Goodbye 2019, Hello 2020. I’m excited for a new decade and hope it brings something new. The last decade had quite a few lows as far as personal loss as well as some major highs.One of my major highlights of the year was my trip to New York in February to visit Fresh Beauty Headquarters and meet the brand founders. It was a phenomenal experience I’ll never forget.
Time for rounding up the year (and decade) by highlighting some of the things that really stood out this year. With the constant release of new beauty products and brands it’s hard to not feel overwhelmed with the massive amount of stuff out there. I tried to grab everything but I may have forgotten to picture an item in the photo so I’ll just list some things as well in the post. I picked things I discovered this year even though they may not have been launched recently (I tend to go from December the year before through November this year as normally items I play with in December I don’t have a good grasp on yet). There were many good launches and products this year but I don’t have months to recap them all for you here so I focused on things in certain categories.
I switched to natural deodorant this year. So far my ultimate favorites have been Native (loving the Cucumber & Mint) and Corpus Naturals. I really liked Myro a lot before they reformulated it to be vegan then the formula started melting on me at room temperature and other customers from what I have read. It was total perfection prior to reformulation. My first run down on natural deodorant is HERE, next one coming shortly. Omrovicza Peachy Micellar Cleansers was the best micellar water launch. The little rounds smell like delicious peaches and the pads don’t sting my eyes. It uses oil micelles so you don’t have to rinse like the other surfactant micellar waters. The oils make it easy to remove makeup better than other micellar waters as well. Overall it’s not drying and feels more gentle. A stand up product. Review HERE.
I love toners and essences and the few that stood out this year are: OSKIA Floral Water, Laneige Cream Skin Refiner, Ground Plan Cell Power Energy Essence & Naturallogic Elemental Red Wine Essence. The OSKIA has rose, black carrot, MSM, B5 and hibiscus. It’s gentle and a nice all around hydrating toner-Review HERE. Laneige launched a cream in essence product and it’s fabulous for adding a nice nourishing layer that’s lightweight. It’s great for barrier repair and soothing-Review HERE. The Ground Plan essence is light and slippery with a nice bouncy texture. It’s got oat, beta-glucan, sodium hyaluronate, niacinamide, rice extract & tomato cell culture. It’s a great soothing and hydrating layer and the texture is really lovely. I would completely repurchase all of these. I also love that they’re all fragrance and alcohol free (Ground Plan has lavender oil but no artificial fragrance and it’s so negligible in the product scent wise I can’t even tell it’s there). I love the Naturallogic brand and their new Elemental essence was a nice launch. It has red wine, three low molecular weights of hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, panthenol, aloe, coconut water and red algae.
Hair wise I really loved the Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair! in the limited honey edition. Not only is the bear adorable but I love the honey hint and hydration for my dyed hair. Gisou Honey Infused Hair Oil is a divine way to hydrate your hair. It smells fantastic and isn’t too heavy or greasy. Plus it’s just pretty. Kevin Murphy Killer Waves was my favorite new wave spray. It gives my hair good hold, accentuates waves really well and it’s touchable. Not crunchy or too sticky. I finally got into Christophe Robin more with the Purifying Scalp Scrub & Detangling Gelée duo. This duo really helps purify and detox my hair then adds shine and bounce with the Gelee. It helps waves look amazing and I’ve been loving it once a week or so (sometimes every other week is fine).
I love face balms but I didn’t really get into new ones this year as I’m trying to use up ones from last year that will only be good through this winter. However the Lepaar Luminous Beauty Balm from the December Boxwalla subscription box has such a nice light melty balm texture. It just nourishes and doesn’t feel heavy. Plus I adore the Lepaar gold seals on their products. Review HERE.
