2018 Beauty Top 10

[Tamara76]

Happy New Year, Y'all!   I cannot believe 2018 is coming to a close tonight! 

I wanted to share my Top 10 Beauty Products of 2018 and I hope you'll share yours, too!

Spoiler

O.k.... I know it's more than 10, but I have a few ties. 😉 These may not all have been released in 2018, but they were new to me this year.

1. Best Eyeshadow Palette:  Natasha Denona Gold Palette and Pat McGrath Mothership V Bronze Seduction - I seriously could not choose between these and I love both of these brands and women so much! 

2. Best Highlighter:  ABH x Amrezy.  Hands down.  Best. Highlighter. Ever.

3.  Best Lipstick:  This one was a 3 way tie for me - ABH Liquid Lipstick in Dolce (I love pretty much all my ABH Lippies), Gourmande Girls Liquid Lipstick in Desire (My fave indie brand) and Sephora Lip Stories in All Washed Up (for sentimental reasons because it reminds me of the fun we had at Sephoria) - My all time fave lipsticks are PMG Matte Trance, and I got several this year,  but I totally forgot to include them in my list (whoops)

4.  Best Lip Savior:  Sara Happ Lip Slip - I cannot tell you how much I love this stuff!

5.  Best Perfume:  It's a tie between Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia (this is my all time fave perfume ever - I have had people follow me down 3 escalators to ask what I'm wearing, stop me in the hall at work and on the street, ask to sniff me in the bathroom at a restaurant [true story!!!!]) and Killian Princess (a new fave I discovered at Sephoria)

6.  Best Body Shimmer:  Fenty Fairy Bomb Shimmer Powder in any shade - you can wear this all over and the sparkle is so real!

7.  Best Hair Product:  Olaplex 3 - OMG!  This has really helped me on the journey to making my hair healthy again!

8.  Most Beautiful Product:  This is a tie between Dolce & Gabbana Blush Rosa Duchessa in Provocative 40 and Rodin Luxury Illuminating Powder in Siren - These are perhaps the most beautiful pieces of art I have in my makeup collection!

9.  Cutest Product:  Sephora x Museum of Ice Cream Sprinkle Brush Set - I mean, just look at it! ❤️

10.  Best Skin Care:  Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Sleeping Mask - Smells lovely, looks lovely and does wonders for my skin

Please share your faves below!  You don't have to use the same categories as me or any categories at all - I just want to know what your faves were in 2018! ❤️

[elise222]

1. Best Eyeshadow Palette:  Huda Obsessions Amethyst palette. I love how it blends, and the purple is so pretty. I want the others now!

2. Best Highlighter:  ABH Amrezy. I gave it to my sister for Christmas and had a hard time handing it over. So pretty

3.  Best Lipstick:  I've always loved Bite's Amuse Bouche formula and was lucky to make two of my own bespoke shades in the Lip Lab in 2018, so those are my fav!

4.  Best Lip Savior:  La Neige lip sleeping mask. I really want to try the vanilla one, but I'm still trying to work through my point perk size!

5.  Best Perfume:  Clean Reserve Skin and 7 Virtues Vanilla Woods have both pleasantly surprised me! Normally, I find vanilla and sweet scents to be a bit juvenile on me. These are both so feminine and beautiful.

6.  Best Foundation:  Lawless I woke up like this foundation

7.  Best Hair Product:  Olaplex 3. I've used it in previous years on a recommendation from my hair stylist. I decided to revisit it this year and it saved my hair!

8.  Most Beautiful Product:  Tatcha one step camellia cleansing oil. Their packaging (boxes and everything) is just so beautiful!

9.  Cutest Product:  Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Jelly Mask. I don't know why but the watermelon branding is so cute to me!

10.  Best Skin Care:  The Power Couple Kit and Drunk Elephant Babyfacial have both made a huge difference in my skin this year!

[Tamara76]

Thanks for sharing, @elise222!!!  So many fun things on your list! 

I also visited a Bite Lip Lab last year and got to make my own lipstick - it was sooooo much fun! ❤️

[tastelikewater]

Having trouble with the product tags and formatting, so apologies for the mass of text. 

-Hourglass Caution mascara: I'm shocked that this lived up to the hype for me. It's the first non-waterproof mascara I've tried that lasts through a workout, and it doesn't flake or smudge throughout the day. Essence Lash Princess (green tube) gives the best results, but it always smudges no matter what I do. 

