Best of 2018

The mere five products I selected for this post boosts my confidence for No Buy 2019: I'm less interested in purchasing slews of stuff and more interested in using what I love, and I've become a lot more particular about what I love. I didn't just enjoy these products in 2018; they became actual staples, items I use almost daily and repurchase without hesitation. Without further ado, here's the five best of 2018!

Skin Laundry Daily Moisturizer SPF35

I can't remember what, exactly, prompted me to buy this moisturizer. It promised more than SPF15 and great hydration while containing none of no-no ingredients, sure, but so has every other day cream that's absolutely wrecked my face. Whatever the reason, I'm beyond glad that I took the chance. As far as day creams go, this thick lotion is rich and hydrating without feeling heavy or looking greasy on my skin. It works wonderfully under makeup and never seems to break me out or irritate me. And it's proven its worth as a day-to-day sunscreen: the only time I burned during our Toronto vacation was when I forgot to apply this moisturizer in the morning. I'm actually at the end of this tube and am therefore rationing it until it's back in stock at Sephora, but when it does come back, I might get two tubes so I don't run out again. Thanks, Skin Laundry, for creating a day cream I love.

Glossier Lash Slick

"Another year, another Glossier favorite" seems to be a running theme on this blog, and 2018 was no different: I fell in love with Lash Slick mascara. I was a little surprised when they launched this product, actually, because it's not the barely-there lash tint I expected, but rather a fiber mascara that lengthens and separate. While the effect is nice, what really made me fall in love with this mascara is that it doesn't smudge or flake as horribly as almost every other mascara I've tried. I can swipe it on at 8:30am, work all day, and come home at 6:00pm with next to no black specks or racoon-y smears. As an added bonus, the stopper inside the tube works perfectly, getting off every extra bit of product so you can go straight from the tube to your lashes. Glossier has produced some questionable products, but Lash Slick is a definite winner.

Jordan Samuel Hydrate Serum

Objectively, most people shouldn't spend a lot for hyaluronic acid: it's a cheap ingredient that's easy to use in a range of formulations. Unfortunately, most of the cheap, readily available hyaluronic acid serums and essences seem to break me out or irritate my skin--I'm thinking there's a common carrier ingredient that my face doesn't like. I'm willing to shell out $29 a bottle for Jordan Samuel's serum because it gives my dry, dehydrated skin the help it needs without any irritation, and it never pills under my other skincare products. I'm about to start my third bottle, which, based on how frequently I use it, suggests that each ounce of serum would last about 3 months with daily use. My favorite way to apply this? I mist my skin with a little distilled water, pat 2-3 drops of serum in to my damp skin, then top with moisturizer. Magic.

Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar Skin Tint

While this jar packaging continues to be the bane of my existence, I've loved the tinted sunscreen inside. It's weightless, it looks like skin, and it's easy to slap on when I'm half awake and still glugging coffee. And despite containing SPF, this skin tint never turns white in flash photography, making it great for outdoor special events; I've worn it to several weddings, for instance.

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand

It wasn't so much the hype that made me buy this highlight as it was the absolutely stunning photos of glossy-cheeked YouTubers and Instagrammers. That mixture of dewy and high-shine can be tough to achieve, but the Beauty Light Wand makes it a breeze. It's fairly flexible as well: you can use the tiniest dot for a more natural glow, or you can layer it on thicker for cheeks that look outright wet in pictures. My only qualm? Last I checked, there was just one shade, a light champagne gold. Expanding the shade range would make this an absolute Holy Grail for me.

Honorable Mention: That Sequin Fabric

Remember when I always had a television or some other janky nonsense in the background of my pictures? That finally stopped when I got a yard of sequin fabric on sale and JoAnne Fabrics. I know it's not to everybody's taste, but I finally brought that fabric back with me to our new apartment, and I couldn't be happier. In my opinion, it helped my photographs look more professional and more consistent in 2018. I'm hoping for more of the same in 2019.

Winter 2018 Favorites

As promised, I'm trying seasonal favorites posts this year. I worried that this would encourage me to rave about a dozen plus products that initially wowed me, then disappointed me when the initial luster wore off, buuuuuuut I've only got three beauty-related products, one book, one soundtrack, and a piece of clothing. I guess I'm pickier than I give myself credit for.

