Best of 2018

Last year I did a more minimal Best of post. There were so many good things this year I wanted to highlight some of them. Not all of them were just brand discoveries, some of them were experiences & relationships built as well. This year I discovered MUN Skincare. I fell in love with the brand hard and actually became a brand ambassador. My pick is the AKWI cleanser. Review HERE.

Naturallogic was another favorite brand discovery. The RAREFY Flawless Complexion Oil is my favorite. It’s the best blue tansy oil. Review HERE. Klairs Toner Mate 2 in 1 Cotton Pad was the best discovery. It’s a set of two types of cotton pads that’s phenomenal. Review HERE. The ESPA Fitness Shower Oil is fantastic. It’s got a warm spicy scent that I’m enamored with. More coming soon.

Oddly there weren’t too many makeup discoveries this year that had me really excited. But one is the Decorte Cream Blush in Be350. This cream blush has the best bouncy texture, it’s pigmented and a great pink nude. One of my all time favorite blushes. Review HERE. Lilah B. Divine Duo in b. dazzling is the best highlighter of the year. The rose gold champagne shade fits my skin tone perfectly. The pebble compact is to die for and the formula is pigmented and smooth. Review HERE.

IGK easily became my favorite hair styling brand of the year. Jet Lag & Beach Club are forever favorites for the perfect salt free wave spray & invisible dry shampoo. Review HERE. KIN Skincare has two favorites for me. The Coffee + Yarrow Gel-to-Milk Cleanser is an amazing oil-gel balm cleanser & the Green Coffee Skin Elixir is pure green coffee bean oil. I enamored with green coffee bean oil this year, it’s one of my favorite ingredients of the year. Review HERE.

AIKA is an Australian ayurvedic brand. Their TRI DOSHA Elixir is my favorite from their line. Easily the most expensive but luxurious and amazing facial oil I own. More to come very soon. Twelve Beauty is a favorite green beauty discovery of the year. Their Intelligent Frontier Facial Oil is such an amazingly lightweight oil. Easily one of my favorites ever. Review HERE.

Youth to the People launched an amazing cream this year. Adaptogen Deep Moisture Cream has a phenomenal texture. I love the combo of adaptogenic plants and peptides. Review HERE. La Bella Figura definitely became a favorite brand this year. Aria Nighttime Cell Recovery Treatment is one of my favorite night oils I discovered this year. It has an amazing inci list. Review HERE. Jordan Samuel Skin just launched a limited edition The After Show Treatment Cleanser for Sensitive Skin. It has the same gorgeous texture as the original (a top favorite cleansing oil balm of mine) but minus the citrus acids so it’s great for winter sensitized skin or sensitive skin in general. Allies of Skin was one of my favorite brand discoveries last year. Their new Molecular Multi-Nutrient Day Cream is the best day cream of the year for me. It’s so lightweight yet nourishing. More to come soon.

I’ve been switching to natural deodorant this year. I have a round up post coming soon but Native Coconut & Vanilla was my favorite because it works and it’s as close to invisible as you get with natural. It has a smooth light texture. More to come. De Mamiel just launched a Skin Recovery Blend Pressed Serum (balm) and it’s a blue tansy lovers dream. Think similar to Blue cocoon. Review coming next year. Krave took the skincare world by storm this year. Celebrating one year it’s two (now three items) are well done products. Review HERE.

OY-L Manuka Latte Lip Balm is a delicious buttery balm. It has manuka honey and coffee butter. It smells deliciously like coffee. Earthwise Beauty Yasuni Face Balm is a unique lightweight balm with a great inci list. Easily my favorite balm discovery of the year. Review HERE. Tata Harper Resurfacing Serum was my favorite acid serum of the year. Hydrating with AHA and BHA, plant extracts and tomato carotenoids. It’s not super strong yet effective. Review HERE.  Kahina Giving Beauty Oil Cleanser was my favorite oil cleanser of the year (its got blue tansy & turmeric). Review HERE. Alastin HydraTint Pro Mineral Broad Spectrum Sunscreen became a fast favorite this year. This physical tinted sunscreen gives a natural satin finish and light coverage. It can also be a light foundation as well. Absolutely enamored with it. More to come.

