January Favourites 2016!

I can't believe it's already February - for the longest month of the year, January flew by! For my first favourites post of 2016 I have some great gems, both old and new, that were my go-to products for the last month or so. I tend to go through phases with my makeup collection where I decide to go through my stash and end up finding some great products I forgot about, so I always have some new things to share in my favourites posts!

Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Palette

Quite possibly the most highly anticipated makeup release of last year, Gwen Stefani's collaboration with Urban Decay certainly didn't disappoint. It's the perfect collection of wearable shimmery and matte neutrals, with a few pops of colour on the bottom row. Admittedly, the only shades I haven't used in this palette yet are the pink and blue, but I'm just waiting for the right moment to use them!! I absolutely love this palette as it's the perfect everyday palette. My current go-to eye look is Baby (first shade on the left hand side of the middle row) all over the lid, Anaheim (right of Baby) and Zone (second shade on the right hand side of the middle row) mixed in the crease. Quick and simple! Here in Ireland the rest of Gwen's collection was released last week and I'm definitely feeling tempted by the blush palette and the Ex Girlfriend lipstick!

                                                                                   MAC Studio Finish Concealer

This is a bit of a blast from the past for me, as it was one of the first concealers I ever used! I bought MAC Studio Finish about three years ago to use on my blemishes, but I hated it. I found it too thick and I didn't really feel like it concealed anything. I was in MAC in early January and the makeup artist recommended this when I asked for a good blemish concealer. I bought it as I thought maybe now that my makeup skills have improved, and I have better tools than I had three years ago, that maybe I would be able to work with the product better. I was right! I absolutely love this concealer for blemishes. It's far too thick and creamy for under the eyes, but it's a great option for redness. I use a little fluffy crease brush to work it over blemishes. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, Rimmel's Lasting Finish concealer is an excellent dupe.

MAC 'Soft and Gentle' Mineralise Skinfinish 

I've never been a huge fan of highlighters, purely because I've always been conscious that they would emphasise my bad skin as I used to suffer quite badly with little bumps on the tops of my cheek bones. Thankfully I've cleared them up, so now I've gone highlighter crazy! The first on my list to pick up was MAC's Soft and Gentle, which is an absolute cult beauty product and it's easy to see why. It's the perfect golden bronze that completely lifts and illuminates the face. Every time I wear it I get compliments on it, so I take that as a good sign! It's so finely milled and soft on the skin - it's quite an intense highlight so it's not for the faint hearted when it comes to glowing skin! I'm also testing The Balm's Mary Lou Manizer at the minute, so I'll keep you posted on how I get on with that.

                                                                                   Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Stick 

Although I'm only dipping into the world of highlighting now, I've always been obsessed with contouring. Every contouring product that makes its way onto the market, I have to have it! This is my current contour of choice - the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Stick. This comes in a pack of three sticks - a highlight, bronze and contour. While I love all three (I'll do a more in-depth review of them soon), I'm in love with the contour stick. It's a dark grey tone that works so perfectly in the hollows of the cheeks. It's so creamy and easy to blend in. Even as someone who's relatively pale, I love the colour on my cheeks and I find it really effective for a sculpted look. I use this on my forehead, cheeks and under my jaw and simply blend it out with either my Beauty Blender or my Real Techniques Sculpting Brush. I would love if Smashbox released these sticks individually, as I definitely see myself getting through this very quickly!

MAC Creme Cup Lipstick & Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Lip Pencil

My lip combination of the month has been this lovely soft pink lip from MAC and Charlotte Tilbury. I'm a huge fan of this Lip Cheat in the shade Pillow Talk - it's the perfect everyday muted pink. Creme Cup by MAC is a much lighter, almost nude pink but together they make a gorgeous combination for an easy lip look. I wear a lot of brown nudes so I've enjoyed changing it up a little bit by going back to pink.

(L-R) Smashbox Contour Stick, MAC Soft and Gentle, MAC Creme Cup, Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk

So that concludes my first monthly favourites of the year - what have you been loving this month?

Zara :-)x