I forgot to include the Rita Hazan True Color Ultimate Shine Gloss in Breaking Brass in last years best of post, I discovered it late in the year so I figure it can be talked about now as I’ve been using it all year. This is an in shower glossing foam that adds shine and a purple tint to reduce brassiness. The beauty is you can use it everyday because the purple is not too strong. Its just enough to keep my hair cooler without adding too much purple like I experience with some purple tinted shampoos. It’s super easy too, just add after shampoo and leave in for three minutes while you do something else and rinse. I’ve gone through countless bottles.
Überliss was easily my favorite new hair brand discovery this year. The Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner are a really good hydrating pair. They leave such a shine to my hair without weighing it down. The Nutritive Mask is also really good. All of these smell utterly divine plus they have a great inci list with ceramides, blueberry, apple, sugarcane, green tea & keratin. The shampoo is sulfate free. I would buy all three again.
Hair by Sam McKnight was also a great discovery for me. Lazy Girl is an invisible dry shampoo that’s really light. I love that it’s not too heavy on the powdery feel. It’s great if you like a light pick me up kind of dry shampoo. Cool Girl is a light texture and wave spray. You use it on wet hair. I love the light texture it adds. It’s lighter than Kevin Murphy. I love that I can use it without fear of making my hair too greasy or sticky. Granted you can overdo it, it’s just a lighter texture spray. All products are scented by the creator of Miller Harris which is one of my favorite British perfumeries. I have already purchased my second Lazy Girl. Bioderma Atoderm Ultra-Nourishing Shower Oil is a new favorite for me. It’s hydrating, low fragrance and a good value. It’s great to shave your legs too.
Cleansers are one of my favorite skincare items. I don’t know why I have so many, I just like them a lot. I had a few stand outs: VENN Moisture-Balance All-In-One Face Cleanser, Peach & Lily Power Calm Hydrating Gel Cleanser, African Botanics Fleur de Rose Cream Cleanser, Allies of Skin Molecular Silk Amino Hydrating Cleanser, Fresh Sugar Strawberry Exfoliating Face Wash & HoliFrog Superior Omega Nutritive Gel Wash. The VENN cleanser is a low pH, hydrating gel with a slightly creamy texture. It’s never stripping of the skin and has no scent. Review HERE. African Botanics was my favorite cream cleanser this year. It’s not one of those that leaves a slightly creamy film behind it rinses clean while still being gentle and nourishing. It’s also got some purifying ingredients like Dragon’s Blood and anti-inflammatory/antioxidant ingredients. It’s one of the only cream cleansers I’ve almost finished up. Review HERE. Allies of Skin launched a new low pH, hydrating cleanser. It has a thick gel texture that’s interesting and unique. It has silk amino acids, vitamin C, lactic acid, licorice and safflower oil. I haven’t gotten to write about it yet but coming soon in 2020. If you like the brand you know they do everything well which includes this cleanser. It has an odd scent but it should be popular with many. Fresh Beauty launched a new sugar based exfoliating face wash. It uses regular cane sugar which is a humectant plus the physical texture exfoliates. I like to apply it to damp skin to reduce the abrasiveness of the physical scrub (it’s more rough on dry skin), then when I add more water it melts into the skin hydrating and exfoliating. Plus I love strawberries in skincare. It was my favorite physical exfoliant of the year. HoliFrog came out this year with a focus only on cleansing. I love the brands philosophy on skincare and clean beauty. The Nutritive Gel Wash is my favorite of the four. It’s a low pH, gentle gel with probiotics, kombucha, apple cider vinegar plus grape, broccoli, linseed, camellia & seabuckthorn oils. Love it.