So let's start with the beauty products! After finishing a sample vial of Etat Libre d'Orange Remarkable People and obtaining a coupon code for Twisted Lily, I decided to get a full bottle. This is a rare bird: a citrus I actually love. It's fleeting, but it's gorgeous while it lasts. The mimosa and grapefruit top notes give this a lot of sparkle without being too sweet or synthetic, and the citrus blends with a bit of soft, white florals in the heart. It's not as "laundry detergent" smelling as most other citrus-white floral blends I've tried--it's more like a "you left a glass of moscato in your snobby cousin's Hamptons bathroom full of fancy hand soaps" blend. I wear it mostly to work right now, but I'm sure I'll wear it even more in our hot, humid summers.

Now, as far as fragrances go, the little bottles of Etat Libre d'Orange perfumes are pretty affordable. But when it comes to hyaluronic acid serums? Jordan Samuel Hydrate is definitely an upgrade. It's worth the price, though, to have such a hydrating, plumping hyaluronic acid serum that feels great on my skin and doesn't irritate me. Seriously, applying this under my moisturizer, then running a humidifier at night has saved my face this winter. I'm curious about his new-ish face mist now, so if anybody has tried it, let me know your thoughts!

@besamecosmetics Carmine is everything I wanted it to be. I traced my lips with @maccosmetics Chromagraphic Basic Red pencil for a bit of depth. #besamecosmetics #orangelipstick #redlipstick #fotd

A post shared by Renee (@reneesanatomy) on Jan 26, 2018 at 11:07am PST

It took me a while to buy Besame's Carmine lipstick because I'm insanely cheap and I wasn't sure such an orange shade would work on me, but ooooh, I'm so glad I finally got my hands on it. This is the perfect balance of orange and red...like, it's almost orange, but there's just this extra dash of red that keeps it in the "warm red" category. It's a very saturated color, which I think works better with my skintone.

While I've been lucky with beauty products these past few months, I haven't had nearly as much success with books. I've read plenty of okay stuff, and a couple of books even got a four star rating. But only one earned a coveted five star, favorite book slot: Patrick Süskind's "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer." I actually read this book when I was in middle school--the library was a 15 minute walk from my house at the time and I'd stop lingering in the children's section at the end of elementary school, thanks to Wishbone--but I couldn't remember much more than "I really liked it." So when I finally got around to seeing the film version (solid but slow, visually striking, etc.), I decided to re-read the novel.

"Perfume" tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a misanthropic orphan with an incredible, incomparable sense of smell and no scent of his own. Guided and governed by his nose and his own selfish desires, he becomes obsessed with capturing the smells of certain people through the art of perfumery. Grenouille is far more blatantly sociopathic in the novel than he is in the film. For instance, film Grenouille accidentally kills a young woman and feels guilty for a moment before he starts sniffing her corpse, while novel Grenouille kills her on purpose, then noses away without remorse. In a sense, it felt like the film was trying to make us like him, while the book makes it very clear that he's a bastard of the highest sort...and I prefer that. It's hard to make me sympathize with someone who murders people just so he can smell them.

As for music, I've been listening to the Padmaavat soundtrack almost nonstop since it released. I still haven't seen the film, to be totally honest, since few of my friends enjoy Bollywood and those who do said it was "meh." The music, though, is utterly gorgeous. While "Nainowale Ne" may be my personal favorite track, "Ghoomar" captured the hearts of millions, so I just have to post it here. (NOTE: They edited this song in the film version to make it less "provocative," mostly by Photoshopping a red shift over Deepika's mid-drift. I think it looks silly, so I'm posting the original version here.)

Last, but most certainly not least, I have to give a shout out to the Elephant (Yoga) Pants. I tried the original harem version years ago and liked, but did not love, them. They were just too high at the waist, and the material was very see through. The yoga pants, though...they have just the right amount of stretch and have much thicker fabric. I wear a size 8 or 10 dress trouser right now (not my best weight, I admit) and am comfortable in a medium, and it should still fit when I get back down to my normal size. I'm trying to find work-from-home jobs for now, since I'm planning on moving soon, and I'm a little worried that if I land one, I'll live in these freaking pants. Mine are the black Kihari style.

Product List:

Etat Libre d'Orange Remarkable People, $42

Jordan Samuel Hydrate Facial Serum, $29

Besame Classic Colour Lipstick in Carmine, $22

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, $11.99

Padmaavat Soundtrack, $10.49

Elephant Pants Yoga Pants, $23