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It’s no secret that I absolutely love beauty products and taking care of my skin. Over the years I have loved lots of products, but they have never become actual staples. With aging comes more knowledge, and that also goes for finding beauty and skincare products that work for you and your skin. This past year I have really tried to soak up as much knowledge as possible about beauty and skincare products and I feel like there’s some that deserve to be mentioned as they have changed my life this year.

Real Techniques Setting Brushes

This year I have discovered a new trick. It’s all thanks to the amazing makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes. In a video I watched where she did The Anna Edit’s makeup she was telling Anna that she loves to use smaller brushes to put tinted moisturisers, skin tints, foundation or cc cream on to even out my skin tone instead of putting an entire mask on. Nowadays I try not to cover my whole face in a base product but really try to even out my skin instead. At the moment I am breaking out horribly, but even now I would still use these smaller brushes to just even out my skin, which definitely has helped me to embrace my acne marks and imperfections this year.

Elie Saab Le Parfum

To say that a scent changes your year is quite a big statement. Maybe it’s not even an statement that I would like to put out just like that. Last year during Christmas my parents got me this perfume from Elie Saab as a present. I had asked for it as it used to be my go-to perfume when I was still in high school. It’s a heavier scent, but I absolutely love how this smells. This is one of those scents I tend to reach for whenever it’s autumn/winter time as my scents always tend to be a bit heavier during that time of year. I have loved wearing it every time though and every once in a while when I spray this on I am not only met by a wave of perfume, but also a wave of memories from when I was fifteen or sixteen. That’s probably why this scent has had such an impact on my year, as it instantly brings me back to being as carefree as I was when I was at that age. year.

La Roche Posay Anthelios 50+ Shaka Fluid

La Roche Posay is one of my favourite skincare brands. Period. I absolutely love their Effaclar Duo+ and have used it since I was fourteen and since then have added quite a couple of other products to my list of favourite products. This year was all about growth and learning about skincare products. It’s no secret that I suffer with acne and marks and scars that are left on my skin for ages after the bump has gone down. I used to absolutely hate putting on sunscreen as it always lead to having even more breakouts than I had before putting sunscreen on my face. But SPF is so extremely important to prevent skin cancer and it helps with anti-aging and discolouration. It’s why I made it my personal mission to find the best sunscreen for my face that wouldn’t break me out afterwards. And I have found my sunscreen ladies and gentleman! This is a non-comedogenic sunscreen that feels super light when you put it on and it’s usually recommended to be used by dermatologists. Nowadays I barely ever skip sunscreen in my skincare, which is hopefully going to stop my skin from aging from now until I am at least 35.

Clinique Moisture Surge 72-hour Hydrator

Another skincare product I have discovered and absolutely loved to use during 2019 is this Moisture Surge 72-hour Hydrator. My skin discovery of 2019 you ask? I need to hydrate my skin as much as possible without clogging my pores. My acne is probably caused by a compromised, dehydrated skin barrier and amplified by diet and hormonal breakouts. It might be rocket science to some, but I have been told for most of my teenage years that when you have acne, you should dry out your skin. So for as long as I can remember I have used products that do just that. I am suffering now with dehydrated skin and this moisturiser is one of the first products I started using to combat my dehydrated skin. I love how this gel-like moisturiser looks on my skin. It also helps keep my skin looking plump. It’s basically been one of the few, if not the only moisturiser I have used this year and I am currently on my fourth tub of it.

Pixi x Caroline Hirons Double Cleanse

A lot of progress has been made this year. I have stopped using foaming face washes as they can aggravate sensitive skin and break you out even more. I read this obviously on Caroline Hirons blog. She basically is my skincare queen and I basically only really trust her recommendations to use. So when I discovered she has a cleanser out in collaboration with Pixi I was super excited to try it out. I have double cleansed according to Carolines method for about two years now, but it still always used to break me out, as my second cleanse was not the right kind of cleanse. I was looking for a gentle cleanser to use as that’s the best way to keep your skin looking healthy. This Double Cleanse consists of a solid cleansing oil as your first cleanse. The second cleanse is a cleansing cream that feels absolutely glorious when you massage it into your skin. I have used this Pixi x Caroline Hirons Double Cleanser every since April or May and only started trying out some different products to use up a couple of weeks back. I paid the price for it as I am now left with what feels like the biggest breakout I have ever, so it’s straight back to this cleanser.

It Cosmetics Superhero mascara

And my final beauty product that has changed the game for me in 2019 is the It Cosmetics Superhero mascara. To have mascara on this list is so unique. I am always using different kind of mascaras and never really feel satisfied with how my lashes look. There are a few that I love, such as the NARS Climax mascara and the Lancome Monsieur Big mascara. This summer I stumbled upon It Cosmetics when I was in Spain and was just casually looking at the mascaras. I remember Chloe from The Little Plum saying that she absolutely loves it. So I really wanted to give it a try myself. My lashes are naturally quite long, but lack fullness of eyelashes. Whenever I put this mascara on, my lashes instantly look fuller and I love that kind of look. I definitely love it if my lashes look slightly more dramatic as I usually don’t wear any lipstick or eye shadow and keep the rest of my face neutral. This mascara has been such a favourite recently and I have just ordered myself another one of these as I am now scared to live without it.