Drunk Elephant C-Tango is an amazing eye cream. One of the best of the year. It combines five types of vitamin C and eight peptides for results that work. It’s the most affordable eye cream I can recommend. Review coming soon. Omorovicza repackaged their Hydra Melting Cleanser in the best way possible. I loved the creamy gel-oil balm before but now I can really be into it. The teal pump is stunning. Review HERE. Glow Recipe launched a new Avocado Melt Sleeping Mask in December. This creamy sleeping mask has avocado, clay, manuka honey and PHAs (poly hydroxy acids or gentle new generation acids). de Mamiel Restorative Cleansing Balm is probably one the best cleansing balms of the year. It has such a divine smooth creamy texture. It’s not too heavy nor too greasy. More to come soon.

Votary was not new to me this year, but there was three new products from the brand that should be included here. One the Votary Cotton Face Cloths are the best ever. Seriously the best flannels. Review HERE. The Intense Night Recovery range by Votary is stellar. The Intense Night Oil is one of the best retinol night oils ever. Review HERE. I haven’t gotten to post about the the Intense Eye Oil yet but it’s also phenomenal.

VENN All in One Concentrate was the best anti-aging product of the year. It really is phenomenal. Review HERE. Drunk Elephant Protini is also really great. It’s packed with peptides and easy to mix. Review HERE. I love essences and Fresh Black Tea Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence was one of the best antioxidant packed ones this year. Review HERE. Peach & Lily Wild Dew Treatment Essence is an amazing light hydrating essence. So refreshing. Review HERE. Julisis Sun Emulsion is easily the best physical sunscreen I’ve tried. I don’t know how it manages to be white cast free. It’s so light and feels like a face lotion, not a sunscreen. Review HERE. OUMERE Serum Bioluminelle was easily one of the best facial oils I’ve tried. It’s an oil meets serum but functions like a light oil. It has a powerhouse inci list. Review HERE.

African Botanics emerged as one of my favorite brads this year. Infusion was my number one essence of the year. It softens, hydrates and really rejuvenates & firms. Review HERE. The Resurrection Eye Cream became my all time favorite eye cream to date. It tightens, firms and hydrates the eye area like no other. Review HERE. One of the lushest creams I’ve ever tried is the Fleurs d’Afrique Intensive Recovery Cream. It’s truly a phenomenal cream and in my top three night creams. Review HERE. Another phenomenal cream of the year is Ayuna Cream I Light. Phyto peptides & botanical cell factors regenerate the skin. It has the most divine packaging as well. Review HERE.

Prose Hair was easily the best customized hair system I tried this year. It was phenomenal. My hair was stronger, healthier looking, shiny & bouncy all with less oily roots. Review HERE. I talked about experiences & relationships earlier. While YOU Skincare was not a 2018 discovery I did become a brand ambassador. It’s a phenomenal line I’m proud to be a part of (save 10% with code beautyendeavor). I also joined Boxwalla and review their boxes now. Easily my favorite subscription box of them all. Developing relationships with brands has been amazing this year. Some of the highlights for me are African Botanics, Fresh & Drunk Elephant. Brands that I never dreamed I would work with last year.

In September I flew to New York for the New Beauty Beauty Report Live 2018 event. It happened to coincide with my 40th birthday so I figured it would be fun to go for one night. Definitely a highlight of the year as I never thought I would ever do anything with a magazine, let alone get invited to an event.

This whole year makes me think about how lucky I am as it was an amazing year. I’ve been blogging or writing for over four years really just for fun. This year was like that first pay off year for all the effort I put into it. I hit 10K followers on Instagram and this blog has been growing and I just want to thank you all for being with me on this journey wherever it goes. At the New Beauty event I met Gothamista which was super exciting.

I had fun with a few hour shopping spree. I had to hit as many shops in NY as I could in just a few hours. Barney’s was first.

And I finally got to visit Rescue Spa in person.

The Biologique Recherche counter was amazing. See my Instagram post on this experience.

Some of the other highlights was visiting the newly opened Detox Market, Credo & Space NK. I also met up with an online friend while I was there.

Thank you all again for making 2018 an amazing year. I look forward to seeing what 2019 has in store for me. I will share that I am joining Puropulence in 2019 as an editor and should have my first article turned in soon.