-Urban Decay Born to Run: All these months later, this palette still excites me when I open it. 

-Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover foundation: Adult-onset rosacea has complicated the search for a holy grail foundation, but I finally found it! This baby is life-changing. 

-NARS Audacious lippies: I own Anita for everyday and Audrey for a red.

-Any Bobbi Brown lipstick: I have a favorite in almost every line of hers (Crushed Lip Color in Babe, Luxe Lipstick in Brocade and Neutral Rose, Art Stick Liquid Lip in English Rose).

-Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask: Saving my lips in the brutal Chicago winter.

-Color Switch by Vera Mona: Truly does its job and allows me to dip the same brush into different colors. It's not a replacement for washing my brushes, but it extends the time between cleanings. 

-Karuna Hydrating+ Facial Mask: No longer sold at Sephora, which is a huge bummer. My skin looooooooves these sheet masks. 

-Farmacy Green Clean Balm: Takes off every speck of makeup and leaves my skin feeling nourished. 

-Tarte Busy Gal Brows tinted gel: My sister gave this to me for Christmas, and it's quickly become the only product I use. Makes my thinning eyebrows look fuller with just one swipe and keeps them looking natural and fluffy.  

-Honorable mentions (products I haven't used long enough but I think will be superstars this coming year): Hourglass Veil setting powder, Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche bullet lippies, Make Up For Ever Skin Tint, L'Oreal Lash Paradise, Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, DevaCurl.

Favorite overall brand: I found a lot of success with both Hourglass and NARS this year. Hourglass blessed me with the Caution mascara, Lip Stylo, Veil primer and powder, and I continue to treasure their holiday highlighter palette from last year. NARS gave me the Audacious lippies, Radiant Creamy concealer, Orgasm blush, and Sheer Glow foundation. I can't wait to see what both brands release in 2019!

[Tamara76]

Thanks for sharing - Awesome list, @tastelikewater!!!

I literally wore Born to Run every day last week - I just kept coming back to it!!!!

And Hourglass and NARS are both amazing brands! ❤️

[jen81]

1. Best Eyeshadow Palette:  Violet Voss Taupe NotchI love the neutrals and for everyday looks

2. Best Highlighter:  I have two many and then all those minis 😆haven’t met many I didn’t like. 

3.  Best Lipstick:  Bite Beauty Shake

4.  Best Lip Savior: Bite agave mask

5.  Best Perfume:  Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb

6.  Best sunscreen- Dr jart tiger grass treatment 

7.  Best Hair Product: Davines hair milk/ verb ghost oil

8.  Best foundation - Becca skin love 

9.  Best new to me brands — Sunday Riley and drunk elephant 

10.  Best Skin Care treatment- Sunday Riley good genes, drunk elephant baby facial 

[Tamara76]

Thanks for sharing, @jen81!!!!   I love the categories you used! ❤️

Davines and Verb are both amazing brands for hair care!  And Flowerbomb is a perpetual fave of mine, too! ❤️

[WinglessOne]

Love this thread idea! My best-of list was much easier to create than I thought it’d be. 

Setting powder: the answer depends on skin type. 

  - Dry skin: By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder. The teeniest tiniest amount locks my under-eye concealer in place all day, even in hot humid weather. This stuff’s a rockstar. 

  - Oily or “oily dry” skin: Beauty Bakerie Flour. No other powder works as well on my shiny nose and the large pores around it. 

Primer (specifically for my oily nose area): LANCôME - Blur & Go Stick paired with BB Flour has been fantastic. Since I rarely wear foundation, I just rub this primer on/around my nose, lightly dust the area with Flour, and I’m good to go! 

Lip gloss: LANCôME - L'Absolu Lacquer. I love the buildable formula and many of the colors, which I may have kinda sorta bought many of last year. 😂 

Lipstick shade: ColourPop Lux in Getty, which finally ended my several-years search for a great dark teal bullet. Hooray! 

Close runner-ups: BITE BEAUTY - Amuse Bouche Lipstick - Kale, even though it bleeds a lot without primer and/or liner; PAT MCGRATH LABS - LuxeTrance™ Lipstick - McGrath Muse; and Lancôme L’Absolu Lacquer in Energy Shot, the only coral lipstick I’ve ever loved (or even liked at all) on me. 

