Having make up become a part of my work was one of the highlights of 2018 for me. It did however, make me want to take a break from make up during my free time. I found myself wanting to get my own make up done as quickly as possible most mornings and searching for make up that was quick and easy to apply, and long lasting, since that was what I was needing to stock my freelance kit. My favorite products last year were the most convenient products.

G R E S S A  M I N I M A L I S T  C O R R E C T I V E  S E R U M  F O U N D A T I O N

I feel like such a broken record everytime I talk about this product. But it’s just so good. I have been watching the buzz and popularity grow around this product since Laura from Laura’s Natural Life started talking about it a couple of years ago, and I can tell that it is still steadily becoming a green beauty cult favorite. I can achieve full coverage with this product on myself in 2 minutes with 2 to 4 drops of product. I haven’t found another natural foundation that looks so skin like and that can achieve such a polished look in such a small amount of time.

A L I M A  P U R E  C R E A M  C O N C E A L E R

So this isn’t my absolute favorite concealer but it was my most used concealer of 2018. My all time favorite concealer is the RMS Beauty Un Cover Up (read more about it here!). I find that the Alima Pure Cream Concealer works much better as an eye shadow primer than the Un Cover Up, and, because Alima’s Cream Concealer is quite a bit less oily than the Un Cover Up, I find that it can be faster to apply.

R M S  B E A U T Y  T I N T E D  ‘U N’  P O W D E R

I would say that I use this product about 95% of the time that I do my own make up or someone else’s make up. It locks make up in place like nothing else. To me this product is what makes ‘long wearing make up’ possible in green beauty. I find that I only have to use a small amount of product as well so it never looks too powdery.

H A N   S K I N C A R E   C O S M E T I C S  M A L I B U  B R O N Z E R

I got really into bronzer towards the end of 2017 and the obsession definitely carried over into 2018. I have a few that I would say are tied for my favorite but HAN’s Malibu is my most used on myself and on clients for a couple of reasons. It’s pressed, never looks orange, looks great on the eyes, and is only $16.

HAN’s Glory on the left and Baby Pink on the right.

H A N   S K I N C A R E   C O S M E T I C S  B L U S H E S 

I don’t have a favorite shade for these quite yet because all of the shade are gorgeous. But HAN’s blushes are my favorite for the same reasons that HAN’s Malibu is my favorite bronzer – it’s pressed, inexpensive, and the shades look good on the eyes and are super versatile.

A L I M A  P U R E  L U M I N A  H I G H L I G H T E R

This is a loose highlighter that adds amazing iridescence to fair to medium skin tones. Luckily though, Alima Pure has several shades that will compliment most other skin tones. I love the look of cream highlighters more than anything else but I found the ease of powder highlighter application to be very convenient on myself and clients last year.

L I L Y  L O L O  B R O W  D U O  I N  D A R K

I found this shade to be very versatile. I was able to make this work on almost every skin tone or hair color combination; it was just a matter of having a slightly lighter hand when applying on those with fairer skin or lighter hair.

S A P P H O  N E W  P A R A D I G M  E Y E S H A D O W S 

These were another kit staple for me this year. The shadows are sold individually in magnetic pans that can be placed in a compact to create a custom eye shadow palette. The ingredients are great, they blend out smoothly and evenly, the pigmentation lasts throughout the day, and the color selection is excellent.

I L I A  P U R E  E Y E L I N E R  I N  H A V A N A  A F F A I R

This is a soft deep olive color with gold tones coming through. Read more about this beauty here!

L I L Y  L O L O  N A T U R A L  M A S C A R A

This is a good mascara. It has a nice dry formula so it stays on the lashes all day, gives volume, and doesn’t run. It’s not my favorite mascara but it was my most used of 2018 because I bought a tube and wanted to use it up. I definitely prefer Lily Lolo’s Big Lash Mascara, Sappho’s Mascara, or Pacifica’s Stellar Gaze Mascara.

L I P S

My most used on myself and clients is Ilia’s Satin Lip Crayon in Tainted Love. This is the perfect rosey lip color. It can be sharpened and used to line the lips, can be applied heavily for a bold lip, or can be applied very lightly for natural looking rosey and pouty look.

I barely used lip liner last year so I don’t have much to say about which one was my most used of 2019 but check out this post and this post to read about some great natural lip liner options.

So there it is, most used make up of 2018 for the sake of effectiveness, ease of application, and lasting power. So glad I was able to finish this post before the end of January!