December was a weird month in particular this year; I won’t purposely try to make you all gauge your precious eyes out with cliched phrases such as ‘it passed so fast’ and ‘it was so stressful and busy’, although life seems to be full of the two lately. University kept me crazy busy and stressed for the first two weeks but as soon as the fourteenth hit, I was done and it was weird.

My skin has been duller than ever with abundant dry patches and I’ve perhaps gone a little too highlighter happy and my product of choice has been the old limited edition MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Pearl, which is a gorgeous glowy shimmery golden champagne.

It should be no secret that I’ve fallen in love with L’Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black($10 CDN) this month. It has more pigment than Maybelline Master Precise and is more precise and slightly easier to control. With this, it’s quick and easy to create a subtle wing on an everyday basis. This liner is fine enough to create the thinnest line, which I tend to struggle with.

I’ve had the MAC Eyeshadow in Sketch($12/18 CDN) since the end of the summer but I’ve previously found it to be chalky and difficult to pair with other shades without effort but this seemed to change this month. I’ve really enjoyed placing the “velvet” but pretty much matte plum shade in the outer v and it’s been gracing my face frequently, most often paired with rosier and taupe-y shades. 

The contour powder, sold as a blush, MAC Harmony ($25 CDN) is easily one of my favourite beauty products of all time – I included it in my recently posted yearly favourites – but it’s made it’s way back into the daily rotation this month as it functions nicely as a contour shade but has some warmth to it, without looking overly warm and orangey. It has enough rosiness to it that I can go without blush when wearing this and I adore it, especially with bolder lips.

In the cold weather as of late, I’ve been finding that my natural loose curls are determined to fall flat and lifeless along with their characteristic dryness. I’ve found that applying Bumble and Bumble Texture (Un)dressing Creme ($17/33 CDN) straight out of the shower adds volume and texture while still providing control either by itself or in combination with a curl-enhancing product with hold. I think this cream manages to be one of those universal products that adds great texture among all different hair types without leaving the hair dry — it’s concentrated and even with my abundance of hair, I’m still using my travel-sized product that I bought in the spring.

My daily use of Laura Mercier Foundation Primer in Radiance($24/40 CDN) and my love for it snuck up on me. This is the first foundation primer that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a few) that proved to be worthwhile. A little bit prior to starting the blog, I saw the 15 mL size at my Sephora in the 100-point-perk case and it had to be mine… I can’t resist a good free beauty product and as a sample, the size was very generous. It’s tinted a peachy-gold sheeny shade that adds notable luminosity to the face (which I adore), doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin in the slightest and seems to help the foundation glide on more smoothly with the touch of hydration it provides. The thing is that, as I’ve mentioned far too many times before, I do not have issues with foundation longevity and this is generally what primers are aimed to do but I like this one because it helps to blend the foundation seamlessly along with illumination but I do not think it helps with longevity or prevents oil from breaking through. I think this is a great primer for drier and duller looking skin, especially for those who haven’t had the greatest success with traditional foundation primers.

Indeed Laboratories Pepta-Bright ($40 CDN) is indeed one of those products that takes you by surprise with its efficacy — that was horrible, I know, but I couldn’t resist. It’s a chemical exfoliant in serum form with lactic acid in a moisturizing base that I’ve been using pretty much nightly since the beginning of the fall and I didn’t notice the results at first but within a few months, it helped with the formation of clogged pore bump-like things on my forehead, faded the textured marks that blemishes always leave behind on my skin and seemed to brighten and even out my skin. I’ve received some compliments on my bare skin recently and I know it’s because of this cream-serum that exfoliates without being harsh or irritating – even on my sensitive skin, all I can feel is a slight tingle (and I tend to feel the tingle with even the gentlest of products).

This month I’ve been playing The Neighbourhood‘s I Love You($7 CDN) album nonstop this month. I’m sure everyone is familiar with them because of “Sweater Weather” but the whole album is just as good. The music is moody, slightly-grungy and angsty deliciousness. I don’t know else to explain it — if you like music that iTunes places in the “alternative” genre, give this a listen if you haven’t already heard it.

Have you tried any of these? What were your favourites this month?