Hello to all of you beautiful nerds and welcome back from traveling the vast nerd universe! Time for another beauty post!

Fave Beauty Items of 2022

I know I should have done this just after the Bests & Worsts but I felt that other posts had to come first in order to think about what I wanted to include. I don’t want to be like some beauty people who name everything they like but I do have some things that I have tried and enjoyed during the year and will mention them here. But first!

Disclaimer!

This post is based on thoughts about products that the lead writer of this blog has enjoyed during 2022. Please respect her picks and thoughts about each item! You have been warned!

Hair

Starting with hair since I have been growing my hair out I want to make sure that my hair is strong! I am starting off with the Tresemme Keratin Shampoo and Conditioner. I have been growing my hair and one thing that helps is carotene oil to make hair strong and I have been enjoying this shampoo and conditioner because of how strong and thick my hair has been getting. I notice not as much fall out as my hair gets but I do put a comb through it and some strands fall but not as bad. Another hair product I did love was the Honey and Mimosa Hair Pomade. For work, I try to keep my hair from sticking out and having a good pomade does help. I have used the Got2B Pomade for years but that has been hard to find for years and tried out one from Old Spice but that one weighed my hair so much I had to toss it until I found the one from Carol’s Daughter.This was the most reasonable priced at Ulta and it did keep my hair down with a light hold and it didn’t weigh it down until I need to either wash my hair or just use dry shampoo. I did like one sale where they had this product buy one get one discounted and did buy it at that time to keep a stock of it. I hope this doesn’t go away. And finally, the Eva NYC Satin Dream Leave-In Conditioner is another favorite this past year. This has been something I use to keep my hair from frizzing up and being so dry, especially after washing my hair. It smells so good and I love the pump idea since this stuff is thick! I’m glad to see that Ulta carries this and I can just go into my Favorites list and pick it up. I just recently got another one in case I run out soon.

Skin

Next category is skin and man. I’m glad I did cancel my subscriptions because all of the skin care items have piled up over the years and now I’m starting to use some items. I do have some items I did enjoy this past year and one of them happens to be the SaraVay Skin Tint SunScreen in 30 SPF. I love this one because it doesn’t give me the white cast like the SPF 50 one does. I tried so much to love that one but couldn’t due to how much of a white cast it gave me, even my supervisor helped me to clean my face every time and had to toss it. The Sheer Tint SunScreen just goes on sheer like it says. I am on my second tube since I did repurchase it when my dad visited last time this month. I am still buying this even on sale. Another skin care item I give props to is the Aveeno Oatmeal Face Wash! I think I have gone through so many face washes all thanks to the subscriptions but I think the one I have enjoyed so far is the one from Aveeno. This one is meant for sensitive skin and I like how it’s not overpowering with the oatmeal scent either and it has helped with moisture even before my skin care. I think I prefer this one over the Saravay one because that one is a bit too drying for my liking even though that was suggested by the person from Ulta who helped me find items for my canceled RangerStop trip. I think I will stick with this face wash for the shower instead. Another skin care item I have enjoyed has been the Good Molecules Hyaluronic Acid Serum which I prefer over the ones I have tried from subscriptions. THis brand is from Beautylish and they have been at Ulta for over a year and a half and have picked this up in the smaller bottle and now I have the bigger bottle. I am about to try one from Tony Moly that has caught my eye and see how that works, if that one turns out bad I know I will return to my Good Molecules one! And finally, I admit I love Native Deodorants! For the longest time I have bounced between so many deodorant brands until I finally broke down and purchased Native all thanks to Mile Higher talking about the Christmas scents at the end of 2021; It did take me a while to get used to them because I was going from brands that I was used to a new and natural formula with shea butter and it was the greatest choice. I have enjoyed the Tye Dye Vanilla Cupcake which was a limited edition scent along with the Mint Chip Cupcake that I got three of and used one of them I believe. I am currently using one from the Cabin Collection which is their autumn collection and it’s the Vanilla Marshmallow. I hope they bring this collection back, especially the shower gels because I got the bundle of body washes and man they smell so good! I love the bundle packs because they do save you some money in the end. I did pick up their Candy Shop Collection with the Strawberry Vanilla Taffy, Sour Berry Ropes, and Gummy Bears because of Jen Luv’s ad and like everyone else who commented, I wanted to smell like gummy bears too!

Face

Next up is what I loved in face makeup and to start this category I have been enjoying the Smashbox Hydrating Face Primer. Even though the NYX Marshmallow Primer, which is my go to replacement for the hydro one they made, has been my top choice, the one from Smashbox is my second favorite and I think I prefer it over the foundation. It has a better pump and it also feels good and cools on the skin when I put it on. It may cost a little bit more than the NYX Marshmallow Primer since they have raised their prices but Smashbox does have a good price for some of their stuff. At least it’s not as high as Urban Decay has gotten as of late! Speaking of which, I do enjoy the Urban Decay Stay Naked Skin Tint which I purchased through 21 Days of Beauty and of course got it in Light Medium Neutral! This is another feel good product but also blends very well into the skin when I get to foundation. I put it on my pallet and apply it with my beauty sponge and it feels refreshing once blended in! Finally, I give props to Milani with their blush sticks! I would have never enjoyed a blush stick until Milani released these last year. I have one in rose and one in peach and love how well they blend in once I apply them.

Eyes

Next up is eyes and man it’s hard to know what I loved! I admit the Ulta Matte Eye Shadow Primer has been something I’ve been enjoying when it comes to priming my lids before applying my shadows. I usually love the potted primers but this tube of primer has been lasting me for a long time and it keeps my shadows on very well. I also enjoyed the Araceli Eyeliner in Rose Gold to go with any of my rose themed shadow looks. I found how pigmented it is and I do enjoy the pencil sharpener that came with it as well. 

Lips

Final category is lips. I think I don’t have much since most of the lipsticks I have used are from Mac. I have purchased a lot of lipsticks from them last year and enjoyed them. I do admit I did like one liquid lipstick line but it got discontinued which made me sad. I do admit their Powdered Kiss line is pretty good from what I’ve tried so far. I do put it on top of a favorite which is the Ulta Collection Lip Primer. I have used the one from ELF but when I tried this one out I fell in love! This one is more like a chap stick and easy to use. I tend to use it with liquid lipsticks to keep them from running all over my face. I tend to carry one in my work makeup bag and one in my personal makeup bags! I did find one I have gotten a while back in one of my LoungeFly backpacks since I used up the one in my work makeup bag since they sold out recently. At least I found out they re-stocked and may purchase at a later date.

So, that is it for this post! I know it seems short but I feel as though it was easy in certain areas. I didn’t include an eye shadow pallet because I didn’t use shadow pallets as much. I may have some for 2023, let’s see what happens! I am still reading books so stay tuned!