Monthly Favorites: December 2021 Edition!

[AlexBT]

‘Tis the season… to pay tribute to our December beauty favorites! Earlier this month, while shopping for gifts for others (thanks in part to all the great recs from our Community Ambassador Gift Guide for the 2021 Holiday Season), the inevitable happened: some extra items for me managed to sneak into my basket. I mean, I have to know if I like it before I can confidently gift something to someone else, right? We’ll call it research! In any case, I’ve acquired some new-to-me beauty staples that collectively carried me through my many December moods – whether I stayed home and couched it with some self-care, or actually went out in my glitzy holiday glam, complete with a highlight you can see from space. 🌌

Here are the products I’ve turned to the most this month:

• DIOR BACKSTAGE Glow Face Palette 
• Hourglass Vanish™ Seamless Finish Concealer Brush 
• Kiehl's Since 1851 Epidermal Re-Texturizing Micro-Dermabrasion 2.5 oz/ 75 mL 
• OUAI Detox Shampoo 
• Tatcha Camellia Gold Spun Lip Balm 0.21 oz/ 6 g 

Tell us your favorites! Which skincare, hair, makeup, fragrance, and/or wellness products have you been loving this month? Reply below and use the “#” sign to tag your faves!

[QueenMarceline]

I keep seeing the Apple Brandy recommendations all over the place! 

[ather]

@QueenMarceline  Definitely because it’s sooo good!!

[QueenMarceline]

Some of the products I've been reaching for the most this December include some old time favorites and some new loves. I live in a very cold climate during this time of year so my entire skincare routine switches up quite a bit. Most of the things I notice myself reaching for lately revolve around those drastic seasonal changes. 

A new love is the Drunk Elephant Protini™ Polypeptide Firming Refillable Moisturizer 1.69 oz/ 50 mL that I went through multiple sample sizes of from previous Drunk Elephant gift sets but I liked it so much I stocked up on 3 of them this sale season. I could see myself liking this even in the summer months as a night-time cream, as it's not overly heavy.

 

An old time favorite that I've been reaching for a long more lately is the LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask Intense Hydration with Vitamin C Vanilla. The cold winter months are really harsh on my lips so I noticed myself reaching for this product a lot more frequently in the last few weeks.

Another semi-new but not-so-new favorite is the Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Visibly Firming Refillable Body Cream with Caffeine-Rich Guaranà it's just so smooth and buttery. The moisturize my skin receives from this is incredible and the smell is just so decadent. Ended up buying two of these at the recent sale and it's worth the price. Will probably always repurchase this. 

Lately I've been reaching for this organic skincare line from Hungary called Eminence, specifically their Guava & Bamboo age-defying moisturizer. It's kind of hard to get a hold of this brand outside of a retail spa that sells the line, Amazon or directly from their website. I like a lot of their products but this moisturizer smells yummy and reminds me of summer. It's super thick so I can't use it in the summer due to my combo skin (and it being oily during that time) but I genuinely love using this as a night cream during the winter. I'm actually super bummed that it's too heavy for me during the summer because this scent is divine. I've been incorporating it into my night-time routine especially when I use retinoids/retinols or harsh anti-aging products. This stuff has super clean ingredients and when using harsher skincare I really like having something gentle. It's a bonus that this is also aimed at anti-aging so it's perfect to incorporate in that routine. 

This is an oldie that I've been using for... almost a decade now. The Bliss Kiss Nail + Cuticle Oil in the scent "Crisp", this is one of  those products that you can find at almost any drug store but a lot of places online carry them in multi-packs for habitual users like myself. These are seriously a staple and I keep so many of them around to throw in a purse. This is honestly such an underrated "staple" product, comes in a convenient pen that has a nail brush too. No fuss and no mess. This December I've definitely noticed myself reaching for this multiple times a day. 

I noticed that I've been reaching for the Viktor&Rolf Bonbon Eau de Parfum with Caramel & Peach perfume a lot in the last few weeks. I tend to gravitate towards sweet scents during this time and this to me is simply perfection on my body chemistry. So sweet and so delectable. One of my favorites.

Something I'm really enjoying (year-round) but especially during this month when the Northern weather went from cozy fall to wretched winter, is this exfoliating body scrub from a small company called Nectar Bath Treats in the scent Champagne Kisses. I went into their store when I was in Vegas and I loved their products they give me a LUSH Cosmetics but-done-in-modern-times with an overload of pink and all things bubblegum candy kind of vibe. (Think bath bombs in the shape of glittery decadent waffles, sparkly sugar scrubs, customizable body butter hand-mixed in front of you, type of thing) This has become my favorite scrub literally, ever. It exfoliates without being too rough but still giving you that cleaned and polished feel. It leaves behind some sort of moisturizing effect that isn't extremely and overly oily like most other moisturizer scrubs. These scrubs are definitely their stand-out products. 

