December 2016 Favorites

Happy 2017! For December I have a long list of makeup, fashion, and random items to share that were my favorites.  December is a great month for me because it means time off work and nights spent with family and friends.  Now that it’s January I’m looking forward to watching new seasons of Bachelor and Teen Mom 2. I can’t help but love a little bit of trashy reality TV! I’m switching it up this month by starting with the random category.  The grand finale will be the good stuff- beauty products.

RANDOM

Crochet / I bought some yarn to make a couple stockings for my cat, my boyfriend, and I to hang up in my apartment. I learned how to crochet from my mom when I was a kid, and it has been awhile since I got back into it. Busying my hands while I am watching something on TV is so relaxing to me, and keeps me off my phone! Next project I will be trying is a beanie if I can find a cute yarn.

My own YouTube video / I found the courage to upload a couple makeup tutorials I filmed. They are quite rookie level editing, but also were a fun thing to do!

Balsam scents / I pretty much only burned Christmas tree scents this month. My favorite Nordic Pine from Target is still going strong on my coffee table.

Target Planners / I am using a Moleskin planner for 2017, but I was majorly tempted walking through the office supply section of Target to pick up another planner.  I didn’t because of how unnecessary that is, but definitely check out their selection if you don’t have one yet.

The Joneses on Netflix / This is a movie that I really loved seeing this month. I love finding lesser- known movies to watch on Hulu and Netflix. This one is about a family that is planted to sell products to their “friends”. It reminded me of Real Housewives with a freaky twist.

Theo Von Stand Up / I watched this stand up special on Netflix twice this month. He kills me!!

Backwoods Brewing ROUGHIN’ IT RYE IPA / This is one of the best IPAs I have ever tried.  It is seasonal until March so try it while you can!

FASHION

Sketchers Cozies Ankle Boots / Opposite of the word “fashion” but I have barely taken off these shoes since I purchased them on a whim at the beginning of December. I am quite embarrassed that they are Sketchers grandma shoes, but they keep my feet toasty and are even more comfortable than Uggs. They have gotten me interested in the sneaker boot trend.

Derek Cardigan 7011 Black Gold Glasses / The last thing I needed was another new pair of glasses, but I couldn’t help myself. This style from Coastal reminded me of my favorite pair of Clubmaster Raybans.

LulaRoe leggings / I received a pair of leggings by LulaRoe as a stocking stuffer.  I have only about this brand a little from Facebook, and I was happily surprised with how soft and comfortable they feel. I have worked out a few times in mine, a heathered red color, and they stay up and don’t overheat me! Workout apparel is such a nice gift to receive.

BEAUTY

Benton Snail Bee Essence / I have a lot of red spots on my skin from zits that are done being gross active acne, but still need to heal. My doctor told me about how snail extract is good for healing and redness, so I picked this one up from Amazon after doing a little more research on my own. It feels very moisturizing and I think it has helped my spots heal.

Milani Luminoso / I had forgotten how beautiful and pigmented these baked blushes are. I have been using this all month for a light peach healthy glow.  This is one of the only good blushes from the drugstore that I have found.

NYX London Soft Matte Lip Cream / This lip cream and a couple other shades from the NYX SMLC line are what I have been turning to when I don’t know what else to wear.  I really like the formula, the price, the colors, and I have a few more that I am wanting to pick up from Ulta. These are one of those lip products that you can’t go wrong with. If you aren’t typically a fan of liquid lipsticks, give these a try. They are not as harsh or drying as a typical formula.

Make Up For Ever 3C lip pencil / Best lip liner color in the game. I have sharpened this one like twice this month, which means it is used heavily in my rotation.

Urban Decay Naked Skin One & Done Foundation / This is the foundation I have been using constantly! I love using this when I know I am going to be setting my foundation with a  non- translucent matte powder. It is so fresh and still shows your skin through, so layering with powder doesn’t make the makeup too heavy. This basically just evens out your skin tone to all be the same color

Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye palette / These eyeshadows are just a major life favorite at this point. I love the large transition shades so I can use the light color as a base over my primer, the peachy one as a transition shade so I can give Makeup Geek Peach Smoothie a break, and the shadows are so pigmented that I barely need to pick up any on my brush to get a nice color application. I love to mix and match a couple browns to get a great crease color combo.

Bare Minerals Well Rested / This has been in heavy rotation for me as well this month. I finished up my 2nd pot of it, and that is a rare thing in my life!

MUFE Bronzer / I almost deleted this from the list because I have talked about it a lot on this blog. Not to beat a dead horse, but this is just the right level of not too orange, not too ashy, and you don’t have to do any work to blend it.

Bronzey Eyes / I have majorly caught the bronze shimmer bug. Colourpop Nillionare, Makeup Geek Lucky Penny & Grandstand, Tarte Rocker, ABH Mario palette shades, and Laura Geller Metallik Rust are a few of my faves.  I used to be nervous about putting anything dark on my eyes, but I feel like it makes my blue eyes stand out and basically eliminates the need for liner. Please send me your suggestions of your favorite brown rusty shadows! 🙂

Bite Honeycomb Amuse Bouche lipstick / I keep this lipstick in my purse to have on hand in case I need a lipstick at any given moment. This color is the perfect neutral nude. It smells like lemonade and is extremely comfortable to wear.

Lush H’Suan Wen Hua hair mask / If you need your hair to smell AMAZING, buy this. The chai scent stuck to my hair about 4 days. It didn’t do a crazy good job on actually moisturizing/ revitalizing my dry hair, but in all honesty I just need to go get a haircut to solve that.

Urban Decay Chem Trail Liquid Moondust / My dream shade for adding sparkle on top of eyeshadow, or making a beautiful sheer shiny inner corner. This is so worth it!! I don’t usually use up glitters… but I can see that happening with this one.

Sugarpill Pumpkin Spice Eyeshadow / I purchased this 50% because of the name, 50% of the color. While it doesn’t smell like cinnamon, the color is the brightest copper orange I own. Everything I have tried from this brand has been a success and their packaging is beautiful.

Sephora Matte Cream Liquid Lipstick / These stole my heart this month and I couldn’t be more happy with the color selection and the formula. These are the best. Check out my review on them here.

Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light nail polish / I haven’t pulled this color out in a couple years because I remembered it having a sheer application. It takes 2-3 coats, but I LOVE the navy blue color with copper/ green/ purple duochrome flecks.

Thank you for reading my blog this year and I am looking forward to improving and posting in 2017!

-Kim