Temptalia

Temptalia's Sephora Favorites | 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Christine — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 22:00:00 +0000

2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Our Sephora Favorites

Last week, I polled readers via Twitter about retailer-specific gift guides, and here we are with one of two for Sephora! I shared my limited edition, holiday picks earlier, and this gift guide focuses on a mix of specific shades that I particularly enjoyed over the last year (that are permanent) along with my personal, go-to formulas.

I’ve also done gift guides for: best blushes, best highlighters, best palettes, best eyeshadows, best lipsticks, best lipglosses, and best brushes (generally) that focus on permanent products.

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Natasha Denona Sunset

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Natasha Denona Sunset Eyeshadow Palette ($129.00 for 1.20 oz.) includes 15 eyeshadows in various warm-toned hues–a lot of red/orange-toned coppers, oranges, and browns–with a mix of matte, shimmer, and sparkle finishes. Read full review.

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Anastasia St. Tropez

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St. Tropez is a deep, pink-plum base with strong, contrasting gold shimmer throughout. It had more of a metallic finish because of how intense the... Read full review.

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Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Crayon

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Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.) is a smooth, gel-like pencil eyeliner with excellent adhesion to the lash line as well as the waterline and long-wear. Some of my favorites are: Peridot, Brown(out), Ody(sea), Intro(vert), and Blacquer.

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Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Matte Gel Eye Crayon

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Marc Jacobs Beauty Matte Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner ($25.00 for 0.01 oz.) is just as pigmented, long-wearing, and easy-to-apply as the original Highliner range but in a matte finish. Some of my favorites are: Whirl(pool), Fine(wine), (Grape)vine, and Out of the Blue.

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Sephora Contour Eye Pencil

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Sephora Contour Eye Pencil ($10.00 for 0.04 oz.) is one of my favorite, go-to eyeliner formulas. They’re pigmented, comfortable to apply, long-wearing, and come in a variety of shades. There are only a few formulations I keep on my vanity, and this is one of them! Some of my favorites are: Fairytale, Good Mood, Suede Shoes, Flirting Game, and Go For a Ride.

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Urban Decay Love Drunk

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Love Drunk is a deep red with cool, pink undertones and a satin sheen. This is a newly released, permanent shade, which I just reviewed in the last... Read full review.

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Anastasia Aurora

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Anastasia Aurora Glow Kit ($40.00 for 0.90 oz.) includes six, sparkling highlighters that are supposed to have a "metallic" finish for "intense... Read full review.

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Marc Jacobs Beauty Air Blush

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Marc Jacobs Air Blush ($42.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a new formula for the year, but it is permanent and, surprisingly, quite good. The brand actually made a rather extravagant claim for wear, but it lived up to it better than anticipated–14 to 16 hour wear was definitely possible for me. They had good color coverage that was blendable and sat well on the skin. There are only five shades presently, but here’s hoping for a greater variety in selection in 2017! Some of my favorite shades are Flesh & Fantasy and Lines & Last Night.

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Surratt Beauty Artistique Blush

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Surratt Beauty Artistique Blush ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is one of those formulas that is just easy to use–the silky, incredibly finely-milled consistency makes short work out of blending and diffusing a chosen shade on the skin. The shade range is rather extensive now, too, which is nice; some pops of color with a lot of more neutral, everyday kind of shades are available. Some of my favorite shades are De Cherubique, Coup de Genie, Parfait, and La Vie En Rose.

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Clinique Cheek Pop Blush

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Clinique Cheek Pop Blush ($23.00 for 0.12 oz.) is well-worth checking out if you have more mid-tone blush colors paired with pearly, luminous finishes. The finish is what draws me in with this formula, because it sits well on the skin–lightly glowing but never emphasizing. The consistency is smooth, dense, and blendable on the skin. Some of the shades I’ve been reaching for often (at least, more recently) are: Black Honey Pop, Peach Pop, Ginger Pop, Fig Pop, and Rosy Pop.

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Anastasia Modern Renaissance

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Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette ($42.00 for 0.35 oz.) includes 14 eyeshadows that come in a mix of warmer neutrals and pops of pink/red. The one that started the avalanche that has become warm, red, rosy, and orange-toned palettes in the last year but still just as good today as it was when it launched!

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Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow (Discontinued)

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Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow ($21.00 for 0.08 oz.) still remains my very favorite powder eyeshadow formula. I’m particularly fond of their more shimmery and satin finishes, though their mattes are nice (but they aren’t as dense, and I love a denser, creamier eyeshadow). Their are over 200 shades to choose from, so you can imagine it is hard to pick favorites, but here are swatches of some of my must-haves!

