January 2020 Beauty Favourites

Hiya guys, I feel like January was 84 years long, but here we are in a new month, which means it’s time for January’s beauty favourites!

Now, you’ve probably caught on by now that I am a high end beauty junkie. However, I’ve made it my mission in 2020 to try some more affordable makeup and you know what? It’s been going well, there are products in my beauty favourites this month that aren’t high end!

I don’t think I’m going to change completely and not go for high end makeup anymore, but I think I can have a mix and I do now agree there are some bomb products at the drugstore. I do find it slightly more hit and miss than high end, but at the price point I don’t mind trying things out.

There’s nothing worse than dropping £40+ on a foundation and it turns out to be crap. At £12? I’m not that annoyed if it doesn’t work. But, I do think that there are certain products where high end still beats drugstore hands down. And I still have high end brands that I absolutely love and will continue to buy no matter how good drugstore gets! I’m just enjoying broadening my horizons a bit and will be trying both high end and affordable makeup this year… let’s face it, it gives me another excuse to buy new makeup because I am a complete makeup junkie!

Without further ado, let’s get into January 2020’s beauty favourites!

DISCLAIMER: JOHN LEWIS LINKS ARE AFFILIATE, ALL OTHERS ARE NOT. ALL PRODUCTS PURCHASED BY ME.

NARS ICONIC LIPSTICK IN DOLCE VITA – £22 from Space NK

Now, the shade Dolce Vita is not new by any means, but Nars relaunched their iconic lipsticks last year and when we were away in Switzerland, I swatched Dolce Vita on my hand and fell in love. It’s this gorgeous, sheer, glossy, pinky brown and I’ve worn it so much since I got it for Christmas. It goes with anything and is such a gorgeous formula. It’s not a particularly long lasting lipstick, but it’s easy to wear and makes your lips look healthy. I don’t see my love affair with this lipstick ending any time soon!

MAYBELLINE MASTER CHROME EXTREME HIGHLIGHTER – £8.99 from Superdrug

Well hello new favourite highlighter!! My goodness, these are an absolute find at the drugstore. They are stunning! If you want blinding highlight, these will do it, but you can also sheer them out. They are so smooth, blendable and pigmented. They are almost wet looking without being glittery. I have three shades; Diamond Glow, Molten Rose Gold and Sandstone Shimmer and I love them all.

Diamond Glow was the first shade I got and it’s unlike anything else I own. It’s just beautiful, when I describe it doesn’t sound like it would be flattering, but it is. It’s kind of a silvery pinky taupe. These last all day and don’t show texture. If you try one thing from my beauty favourites from this month, make it these highlighters!

PHYSICIANS FORMULA THE HEALTHY FOUNDATION – £12.99 from Boots

We only recently got Physicians Formula in the UK and I’m so glad as I’ve wanted to try the brand for years. I went to Boots just after Christmas and picked this foundation up and it’s amazing! I’d heard so many good things about it and it genuinely is lovely; it makes your skin look so healthy and naturally radiant. And it wears amazingly well, I can get through a 12 hours day without touching this up once!

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows though because the shade range is woeful. LC1 is the lightest shade we can get here and even though I’m neutral I got LC1 because it is 100% not a cool shade; it looks pretty warm actually! I think we only get about 8 shades here. Awful.

I’ve since found out that if you order directly from Physicians Formula they do fair shades, but they won’t ship here, so light is the lightest shade. This is pretty darn dark even for a light skin tone, but because it’s not full coverage I can just about get away with it.

One more negative; the smell!!! It’s horrific, it smells like pain stripper. When I first got it, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get over the smell, but it’s such an amazing foundation I just have to tolerate it. You can smell if after you’ve applied it for a while, but eventually it dissipates.

HOURGLASS 1.5MM MECHANICAL GEL EYELINER IN BRONZE – £17 from Space NK

I have loved these Hourglass eyeliners for years, they’re absolutely bomb. They are tiny, super smooth and pigmented and last all day. However, I only had the brown shade and I’m fairly certain way back when I bought the brown one, they only did 3 or 4 shades. However, I recently went onto John Lewis and found a bronze shade. Of course I had to buy it! I’ve been wearing it ever since, it’s just amazing!

L’OREAL LE BLUSH IN 120 SANDALWOOD PINK – £7.99 from Superdrug

I love a pink blush and when I saw this shade I had to have it. It’s the perfect rosy pink with a hint of shimmer. It lasts all day and is easy to blend. It also has a really gorgeous scent; it’s fruity I think! Never had a scented blush before, but it’s nice so while a bit unecessary, I don’t mind that much.

We don’t seem to get many shades of this blush in the UK; I don’t know if it’s just here or if there just aren’t that many shades, but I wish I could get more shades as I love this blush! I’ve been wearing it almost non stop in January; it gives your cheeks the perfect healthy pink glow.

KIKO BRIGHT QUARTET BAKED EYESHADOW QUAD – £12.99 from Kiko

You guys know I love Kiko and after Christmas they had a really good sale on, so I picked up some bits including two of their baked eyeshadow quads. These are stunning! So wearable, easy to use and long lasting. I love the shades in each quad too, they really complement each other.

I think there’s only one matte out of both of these quads, but there are a couple of satin shades which you can still get away with wearing in your crease. These have quickly become a go to for me as every look I create is so easy. You don’t have to think about the colours and whether or not they will go together, they just do. These shadows are smooth, blendable and pigmented; I now want all of these palettes!

And that rounds up my January 2020 Beauty Favourites, what products have you been loving?