December Favorites

I'm not going to say the year has gone by so fast because for me it hasn't. It was a good year though. I'm not complaining. I just feel like it has been a year. I'm happy that 2013 starts tomorrow! I'm going to  try to be really good on my diet, and lose a lot of weight. I think if I am so into beauty, I would focus more on eating well and exercising than on makeup. I look better in my face when I am thinner. I'm not saying this because I'm acting like everybody in the new year. I really do need to lose weight! I'm not in denial. xD Anyway, here are my December favorites.

1. Splenda! That is right! I found a very amazing beauty trick this month. One day I was putting on my foundation and the skin around my forehead was really dry. I didn't understand why this was because I had moisturized my skin. I asked my question on Yahoo! Answers. I got a lot of replies very quickly. Some people said I needed to wash my face before putting on makeup. I knew that wasn't right because I always did that. Some people said I needed to moisturize, I knew that wasn't right because I did moisturize. Some people said my skin was dry and I needed to use a different foundation. Even though patches of my skin were acting dry, I didn't think my whole face was dry. I think I have combination skin on my face. But one person suggested I exfoliate those areas of my face using either sugar or something else (I forget what it was.) I decided to do this. I used a Splenda sugar pack and water. It felt sort of weird, but I scrubbed on the areas of my face that were acting odd. Then I washed and moisturized my face like normal. My foundation went on like a dream! It was dead skin, that was why my foundation wasn't going on right on those areas. I guess by now I should already know this secret. But I didn't. Maybe it is new for you too. My skin hasn't done that since I exfoliated which was about a week ago, so it lasts a long time.

2. Real Techniques Buffing Brush: I got this brush awhile ago with a collection of face brushes called Your Base/Flawless Core Collection by Real Techniques. I got this at Fred Meyers. I don't remember what gave me the idea to use this for a powder brush. It is small and so soft! It fits nicely under my eyes for when I want to set my under eye concealer. I have really been loving it, and decided to share it in a favorite.

3. Hard Candy Sheer Envy Skin Illuminating Primer: I have mentioned the original Hard Candy primer in a favorite blog already. That one works good too. I wanted to try this one because it says it was illuminating, so I was curious how that would look. It doesn't leave my face looking really shiny. It is just a really nice primer. It makes my skin look nice. It is inexpensive. I found it at Walmart. I used this 30 days this month!

4. ORLY Nail Lacquer in Ingenue: This is a beautiful rose gold color. I heard about it on a Youtube video (I don't remember which one). It looked pretty, so I ran out to buy it. I wore this at the beginning of the month.

5. Aczone: I got a bunch of little samples of this from my dermatologist. It is an ointment to put on pimples. I just use a little bit, so the samples have been lasting me a long time. These really zap pimples away. My doctor said this medicine is good for the kind of pimples you get around the time of your period.

6. Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero: I was so happy to get this in my December IPSY bag! I was not expecting it. I feel like the IPSY bag got really good! I'm not subscribed to it or Birchbox anymore. I have heard people talk about this eyeliner for a long time. Probably as long as I have been watching Youtube videos. I now understand why everyone loves it. It is a really great eyeliner.

7. Sally Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in The Bold Rush: This caught my eye in the store. It has purple and gold glitter. The colors fade into each other. It is a really cool effect. I got a lot of compliments on it.

8. The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer: I got this from my October Birchbox. This is a beautiful golden highlighter. I was using Hard Candy So Baked Bronzer in Tiki as a dupe. Now that I have both products I can say for sure they are very similar. The Balm packaging is so cute. The girl is having her head shot taken like she was arrested, then at the bottom it says: "Offense: highlighter, shimmer, eyeshadow, Charge: too pretty, too popular, Antonym: womanizer." lol! The Balm products are so cheeky.

9. Milani Liquif'eye Metallic Eye Liner Pencil in Black: Before I got the Urban Decay pencil, I was using this just about every day. This is a really great eye liner too. You can get these at the drugstore. Milani makes really great eyeliners.

10. Rimmel Lasting Finish 1000 Kisses Stay On Lip Contouring Pencil in Red Dynamite: I like Rimmel lip liners. I think I wore a lot of red lips this month. I lined my lips with this pencil.

Random Favorites

11. Bath and Body Works Scentportables in Spiced Cider: Last month I included my favorite car scents, so I decided to do it again. This makes your whole car smell like apple cider! It is so delightful! One of my favorite things in life is entering my car and being greeted by a wonderful smell.

12. Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy #1) by C.S. Lewis: My Dad really loves this trilogy, so I decided to read it. It is a science fiction book, which I normally don't read, but this was rather interesting. It is about a man who gets kidnapped and taken to a planet. I forget which one, but the book doesn't tell you at first, so I don't want to give anything away. He has all kinds of adventures. I'm reading the second book now, and it is really good too. It probably will be in my January favorites.

13. The Treachery of Beautiful Things by Ruth Frances Long: This is a fantasy novel. It's about a girl who loses her brother in the woods, and she tells everyone that the trees took him. So they think she's crazy. Seven years later, when she is 17, she gets taken into the magical world in the forest that her brother go taken into. So her mission is to find her brother. She has all kinds of adventures. It is also a love story. At first I felt annoyed at the book because I felt like the girl kept having troubles. But I needed to finish it to see how the story ended. I'm glad I finished it because it has a good ending. This is for young adults.

I hope you liked reading about my favorites! Tell me what your favorites of the month were! Feel free to leave your blog in the comments! I love to see the favorites of the month.