In the oil based cleansers (another favorite category of mine) I found a few new ones I loved: Lovinah Power Cleansing Balm, Forest Rhapsody Dew Drops & Deviant Skincare Cleansing Concentrate. Lovinah launched a new rinseable cleansing balm with a divine berry hue. I feel like I had been waiting a year for her to release it and I’m glad it’s finally here. It has lingonberry, chokeberry, cloudberry, blackcurrant, arctic cranberry, bilberry and vitamin C. Think berry antioxidant powerhouse. Plus it’s not too heavy or greasy and it does rinse clean with water. More to come soon. Forest Rhapsody Dew Drops are like this glorious gel balm that removes all makeup while rinsing clean with water. No towels needed on any of these oil based cleansers. It has a slight enzymatic action if you leave it on for a while. The texture is to die for. I love it as a morning cleanser. Deviant Skincare rebranded this year from former Alkimi due to a long story. They also redid the cooling technique for the Cleansing Concentrate which resulted in a smooth melty balm versus the previous more sorbet like texture. It still has the same delicious anti-inflammatory ingredients plus it’s also rinseable and essential oil free. It’s been very popular for a reason and I will easily repurchase. Review HERE.
I haven’t really been that into new acid toners this year. Not like last year. Two stood out for me this year: Ayuna The Facial Low and YTTP Kombucha + 11% AHA Exfoliation Power Toner. Ayuna was touted by many as the green beauty version of P50 and while I won’t go that far it is very nice. It’s a unique powder in lotion style exfoliant that uses a colloidal system to time release the glutamic & succinic acids. It also has antioxidants, raspberry vinegar and probiotics. I like the Low version as it’s a 20% acid strength which is strong enough for me, the High version at 30% was too much for me. It’s unique in the world of liquid exfoliants. Review HERE. Youth to the People really outdid themselves with their acid toner this year. It has lactic & glycolic acids with ginger, tree bark and kombucha ferment. It’s not too strong but it was effective. I love the clean formulation. Review HERE. As far as acid serums or products Allies of Skin revamped the formula of their Bright Future Overnight Facial which was a huge improvement. I love the 2-3 night in a row brightening treatment and now it doesn’t pill anymore so it layers well with everything. Original review HERE. Easily one of the best Allies of Skin products out there.
I also toned down my facial oil purchases this year. I loved the Black Locust Firming Concentrate by Earthwise Beauty & Votary Super Boost Night Drops. Black Locust is a great firming oil. It’s perfect for mature or aging skin. This is the oil in the line most targeted towards lines, wrinkles, anti-aging, elasticity and firmness. Stay tuned for something good coming in January about this oil. Review HERE. I adore Votary oils. They simply make some of the best quality oils on the market. Their newest launch is a soothing oil concentrate with CBD and strawberry oil. It’s fragrance free and works wonders at soothing irritation. A great addition to the Super Seed line. Also perfect for winter or cooler weather.
I have way too many mists and the only mist I really got into was Earthwise Beauty On a Swing Among Trees which is a barrier repair mist. I always wanted a barrier repair product in a mist format. It has a turmeric hydrosol as base with aloe, sodium hyaluronate & the ceramide complex (glycerin, cholesterol, five plant based ceramides) for ultimate moisture. Myrrh, frankincense, balsam resin, colloidal silver, chamomile, saffron & turmeric extracts round this mist out. Stay tuned for more on this one in January as well. Eighth Day Eye Renewal Cream was the best eye cream of the year for me. Quite expensive but it worked really really well. It was great at firming and lifting plus it reduced lines and wrinkles visably. Despite the cost I would buy it again. Review HERE.
I had three day creams really stand out for me this year: Revision DEJ Face Cream, Biologique Recherche Emulsion Originelle & Allies of Skin Molecular Muli-Nutrient Day Cream. I’ve actually named these three some of my top favorites and I reach for them all the time. I can’t imagine being without them & they each have their own purpose. Revision is a medical grade skincare brand and this heavy lotion/light cream has antioxidants, prebiotics, peptides, ceramides and one of my favorite ingredients ursolic acid. Review HERE. The Biologique Recherche emulsion is like a light cream/heavy lotion as well. It’s super soothing and is perfect as restoring my skin during the day. It’s like the day version of Creme Masque Vernix for me. Review HERE. Allies of Skin is the perfect summer or lightweight day moisturizer. I love not only the packaging and color of it as well. Something about that pistachio green. This has hydrators, nutrients and antioxidants. It you want a really lightweight moisturizer that isn’t clogging at all this is a great one to try. It’s got stem cells, probiotics, niacinamide, makunka honey, tamanu oil, green tea, phospholipids, ceramides & superoxide dismutase. Review HERE.
