One would think that selecting your favourite products over the last year would be easy and not lead to overthinking and borderline existential doubt, but that was not the case for me. I tried to focus on new (to me) products I’ve tried in 2023 but I also included products that I included last year that I’ve still been loving and using and products from before that I’ve re-solidified my love for. For context, I have fine to medium, high density, high porosity wavy to curly hair and drier eczema-prone skin.
1. Verb Curl Shampoo ($22-27 CDN | 355 mLs)
This shampoo has been great as an addition to my routine, as it can remove silicone, oils, product build-up without drying out the hair afterwards and impacting curl definition when used without deep conditioning afterwards. I would describe it as a regular shampoo but it has the ability to remove buildup quite successfully and helps to keep on top of a dry itchy scalp that tends to flake. It serves me well as someone whose hair require a lot of product and who does fairly sweaty yoga throughout the week without washing in between. It does contain both a water-soluble silicone and amodimethicone (not water-soluble but doesn’t build up on itself), which I suspect are helping to add moisture back into the hair, along with sunflower seed extract and other humectants after thoroughly cleansing the scalp.
2. Curlsmith Core Strength Shampoo ($36 CDN | 355 mLs)
This was a newfound discovery and favourite last year when it was easily my most used shampoo by a wide margin — I think I used it most times I washed my hair — and while I experimented with other lines, I immediately repurchased to use when I finished those up. It’s a lightweight but very gentle shampoo that contains some protein and has the ability to remove buildup (and silicones and general funk) out of the hair, while being just cleansing enough. The formula is quite concentrated so it lasts me like a year with regular use, which is divine. It’s pretty slippery as well and hydrating which minimized the amount of tangling that occurred during the washing process.
3. Briogeo Curl Charisma Rice Amino + Shea Curl-Defining Conditioner ($38 CDN | 237 mLs)
2023 was the year of finding great rinse-out conditioners for me. This one is concentrated — which is super important because I have a lot of hair that drinks up a lot of conditioner and this is expensive — and both has the right amount of protein to help add bounce and life to the lazier waves and loose curls I have and add some curl-enhancement, while having enough moisture to encourage juicy curl clumps. It has great slip, really seals the moisture into the hair while being light to medium in weight but offering pretty substantial moisture. It contains shea butter, avocado oil, sunflower seed oil, rice amino acids, keratin amino acids and hydrolyzed quinoa for an ideal balance of moisture and protein, especially during the humid part of the year.
4. Curlsmith Essential Moisture Conditioner ($34 CDN | 355 mLs)
This is my absolute favourite moisturizing conditioner that I think I’ve ever tried and I was lucky enough to grab two backups at 50% off on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale. It’s my absolute favourite conditioner in dry winter weather — keep in mind that I live on the east coast so the rest of my year is rather humid — and it’s a great moisturizing conditioner year round. In weight, it’s light to medium but the moisture is rich and the best part is the slip is great and it’s concentrated enough that a single bottle lasts me months. Also, I find the moisture lasts until my next wash day, thanks to the sealing ingredients, and contributes to great curl clumps. It contains your usual emollients, slip agents, shea butter, coconut oil, avocado oil, sunflower seed oil, aloe and numerous plant extracts; I find it to be so moisturizing that it compares to many deep conditioners on the market without being too heavy. My only complaint is that it can make the hair so moisturized that it can be difficult to achieve any sort of grit in the hair afterwards with certain styling products.
5. Curlsmith Hold Me Softly Style Balm ($37 CDN | 237 mLs)
Despite being a fairly devout Curlsmith user for years now, I had never tried their original curl cream until 2023 and I found it to be really good. It’s really moisturizing and on the heavier side of medium in weight but when a small amount is used, it really imparts control to the hair and gets super juicy curl clumps. I really like that glycerin is up so high in the ingredient list as it tends to give me hydrated juicy ringlets, that it contains starch to form great clumpy curls and contains a cocktail of sealing oils, coconut oil, andiroba oil, avocado oil and olive oil. It’s rich and protein free but adds great control to the hair and is especially good in drier conditions. Paired with a gel, it gives great curl definition, and it’s great int he winter.
6. Curlsmith Frizz Rescue Curl Retainer ($37 CDN | 237 mLs)
When I saw the highlighted ingredients for the new Anti-Frizz Recipe Line and then heard that the styler did not have hard hold, I was not interested. Boy was I wrong about both of the stylers in Curlsmith’s new line. This jelly is kind of a cream gel or custard that works for me either on its own (with a little bit of harder hold gel glazed over the top to up the hold), as a curl-enhancer underneath a harder hold gel and as a refreshing product a few days in. It contains sunflower seed extract for a little bit of non-penetrating protein, starch to help form great curl clumps and watermelon seed oil, coconut seed butter, squalane and argan oil to seal everything in. It gives really great juicy curl clumps with hold that’s on the lighter end of the medium scale. It’s surprisingly versatile and I’m really enjoying adding it to my routine, but I will say the ingredients suggest to me that this won’t be great as a main styler in the humid summer months, as they offer more limited humidity resistance. However, it is super moisturizing and has great sealing ingredients.
