2023 was such a good year for new discoveries in skincare and makeup, and readopting old favorites too. I’ve made a lot of progress this year with picking and keeping my skin clear, and I had a lot of strong feelings about some of the products I tried. So I thought what we could do is an updated skincare and makeup routine which could serve as a favorites list and 2023 discoveries. And as I go, if I have a few different items I switch up between, I’ll just make that comment and talk about what I love.
And then at the end, there will be an honorable mentions section so I can bring up any product that really sticks in my mind but I don’t use every day.
So! First off is cleansers and makeup removers and exfoliators and masks!
I take my makeup off with the Juno Cleansing Balm. I’ve tried other balms before, but this one takes the absolute cake. It’s inexpensive, has excellent packaging, and is not irritating when it gets in my waterline for eye makeup. It’s my most purchased item and I cannot give it enough praise. There are some other decent cleansing balms but this one is by far the best – I have several sitting in my backup products bin. Always.
I don’t usually use a cleanser, but this year I was put onto the Golden Cleanser by Keys Soulcare. I mentioned it in one of my recent posts; it’s actually been so good I look forward to that step in my routine. It has a nice fragrance, sort of like a warm honey smell, and leaves my skin feeling clean but not squeaky clean. It’s a gel cleanser so it does bubble up and foam which tends to be a deeper clean and good for my oiliness. There are obviously a lot of good cream cleansers out there if you need something gentle; I think Fresh has one.
I exfoliate a few times a week and am currently going between the Dew of the Gods Dry Exfoliator and one from Purlisse. I’d never used a dry scrub before and I don’t actually use it dry because that’s like an actual pumice stone across my face, but I do like how rough it is when mixed with a little water. So what I do is in the shower I apply a good amount to my face “dry” even though I’m in the shower so it’s obviously a little wet, and then I wet my hands and actually scrub. This thing gets my blood going in my face, more than any other scrub I’ve used before. Like almost the moment it touches my skin I can feel my face heating up. Maybe I’m sensitive to an ingredient. But it really gets me so clean and scrubbed. I try to only use that one once a week though.
I also love the Burt’s Bee’s Walnut Shell Scrub if you’re looking for something drugstore. Or there’s an excellent scrub from Grown Alchemist that I’ve thought of rebuying but they are priceyyy. Those are also excellent.
Masks are a huge thing for me too. I have like half a dozen masks that I am loving right now. So the Asarai mask, the one you see all over the internet s the mask that lets you give up foundation, is one of my favorites. It goes on smooth, doesn’t dry and crack up, but when you wash it off you feel like you’re washing off a lot more than the mask.
Also the Green Tea mask by Aceology is such a good gel treatment. I can toss it on before I start chores in the morning, leave it on for a few hours, and then rinse it off to do my makeup and I feel hydrated and smooth. The green tea is also just so soothing and I love to keep it in the fridge. The only thing is it does have small bits in the formula, but that’s easy to look past.
There’s a similar mask from TYNT which actually got me onto cream and gel masks. It’s basically the same as the Aceology one but without the bits. So I go between those.
That’s it for cleansing and masks. Now for skincare!
My first step in my morning and evening skincare routine is my Fat Water from Fenty Skin. This serum has an incredible texture and fragrance, and the bottle is huge. The packaging is also genius. It’s definitely a contender for my top products of this year. In the evening I also mix my Asarai Retinol Serum in with it, one or two pumps. Then I use whichever serum or facial oil I’m trying out right now. For moisturizer it’s the same thing, I’m trying out a lot. At nighttime I use whichever one is heavier/denser, and during the day I use whichever one is more lightweight so I can put primer over it. At nighttime I’ll put on an overnight treatment or oil as well and go to bed like a glazed donut.
Most of the time I get good results from all this, but once in a while I undo it all by picking and leaving marks and red spots all over my face. I foresee a good bit of this over the next few months but I’m trying really hard to keep it under control.
Now for makeup! My first step is primer. Right now I’m using and repurchasing the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Primer. It’s in a really cute bottle, the pump is easy to use, the fragrance is really sweet like a cake or a cookie, and the texture sort of feels like just a very sheer moisturizer. It goes on over my other products without pilling or feeling like it’s disturbing them, especially if I’ve let my skincare sit for a moment. But I feel like I have to mention the FAB Coconut Smoothie Primer Moisturizer Thingy that I also love and repurchase. It’s a primer that is supposed to take the place of your moisturizer and also add a shine to your skin, and it does those things really well. I just moved away from it when I found the Fenty one but they’re both great.
Next is foundation. I received the Kevin Aucoin Stripped Nude foundation in a box a few months ago but it was in a deeper shade, I think shade 4, and my winter match is shades 1 or two. But the good news is shade 2 is on sale for like 60% off right now on Amazon, so I’ve purchased a few bottles to keep me through the year until it’s time to get some sunshine.