Sente was a great medical grade skincare brad discovery. I had heard they were good for a while but hadn’t bit the bullet to try them. Both Bio Complete Serum & Dermal Contour Pressed Serum lived up to their hype. One is a night retinol serum and the other a hydrating serum with glycosaminoglycan analogs (next generation hyaluronic acid like complexes). Review HERE. SkinBetter Even Tone Correcting Serum was my favorite pigmentation serum this year. It is retinol free with a cocktail of tyrosinase enzyme blockers and lighteners. It works. Review HERE.
Dr Sam’s Flawless Moisturizer & Flawless Cleanser were great discoveries in the simple department. Her whole line is no frills or fuss, fragrance free with affordable products. The moisturizer has a beautiful richer glossy cream texture. It’s in that light cream category that’s good for days in the cooler weather or possibly nights in warmer weather depending. It leaves my skin with a really good glow. The cleanser has a fun jelly like texture. It’s low pH, not stripping or drying. Both are completely fragrance free and have nice simple but good formulations. Review HERE.
I feel like this year I got overloaded on creams. Don’t get me wrong I love a good cream but I can only use so many on my one face. I tend to use lotions more as day creams and pots as night creams. The two creams that I reached for all the time were: Fresh Black Tea Firming Overnight Mask & Biologique Recherche Creme Masque Vernix. The Fresh sleeping mask has a dreamy bouncy almost whipped texture yet it’s super nourishing. It looks like it would be really heavy but it’s not. It lasts all night long and leaves my skin with the most supple, plump hydrated skin in the morning. Totally obsessed. Review HERE. Creme Masque Vernix was something I wasn’t sold on at first. I’ve seen vernix (I’m a nurse) and the idea of coating my face in something that was touted to be similar to that scared me. I got a sample for the hell of it and was hooked. Nothing else cream wise has plumped and hydrated my face all night long like this cream. It’s soothing and repairing. It’s the ultimate repairative cream. It will fix all your woes. It’s thick and heavy going on but not greasy or clogging. Review HERE.
I love a good gel cream or light water cream depending on what you want to call them. I like using them as a moisture layer in the morning and sometimes at night. I prefer low silicone versions and both Volition Celery Green Cream & TATCHA The Silk Cream fit the bill perfectly as they’re silicone free. Volition is a super light gel cream with more gel than cream. It has a light refreshing green scent. The celery, peptides and cucumber make this a treat and it’s a great hydrating layer. Review HERE. It took me forever to try the TATCHA cream but I’m glad a I did. It has a similar gel texture as the Volition but is more silky on the skin. It has royal jelly, green tea, algae, rice, silk, peony and ginseng. A great extra hydrating layer That adds a nice silky feel to your skin. Review HERE.
I love a good hydrating serum as I love a few lightweight hydrating layers in my routines. Some of my favorite hyaluronic acid based ones this year: Allies of Skin Triple Hyaluronic Antioxidant Hydration Serum, Twelve Ideal Moisture Level Serum, Medik8 B5 Intense & Alpha-H Hyaluronic 8. Allies of Skin never disappoints and this one has three forms of hyaluronic acid, resveratrol, superoxide dismutase, niacinamide, astaxanthin, peptides & strawberry extract. Its yummy. Review HERE. I love the lightweight texture of the Twelve serum. It reminds me a bit of NIOD MMHC. It has saccharides, sodium hyaluronate, panthenol & blue mallow flower extract. The lightweight texture is utterly divine. Medik8 finally started shipping to the US which is a dream. The brand has some great non nonsense effective formulations. Their new B5 Intense serum has the most divine light texture that’s not heavy or sticky. Easily one of the best hyaluronic acid serums out there. It’s got multiple hydrating and soothing ingredients plus natural moisturizing factors plus black carrot/saskatoon berry. It’s also fragrance free. You need this one. Alpha-H launched a new high tech hyaluronic acid serum with eight multi weighted hydrating ingredients including the next generation hyaluronic acid PrimalHyal Ultrafiller™ which behaves like a dermal filler. I like the lightweight slippery texture. More to come on these two soon.
