybay first decided to stock MUG and it was a mad dash to checkout to get your fave shade?! Me too. I've been wanting to customise my own palette for ages, but when I went to MAC to swatch I was left a little bit underwhelmed. Enter Make Up Geek - pigmented, blendable shadows in every colour you could ever want. I love the foiled eyeshadows too - Starry Eyes is my absolute fave.
Peaches and Cream Pigments - these are honestly amaze! Super affordable, absolutely beautiful colours that take any eyeshadow look from day to glam in an instant. My favourite colours are Halo, Nude, Peached & Disco (perfect for christmas/party looks!)
NYX liquid liner - I'm pretty bad at the old flick but this makes it so easy. Norm I tend to go for the pen formula over liquid liner but I haven't reached for anything else since I purchased!
NYX micro brow pencil - I started out the year obsessed with the ABH version but this is a great dupe at half the price (and much easier to get hold of now that Boots stock NYX)
FACE:
MUFE Ultra HD Foundation Stick - I'm shook by how good this is. I feel like this provides that flawless coverage without being too thick or cakey. I'd say it's probably medium coverage (definitely buildable) and a satin finish. I was expecting it to be fairly drying but it's probably one of the nicest foundations I've ever used.
UD Concealer - I know everyone has been raving about this but it seriously is that good. A perfect under eye conceler that is neither thick nor dry.
Becca Highlighter in Champagne Pop - I bought this for myself at christmas last year and it's been pretty much the only highlighter I've reached for (until ABH released their Glow Kits anyway) A champagne gold with peachy undertones; it gives that perfect dewy finish without being being glittery.
ABH Glow Kit in Sundipped - I uhmed and ahed over which glow kit to purchase for ages (spoiler: i want them all). Sundipped includes four absolutely gorgeous shades - Bronzed (a warm bronze, it’s a little too dark for my pale skin but it works for me as an eyeshadow), Tourmaline (a pinky champagne shade; I feel like this worked best for me in summer when I was a little more tanned), Summer (a pale gold champagne; this is my go-to highlight from this palette) and Moonstone (again a pale gold shade although this one has slightly more peachy undertones than Summer; it reminds me a lot of Becca’s Champagne Pop). My absolute fave look from this palette is to mix Moonstone and Summer together; it gives the perfect gleamy highlight!
LIPS
Although there was obv a lot of lip products I loved in 2016 (MAC lipsticks, NYX Liquid Lingerie etc), I haven’t stopped using these three since I got them so they made the cut.
MAC Lip Pencil in Stripdown - my go to lipliner. I love love love a good brown lip and this is the perfect liner. It’s a fairly muted brown that works perfectly with MAC Velvet Teddy or Yash.
Smashbox Lipsticks in Warrior Pose and Shavsana - These are both part of the Be Legendary Matte range; Warrior pose is a cool toned brown that works perfectly with a cool toned smoky eye (I first saw it in this video by Rachel Leary and I knew I had to have it) and Shavasana is a fairly light brown with slightly peachy undertones; much more of an everyday shade. I think what I love most about these lipsticks is that even though they are matte they are fairly creamy and kind to the lips. I find a lot of matte formulas are so drying and make me look like I’ve been dying in a desert a few hours after application but these bad boys definitely don’t!
What are your fave products from 2016?