[itsfi]

@QueenMarceline, the bottle on the V&R Bonbon fragrance is so adorable! 😍 I've not heard of that Eminence guava and bamboo moisturizer - it sounds great. I've tried a couple of their bamboo products but not that one; adding it to my list. 

[QueenMarceline]

@itsfi BonBon is definitely a winter go-to, it might be the bottle being shaped like a bow that makes it feel that much more festive. haha! I love that moisturizer but for me it's a winter-only item. Way too rich/thick for my combo skin in the summer (or as I like to call it... oily season 😂).

[Beadshopgirl]

I also love Bonbon this time of year. It’s such a yummy cozy scent. When I wear it on my wrists I can’t stop sniffing myself all day lol!

[QueenMarceline]

@Beadshopgirl BonBon is a definite go-to. So yummy, I really regret not bringing my travel spray of it along with me (I am currently out of town). 

[Mellmars1185]

@QueenMarceline Loving the laneige sleeping masks. I really want to try LANEIGE BTS X AMOREPACIFIC Lip Sleeping Mask Gummy Bear but we dont have it in Canada! @AlexBT 

[QueenMarceline]

@Mellmars1185 Oh no, that's such a bummer to those in Canada who wanted to try this product.  I know that they had this gummy bear scent ~6 months ago without the collaboration with BTS, so it appears the scent was rebranded as this collab for the sleeping mask, possibly. Maybe once they sell out of the collab, it will be back? I have tried the gummy bear scent in their lip balm version (not the sleeping mask) and I honestly was not the biggest fan. Much preferred the vanilla or the classic berry scent to that one. It was almost a very overpowering artificial off-candy scent (in my opinion). I am also a little confused as to why the gummy bear variety costs more than the other ones if they have the same amount of product. 😕 

[Mellmars1185]

@QueenMarceline Hey thanks for the update. We do have the LANEIGE Lip Sleeping Mask Intense Hydration with Vitamin C Gummy Bear in Canada. I am not too sure how to make sense of the collab but i love the amorepacifica sent so i thought i would be neat to try. I have tried the original laneige sleeping mask and i did enjoy it! I still have the LANEIGE Midnight Minis Set that i have to open! Thanks for your input on the scent!!

[QueenMarceline]

@Mellmars1185 Oh wow, that's super odd that they don't have the collab version then for all the lovely Canadian Sephora shoppers. I almost now want to buy the gummy bear OG scent as well as the collab to check if there's any difference or if the price markup is just for collab purposes. I just noticed we also have both the OG and collab versions on the US Sephora site (I thought we only had the collab available in this scent, sorry my mistake). 

[Mellmars1185]

@QueenMarceline If you end up trying both versions, let me know!

[ather]

@QueenMarceline  Great picks. I need to search out that cuticle oil. I use the Dior cream one but definitely just a night one to thick for day use. I wouldn’t mind one I can use during the day. My cuticles are so dry!!

[QueenMarceline]

@ather That one is substantially more light-weight and it's very affordable. Give it a go and let me know what you think 🙂

[eshoe]

The Sugar Scrub looks yummy, @QueenMarceline!

[QueenMarceline]

I need to restock ASAP. I'm on the last half of the last one I own 😞

[AlexBT]

@QueenMarceline Amazing picks! Fellow TeamBIC-er @LexBT LIVES for protini 🙌🙌🙌 so it always makes me think of her, lol

[QueenMarceline]

It's hands down a moisturizing superstar! 🙂

[Lovenglish9]

I use the Ouai detox shampoo about once a month and a little goes a long way. I love their leave in conditioner, hair oil, and heat protectant spray. They make  a shampoo massage brush that is very nice too! I’m slightly obsessed. 🙃

[AlexBT]

@Lovenglish9 The massager thing sounds great, I need to check it out. Sounds like the perfect pairing with my shampoo. I also am a big fan of their OUAI Wave Spray 4.9 fl oz/ 145 mL 

[Lovenglish9]

@AlexBT  #Ouai massage brush with OUAI Detox Shampoo  is life! You need that too! Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Hair Mask 8 oz/ 237 mL is fantastic afterwards!