MUKTI is an Aussie brand I found this year. Their booster serums are really nice. The Vital B Elixir and Vital A Elixir are the two I tried and loved. One is a soothing hydrating serum the other a retinal with lycopene and paracress. The textures are amazing for these serums and I need to get the new marine one. Review HERE. Kate Somerville Kx Active Concentrates Ceramides + Omegas Serum is perfect for a healthy skin barrier. It has such a lightweight texture for a ceramide/omega product. Most on the market are heavier lotion textures. The lightweight slightly creamy serum texture of Kate Somerville makes it easier to layer and use all year round. It’s become my favorite of all the barrier repair serums. I haven’t gotten to review it fully yet but it will be a glowing review when I get it up.
I always grab a few sunscreens every year. My favorites were: Paula’s Choice Youth-Extending Daily Hydrating Fluid, ANESSA Perfect UV Sunscreen Mild Milk, Klairs Soft Airy UV Essence, Purito Comfy Water Sun Block Unscented & Centella Green Level Unscented Sun. I prefer light and fluid sunscreens and I have no preference between filter type. Paula’s Choice is the ultimate super light weight fluid. It’s never heavy and won’t leave you greasy. ANESSA has a nice fluid texture and it’s a little more hydrating but it has a nice silky feel. Klairs has a nice light and airy texture. No white cast and it’s not heavy or greasy. Purito makes some of the best affordable sunscreens. Both got launched as fragrance free versions this year which made them so much better. Comfy Water is the super light mineral version while Centella is the soothing more lotion textured chemical block. I used the Comfy Water all summer on me and Ella’s faces and it was perfect for the Texas summer humidity and heat. I talked about some of them HERE.
Makeup wise I find myself still gravitating towards what’s easy and quick which means cream eyeshadow, highlighter and blush. My favorite foundation of the year is Surratt Dew Drop Foundation. No surprise it comes from one of my favorite brands. The weightless foundation has a light to medium skin like dewy buildable finish and a cool delivery system. Review HERE. While I discovered Westman Atelier when it launched late in 2018 I really didn’t fully get into it until early 2019. The brand was a great launch if you like clean beauty, cream blush and dewy minimal looks. The Vital Skin Foundation Stick and Baby Cheeks cream bush in Chouchette (newest shade) are my favorites. Review HERE.
Cream highlighter wise I reached for lilah b. Divine Duo Lip & Cheek b. dazzling, YSL Touche Eclat Shimmer Stick in Rose Gold & Rituel de Fille Rare Light Luminizer in Phosphene the most. Phosphene may not be new but I did grab a new one so maybe that counts lol. It’s a perfect creamy textured complex shimmer highlighter with a beige that has peach and pink. It’s actually my favorite cream highlighter because it’s just so perfect for me. Review HERE. The weightless smooth texture of YSL Touche Eclat Shimmer Stick Rose Gold is perfection along with its rose gold hue. It’s pigmented and just glides on, plus I love the weightless feel. Review HERE. I love the creamy texture and intense sparkling pink champagne of b. dazzling. I actually just hit pan on it which is so rare for me. Review HERE.
