Having not written about my December Favourites, this has been a long time coming. Of course, all the things I got for Christmas immediately became my favourite things in the world, so my January favourites include some Christmas presents that I’ve already reviewed elsewhere, some that I have now had chance to get used to and experiment with, and some new items I’ve bought since then.

Eyes: 

[Insert Lime Crime’s Venus Palette: read my full review here]

Sugar Pill’s Loose Eyeshadow in ‘Lumi’ (£8.95)

Pigments are for life, not just for Christmas.

They’re now an essential part of my make-up routine, adding extra dimension to matte shadows, extra oomph to highlighters and extra sparkle to lip-gloss and nail polish. I was watching one of Mykie’s Youtube tutorials when she used this amazing iridescent powder to brighten the inner corners of her eyes. I’d only vaguely heard of Sugar Pill before and assumed, as an American brand, it wouldn’t be easily available in the UK. But thankfully, a local make-up boutique stocks their entire range – so here we are!

Lumi is particularly unusual in its colour and texture. When I saw it on Youtube, I thought it was white with a blue/pink shift – a more pigmented version of Illamasqua’s Beguile. In fact, in person, Lumi is ice blue-white. Because of this, I was hesitant to buy it, thinking it would be too hard to incorporate it into my usual looks that favour warm coppers and golds. But I took the risk and am so glad I did! It sparkles and catches the light beautifully, but isn’t loaded with glitter. I guess you could describe it as ‘shimmery’ rather than glittery, but that does no justice to its pigmentation and opacity. Its super fine texture means that it is extra concentrated, while still being light and easy to work with – there’s no need for adhesives or mixing mediums.

I love to pair Lumi with dark, cool-toned lipsticks – taupes and purples – for a kooky, high-contrast look, but, it is works equally well with lighter lip colours for a fresh, clean look like the one below.

Lime Crime Liquid Liner in ‘Lunar Sea’ (£9.00)

This picture also shows my next favourite – Lime Crime’s Liquid Liner in ‘Lunar Sea.’ I have been searching for a white eyeliner for a while now so I can create different monochrome looks like this one. I’m a huge fan of Lime Crime’s other products so had no doubt that I would love this just as much as Venus and the Velvetiness. And I do; it has that signature, almost paint-like, pigmentation.

The fine brush is easy to use, particularly when drawing even lines, but, as it doesn’t taper to a fine point, it can be trickier to manage when sculpting flicks or curves. Like any liquid liner, too, layering the product can lead to cracking, so be sure not to overload your brush! With a little bit of practice, though, ‘Lunar Sea’ has easily made it into my list of all-time favourite eye products.

Face:

[Insert MAC’s Fix+: read my full review here]

Illamasqua Velvet Blush in ‘Peaked,’ (£21.50 £10.75)

I had just hit pan in my usual powder blush (No7’s ‘Soft Damson’) when I saw this advertised as part of Illamasqua’s January sale at half the usual price. As it would be my first time using a cream blush (and I’ve heard the horror stories about how difficult they are to apply correctly), I confess that I would not have paid the full £21.50 for such a risky item. At just over ten pounds though, it was a bargain!

Having used it for around a month, I can safely say that it isn’t all difficult to use. As the colour pay-off is very high a little goes a long way so the cream need only be applied in very thin layers which helps to reduce the ‘patchiness’ that people had warned me about. I’ve tried applying it with my fingers and a blush brush as Illamasqua recommends, but found that each have their own way of moving the product around unevenly. Instead, my preferred method is to use a beauty blender; I now add this blusher into my contour routine and blend it out with my cream pigments (yes, I, too, have a ‘Neopolitan Face’ each morning – see my contour routine here).

I’d imagine that, with a lighter colour, uneven coverage would be less of a worry, but my skin doesn’t take to corals very well and bright pinks can make me look like a Cabbage Patch Kid, so I chose ‘Peaked,’ a gorgeous deep plum. This colour would look absolutely beautiful on darker skin tones, though, it’s slightly cool-tone means that pale girls like myself can still pull it off. It adds a bit of sophisticated rouge without looking hot and flustered (I was incredibly heavy-handed when taking my swatch, but you can see beautiful colour all the same).

In terms of the price, now I have used this item I would consider buying it at £21.50 – the pan is so big it will probably last until 2020! If you are considering it, though, I’d recommend that you go swatch it at an Illamasqua counter first just to ensure that the colour and texture will work for you.

MAC Cream Colour Base in ‘Luna’ (£15.50)

So in my contouring post, I said that I was waiting for Illamasqua to release a white/silver version of their Gleam highlighter. Well, alas, they haven’t, but I’ve found a brilliant alternative! MAC’s Cream Colour Bases are verrrrrry popular due to their versatility – they can be used as highlighters, concealers, blushers, eyeshadow bases and lipsticks.

I chose Luna – a pearlescent white – to be my new cool-toned highlighter and it works perfectly! The texture is quite solid (much like the Studio Fix concealers) so it is easier to work with when it’s warmed slightly in your hands (or you can try with a hairdryer but be careful not to get too close to the plastic!!!). That being said, it blends seamlessly with my base without losing any of its colour. I highly recommend Luna as an alternative to Becca’s Shimmering Skin Perfector in ‘Pearl’ which is very difficult to get hold of in the UK.

Lips:

[Insert NARS’ Anna: read my full review here]

MAC’s Lipstick in ‘Smoked Purple’ (£15.50)

I love purple in all its shades so this was an obvious choice for me. With Spring on the way, it seems the season for vampy lips is coming to a close, but I don’t see why dark colours can’t be used to add a bit of drama to a floaty summer dress and sandals. Right?! Smoked Purple is a deeper, cooler tone than Cyber (which I’m also a fan of) so would probably suit a wider variety of skin tones. I’m not sure whether it’s just luck with MAC’s mattes, but my Smoked Purple is a lot creamier than my Sin and Styled in Sepia. With any dark colours, though, it’s worth mentioning that even the slightest bit of dry skin will snag and catch the colour making it highly noticeable – I now wear tons of lip balm (my tasty new EOS balm) as often as I can to stop my lips going crispy in this cold weather.

What are your favourite products this month?

Hope you like!

Molly x