Beauty tool: a Chikuhodo tie between the Z-4 cheek brush and the PS-4 eye shadow brush. I use the PS-4 mostly to apply concealer under my eyes; it’s so perfect for that job, I bought a second one and I travel with both of them (for trips lasting longer than a weekend) so I don’t overwash them. And the Z-4 is my perfect blush brush. 

Product by a new-to-me brand: Kimiko Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil. Perfect for travel, performs great, and it’s an exact color match of my brows. I hadn’t heard of Kimiko before last year, aside from maybe a skincare product. Glad I found this little pencil and took a chance on it! 

Problem solver: Origins Plantscription™ Anti-Aging Cleanser 5 oz/ 150 mL. I switched to this from Origins Checks & Balances Frothy Face Wash, which I used for years until it dried out my skin in 2018. Switching cleansers fixed half my super dry skin problems. Tied in this category is pretty much every skincare product in my routine with hyaluronic acid as a top ingredient. 

Holy grail skincare item: I have to list 3 because they work perfectly together after my nighttime wash/exfoliation. ESTéE LAUDER - Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex II + Youth To The People Superfood Air-Whip Lightweight Face Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid 2 oz / 59 mL+ KORA Organics Noni Glow Radiant Eye Oil .34 oz / 10 mL. 

Bang for my buck: ColourPop Lux lipsticks at $7 USD a bullet. I’ll say it again (and again, and again): these are an absolute steal and CP could easily get away with charging 2-3x the price.

Runner up is VISEART - Eyeshadow Palette - 08 Editorial Brights(and Dark Mattes). Sure, these palettes seem expensive—until you price them out per gram and realize they’re a better value than ABH and others. I needed great performing mattes this year, and these 2 palettes delivered. 

Product that knocked a former favorite off its pedestal:  MAKE UP FOR EVER - Ultra HD Perfector Skin Tint Foundation SPF 25, which has replaced Lancôme Skin Feels Good as my favorite skin tint. I still love Skin Feels Good, but MUFE’s Ultra HD Perfector is a better skin tone match for me, plus it performs better overall. 

I didn’t include best eyeshadows in my list (aside from the value category) because I bought so many great ones last year, I can’t narrow them down. I love my PMG 6-pans but also my Visearts, all my MUFE singles, 2 of the 3 ColourPop Jelly Much shadows I bought, some of the Coloured Raine singles... I can’t decide! 

Also left out mascara because I didn’t try my new favorite until this year, and my old favorite wasn’t new to me last year. 

[Tamara76]

Thank you so much for sharing, @WinglessOne!!!!

I finally tried Beauty Bakerie's Flour powder this year and I love it, too!  You have so many amazing recommendations - I'm reading through and adding to my loves list as I go! ❤️

[tastelikewater]

@WinglessOne I was hoping you'd post to this thread; I'm always excited to read your recommendations!

[WinglessOne]

Thanks @tastelikewater! ☺️ 

[cianni]

Love this idea!! this was my first year really getting into makeup so everything is new to me LOL but here goes! I kinda switched up the categories to better reflect my collection.

best eyeshadow - I had my first experience with Morphe and was pleasantly surprised given the price. That being said I find I reach most for my Huda palettes! HUDA BEAUTY - Desert Dusk Eyeshadow Paletteas well as the mini HUDA BEAUTY - Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette((specifically the coral and Topaz)

best primer - I don’t wear foundation so the LAURA MERCIER - Foundation Primer - RadiancegIves a nice glowy finish that I like. For eyes, the NARS Pro-Prime™ Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base Originalhhas been my favourite.

best highlighter - BECCA - Shimmering Skin Perfector® Pressed Highlighterfor powder and Hourglass Vanish™ Flash Highlighting Stick Champagne Flashfor stick

best lipstick - the lovely ladies of the 100 days of lipstick challenge turned me onto the PMG mattetrance, which totally changed my perception of traditional bullet lipsticks. SMASHBOX - Always On Matte Liquid Lipstickhhas quickly become my favourite liquid lipstick formula, and Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer FU$$Yhhas a special place in my heart as my number one gloss and i was so happy to see new colors in that formula this year.

best setting powder - without hesitation, TOO FACED - Peach Perfect Mattifying Setting Powder – Peaches and Cream Collection

best perfume - DEREK LAM 10 CROSBY - Drunk On Youth, KILIAN - Princess Eau de Parfum

best hair product - Amika Bust Your Brass lIne saved the color of my bleached hair!

