2016

New year, new post! Of course, I made sure that my first of the year will be a bang. I know I missed my November and December 2016 monthly faves but only because I came up with something better. Here’s my list of the best of the best make-up of 2016. Some are my most used products of the year, some just really are my personal favorites but most are, of course, Korean! I hope you’ll enjoy this post!~

 

BEST EYEBROW PRODUCTS

I think I’ve been using the same brow products for the past 2 years. If you’ve seen my Korean brows tutorial, you are not gonna be surprised by this. I’d tried other products this year but I keep coming back to these. So yeah, happy to say that my brows HG products from the past 2 years are still the same today! <3

Heavy Rotation Coloring Eyebrow Mascara in shade #1

The difference of this brow mascara from other brow mascaras is how it doesn’t leave a thick layer or coating on your brow hairs. It almost literally just tint your brows! It adds a bit of color on the less hairy areas of your brows in the most natural way. And like I mentioned before on my brow tutorial, the color of the Heavy Rotation browcaras are still the most natural I’d tried – no orange tints! It dries very fast. The applicator gets the right amount of the product (’cause most browcaras have so much excess!). The formula of this is just perfect. It leaves a soft brow finish. I’d tried so many Korean ones and so far, nothing comes close to this. Sadly, you can only get this in Japan because they stopped selling this at SM Stores. If you know where else to find this locally, please let me know. *.*

Etude House Drawing Eyebrow Pencil in shade #1

I had given so many brow pencils a chance but this is still the defending champion! For the price, this product is just unbelievable. It draws so smoothly and the pigment is just so soft. I personally prefer it when you can easily erase the product ’cause sometimes, I do my brows after having coffee so mistakes are unavoidable. I bring this around with me so I can retouch my brows anytime. I almost never have to, though!

 

BEST EYELINER

Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner in Black

I almost never go out of the house without my eyeliner. And recently, I realized that I’ve never talked about it here so here you go! Last year, my go-to eyeliner was the Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner. Be it brown or black, the quality is the same. I’m a fan of its sharp tip, pigmentation and formula. It doesn’t smudge or fade. It dries off easily and lasts the whole day. Like my browcaras, I always get my eyeliners from Japanese brands. So far, the Korean ones just don’t fit my preferences. They were always at “almost there” level (wait ’til I try the Clio Kill Black!). I actually would switch from this to the K-palette 24h Pen Eyeliners from time to time. But this year, I used this the most so I’m giving it the title!~

 

BEST EYESHADOW PALETTE

Heimish Dailism Eyeshadow Palette

Looks familiar? Mentioned this beautiful palette on my October Favourites! Still loving it. This palette is just everything to me right now! It’s so pretty.~

 

BEST PRIMER

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer

This product has been around for years and I only got to experience its wonder this year. I’m not a big primer person but I do want to make the most of my eye shadow. This definitely makes it last longer and significantly more pigmented. I only ever used the Urban Decay one before this. Never went back to UD’s anymore ever since!

 

BEST MASCARA

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara

After I finish my mini bottles of this will be the first time I will ever be buying a lash product that costs above P1000 (I need them full-sized!!). The most expensive I went was Holika Holika’s Magic Pole Mascara and that was about P600+. I always thought, why? Why do you need an expensive mascara when they will just expire? When I met this guy, my life has changed. Mascara is now an every day thing. Mascara is now a must. Just look at the pics below!

I look like a girl! It looks so natural. Doesn’t dry out. Doesn’t fall out. Elongates. Curls. No clumps. No smudges. No panda eyes. I’m living!

 

BEST LIP PRODUCTS

Chateau Labiotte Wine Lip Tints in #RD01 & #CR01

If last year, the most talked-about k-lippie were the Berrisome Lip Tints. This year, I believe, is the Chateau Labiotte Wine Lip Tints! The reason why these have become a cult favorite is their crazy pigments. One layer gives you a super close to opaque color finish on your lips. Wonder why they’re in these cute wine bottle packaging? These lip tints have wine extracts to moisturize your lips! But imho, they’re not very moisturizing. Well, they aren’t drying either. I love how these feel on my lips (like wearing nothing). Taste and smell are very pleasing – like grapes! *.* They don’t transfer when they dry out and they’re very long-lasting. If I want to go for a pop of color, I’d wear the RD01. For everyday, I’d use the CR01. The latter is not as pigmented (actually quite sheer) but I  still really love how it looks on my lips. It’s not very attention-seeking. *.*

Pony Effect Stay Matte Lip Liquid in Magnificent

I am in love in so many levels with this lip product not only because of Pony. It’s not your usual liquid lippie. It’s a very “Korean-ized” (if that makes sense, hehe) matte liquid lipstick. The formula is not as thick. It feels moisturizing on the lips. And the reason why I love it so much is its color! It’s the perfect warm orange nude lippie! It’s very light-weight. It’s not sticky. It does transfer a little when it dries which I’m okay with honestly. The ones that don’t transfer are usually very drying. This can go from day to night and would complement any skin tone!