7. Curlsmith Curl Defining Styling Souffle ($37 CDN | 227g)
While this is easily my favourite gel of all time — and I’m a girl who loves gel and has tried out many — I did fall back in love with this kind of custard-gel hybrid this year. It does well year round, but in the summer humidity, other gels provide more humidity resistance — as in, it can get fluffy and require some extra refreshing when it’s that humid. The rest of the time, it’s perfect, with buildable medium-strong hold, curl-enhancing and moisturizing without being too heavy. It relies on regular humectants, film-forming humectants like irish moss and flax seed extract and plant oils so it really gives enhanced bouncy waves and curls that do not feel product-y but last days.
8. Pattern Beauty Strong Hold Gel ($38 CDN | 425g)
If I remember correctly, I included this in last year’s favourite post as a new buy towards the end of the year. In 2023, I actually re-purchased it in full-size and really enjoyed using it, so it’s another repeater. It has a super thick and sticky gel texture but it’s less heavy than some other gels in this category. It’s great for keeping moisture in the hair and keeping the hair from drying out, and it’s amazing for humidity resistance but still gives me great grit and texture, especially in the roots. It has strong hold but is more flexible than some gels and it really can set curl clumps in place for long lasting hair. It contains PVP, polyquaternium and VA/VP copolymer for hold, and has glycerin followed by film-forming humectants and a number of plant oils. A little bit goes a long way so in the long run it’s surprisingly affordable, even on my dense high-porosity hair.
9. Curlsmith Frizz Rescue Finishing Serum ($38 CDN | 74 mL)
Curlsmith’s new Anti-Frizz Recipe line was a surprising hit for me, despite there not being a strong-hold styler, or a curl cream, and even though I ordered this during the Black Friday sale as an after thought in order to qualify into a specific threshold, I’ve been borderline obsessed. It’s defined as a serum but it’s silicone-free, so it instead relies on oils, conditioning agents and polymers. A little goes a little long way which is great and it adds a bit of control to the hair when it’s applied and has a touch of hold, while removing any sort of cast and adding some definition. I use it in the place of a hair oil, often in the morning, especially when I’m not doing a refresh. A little bit goes a super long way and it can feel heavy if you overdo it, it does help with frizz and the packaging is super user-friendly and neither annoying to use or breakable, which I really appreciate.
10. Bumble & Bumble Bond-Building Repair Oil Serum ($61 CDN | 48 mL)
I really enjoy this “oil serum”, but I find it to be more of a milk-oil more than anything else and I use it on dry hair, which is likely not the way it’s designed to be used. I use it to either scrunch out the crunch and seal or on subsequent days to tame the mane. I enjoy the durable packaging — it really can make a difference on these products — and I like that it’s lightweight but hydrating and moisturizing, contains bonding ingredients with research a decent way up on the ingredient list and definitely helps with moisture retention. It contains honey, hydrogenated castor oil, apple seed oil, bond building ingredients and glycerin.
11. Ouidad Featherlight Touch-Up Gel Cream ($25.39 CDN | 101 mL)
The wavy/curly hair refresh — my hair sits somewhere between the two — is something that has taken me years to master and yet again this year, I loved and repurchased this product. It’s my favourite for when you aren’t quite at the point of needing much product or a full on wet but need to either spot fix some curls or just smooth things out overall. I either use it as is or dilute with a bit of water to refresh specific curl clumps and it always adds some bounce, reforms curls and minimizes frizz without adding weight and reactivating some of the product already in the hair. Protein is in the first couple of ingredients which both works to re-form the film and adds some structure back and it has humectants and wonderful slip which really helps bring back ringlets. I recently purchased my third tube if that says anything.
12. Curlfriend Collective Emerald Dreams Silk Hair Scarf ($79.95 US)
I never thought I would be the type to rave about high quality hair accessories but here I am. Most of the time, I sleep with the top layer of my hair in a silk scrunchie with this silk hair scarf on top. It’s super silky (great high quality silk) and is actually large enough to stay on my large head while covering the majority (or all) of my hair’s surface. I also love the jewel tones in this one and find that it looks nice enough to wear out and about, especially when twisted into a headband to hide crown frizz. It really helps to reduce tangling in my super-tangly hair and makes it easy for me to get to day 4-day 5 hair.
13. Curlfriend Collective Silk Scrunchie ($24 US)
The second part of my overnight wave preservation relies on this silk scrunchie usually. It’s mulberry silk, doesn’t make me overheat, and preserves volume when I use it to pile the top layer of my hair on the top of my head overnight underneath the hair scarf (or bonnet). I will also use it to pull up my hair throughout the week but I love it for preserving my waves and curls. It’s also great for keeping my roots from flattening overnight.