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KVD Beauty Metal Crush Eyeshadow

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Kat Von D Metal Crush Eyeshadow ($21.00 for 0.10 oz.) is a brilliant powder eyeshadow for those who like rich, shimmery formulas with intense pigmentation and long wear. I really like how well they adhere to bare lids while still being blendable and easy to work with. Some of my favorite shades are: Thrasher, Thunderstruck, Iggy, and Synergy.

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Anastasia Eyeshadow

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Anastasia Eyeshadow ($12.00 for oz.) are available as pans only, which can be put into any freestyle palette system or if you purchase four (or eight), you’ll get a palette from Anastasia (and I love their quad–very sturdy and travel-friendly). Their Titanium finish is my favorite, because it’s a denser, almost cream-like formula with rich pigmentation and good adherence to the lid. I also like a lot of their newer mattes, which are soft, smooth, and blendable while still being pigmented. Check out our list of the top 25 best Anastasia eyeshadows!

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Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick

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Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipstick ($26.00 for 0.15 oz.) is a very pigmented–typically opaque with one pass–formula with a few shades being semi-opaque but usually buildable. The majority of the shades I’ve tested have been lightly hydrating to non-drying and fairly comfortable to wear for the long-haul. They wear longer than average, from four to eight hours, depending on the intensity and propensity of the shade to stain. The range is rather extensive, so you may find our top 15 best Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Lipsticks list useful. Some of my favorite shades are: Pickled Ginger, Kale, Sour Cherry, and Spritzer.

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Bite Beauty Amuse Bouche Liquified Lipstick

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Bite Beauty Amouse Bouche Liquified Lipstick ($24.00 for 0.25 oz.) is a liquid lipstick with a natural finish (so not a flat matte finish!) that has rich color payoff, long-wear, and a hydrating formula. Some of my favorite shades are: Chutney, Candied, Braised, Chiffonade, and Infuse.

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NARS Audacious Lipstick

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NARS Audacious Lipstick ($32.00 for 0.14 oz.) is supposed to be a richly pigmented, creamy, hydrating, and long-wearing formula. In my experience, the formula is typically opaque in a single stroke, lightweight, moderately to very creamy with four to six hour wear. It feels lightly hydrating to mostly non-drying overall. There is no noticeable scent or taste, and they are very comfortable to wear. Some of my favorite shades are: Apoline, Natalie, Anna, and Audrey.

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Pat McGrath LuxeTrance Lipstick

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Pat McGrath LuxeTrance Lipstick ($38.00 for 0.14 oz.) is an incredibly smooth, lightly creamy formula with opaque coverage that are long-wearing but extremely comfortable and easy to apply. I have only tried six shades in the range, but I loved Madame Greige, Beautiful Creature, Major Red, and Sorry Not Sorry.

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Huda Beauty Lip Strobe

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Huda Beauty Lip Strobe ($18.00 for 0.16 fl. oz.) is a shimmering, hydrating gloss that wears four to five hours available in sheer to opaque shades with a mirror-like shine. Some of my favorite shades are: Angelic, Fearless, and Saucey.

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NARS Velvet Lip Glide

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NARS Velvet Lip Glide ($26.00 for 0.20 fl. oz.) is supposed to be a hybrid between lipstick and lipgloss that is hydrating, richly pigmented, and comfortable to wear. They have stronger color payoff, a non-tacky consistency, and a smoothness to their consistency that is a lot like a good lipstick, while they have a plusher, thicker texture that gives lips a plumper, fuller look along with a glossy sheen that is more like a gloss. Some of my favorite shades are: Unspeakable, La Maine Bleue, and Bound.

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Surratt Beauty Lip Lustre

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Surratt Beauty Lip Lustre ($32.00 for 0.20 fl. oz.) is is a light-medium thick, tacky gloss that feels very smooth going on and holds on well, even when the coverage is on the sheerer side. This gloss lasted for four hours and was somewhat hydrating while worn. I like the more shimmery shades in the range, which have great shine and sparkle. Soigne is one of my favorites from the shades I’ve tried.

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The Best of Limited Edition at Sephora | 2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Christine — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 16:30:00 +0000

Best of Limited Edition at Sephora

2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Last week, I polled readers via Twitter about retailer-specific gift guides, and here we are with one of two for Sephora! This one focuses on the highest-rated, limited edition products and sets that I’ve reviewed this holiday season that are available at the retailer. I guess you could say that this was the season of the lip set given how many are listed below!

I’ll be following this guide up with a list of some of my favorite permanent products–stay tuned!