My most used brow combo was Surratt Expressioniste Brow Pencil & Hourglass Arch Brow Volumizing Fiber Gel both in Blonde. The Surratt is an old favorite that I had a rekindled love affair with. I quit using it for some time then realized how much I love the skinny pencil again. Its refillable which is a plus. But it’s pigmented, looks natural, lasts and it’s not so hard in texture that it pulls my eye hairs out applying like some other brands. The Hourglass is one I have come to realize is my favorite brow gel. I like the brush shape, it holds without being too much, looks natural and actually has some good color coverage. My favorite cream eyeshadows this year will come as no surprise: Kaja Moon Crystal Sparkling Eye Pigment in Tiger’s Eye, By Terry Ombré Blackstar in Bronze Moon & Chanel Stylo Ombre et Contour in Vague and Electric Brown. Th Kaja eyeshadow is such a good cheap find. It seriously lasts forever as you only need a little. It’s got a whipped creamy texture that dries down and sets. It lasts all day and does not crease or budge. It’s phenomenal. The shade is a mid tone shimmering brown with a green sparkle. Review HERE. I know for years everyone told me to grab By Terry Ombré Blackstars and I wasn’t paying attention or something. Shame on me cause I missed out on the best stick cream eyeshadows ever. They glide on super easy, no sticky rubbery feel that skips on the eyelid. They’re actually almost weightless lighter than any cream stick I’ve tried. They set and last all day with no creasing. They don’t feel tacky on my lid like some other popular eye crayons. Truly phenomenal formula. I adore Bronze Moon as it’s the perfect shimmering mid tone brown (neither too gold/warm nor too cool) and will cry when it’s discontinued. I did really enjoy using the Chanel eye crayons as eyeshadows. I know you can use them as chunky liner too. They do have that more rubbery tacky feel when you apply them but what I liked about them was that they still dry down enough to last and not crease. I like layering Electric brown more concentrated around the lashes under Vague.
Some other things I forgot to picture but deserve to be mentioned are new budget brand The Inkey List. Their Hyaluronic Acid, Sea Kelp, Collagen Booster & Retinol were my favorites and they deserve a mention. The hyaluronic acid is light, slippery and not sticky or heavy while the collagen booster is light, hydrating and an affordable peptide serum. I still have a huge wishlist a mile long as I want to try the whole line eventually. Review HERE & HERE. If you want to try a budget brand in 2020 I would look at grabbing a few from the brand.
I’m not much into beauty tools but the Elevare Plus+ was by far the best. The red & infrared light device was hands down my favorite. It stimulates collagen production, reduces lines and wrinkles and helps with pigmentation. Not really in many peoples budget but if it is it’s a nice one. Review HERE.
Acaderma is a brand that’s new to the market and I love their philosophy of science and clean products. They have some unique patents on new ingredients and I think their popularity will expand this year. The Oasis was the only one I’ve gotten to fully write about. I plan of talking about the others early this year but I needed more time to get technical with those posts which I haven’t had lately. I loved The Oasis Barrier Booster which is a hydrating serum with a unique cactus/desert plant complex. Review HERE.
I loved the remake of Drunk Elephant Lala which added ceramides and put it on my radar (I didn’t really get into the first version) it was their launch of A-Passioni Retinol Cream that I think was their best of the year. It was also the most controversial. The 1% retinol was either loved and tolerated by some or hated as it caused massive irritation to others. Basically some loved it, like myself, for its powerful anti-aging and glow giving effects or it irritated some to the point where they said their face almost fell off. Quite the funny mix of reactions to it honestly. Review HERE.
hMHC Skincare and Neocutis had two of the best growth factor serums I used all year. Growth factors give you that ultimate healthy glowing complexion. They make my skin feel rejuvenated and healthy overall. They help it renew and regenerate better but growth factors are different than peptides in some aspects. More on the hMHC Serum and Neocutis Bio Serum soon.
I just wanted to say thank you to y’all and I hope to be coming up with some new more fun and informative content this year. Let me know in the comments what you would like to see. Happy New Year XOXO-Michelle