• Revisiting my 2019 Favourites

    Revisiting My 2019 Favourites

    Hi Everyone!

    I am revisiting last year’s favourites. There were some products I really enjoyed, but I don’t love them enough to repurchase. Others are favourites and I will repurchase again in the future. Keep reading to find out which products from my 2019 favourites made the list!

    Check out my other posts revisiting my old favourites!

    Revisiting My 2017 Favourites

    Part 1 | Part 2

    Revisiting My 2018 Favourites

    Part 1 | Part 2

    This year, I’ve taken a look at those “Revisiting” posts and reviewed them again. I’ve decided that every year, I will take a look at all of my favourites to see how my tastes change as I get older.

    Revisiting My Old Beauty Favourites


    January/February

    Maybelline Lash Sensational Full Fan Effect Mascara (read my review)

    Repurchase? Maybe.

    CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara (read my review)

    Repurchase? Maybe.

    Maybelline Fit Me Loose Finishing Powder in 15 Light

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Smashbox Photo Finish Primerizer

    Repurchase? Yes. I’ve bought it twice since I first tried it.

    Lancôme Brow Powdery Shaping Pencil in 09 Soft Black

    Repurchase? No.

    March/April

    Lancôme L’Absolu Lacquer Lip Gloss in 236 Pour Toujours

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Water

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil

    Repurchase? No.

    May/June

    Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder in Medium

    Repurchase? No.

    Sigma F30 Large Powder Brush

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Colourpop Super Shock Shadows

    Repurchase? Probably not. I feel like buying too many of them would take up a lot of room.

    Pixi On-the-Glow Multi-Use Moisture Stick*

    Repurchase? No.

    Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Grapefruit

    Repurchase? I would repurchase in a different flavour. I wasn’t a fan of the grapefruit. I would probably choose the Berry.

    Jouer Essential Lip Enhancer Balm

    Repurchase? Yes.

    July/August

    Bare Minerals Gen Nude Powder Blush in That Peach Tho

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Perricone MD No Lip Gloss Lip Gloss*

    Repurchase? No.

    Touch In Sol No Poreblem Primer

    Repurchase? No.

    Cinema Secrets Makeup Brush Cleaner

    Repurchase? No.

    Eczema Honey Nut-Free Skin-Soothing Cream*

    Repurchase? Probably not.

    Colourpop Brow Boss Gel in Clear

    Repurchase? Yes.

    September/October

    Dolce & Gabbana 3 L’Imperatrice Eau De Toilette

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Goldfaden MD Bright Eyes*

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Sephora PRO Featherweight Powder Brush #91

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder

    Repurchase? Yes.

    November/December

    Volition Beauty Strawberry-C Brightening Serum*

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Ole Henriksen Banana Bright Eye Crème

    Repurchase? Maybe.

    Good Molecules Ultra-Hydrating Facial Oil*

    Repurchase? Yes.

    Do you spot any of your favourites?

    Love,

    Products marked with * were sent to me for review or gifted.

  • makeup brush dryer

    How I Clean My Makeup Brushes

    Hi Everyone!

    Today, I’m sharing what I do to clean my makeup brushes! I use a few different products: I have brush cleaner for a quick clean and then I also use a solid brush cleaner and a mat to get a deeper clean.

    For a quick clean, I’ve been using a brush cleaner. I have the Sephora one and the Cinema Secrets one. The Sephora one used to smell really nice, but it’s been a few years since I bought it and it just smells like cleaner now. The Cinema Secrets one has a vanilla scent which I like a lot more.

    For a deeper clean, I’ve been using the Sephora mini solid brush cleaner. Since I have the mini one, it doesn’t come in a tin, so I keep it in a little soy sauce bowl. I wet the brush and lightly swirl the brushes on the ‘soap’ until there’s no longer any colour coming off of brush. In the past, I’ve used baby shampoo and a mat from Amazon to make sure the inside is nice and clean. The mat has ridges so it gets inside the bristles without ruining your brushes. Either I lightly swirl the brush or wipe it back and forth against the ridges.

    To dry my brushes, I use a brush drying rack. I also like drying my brushes with my makeup drying tool (read my review) I got from Winners that spins the brushes to dry them faster and then I hang them on my drying rack until they’re fully dry. The drying tool sounds a bit gimmicky, but it does dry brushes really fast! The only problem with the drying tool – it doesn’t fit brush handles that aren’t tapered (like my Sephora or Sigma eye brushes). I have to stuff them into a smaller size or I just let those air dry.

    How do you clean your brushes?

    Love,

  • zoe ayla makeup brush cleaner and dryer

    Worth It? | Makeup Brush Cleaner & Dryer

    Hi Everyone!

    I was at Winners the other day and I picked up a few things. I kept seeing this Zoe Ayla Makeup Brush Cleaner & Dryer, but the boxes were always destroyed. I know it didn’t really matter as long as everything was inside, but they just always looked so dirty. I finally spotted a few boxes that were in perfect condition and picked one up for $29.99. I don’t think there’s any specific brand name one that’s better than the others, but here’s a link to one I found on Amazon- Makeup Brush Cleaner & Dryer.

    This revolutionary electronic tool magically cleanses you brushes in seconds and allows you to dry them in seconds without creating any mess or hassle. Professionals strongly recommend cleaning your makeup brushes every few weeks, but traditional cleaning methods are messy, time-costly and often leave brushes wet and unusable for up to 24 hours.

    You just attach any makeup brush using one of eight collars, before dunking it for 10 seconds, spinning for another 10 seconds and then drying for 5-10 seconds.

    It comes with a bowl, 8 silicone collars to fit different brush sizes, a plastic stand to hold the collars, 2 spindles to connect the collars to the device and the device to spin the brushes. The device takes 2 AA bateries and you press a button to spin it.

    A lot of my Sephora brushes don’t really fit properly in the collars. The best eye brushes that work with the collars are ones that have a tapered end. I found that half of my brushes don’t fit comfortably in the collars and obviously double-ended brushes aren’t going to work. I either have to shove the brush into a smaller collar or I will need to wrap something around the brush for it to fit into a bigger collar.

    Obviously when you clean an eye brush, it spins really fast because it’s so small and when you clean a powder brush, it spins a little slower because it’s heavier. Because a powder brush is heavier, the spindle has fallen out once or twice while I’m spinning the brush. I don’t know if I’m just not pushing the spindle in all the way or if it’s as far as it goes. I think I’m supposed to put more pressure, but I’m worried I’ll break it if I push too  hard.

    This product works best for brushes you use for powder products. For liquid products, it doesn’t get in between the bristles and therefore doesn’t clean it properly.

    For liquid products, I use a cleaning mat that I got from Saks Off Fifth. I lightly swirl my brushes to make sure the inner bristles are cleaned.

    After my brush is clean, I like to run the brush under the tap to rinse off the soap and then I spin it to dry it. I wouldn’t say that this completely dries the brushes, but it does cut down on the drying time. Usually, I lightly swirl it on a clean towel to get rid of the excess water.

    The device fans out the brushes a lot, so I put it back into it’s normal shape before I hang it on my drying rack. I wouldn’t use this on more expensive brushes just in case it ruins the shape of it or something.

    RATING: 3.5/5

    I think $20-30 is still a bit expensive, I definitely wouldn’t pay more than that. This product is a bit gimmicky, but it does dry brushes really fast. Although I rated it fairly high, I don’t think I would recommend it. One thing for drying makeup brushes that I would recommend is a makeup brush drying rack. This isn’t the specific one I bought, but it looks exactly the same.

    Have you tried a brush cleaner and dryer?

    Love,