January 2015 Beauty Favorites

How long has it been since my last monthly favorites post? Too long, I guess - for some reason I don't often have a satisfactory line-up of products to present for your viewing pleasure without it becoming rather repetitive to my regularly scheduled reviews. But this month, I have a few 'shopping my stash' rediscoveries, as well as some new, previously unmentioned products that I preferred to cull together in the form of shorter reviewlets.

Let's start with not quite make-up, shall we? After deciding that TATCHA Gold Camellia Nourishing Lip Balm wasn't moisturizing enough as on overnight treatment for my cracked winter lips, I've gone back to an old inexpensive favorite, the Badger Cocoa Butter Lip Balm in the Vanilla Bean flavor. I don't taste much of anything in this, but the balm itself is properly thick, oily and longwearing, so that I still have a layer of product left on my lips come morning.

Similarly, Josie Maran Argan Infinity Intensive Creamy Oil is a welcome boost of nourishment for any area of dry skin: I use it mostly on my cuticles, and it has a delightful orange icing scent. My best friend must have been reading my mind because shortly after taking photos for this Favorites post, she sent me a package containing two shades of Josie's tinted Argan Infinity, which can be used on lips or cheeks. Can't wait to properly test them out!

Inglot's Duraline is one of those things I'd been meaning to pick up for months, but finally bit the bullet when I was visiting home over the Christmas break. In essence, it's a liquid silicone blend meant to be mixed in with powders to achieve an intense longwearing cream formula, but it can also be used to revive cream products. I've been using it with my nearly defunct pot of Maybelline Color Tattoo and it has worked wonders, turning it back into a smooth, creamy, soft consistency. If you own several cream eyeshadows on the brink of being completely dried out, do pick up a bottle of Duraline - it will save you some pennies in the long run!

I'm pretty sure both NYX Powder Blush in Taupe and the Boots No7 Blush in Soft Damson must have been mentioned in a past Favorites round-up. Both are the perfect shades for a cool winter complexion: NYX Taupe serves as an effortless contouring shade, No7 Soft Damson gives the prettiest subtle pink flush to the cheeks. You know, sometimes rummaging through your make-up drawers and bringing out forgotten favorites really is a pleasure!

This month I have also been experimenting with lining my eyes using a soft pencil and an angled brush, as demonstrated by the talented Karima in this tutorial. The brush makes it easy to deposit color exactly at the roots of your lashes and to find the perfect angle for your flick. For me, using an eyeliner pencil is also less messy and time-consuming than pulling out a pot of gel eyeliner, because, ekhm, lazy. I have also found that for some of my drier, harder formula eye pencils that tend to drag at the lashline, using the brush to place product instead is a much less frustrating experience. You already know my love for the Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pens, but I feel that I haven't mentioned my favorite angled brush in too long: it's the EcoTools Bamboo Flat Eyeliner Brush. I just ordered a new one from Ulta because mine, after five years of unfailing service, is finally ready to retire.

One product I forgot to take a close-up of is my mini bareMinerals Stroke of Light Eye Brightener; I think my shade is Luminous 1. For some mysterious reason, I've had some dry patches in the inner corners of my eyes this month, and my trusty Bobbi Brown Corrector just wasn't looking right. The lightweight, blendable formula of Stroke of Light however managed to disguise my blue undereye circles without catching on any flakes or creasing in the fine lines around the eye. In close-up photography, I can see that it has quite visible shimmer particles, but it's not very obvious to the naked eye. I'm really enjoying my little sample, and I think I should look for something with a similarly thin consistency once I'm done with the heavier Bobbi Brown.

I hope you enjoyed this peek into my favorites; it's quite interesting to me that among so many new products I've been trying lately, I still turn to some older loves from my stash. What beauty products have you been enjoying recently? Are they new discoveries or have you been shopping your stash?