best skincare product - Mario Badescu facial mist with rosewater and aloe, FIRST AID BEAUTY - Ultra Repair® Cream Intense Hydration

most beautiful - it was already mentioned but the smashbox x vlada highlighter is so beautiful! From the box to the compact to the shape of the product in the pan, the entire concept was so well thought out and beautifully executed. 

best product discovered through a sample - DR. JART+ - Ceramidin™ Cream

best sale find - Becca shimmering skin perfector in Dreamsicle, SEPHORA COLLECTION - Give Me Glitter Applicator Set((on weekly wow plus 20% off!! I use these for a bunch of different things actually)

overall favourite brand - Bite beauty has been a consistent staple. I didn’t include it in best lipsticks because it isn’t something I discovered this year. Even when I wasn’t into makeup, I was into lipstick and it’s one of the only brands where I love every product in the line. That being said - I’m late to the game and would consider NARS my 2018 favourite. I’ve had luck with products I’ve tried whether it’s shadows, blush, lip products, eyeliner, etc. Ole Henriksen is my favourite for skincare!

[Tamara76]

Thanks for sharing, @cianni!  

Kilian Princess Perfume is one of my favorite finds of the year, too - Smells so lovely!  And Huda Obsessions Palettes are some of my faves! ❤️

[WinglessOne]

@cianni NARS is a great choice for favorite overall brand. I’m also a big fan of their eyeshadow primer. It creates such a nice base to work on. 

And “best product discovered through a sample” is a good category idea! For me, that’d be YTTP Superfood moisturizer, Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum, or Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Daily Peel. If I include samples made in-store by Sephora reps, I’ll add Belif Moisturizing Eye Bomb. Lots of good samples last year. (Still getting used to calling 2018 “last year.” 😄)

[cianni]

@WinglessOne ahaha I know! I had to go back and change so many things at work yesterday because I was referencing “January 2018”, but no..... it’s 2019 😂

i was going to put the DDG peel pads as my favourite from a sample as well, because I did love it, but I didn’t end up purchasing it. I like the concept, but I have a small face (if I wear a baseball hat I have to wear youth sizing LOL), so I prefer something that comes in a bottle so I can better control the amount of product used, which also helps justify costs because it lasts longer haha. I picked up the YTTP as a 100pt reward to give it a try so I’m looking forward to getting into that when I run out of what I’m currently using!!

[blackkitty2014]

@cianni, PMG MatteTrance are soo good. I enjoy them as much as my Tom Ford matte. I need to wear Becca DreamSicle soon. I forget about it (problem of a hoarder). And oh I’m eyeing on the latest Huda palette (the pinky nude one) 😂🤣

[cianni]

@blackkitty2014 I picked up Dreamsicle because it had been in and out of the sale section and I was scared of having FOMO if it was gone forever 😂 I thought it wouldn’t be that wearable tbh but I think of it as my Fenty Trophy Wife Lite because despite my best efforts there is 0 way I could make that work for me 😭. The New Nudes also is so tempting haha I’m thinking if I’m successful with my low buy year I’ll treat myself at the next Novembe holiday sale .. TBD if I can hold out that long haha

[alexasteph]

Uuuugggh I just typed a whole thing out on my phone then my cats were being too cute so I needed to record it and it didn’t save anything. Bleh. I was literally done too! So since I don’t wanna do that all again, here is the quick and dirty version. 

1. Too Faced Gingerbread 

2. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Royal Glow

3. Bite Virgo

4. EOS Tubes

5. By Rosie Jane Leila Lou

6. Dior Diorskin Mineral Nude Bronze in 02 (instead of body shimmer)

7. Benefit Ka-BROW! (instead of hair care)

8. Pat McGrath Labs MTHRSHP Subversive Metalmorphosis

9. ColourPop x Disney Designer

10. Caudalie Vinoperfect Brightening Essence

Bonus - I started wearing a ton of red lipstick instead of nudes and mauves only so that was pretty neat. 

[Tamara76]

Ohhhhh no!  That is the worst - so sorry you had to retype your list, @alexasteph!  But, thank you for sharing!

I love the Disney Princess x Colourpop palette! And Too Faced Gingerbread is one of my faves, too! ❤️

[blackkitty2014]

@alexasteph, i’d choose Becca passport collection for 2018 best highlighter too. My only problem is I can’t choose which one I love the most. I really enjoy them. 

[alexasteph]

@blackkitty2014 I have three of the four! They are so pretty.