This foundation is incredible. It’s textured like a serum – I almost wonder why it isn’t in a bottle dropper until I remember that the packaging is amazing. It’s in a plastic bottle with a cap and a pump, but it’s so airtight that gravity doesn’t matter. Like with other pumps, you have to kind of expect that eventually you’ll be pumping air. But with this thing it’s so vacuum sealed that there is no air to pull, and the foundation bottle starts to look like a freeze-pop once it’s been all eaten and you’re just getting the last drops of flavor out of the plastic wrapper. No matter how I lay this bottle in my vanity, it’ll never start pulling air.
So it’s a very lightweight formula anyway, even a little lighter than the Fenty Beauty Skin Tint, which is also a good skin tint but doesn’t cling to my skin as well as this one does. On a good skin day I use a total of three ish pumps and press it in with my beauty blender. On a bad skin day I mix it with a pump or two of the Ciate London Extraordinary Foundation which is a much thicker, high-coverage foundation that I also received this past summer. I don’t like this foundation much on its own because of how heavy it is, but it’s an excellent formula to mix a little bit of my other foundations if I need them to have some extra coverage. The shade is also not perfect for me it’s a little too pink, so I do have to be careful how much I mix. Can’t say the same for the Kevin Aucoin foundation, this is the most perfect match I’ve ever found for my undertone and I highly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like wearing foundation. All of the convenience of a serum/skin tint, all of the coverage of a foundation.
I usually let my foundation sit for a moment before applying anything on top, but I always go in with contour at this step.
I’ve been using the LYS Beauty Cream Bronzer in a deeper, cooler shade for my contour. The packaging and shape reminds me of a picture I saw of the foundation from Hourglass Cosmetics, and the formula is very very melty. The packaging gets a lot of product on it even though it’s really pretty packaging, just like all their other triangles.
I put a line down each cheekbone and two dots on either side of my forehead, since I’m round-faced and it helps narrow me out, and then I buff it out with a flat kabuki. It’s easy to blend but it doesn’t disappear. You just have to remember to roll the product back down or you’ll get it all over the cap.
Concealer is next. I’m currently using two: the KVD Good Apple Ultra Lightweight Concealer in what I think is the lightest shade, and the ABH Magic Touch Concealer in a slightly less fair shade that actually matches my foundation pretty well.
The KVD one is a repurchase, and something I like a lot. One of the main reasons is actually the packaging. I don’t know why, but it’s just such a satisfying package. The bottle is designed to look like a dropper I think, but when you unscrew it you pull out an applicator instead, and it’s angled just right to get my under eye.
The ABH one is just as good formula-wise, but the packaging is very strange. The applicator reminds me of an overgrown cow’s hoof or something, I can’t put any rhyme or reason to its shape. But it does apply and blend fine so it’s something I just deal with.
If I have the opportunity to get the ABH one in a slightly lighter shade I would go for that, but otherwise I plan to keep repurchasing the KVD one. It also makes me want to try the Good Apple foundation, which everyone said was overhyped so I did skip. But I’m rethinking it.
There are two blushes that stick in my mind for this year, even though I typically don’t apply blush. I just feel that it makes my face more round, and makes me look younger, and my babyface doesn’t need to look younger. But when I do use blush, I either use the LYS Beauty Higher Standard Satin Matte Cream Blush or the Multi-Stick from Lucky Chick Beauty, a new brand to me. The latter is my favorite, actually. It’s excellent on cheeks and lips, the packaging is a roll-up, and the circumference of the head of the product is large enough that I can dot it on my face directly or rub onto a beauty blender. The LYS one is also very good but after a few months it started to dry out, even though it was always kept in the closed package. So not ideal. But still a good formula when warmed up, and the cutest packaging ever, as always for this brand.
But it’s still the case that I typically don’t use blush. So next it depends on what kind of day it is. If I’ve got plenty of time, I’ll do my eyes. I start with the Eyeshadow Primer by Love+Craft+Beauty, which is still my favorite even years later. It is a very small bottle but you barely need the tiniest bit on the lid, and it dries down into the perfect texture. My lids don’t get oily, my shadow stays perfect, it’s just the only formula that does the trick. I don’t have to set it with a light shadow or anything the way I often do with other formulas. All our lids are oily, of course, but maybe mine are extra oily because none of these other mainstream formulas keep my shadow locked in.
For shadow I just use whatever’s at hand but I did receive a Ciate London palette called Brazilian Glow that I’ve been using a lot this year. The shadows are mid-range for pigmentation so I do have to take care to really tap off the brush and make sure I’m not applying too much. But not like Pat shadows or anything like that. And the shimmers are really pretty. Not incredibly buttery like the ones from JSC but really good color and pigmentation.