Happy Skin Power Pout in Strong and Sexy & Happy Skin X Disney Matte Moisturizing Lippie in Aurora

Of course, Happy Skin has to be here. I can go on and on for days about how much I love Happy Skin but today, I’ll keep it short. I think I already said everything in my past posts here and here. But the 2 that stood out the most is the Happy Skin Power Pout Strong and Sexy and the Happy Skin X Disney Matte Lippie in Aurora. The first one which I actually have never mentioned here before basically leaves your lips with a nice glossy rose nude pigment. It’s very light-weight, moisturizing and pigmented. I heard that this is one of their all-time bestsellers! It’s my most used lippie of the year. *.* The 2nd one is from Happy Skin’s collab with Disney! I’m still obsessed with the rose nude shade of Aurora. <3

 

BEST CONTOUR PALETTE

Too Cool For School Artclass by Rodin Contour Palette

This guy and I only met this October. I’d been using this almost every day since! I’d been fooling the people around me with this. One friend commented (ehem, Tricia), “Farrah, may cheekbones ka pala ‘no? (you actually have cheekbones?)”. Lol! I guess that’s how much it looked natural. *.* I snapped a selfie but I don’t know if you’ll notice.

If you didn’t, then this product must be really good! Lol!

BEST BLUSHER

Holika Holika X Gudetama Lazy and Joy Jelly Dough Blusher in CR01

Say hello to the cutest blusher I own! I’m not actually very particular when it comes to blushes. As long as I like the color, I’d buy it. This one, though, has quite some pleasing qualities! No. 1 is the packaging. It’s super duper gude-kawaii! I love the puff applicator. No. 2 is the scent- it smells like grapefruit. I can’t stop sniffing it. No.3 is the formula. It blends in the most natural way. It’s the perfect subtle blush! No.4 is it’s easy to apply. No.5 it’s compact. What more could you ask for?~

 

BEST HIGHLIGHTER

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer Highlighter

Highlighting is everything in the make-up universe right now. As much as I love seeing how people have become more blinding last year, I still choose to blind in subtlety. Therefore, I stick with my Mary Lou Manizer. It’s not as shiny and glowy as the ones preferred by many (Sleeks Highlight Palette, though!!!). You know I’m all about natural so here’s the best natural-looking highlighter of all. It lasts all day. It just blends well in the skin. It’s very pigmented and the color would just go well with any skintone!

 

BEST CONCEALER

The Saem Cover Perfection Tip Concealer in shade #1.5

To achieve flawless skin, one must conceal. A cult fave in Korea and my personal favorite is The Saem’s tip concealer. It’s funny how this small bottle of concealer has already lasted for almost a year when I use it every single day since I got it! How can you not love this product when it hides like a high-end concealer (such as Nars’) while it only costs 5000 won a bottle? There is no other concealer for me. There never will be- not in the near future at least!

The only cons is that it starts breaking after 12 hours. Lol.

 

BEST BB CREAM

Integrate Mineral BB Cream in shade #00

BB creams will always be my first love. Despite my obsession with cushions, I never stopped looking for good bb creams. And honestly, when I don’t want it dewy, I check the Japanese brands. This bb is a winner on Cosme.com. I can totally see why! It simply gives you a thin layer of decent coverage that’s perfect for everyday use. Oil control is pretty good. It doesn’t break after long hours. It lasts the whole day. It gives you a natural satin glow! It’s water-based, leaves no sticky feeling and gives you a nice flawless finish! It’s almost similar to my HG, Holika Holika Aqua Petit Jelly BB, except that this is more on the matte side.

 

BEST FOUNDATION

Etude House Double Lasting Foundation in shade Sand

2 words: double, lasting! I needed a base that has full coverage and long lasting power. This foundation never disappoints. It literally looks the same on me when I first apply it until the end of the day! It’s not very heavy and not sticky. The finish is semi-matte and it’s not bad at controlling oil. I’m not very fond of foundations but this is a really good product! The only downside is the shades which I already talked about here.

 

 

BEST CUSHION

Lirikos Marine Collagen Moist Cushion in shade #21

This product has every quality that I look for in a cushion! Awesome medium (buildable) coverage, super duper natural shades, semi-matte finish, long-lasting wear, moisturizing, pore-coverage, and doesn’t settle into the fine lines. This cushion is just amazing.. and underrated. If you haven’t tried any cushions, I highly recommend this!! You will not be dissapointed. 😉 (More about this will be on my next beauty post! *wink*)

(This was actually a gift from my dear friend/beauty guru, Liah! Thank you for introducing me to this product!♡)

What a long post to start the year! Hope I didn’t bore you. I’m very happy and proud to have come up with this list. My new year’s resolution is that I will do beauty posts more frequently! I will do my best! Fighting! <3

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 🙂

 

P.S. If you have troubles finding some of these products locally, here are my recommendations:

Seoul Finds Manila (@seoulfindsmnl)

Bien’s Beauty Bliss (@biensbeautybliss)

Althea Korea (@altheakorea)

 

*This post is not sponsored.