December 2018 Favorites

Happy 2019! Here are my favorites from December 2018, coming to you late as per semi- usual.

Beauty

Rapid Red Sally Hansen Insta- Dry / There will never be enough red nail polishes in my collection.  Like everyone else in the world, reds all look so different against my skin based on their undertone. My skin is very pink, so I this one that has a lot of pink tones looks bright and pretty.  It was very Christmasy and I enjoyed wearing it for most of the month.

Daydream Eyeshadow / The shade Daydream from the Huda Beauty New Nude palette is gorgeous. This palette is gorgeous and I would definitely say it has become my go- to for girly glam makeup looks.  Whenever I do ballet- pink sparkle-y eye looks, I love how they turn out, and this palette is perfect for lots of versions of that kind of makeup.

Ulta Haul / Everything I bought in this post has been a hit. I love the Morphe M513 eye brush & stippling brushes, Jack Black lip balm, Tarte foundation brush, and the Ulta Poreless primer is a new holy grail.  I feel like it would be amazing on all skin types. I am amazed at how smooth it makes my skin- it creates the perfect canvas for foundation. This primer doesn’t keep me shine free though, so I use Urban Decay Velvetizer to offset that. It does make my foundation look really good as it wears though- no more cakeyness or patches. Read more about what I got here:

Dove Volumizing dry shampoo /  One of my favorite fashion bloggers, @thesisterstudioig on Instagram, recommended this dry shampoo.  While Bumble & Bumble Pret a Powder is my all time favorite, I like to also have a drugstore option on hand. This one is better than Batiste in my opinion.  It feels light, makes my hair fresh, and isn’t TOO white on my roots.

Dry Shampoo Foam / I did a Sally’s haul and tried out a dry shampoo foam after being curious about the one that Ouai released. I bought Sugar Rush by the brand Beyond the Zone.  I brush out my oily hair, work this foam into the roots, then blow dry those areas. It isn’t 100% clean feeling, but it’s what I use when I want to restyle my hair, like adding curls, which usually feels way gross on day four or five of dirty hair.

Cetaphil redness relief tinted moisturizer / This has been my go- to “bb cream” for everyday. It actually reduces the redness in my skin. It has a tint, but that goes away when you blend it in. I’m a big fan. It feels very hydrating. I like to set it with translucent powder to keep my oil down, which just gives off the appearance that I have naturally non- red, matte skin without any makeup. BIG FAN.

OTHER

Archie / My best friend got a Cavalier King Charles pup this month, and I have gotten to cuddle him up twice. HE IS SO CUTE and definitely a favorite. I’m proud to brag that I came up with his name! Archie is short for Archibald, named after the main character in Riverdale. He is perfect in every way and getting Snapchats of him makes my day.

Click hoop earrings / It took me way too long to get my earring situation together.  I LOVE piercings, and I plan to get a lot more this year. While daydreaming about the ones I wanted though, I figured I should go ahead and actually wear earrings in the holes I already have.  All of these don’t bother my ears and I don’t have to take them on and off daily. They just stay in at all times and I love how they look. The best part about all these are that they are the click-in / lever style type of hoop. In the past I’ve bought hoop earrings that are a continuous loop that are SO hard to get on, which lead to me just not wearing them at all.

My favorites:

1. Handcuff / two hoops are connected with a chain and according to my boyfriend, wearing it makes me look like I “belong in a Cardi B music video” which I take as a compliment.  They don’t look like actual handcuffs lol.
2. Mini hoops / These are the perfect little size for my 4th piercing to not stick out of my ears too much.  If you have really small ears (personally mine are large) these would be a good 2nd hole hoop too.
3. Pavoi hoops / After these arrived I immediately bought two more sets, and another for a Christmas gift for my Mom.  She loved it. A must have!
4. Spikes / These little dangly daggers are cute! You could wear one on each side, but I have them both beside each other since I have the handcuff on the opposite ear.

Chic Sketch / I had to try this app to see what it was all about. It’s totally vain that I wanted to be drawn, but I wanted to use it as a graphic for my blog. The sketch that I received was SO CUTE! I went ahead and bought a second one to use for a gift for a friend.

Apple Watch / My brother actually gave me his old Apple watch because he wanted to buy the upgrade.  To be completely honest, I always felt like functionally the Apple watch didn’t have a lot to offer. I always have my iphone on me, so the idea of being able to go without it just isn’t a realistic application for my life. I do however, think it looks cool, lol. Kinda gives that “upgraded” look, which is totally unnecessary and vain. I like it for being able to pause my music/ podcasts while I’m driving though, which usually was kinda stressful because I had to actually pick up my phone to do so. I’m a big advocate of NOT TOUCHING MY PHONE AT ALL WHILE DRIVING, and think everyone else should be too, so I love it for that. I have this cute band on it from Amazon.

Aerie Move Leggings / American Eagle has great quality items. I love them for swimsuits, denim, bralettes, sweaters, and now leggings. Their Move style leggings suck me in and are my “nice” workout leggings.  

Shapewear Tank Top / I’m always down for all the help I can get to look slimmer.  I picked up this Yummie by Heather Thomson shapewear top from Nordstrom Rack. I like to wear it under form- fitting sweaters or shirts to look lifted and tighter in the stomach. The fabric is thick enough to substitute for a bra in my small- chested case as well.  This isn’t shiny fabric like a lot of shapewear, so it just looks like a normal cami top.

Express Varsity Sweater / I LOVE this sweater. It is one of the more form- fitting sweaters I own, and it’s way more preppy/ Riverdale that my usual style. I love it so much though!

Walmart’s Christmas sweaters/ Speaking of sweaters, Walmart had awesome “ugly” Christmas sweaters this year. I picked up this leopard print kitty one, and also a snowflake turtleneck.

Select CBD Pen / I use CBD daily, and I really like the flavors from Select. Right now I’m using a grapefruit one, but the peppermint looks delish. I keep one in my purse at all times.

@KaitCurnow’s Insta / I discovered Kait Curnow on Instagram in December and she has become one of my favorites to follow.  Her kind of makeup is what I like to wear- glam yet wearable for everyday. She has cute fashion posts as well, so I just really enjoy everything about her page. She recently started up a Youtube channel that I look forward to watching.

Everygirl.com Monthly background / For the past few months I’ve been using the templates from everygirl.com as my phone lock background. It’s nifty to have the calendar on hand, and I like continually having a cute themed background each month.

One last thing I discovered in December was the sauna at my gym. All I need is 5-10 minutes after my workout in there. It feels heavenly and is the perfect start to my day. I like to go in without my phone- partly because I’m paranoid it’ll fry in there, partly because it makes me unplug for a little while. That’s it for December! No more shopping for me- between Christmas shopping for other people and myself, I made quite a dent in my bank account, so I need to go back to being frugal. It’s difficult for me to hold back from shopping, so wish me luck.  Hope you all have had a great start to 2019 and I look forward to sharing more this year.

-Kim

@kimandmakeup on Instagram

kimandmakeupmail@gmail.com