Lovin’ lately

As you guys know, I no longer do “favorites” posts here on the blog and instead, I do these “Lovin’ Lately” posts every once in a while where I talk about things and products that I’ve been loving for the past couple of weeks/months.

I don’t want to limit myself to talking just about makeup and skincare in these posts, because I happen to do a lot more than just play with makeup every day, but in today’s posts that’s actually all I talk about: skincare and makeup. ;)

One of my absolute favorite skincare products I’ve tried during last couple of weeks is a Japanese sunscreen lotion/moisturizer I found on Amazon: Skin Aqua Moisture Milk SPF 50. I wear SPF every single day but it can be a bit difficult to find a good SPF lotion that doesn’t burn/irritate my skin. For the past year or so, I’ve been using Neutrogena’s Healthy Defense Daily SPF50 for Sensitive Skin and while it worked great for me, I wanted to try something new. Skin Aqua Moisture Milk is probably the best sunscreen lotion I’ve used. It’s non-irritating, doesn’t clog my pores, doesn’t leave a white cast, doesn’t make me look greasy and feels incredibly silky on my skin. Since I started using it, I stopped using foundation primers, because that’s how great it works under foundation. The formula is also very interesting; it’s very watery but absorbs quite quickly.

I’m a big hoarder when it comes to perfume and usually I like to switch it up pretty much every single day but ever since I got my hands on B. Balenciaga’s Skin perfume, it’s all I’ve been using for the last couple of weeks. Gorgeous bottle aside, this fragrance is stunning and absolutely perfect for Autumn.

Lorac Pro Matte Palette Palette. I’ve been reaching for this palette pretty much every single day lately. Lorac eye shadows are incredibly creamy, they’re so easy to blend and this little palette has everything I need. You can see my swatches and full review right here.

Cold weather means that my lips feel even more dry than usual. Three of my favorite lip balms right now are Dior Lipglow, Chanel Hydrating Conditioning Balm and Korres Jasmine Lip Butter. I use Lipglow when I don’t wear any lipstick, since It intensifies my natural lip color, Chanel’s Hydrating Conditioning Balm works great when worn under lipstick and Korres Jasmine Lip Butter works very well at moisturizing my dry lips overnight.

Another little gem from Chanel that I’ve been loving lately is their Matte Top Coat. I’ve only tried one other matte top coat in the past and it wasn’t the best, but this one by Chanel worked really nicely; it applies smoothly and transforms glossy finish to a soft, velvety one.

One of my favorite foundations that I’ve ever tried is Chanel’s Perfection Lumiere, but as my skin has become extremely dry, I found that it doesn’t work that well for me during colder weather. Few months a go, I picked up another very popular foundation from Chanel: Vitalumière Aqua, which I’ve heard works amazing with dry skin. While I didn’t get a long with it too much during Summer, right now my skin is loving this foundation. It’s lightweight and provides a very smooth and natural-looking coverage. It also feels incredibly comfortable on my skin, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend this if you have oily skin.

After waiting years to finally try theBalm’s Mary-Lou Manizer I can see why there’s so much hype about this product. I love everything from the packaging to the formula; it’s pigmented very nicely, has a soft texture and illuminates the skin beautifully.

What are some of your recent favorites?