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Guerlain Glamorous Cherry (822)

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Guerlain Glamorous Cherry (822) Rouge G de Guerlain Lip Color ($58.00 for 0.12 oz.) is a vibrant, medium pinky red with cool, blue undertones and... Read full review.

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Fenty Beauty Gal on the Moon

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Fenty Beauty Gal on the Moon Cosmic Gloss Lip Glitter ($19.00 for 0.34 oz.) is a muted, medium-dark plum with subtle, warm undertones and cooler blue... Read full review.

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Bite Beauty Holiday 2017

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Bite Beauty Holiday 2017 Amuse Bouche Liquified Lip Set ($22.00 for 0.28 ofl. z.) contains four, miniature-sized liquid lipsticks from Bite. All four... Read full review.

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Bite Beauty Holiday 2017

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Bite Beauty Holiday 2017 The Perfect Bite Set ($25.00 for 0.20 oz.) is a limited edition, holiday gift set that features four, miniature-sized (about... Read full review.

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NARS Noire et Blanche

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NARS Noire et Blanche Audacious Lipstick Coffret ($55.00 for 0.32 oz.) includes four miniature-sized lipsticks with three of the four shades being new... Read full review.

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Bite Beauty Cherry Pearl

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Bite Beauty Cherry Pearl Crème Lip Gloss ($22.00 for 0.14 oz.) is a dark, reddish plum with warm, brown undertones and fine pearl. The consistency... Read full review.

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Tarte Mermaid Kisses

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Tarte Mermaid Kisses Color Splash Hydrating Lipstick Set ($23.00 for 0.14 oz.) contains four, miniature-sized lipsticks in new, limited edition... Read full review.

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Burberry Holiday 2017

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Burberry Holiday 2017 Liquid Lip Velvet Set ($45.00 for 0.52 oz.) includes four, miniature-sized liquid lipsticks. I'm a huge fan of the... Read full review.

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Urban Decay Heavy Metals

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Urban Decay Heavy Metals Metallic Eyeshadow Palette ($55.00 for 0.60 oz.) is a new, limited edition holiday offering that includes 20 eyeshadows. The... Read full review.

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Stila Eye for Elegance

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Stila Eye for Elegance Liquid Eye Shadow Set ($45.00 for 0.42 oz.) contains six liquid eyeshadows--three with a shimmer finish and three with a... Read full review.

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Natasha Denona Joya

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Natasha Denona Joya Eyeshadow Palette 5 ($48.00 for 0.40 oz.) is a new, limited edition holiday offering that features a new formula--the brand's... Read full review.

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Viseart Golden Hour

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Viseart Golden Hour 9-Pan Eyeshadow Palette ($49.00 for 0.49 oz.) is a new, Sephora-exclusive palette that features nine shades of eyeshadow in... Read full review.

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KVD Beauty Saint + Sinner

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Kat Von D Saint + Sinner Holiday 2017 Eyeshadow Palette ($62.00 for 0.96 oz.) is a new, limited edition palette for the holidays. It's a large... Read full review.

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Cover FX Holiday 2017

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Cover FX Holiday 2017 Custom Enhancer Drops Set ($42.00 for 0.60 fl. oz.) contains four, miniature-sized liquid highlighters. All four shades are... Read full review.

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Hourglass Holiday 2017

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Hourglass Holiday 2017 Ambient Metallic Strobe Lighting Palette ($62.00 for 0.30 oz.) contains three new, limited edition highlighters that can be... Read full review.

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NARS Deep Throat/Barbara

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NARS Deep Throat/Barbara Man Ray Love Triangle ($24.00 for 0.17 oz.) contains two shades from NARS' permanent line in miniature-sizes -- a pink-coral... Read full review.

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Sponsored: The Beautylish Gift Card Event Starts Now | Our Gift Guide

Christine — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 22:00:00 +0000

Beautylish

THE GIFT CARD EVENT

It’s finally here! For four days only, earn a complimentary $20 gift card for every $100 you spend at Beautylish. The event starts at 3pm PT on November 1 and ends at 11:59pm PT on November 4, 2017. Products sell out quickly during the event, so start shopping now to get everything on your wishlist.

I’ve pulled some of my favorite products–both long-time favorites and some newer, limited edition releases for the holidays–that are available at Beautylish! Let me know if you get anything!

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Natasha Denona Joya

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Natasha Denona Joya Eyeshadow Palette 5 ($48.00 for 0.40 oz.) is a new, limited edition holiday offering that features a new formula–the brand’s “cream-powder hybrid shadow.” The new formula is supposed to have “pigment-rich coverage of a cream” with the “long-lasting, crease-free wear of a powder.” Most of the shades had good, buildable pigmentation and were blendable on the lid with eight to nine hour wear and minor fallout (three shades are quite sparkly).

