I haven’t done a beauty haul in ages, but I’ve recently tried some new (to me) products that I just had to share on the blog. I don’t know about anyone else, but my favorite social media platform at the moment is TikTok and I have been the most influenced to try new things on there – maybe because a lot of it is more raw, real, and unfiltered than Instagram. I took advantage of Black Friday and post-Christmas/Boxing Day sales to pick up some items from Sunday Riley, Charlotte Tilbury, Fenty Beauty, Pat McGrath Labs, and Summer Fridays.
Sunday Riley – Good Genes Lactic Acid Treatment
Where has this product been all my life?! Every time I asked my Instagram followers what products they planned on purchasing from Sephora’s biannual sales, Good Genes made the list every time (from different people!). The acid treatment is pricy at $85 for 1 fl oz, but so worth it in my opinion. I started off by requesting a sample with a previous beauty order at Sephora, and it cleared my skin within a couple of weeks. I was amazed and ready to throw my coins at Sunday Riley. Thankfully, they had a 30% off promotion going on for Black Friday so I didn’t have to throw all my coins at them. I’m still going strong using the full-sized treatment 3x a week. If you’re not familiar with lactic acid, it’s an AHA that can be used on more sensitive skin for chemical exfoliation. The licorice ingredient aids in brightening, which is exactly what my hyperpigmented skin needs. Good Genes is cruelty-free and vegan; you can read more about the product on the Sunday Riley website.
Charlotte Tilbury – Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder
I saw someone on TikTok use this powder in real-time and knew I had to try it. The mattifying effect of the powder was incredible, something I would’ve thought to be too good to be true if I had seen someone recommend it anywhere else. My skin isn’t super oily other than my t-zone area, but it’s still enough for me to bring the Revlon oil blotting volcano rock stick thing around with me. I purchased the shade Tan, which ended up being a near-perfect match for my face. I do plan on purchasing a lighter shade to set my under-eye concealer if I ever hit pan on my current under-eye powder. The product promises to blur imperfections and visibly reduce shine, and those effects were immediately noticeable as soon as I brushed on the powder. I wasn’t impressed with the CT Pillow Talk lipstick and lip pencil combo, but the Airbrush Flawless Finish product line looks promising so far. The larger 0.28 oz compact retails for $45.
Fenty Beauty – Gloss Bomb and Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick
I first tried Fenty Beauty’s Gloss Bomb when the brand first launched and it was love at first sight. They recently released some more shades of the gloss, and found a brown girl friendly lip combo on TikTok involving a brown lip pencil, Gloss bomb in Hot Chocolit, and the Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick in S1ngle. It’s my new favorite lip combo; you line your lips with the pencil (with a little more on the inside of the lip than you normally would apply when lining), fill the middle in with S1ngle, and top with Hot Chocolit. The lipstick can get a bit patchy if your lips have any roughness, but overall I. Am. Obsessed. Thank you to all of the brown girls sharing your favorite lip combos with the world on social media!
Pat McGrath Labs – Mattetrance Lipstick
Confession: I haven’t actually tried these matte lipsticks yet (because the mask struggle is real), but I couldn’t resist purchasing them at $12 each. I also ordered the Lust:Gloss, but that portion of my order got canceled as they ran out of stock of the glosses. I purchased two shades of the lipstick: FemmeBot (top swatch), described on the website as a ‘mid-tone neutral pink’ and 1995 (bottom swatch), described as a ‘warm light nude’. I swatched both shades on my hand and it looks like the shade descriptions are accurate so far. I’ll update once I’ve tried them, but how chic is the packaging?!
Summer Fridays – Jumbo Jet Lag Mask
Last but not least, I had to purchase the jumbo size of my favorite mask. I use it as a moisturizer/primer and as a weekly mask. I also use it on areas of my body that need more love like my elbows, knees, etc. so I go through the normal-sized product at a fast enough pace to warrant this purchase. Summer Fridays did have a problem a couple of weeks ago with a bad batch of masks, but issued a statement on their Instagram and took the initiative to correct the mistake. Thankfully the one I received didn’t seem to be part of the bad batch.
What beauty products are you currently loving? Let me know in the comments and I’ll check them out!
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