We’ve come to the end of 2017 and I’m not sure how to feel about it. Some highlights of my year: attending the women’s march with my mom, reuniting with my female friends e-mail thread in DC, going to Italy for a week with my boyfriend in November, watching the eclipse on the beach on my birthday, meeting my baby niece, attending Boston Calling with my friends visiting from NOLA, going on a WHALE WATCH, visiting my brother’s family in NYC and exploring central park, and watching Doug Jones win.
Here are some of the beauty and non-beauty things I loved in 2017.
- Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask. I know I’ve mentioned this many times, but it is without a doubt the best skincare item in the world. In the shower after shampooing, I’ll apply a layer of this to my face, rubbing it in slightly, and then let it sit while I condition, wash my body, shave, etc. Then I move my fingers in a circular motion on my face, physically exfoliating using the texture as well as the chemical exfoliants in the mask, and rinse it off. It needs only to sit for 3-5 minutes, but completely renews the skin. It gets rid of congestion, blackheads, dry/flaky skin, and leaves me with glowing, clear-looking skin.
- One of my new years resolutions in 2017 was to not buy any powder eyeshadows or palettes, because I simply had too many that I already didn’t use. I did well and it’s now the end of 2017 and I haven’t bought a single powder eyeshadow. But I did find 2 cream/liquid options that I loved:
- The Stila Glitter & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow is the only glitter you’ll ever need. You dip the applicator, apply directly to lid, and blend slightly with a fingertip- voila, you have perfect holiday/celebration eyes. There’s no fallout, no creasing, and it comes in tons of awesome shades.
- Laura Mercier Caviar eye sticks were my other favorite eyeshadow find this year- they’re a cross between a twistable pencil and a cream formula, and they apply wonderfully and last ALL day. My favorite shade is amethyst, but I use all 4 shades in the travel-sized holiday kit I picked up, especially rosegold on days when I want something subtle but pretty on my lids.
- As far as lips are concerned, this year I really stayed away from the liquid lipsticks I loved so much in 2016. I found those formulas too drying and noticeable on the lips, so I wanted to experiment with lighter formulas, stains, and moisturizing products.
- The Lancome Matte shakers are amazing. They’re relatively inexpensive for a luxury lip product, fun to apply, whimsical in packaging, and above all- the formula is a dream. You basically press this lightweight liquid onto your lips with the sponge applicator, and it dries to a matte stain that lasts through kisses and full meals and is easy to re-apply.
- A few liquid lipsticks that launched this year did meet my standards of being hydrating while still long-lasting: YSL Rogue tatouage and the Armani lip magnets. Both are very expensive but come in a good variety of shades, and are pretty much the only matte liquid lipsticks you’ll ever need. I can’t go back to Colourpop and Kat Von D now that I’ve had these lovely-feeling lipsticks on!
- Glossier cloud paint in beam and haloscope in quartz were my go-to blush and highlighter all year. The cloud paint delivers more long-lasting pigment than any of my powder blushes, and applies wonderfully to lighter-coverage bases. Beam is a gorgeous peach-coral shade that would work on lots of skin tones. I was skeptical of Haloscope since I have oily skin and the center of these highlighting tubes is made of coconut oil. But instead of adding grease, a sweep of quartz just adds the most beautiful shimmer and glow.
- Jaclyn Hill introduced us all to Dior’s Diorskin Forever Perfect Foundation and after hearing that it made her pores disappear and lasted all day at an amusement park, I went out and bought it. It’s expensive, but I’ve used it pretty much every time I’ve done makeup this year because it is perfection. It’s lightweight and barely noticeable on the skin, but still has good coverage and seems to photo-shop my face, plus it never moves or fades on me, which is insane. The only downsides are the cost and the fact that it doesn’t play super well with other products, especially powders- but tbh you don’t need much extra coverage!
- I have to give a shout-out to the finale of Pretty Little Liars, which was some of the most bonkers television out there. Riverdale was another guilty pleasure
- I eagerly awaited Stranger Things s2 and had such a lovely Halloween binge watching the season, which I liked even more than the first. I also loved s7 of Game Of Thrones more than any other, which is controversial to some.
- Other favorites in 2017: Rick & Morty, Big Little Lies, Handmaid’s Tale, Mindhunter
(Disclaimer: I still haven’t see Ladybird, Call Me By Your Name, or Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which I predict will be favorites for me)
- Even though I actually disliked Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I anticipated it all year long and the act itself of watching a Star Wars movie in theaters made it a favorite for me.
- The Disaster Artist, The Little Hours and I, Tonya were the funniest movies I saw this year.
- I really liked Wonder Woman, Get Out, Molly’s Game, and Blade Runner 2049
- I mostly liked Logan, Atomic Blonde, and Dunkirk too.
That’s all I can think of for now!