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Viseart Golden Hour

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Viseart Golden Hour 9-Pan Eyeshadow Palette ($49.00 for 0.49 oz.) is a new palette that features nine shades of eyeshadow in upgraded packaging. Each eyeshadow is square and slightly smaller compared to Viseart’s typical eyeshadow palettes (both their original as well as the Theory palettes), but they are by no means small–they’re 0.054 oz. a pop, which makes them in line with most full-sized, single eyeshadows.

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Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow

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Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow ($24.00 for 0.15 fl. oz.) is a glittering, liquid eyeshadow that works well as a pop of sparkle on the center of the lid or layered over eyeshadow or eyeliner to add dazzle and shine. They’re really fun to play with and add instant oomph to any look.

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Viseart Paris Nude (06)

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Viseart Paris Nude (06) Eyeshadow Palette($80.00 for 0.84 oz.) is a set of twelve shades, and if you’ve ever longed for a palette of shimmery, mid-tones, this might be the one for you. This has been a personal, go-to palette for traveling since trying it in 2015; it is great for neutral, warm-toned looks that are balanced between muted and subtle.

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Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops (Illuminating)

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CoverFX Custom Enhancer Drops ($42.00 for 0.50 fl. oz.) is a liquid formula that can add a “highlighting, strobing, or bronzing effect” to your favorite liquid products or used alone on top of (or underneath) your other products (including powder); two of the six shades are bronzing and the rest are more shimmery/metallic for highlighting. It is a buildable coverage product, so that you can use as many or as few drops as desired for the effect (and it will depend on how you use it; mixing with a moisturizer for all-over may require less product than spot application on cheeks after other makeup is applied!).

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Jouer Powder Highlighter

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Jouer Powder Highlighter ($24.00 for 0.16 oz.) is a moderate to metallic powder highlighter that is excellent for someone who wants maximum shine with smooth pearl and no glitter. The formula is semi-opaque to opaque in coverage, blendable, and long-wearing.

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Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder

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Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder ($44.00 for 0.11 oz.) is a subtle to moderate, powder highlighter. Two of my go-to highlighters–Candlelight and Starlight–are in this formula. I love Starlight as it gives me subtle color along with a luminous finish, so it can work as an easy, effortless blush, too!

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Wayne Goss The Air-Brush

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Wayne Goss The Air-Brush ($35.00) is a powder brush designed for sculpting, buffing, and baking. It is made out of blue squirrel hair, which are some of the softest natural hairs I’ve come across. It’s been an absolute go-to for applying ultra-soft powders like blushes and the like but also for lightly patting powder underneath my eyes.

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Chikuhodo Z-2 Highlight Brush

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Chikuhodo Z-2 Highlight Brush ($78.00) is one of my most-used brushes for applying highlight more precisely and achieving a more moderate glow out of very intense highlighters. It’s an incredibly soft brush with a tapered shape that has held up beautifully since I started using it in 2014.

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Chikuhodo Z-4 Cheek/Highlight Brush

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Chikuhodo Z-4 Cheek/Highlight Brush ($73.00) is a medium-sized, blush brush with a domed edge and tapered bristles (so the lengths get shorter as you move outward from the center). It’s not a rounded brush, more flattened, but it is not really thin or flat. As you might have noticed, I’m a big fan of the Chikuhodo Z Series and enjoy and still use just about all the brushes in the range, but this is another brush that I use often (whenever it’s clean, really). It’s excellent for applying soft, even color along the cheeks with minimal blending required.

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Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed

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Becca Shimmering Skin perfector Pressed ($38.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a cult-favorite powder highlighter formula, and while I’ve always enjoyed it, I didn’t include in last year’s guide. What I can say is that throughout 2017, I’ve used more of them and have come to love them more (on a personal level!) that I have to include them this year. Some of my favorite shades are: Champagne Pop, Opal, and Rose Gold.

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Tom Ford Beauty Patent Finish Lip Color

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Tom Ford Patent Finish Lip Color ($52.00 for 0.07 fl. oz.) feels lightweight, almost watery, when initially applied but thickens and feels more like a moderately tacky gel after thirty to forty seconds. It had great staying power with the glossiness lasting for six hours and the color itself still going strong eight to ten hours later. The coverage was nearly opaque but has that slight translucency that you would expect to see in a lip stain. Some of my favorite shades are: Infamy and Red Corset.

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