Naturalla Beauty

I know this post is almost two weeks late, so first off, I want to appologize for letting the blog lag for so long!  I started a new job right before the holidays and I've been working 6 out of 7 days, which hasn't left much time for blogging...or anything else for that matter!  It's been hectic, but things are settling down now, so I hope to be able to keep more on track with blogging again.

2011 was a big year for me in terms of trying new products.  After not using much makeup for the several years previous, I got a lot more into makeup towards the end of 2010 and have discovered a lot of great companies and products since then.  A lot of these I've reviewed before in more detail, in which case I'll link the original review in case you'd like more information.  Now, without further delay, onto my top 11 makeup picks of 2011:






1) Lucy Minerals Lucy Light Foundation in Light - I only discovered this towards the end of the year, but I've been wearing it pretty much every day since then.  It gives a really natural, flawless coverage and hasn't irritated my skin at all.  You can find my more detailed review here.


2) Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar Under Eye Concealer in Light Peach - This does a great job of hiding dark circles and also generally brightens the whole eye area.  I reviewed it here.

3) Detrivore Cosmetics Eye Shadow Primer - After a lot of searching for a natural eye shadow primer, I found Detrivore Cosmetics.  This primer does a great job of holding onto loose eye shadows.  It also decreases creasing and intensifies colors.  Detrivore has since released new primers in black and white that I'm interested in trying, but as of now, I've only used the original.  Full review is here.

4) Jade Esthetics Soothing (Jing) Eye Drops - I'm not sure if Jade Esthetics is still around.  I got these years ago from a naturopath I was seeing and recently rediscovered them.  I don't really use eye drops in the traditional sense, but after hearing about people using Visine as a foiling medium for mineral shadows, I decided to give this a try.  These are water based eye drops that contain only distilled water, aloe vera, eye bright, cineraria, and vitamin C, but I find they do a better job than straight water.  I tend to only foil eye shadows when I use them as eye liner and this makes them less likely to move or smudge throughout the day.

5) Zuzu Luxe The Mascara in Onyx - I tried a couple other mascaras in 2011, but this, which has been my go to mascara for the last several years, is still my favourite.  It's buildable and can create more dramatic lashes than other natural mascaras I've tried.  It also doesn't smudge, run or flake.  More details are here.

6) The Chequered Lily Apothecary Eye Shadow in #15 Neverwhere - You'll notice this is the only eye shadow that made it onto this list.  I'm a bit of an eye shadow junky and since I have far too many to choose from, I really like to vary what I use day to day.  In spite of that, I immediately fell in love with Neverwhere when I bought some samples from The Chequered Lily Apothecary during their Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sale.  It's described as a "warm, dirty pinked-grey with pink and gold reflect," but to me it looks more like a medium golden brown with pink sparkles.  I mostly only buy eye shadow samples and I rarely even get through those, but I managed to use up Neverwhere already and was quick to buy a full size.  Review and swatches of The Chequered Lily will be coming up soon.


7) Young Living Lavender Lip Balm - I've tried a lot of lip balms recently and have actually been writing up a big lip balm comparison post that'll go up sometime in the next week or two, but I guess this will spoil the results early by revealing my top pick!  This is a really creamy lip balm with that perfect texture somewhere between overly thick and waxy and too thin or oily.  It does a great job keeping my lips hydrated, even in these dry winter months.

8) Revolution Organics Freedom Lip Gloss in Innocent - I won this a while back in a giveaway from The Healthy Beauty Project and I'm so glad I did!  It retails for $26, which is more than I'd be likely to spend on a lipgloss, so I doubt I would have tried it otherwise.  Ironically, at first I wasn't a huge fan of this gloss because of how sheer it is, but at some point I did a complete 180, because now I love it!  In fact, I just noticed I'm having to scrape the sides of the tube to get anything out and I'm so sad to see it run out!

9) LUVU Beauty Lip Liners in Classic Red, Blush and Candy - I really like using lip liners when I need my lip color to be long lasting.  I use these to fill in the whole lip and then top with a balm or gloss and I know my lip color will still be there hours later.  Blush is the most natural of these three, a mauvy-pink that's great for everyday.  Classic Red is, as the name implies, a classic, bright, pinup red shade.  More than any other lip colour, reds make me nervous, so I especially appreciate that this one won't smear or go anywhere.  Candy is a super bright fuschia.  Review and swatches are here.

10) Honeybee Gardens Truly Natural Lipstick in Soft Kiss - This is another product that stood out in 2011, even though I haven't had it for very long.  It's a beautiful baby pink color that is perfect with a smokey eye.  Soft Kiss is also creamier in texture than the other color I have in this lipstick, Karma.  Review and swatches of both colours are here.

11) Silk Naturals Lip Products - Saving the best for last, these are probably my favourite discovery of 2011.  I decided not to even try and pick specific colours.  Some colours get more use, but I actually use and genuinely like every single colour I have.  Silk Naturals has tons of colors to choose from and several formulas of lip products - kisser slickers, butter creams, vegan lipsticks, and liquid lip gloss to name a few - and I've liked all the formulas I've tried.  I went through a few of the different formulas in more detail here.  If you're in the market for new lip products, I definitely recommend giving Silk Naturals a try!

Phew!  That ended up being longer than I anticipated.  Looking back on these, I just realized almost half of these were lip products.  Oh well!

And because late is better than never - I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and wish you all the best for the new year :)