2013 Quarterly Favourites: Summer Edition

I decided to do quarterly favourites instead of monthly favourites because I was finding I wasn't really enjoying doing the posts each month (however, I do love reading them).  For this post, I have found it a bit difficult to narrow down my favourites to ten (that was the number I set myself), but I feel that means these are all products which are genuine favourites of mine.  They will probably be favourites for many more months to come.

The top ten:

These are products I kept coming back to (mostly) everyday since the start of the year.  There are some recently acquired items and they're pretty special to have beat out some other items.

The Faves

Stila In the Light Palette:  I did a review/comparison post here of this palette.  Stila make some fantastic eye shadows (along with other items :)  I'm definitely keen to pick up another palette, most likely In the Know.

Nars Foreplay Palette:  Love these blushes.  The fuchsia one has been my fave this month.  See review here.

OPI Eurso...Euro:  This is a recently acquired nail polish.  I love the formula.  I love the colour and I love that my partner picked it out.  Check out a swatch here.

MAC Blot Powder Pressed:  I'll have a review on this sometime soonish.  I use it to set and touch up my makeup.  Just know, it gets the job done.  Very well.  Great for oily/combination skin.

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream in 21: I cannot say enough about how much I love this BB cream.  It's amazing.  I wear this about everyday to work.  See review here.

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H in 005:  If I'm not wearing the BB cream, I'm wearing this or another foundation which I'm currently in love with.  I'll reveal the other foundation at another time.  I struggled for a long time finding foundations that match my skin and now I'm obsessed with finding more (even though I don't need anymore :)  I made a mini review about this here.

Revlon Lip Butter in Lollipop:  I love lip butters.  They're my kind of lipstick.  Pigmented and low maintenance.  I've been wearing lollipop a lot this summer.  I'll be posting a FotD soon with this as a star.

L'Oreal NutriBalm Tinted Lip Balm in Nudy Coral: Love. Love. Love.  This is pretty much a lip balm with the slightest amount of colour (emphasis on slight), but it is fantastic!  The subtle colour and shine is great for my work makeup.  I will be writing a post comparing this to YSL Volupte Sheer Candy.

Kosmea Skin Clinic Rescue Balm: I mention when I bought this I loved it as a lip balm; however, I have also seen firsthand it's ability to mend and fade scarring.  My partner cut his nose at work and it has scarred (even after attempts to avoid this during the healing process).  I told him to put the Rescue Balm on it just to see what would happen and what do you know? It has worked.  The scar is slowly, slowly fading, but it is so much better than it was at the start.  I was so mad at him (even though it was a complete accident) because in less than 3 months, we'll be getting married and there will be so many photos!

Finally, Etude House Missing U Hand Cream Harp Seal: This is the most adorable packaging I have ever seen.  I'm obsessed with seals and I couldn't pass this up.  It's supposed to smell like Green Tea (I'm not sure if it actually does, but I also cannot pinpoint what it smells like) and it's actually a pretty good hand cream.  It leaves your hands feeling really smooth.  I will keep this container forever!

Honourable Mentions: 

Okay, so I have cheated, slightly, and included three honourable mentions.  These were products that I have (a) fallen in love with recently, but the blogger world has been loving it forever, (b) loved it for a while now and have used it a lot more this quarter or (c) really like it, but it just narrowly missed the cut.

Honourable mentions

Bioderma: it seems that everyone has an opinion of this.  I thought it was overrated, but after using it for a while now, I cannot see myself without it.

Fine One One: See my review here.  I still love it.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose: The swatch leans a bit too orange, but it is definitely peachy.  I adore peach blushes and this is a great everyday one.  It's really finely milled and applies extremely well.

Bellapierre Mineral Blush in Desert Rose

Desert Rose swatch

What were your favourites this month/quarter?

Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream

I've been searching for the perfect BB cream and I think I may have found it.  I will admit, I haven't searched that hard.  In fact, this is the second BB cream I have tried and I think I'm content.

My first BB cream experience was the Garnier BB Cream for Oily Skin in the Light shade.  I received this free from Garnier.  I didn't really like anything about this cream.  I know there are heaps of people out there who absolutely love it, but it did nothing for me.  To use the word 'cream' is used very loosely since it is extremely runny, but nothing that a Real Techniques stippling brush cannot handle.  The shade was wrong for me.  Too dark.  Too yellow.

I read a review about the Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream and was super excited when I heard it was SPF 42.  Number 1, I need that kind of protection.  SPF 15 means nothing to my skin.  Number 2, 42 is the answer to the universe, so surely it would be the answer to my BB cream dilemma.  I placed an order through KeautyStore.com.  They had two sizes, and I decided to go with the mini to see how I liked it.  They were kind enough to send heaps of samples.

My goodies!

The packaging was really simple for the mini bottle.  It's a squeeze tube.  The first thing I noticed about this BB cream was that it was actually creamy.  It also smells like baby powder, which could put people off; however, it doesn't last long once it's blended in.

The shade I chose was No. 21 Bright Beige.  This BB cream does have a slight grey tone to it, but it works really well on my skin.  Much better than yellow undertones.  It looks fantastic on my skin and it does what I thought a BB cream would do.  It acts as a moisturiser.  I feel no need to use an additional moisturiser with this.  I don't need to add any sunscreen.  Recently, it had its sunburn test and passed splendidly (unfortunately, my body sunscreen did not do its job).  I have no need for a concealer; the coverage is build able, which makes it perfect in my opinion.  I have combination/oily skin and it holds its own regarding that.  I do set it with powder, but I only touch up once (if that) during the day.

BB cream blended in on the right

I'm really glad I tried this BB cream and I'm so happy that I don't think I will continue searching for others.  Maybe if there was a colour in this range that had a slightly more pink tone, then I would consider it, but for now I'm totally happy with this product!

What is your favourite BB cream?