Mascara I’m always trying a new one, but this year I discovered the Huda Beauty Legit Lashes Duo. It has two wands that poke out in each direction from the middle. So it’s a little different from what I’m used to. You know when you usually use mascara you grab the short end and unscrew from the longer bottle. With this one, you unscrew the long end from the short end. The two ends are very different; on one side it’s a thin brush like a comb just to give length. It looks like something designed to brush your lashes out and separate them properly. On the other end is a brush that looks more like the kind of brush you’d use with a blowout, usable from any angle and has more of a spiky look. This brush looks like it’s designed to re-join your lashes in those little groups and distribute a lot of product.
I usually use them in that order, too. I don’t know if I just made this up, but I was under the impression you’re supposed to lengthen and define, and then add volume. It works really well, I get a lot of lift. My only thing is, the second wand doesn’t get the outer lashes as well as the first one. So sometimes I have to go back and get those after. But that’s not really a big deal.
Now this is where I’d usually do lips. I don’t usually do lips though. It’s complicated and a little sad; basically my lips always have something going on. A cold sore, or bits ripping or flaking … lipstick just doesn’t look very good on my lips right now.
However! There are still some products that help and that I can use. I love the KAB Glosses they actually don’t draw out my texture and make it more obvious. And as far as the dry lips go, even though I don’t use it every night like I ought to, the Smiley Lip Mask from Ciate Skincare melts away all that dryness in literally two nights. I just don’t remember to use it.
The only lipsticks that I can think of that I would recommend even though I can’t really use them much are the ones from Complex Culture, which is actually IPSY’s brand. But what can I say, they’re excellent lipsticks. The packaging is pretty and practical, and the formula is smooth and buttery and maybe even a little too slippery but that’s up to you.
I have a lot of lip liners but nothing that comes to mind as a WHOA that I found this year. I like the ones from JSC and use them the most, the shades are perfect for the lip products that I do buy.
Perfume! Last step, not even makeup or anything but it’s lifestyle.
I’ve been loving the fragrance Catching Feels by 5 Sens. From packaging to price to actual fragrance to wearability, it’s amazing. It’s so for me. Also I just received Commodity Gold Expressive from that brand that does the same fragrance but in different strengths. I absolutely love it and have used it so regularly. It’s this little black bottle with a cap that pops off, easy to hold and spray, just an awesome perfume. I can’t wait to try more of these out.
Also, side note – I just discovered that this Gold perfume is worth $145. I cannot believe that it’s the full size. When I get home, I’m out right now, I’m going to look and see if it’s an IPSY specific formula maybe?
Honorable mentions! I have to bring up the Ciate London Dewy Blush because even though it’s a small bottle and I didn’t get a ton of uses, the formula is just so good. It’s not too heavily pigmented so it isn’t urgent, once you apply it you have time. It’s just a nice sheen of color, buildable, doesn’t interfere.
Also wanted to shout out the Bumble and Bumble Blonde Enhancing Shampoo and Conditioner. I have been using these for a few months and am really enjoying them, and so is my hair. I have noticed that the coppery parts are more muted and the blonde has been really drawn out. I’m thinking of repurchasing honestly. I miss when I was younger and my hair was all blonde.
And finally! I have recently discovered a product that has me wearing my hair down 90% of the time now instead of 10%. It has completely changed how I treat my hair and how I wear it, how my curls look, etc. I’m actually going to attach this photo I took this morning when I was getting ready to come down to the cafe.
The product is called Hair After the Sun by the brand Sachajuan. I ignored it and almost threw it away for the first few months after I got it, and then randomly a month or so ago I decided to try it out. I hadn’t been in the sun, since it was November. But then I saw that it’s similar to a leave-in conditioner, and I had just taken a shower and was feeling lazy, so instead of a wash-out conditioner I just did this.
This product is amazing. First off, the texture of my hair has become so much softer and silkier. My frizz has gone down significantly, but the big thing is that my curls bounce back so much easier! All I need to do is add a little water in the morning and boom, full head of curls. Every day.
It was a complete accident though. I had applied it, walked away, and then decided to let it air dry while I did my skincare, so I put my skincare headband on and this pushed it up and away from my eyes, and it dried like that.
Anyway you can see in the picture. It’s gorgeous. And I think it is helping my hair to be blonder. Maybe.
And that’s everything I have for 2023! What a year. I was going to wait until I had tested everything in the December box, but as you probably saw, the December selections were a big letdown. So if I find something nice in there … whatever, honestly.
Thanks so much for reading my 2023 Recap! If you have questions about any of these products that I use regularly or the fun things I discovered this year, please put that in a comment and I’ll answer as best as I can!
Talk soon,
Dani