2016 Favourites


 Where has 2016 gone? Every year seems to fly by faster than the year before. It was only right to put together all of my beauty and non-beauty favourites of the year to share with you all. Some of these have been mentioned in some monthly favourites throughout the year, but I've sneaked in a few extras to share so it wasn't totally predictable. After reading about what I've loved this year, share yours in a comment below!

BEAUTY
Real Techniques makeup brushes
If any of you have been reading my blog for a long time or know me in person then you will know that I have a huge love for the Real Techniques brushes. Earlier this year I did a post where I shared my favourites with you, with you can read here. I obviously wanted to include them in my favourites, but I couldn't pick which ones to include. So I decided to include the brand as a whole. I love the variety and choice you have behind each brush and what you use them for. I also love that they are at a price that is affordable for most people, but they also have a range of more luxury brushes which I am still yet to try out called Bold Metals.

Revlon colourstay concealer
At the beginning of the year I had a series of blog posts called 'battle of' where I would put different makeup products to the test and give my opinion on them. In March I posted a battle of the concealers where I mentioned my disappointment in the lack of coverage in the Revlon colourstay concealer. After being so amazed and falling in love with the Revlon colourstay foundation, I was shocked that I didn't like the concealer. After I ran out of my concealer I was using at the time, I used this and put the Collection Cosmetics lasting perfection concealer on top. Since then I haven't looked back, and this has quickly  become a favourite of mine. I use this underneath of a thicker concealer so it doesn't crease and works as a nice and even base. This is great if you don't like wearing a lot of makeup and go for the no makeup look.

NYX sculpt and highlight brow pencil
When I went to IMATS in London back in June, I new that I had to pick up some makeup from the NYX counter. After waiting in line at IMATS for around 30 minutes, I finally had my chance to browse through everything. I got very overwhelmed but one of the things I decided to pick up was the sculpt and highlight brow pencil in the shade Vanilla. I have never been a huge fan of using brow pencils, but I thought I would give this ago. Since then I have used this nearly every single time I have done my eyebrows. It is the perfect shade for my eyebrows, and gives the perfect amount of definition without looking too harsh and dark.

Garnier oil infused micellar water
If you have been reading my blog for a long time, then you will know that I used to be obsessed with the Garnier micellar water for sensitive skin when it came to removing my makeup. It wasn't until earlier this year when Garnier had released an oil infused micellar water, I thought I'd give it a go since running out of the original one. This works incredibly. It takes off your makeup so fast and removes the entire top layer of your makeup and gets out any dirt from a clean face. This isn't greasy or sticky when used on the skin and leaves you feeling refreshed. It wasn't until I couldn't find this a few months back, that I realised how much I love this one in particular, compared to the Garnier micellar water for sensitive skin. 

Loreal pure clay face mask - purity
One of my favourite things to do is give myself a good pamper. I do this is many different ways, but my favourite is to put on my favourite face mask. This year I have fell in love with the Loreal pure clay purity face mask. The reason I love this so much, is because it really clarifies the skin and drawers out all of the imperfections.  They also came out with 2 more which you can check out a more detailed post here.

NSPA facial oil
For such a long time I was scared to use oils on my face as I thought even though I had dry skin it would turn me into a oily grease ball. Boy was I wrong. When I wore makeup it used to cling to all of the dry patches on my skin and make me look like my skin look was flakey. I have been using this regularly for around 8-9 months. I try not to use this everyday as I don't want my skin to get too used to it, so when I don't have it my skin looks dull. I use this about 2-4 times a week, which helps add moisture into my skin.

2/3 of these photos are not mine

NON-BEAUTY
I am Malala
I absolutely love reading, but unfortunately because of college and blogging I don't get to read as much as I would like. This is one of my new years resolutions. However the time that I get the majority of my reading done is when I am on holiday. That wasn't a disappointment this year. I had heard so many good things about a book called I am Malala, so I decided to pick it up and read it whilst on holiday. I'm not going to talk about this too much because I will get carried away, but this is a true story that is based upon living in Pakistan and Malala got shot in the head by the Taliban and wasn't expected to live. She made a miraculous recovery and has gone on to spread and tell her story. I can't recommend this book enough.

CRG art design stickers
At the end of last year I decided to purchase a bunch of unique planner stickers from Etsy to help me get organised more. A lot of the stickers I purchased were from a shop on Etsy called CRG art design. I have since purchased multiple orders, costing me way more than I'd like to admit, but this is my guilty pleasure. I not only love to write things down but I love them to be represented by something that I can visually see such as a picture or a sticker. I have featured them in a more detailed post which you can check out here.

Personal planner
I mentioned this in my 2015 favourites, but I have loved using my planner even more this year. I have really gotten into keeping track of everything I need to do in the day, by writing them down and using stickers. Last year I did a more detailed post on the Personal Planner which you can check out here.

My boyfriend - Liam
I honestly don't even know where to start with this one. I've never been in a relationship before and when me and Liam got together in July, I thought it would be a breeze. I was wrong. It has been the most challenging months of my life, but that's what I love. If it's challenging it shows that you are with that person for a reason...to make each other better. The main reason it's been challenging is because of me and my insecurities, but he fights through that and sees the good. Meeting Liam has been the highlight of my year. If you want to get to know us more as a couple you can check out our Boyfriend and Girlfriend tag we did.

Fuller house
If you are a big Netflix watcher or you were born in the 90's you might of heard of a show called Full House. I'm not too sure how to describe this show, other than it being a true representation of families. This isn't your classic TV show about a nuclear family, which is what I think made this show so special. This show finished in 1995, so when Netflix announced that it was doing a spin off show 21 years later called Fuller House, you wouldn't believe my excitement. This has got the same story line as the original show, but instead of being based on the parents it is now about the lives the children live after having their own family. Watch here.

Bridget Jones' baby
It's been such a long time since we had a relatable rom-com film. Until this year when we were all blessed with a new Bridget Jones' film. If you haven't watched Bridget Jones then I would highly recommend it, but it's about a women who is single and can't find love but has the same emotions and thoughts we do with the film being romanticized to be unrealistic. This film is her coming back and again she is still single, until she finds herself pregnant after sleeping with 2 men. But whose baby is it? That is the question. I know!!

Clevverstyle youtube channel
I love to find new YouTube channels and this year I found one of my favourites. It is called Clevverstyle. They have many channels, but I love this one in particular as it is beauty themed. They test out random and stupid products, go on beauty experiences and rate red carpet fashion. What makes this channel great is the comedy behind it. Another series by the Clevver channels is called cheat day, where they try out a bunch of odd and weird foods that we aren't brave enough to do ourselves.

xoxo
Lea-Mai

This post contains gifted items. See disclaimer page for more information.

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