January 2014 Favourites!

This past month has probably felt like one of the shortest for me in a long time, which I guess is a good thing. Also, I’m pretty impressed that I’m getting to this post a couple days earlier than usual.

**Something clearly went wrong here. I had this scheduled to go up the 4th… Sorry about the delay.**

Anyways, as January is now over, its time to look back at my favourite products from the past 31 days. So what have I been using lots this past month? Let’s see, shall we…

1. Naked Basics palette:

As the name suggests, this is just a great basic palette, and I have been using it tons this month, almost every time that I had time to put on more than my everyday necessities. I love having these shadows so I can do a pretty, contoured eye without doing something crazy sparkly every time I use shadow. Also, the three darker shades in this palette are great for pairing with shimmer shadows to contour, and the light ones are all great highlights.

2. Batiste Tropical dry shampoo:

You may remember that I got this little guy in with my Christmas presents, and I’ve been loving it this past month. This is the third dry shampoo that I’ve used, and it is also definitely the best. It smells nice, but not too sweet, it doesn’t leave a dull powdery look in my hair, and it doesn’t feel heavy or thick on my scalp. I really love this to refresh second day hair, and I’ll probably need/want to repurchase it when I finally run out.

3. UD Revolutions Lipstick in Catfight:

I know I just mentioned this in my wishlist post, and no, I haven’t purchased it yet, but I am in love with this colour! I have a tiny little sample size that I got as a 100-point perk, as you can see in the picture above. I love how pigmented and thick the formula is. It seems to always go on perfect, with a crisp, clean line, and it doesn’t feather or smear on me.

4. Mac Soft & Gentle:

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been using it almost religiously lately, and absolutely loving it. At the moment I love to use it without a blush, and either with or without bronzer, since I feel it looks a lot less summer/spring-esque. This highlight is just so beautiful, and if you are hesitant, I’d suggest going into MAC and asking them to try it on you for you, and if the makeup artists at your store are anything like mine, they’ll be more than happy to help you out!

5. L’Occitane Lavande Hand Cream:

I had been wanting this for ages, and I don’t know why I didn’t pick it up, because it’s only $12 for this size. I love this hand cream, especially for carrying around in my bag because it’s small, it smells fantastic and calming (like lavender, obviously), and it isn’t greasy at all. Also, my hands are always really dry around this point of winter, so it’s great to have a hand lotion I can carry with me and not worry about getting it all over everything.

Non-Beauty Favourites:

1. Lady Grey Tea:

If you saw my Tea Collection post on my second blog, then you already know that this is one of my favourite teas of all time, but I’ve also been really loving it in particular over the last month or so. I love that it’s fruity and unique without being sweet or overpowering. It’s also great any way I want to drink it, whether that’s black, sweetened, or with sugar and milk.

2. My Q&A a day book:

This little book is a really cool concept; basically each day it asks you a question, and it gives you a short space to answer 5 separate times, because the idea is that you do each question each year for 5 years. I think it’ll be cool to see the ways that some questions change or evolve while others stay the same. Plus, since I like physically writing, it’s a fun, short little exercise to get me to write each day without being too daunting or annoying.

3. PC candy cane hot chocolate:

Another of the things that I got for Christmas! This peppermint-y hot chocolate mix is great on its own, or else mixed into coffee to make a peppermint mocha. I guess it’s a bit of a candy cane obsession holding on from the Christmas season, but I’ve really been enjoying this the past little while.

4. My AE Midi rings:

You’ll see these again when I do my American Eagle haul in a few days, but I have definitely been loving my midi rings, especially the copper/rose gold one pictured above ((between writing this post and taking the pictures, I managed to lose the pretty copper ring, so instead, here’s a picture of the other two)). This might be cheating, since I only got these about half-way through the month, but I’m very happy with them, so I figure it counts.

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And that’s everything for this month! Let me know your favourites in the comments (or link me to your blog post), and if you’re interested, check out my Tea Collection post on my second blog!

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you have a fantastic day!