14. RNW Der. Concentrate Ceramide Plus Serum ($24.79 CDN | 30 mL)
This was a delightful milky humectant serum that I actually really noticed a difference after I stopped using. It’s fragrance free from what I can see and contains glycerin, niacinamide, oat, numerous forms of ceramides towards the top of the ingredients lists and peptides. I found using to really help lock in moisture and give me soothed, plumped and hydrated skin. I surmise that this was great in terms of barrier health and it’s affordable!
15. Paula’s Choice Triple Active Total Repair Serum ($48 US | 30 mL)
It’s becoming quite clear to me that milky serums are my favourite serum texture, as this is another one of them, but it’s more of a state-of-the-art serums targeting smoothness, brightness and barrier function, the latter being what actually tempted me to purchase. It contains 5% niacinamide for barrier function amongst other things, along with other antioxidants, a retinoid and a skin tone evening antioxidant, along with her usual beneficial ingredients. As a regular tretinoin user, I can’t really speak to the results yet but I am enjoying using thus far, and it’s not a product I’ve heard much talk about.
16. Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Cream Moisturizer ($54 CDN | 50 mL)
This moisturizer proved itself to be a real favourite for me, despite not having an ingredient list full of all of the bells and whistles and it coming in jar packaging and being quite fragranced. It contains glycerin, squalane, lactobacillus, panthenol, hyaluronic acid and a ceramide, but in use, it’s quite plumping, nourishing and soothing. It’s a great moisturizer that does exactly that nicely and is not overly pricy of a moisturizer. Makeup also sits very nicely on top of it.
17. Paula’s Choice Skin Recovery Hydrating Treatment Mask ($29 US | 118 mL)
Years and years ago, I remember using this moisturizing mask and liking it but now I adore it. It’s reasonably priced and you get a whole bunch of product for that price and it’s perfect for using with irritating actives, or on skin that’s flaking or dealing with any sort of dermatitis. It’s definitely a thick cream but it sinks into the skin and contains replenishing borage oil, a couple of other plant oils, fatty acids and antioxidants. It also burns minimally on super irritated skin and makes things better overnight.
18. Cerave Acne Foaming Cleanser ($20.97 CDN | 150 mL)
Despite this being a creamy gel cleanser targeted for the face, I bought it entirely for use on the body and I’ve really enjoyed using it to minimize armpit odour (TMI sorry but I’m a stress sweat-er) and to minimize breakouts on the body. It did not flare up my eczema, unless used under the arms excessively, and actually had a creamy non-drying texture which my drier skin enjoyed. It helped to mitigate the effects of sweat in terms of exacerbating body breakouts which was entirely delightful, and I’m sure it would work in the same way on the face, whilst being mild. It contains benzoyl peroxide in a low concentration to reduce the burden of bacteria and reduce the formation of breakouts.
19. Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Natural Sun Cream SPF 50+ ($32.85 CDN | 50 mL)
I find that this mineral sunscreen leaves more of a white cast than I’d like when used on my face, without makeup or sunscreen over the top. However, it was my favourite sunscreen for my neck, chest, back and shoulders in the warmer months. It contains niacinamide and a bit of sodium hyaluronate but the real reason why I enjoyed it was that it was irritant free and it was cosmetically elegant, leaving just a sheer white cast that would go away on its own and a nice moisturized feel that was neither greasy or had that tight velvety feel that I’m not in love with. It did well in sunscreen testing and I found it to deliver really great protection. Any sort of actual tan or burning I developed while using this was 100% user error.
20. Aveeno Creamy Oil Moisturizer ($13.99 CDN | 354 mL)
Back in the warmer weather, I picked up this oil-lotion hybrid product and was pleasantly surprised. In the summer, it alone kept my eczema fairly in check, without using much else, when applied right after bathing. Now, in the winter, it would not be enough on this own consistently — I’m currently trying to be good and work through other products so I can’t test — but I found myself enjoying the gentle non-irritating fragrance and the lightweight but rich consistency the oils provided. As my comments suggested, there are numerous oils in the top of the ingredients lists, along with dimethicone and their signature soothing oat, and because of this it’s light but the moisture lasts without that tight, itchy feeling seeping back in for a good while.
21. Charlotte Tilbury Rock n Kohl in Bedroom Black ($37 CDN)
Strangely enough, both my most used makeup item of the year and my favourite makeup item of the year was this black eyeliner. The formula is impeccable, transferring easily to the upper waterline with full pigment, without transferring to the lower waterline and sets in place, without being impossible to remove and it does not irritate my sensitive eyes whatsoever. I have larger eyes and I find that using eyeliner inside the upper waterline really makes a difference in how complete my liquid liner looks and this one is great. I also enjoy that it’s a normal pencil so it can easily be sharpened for easy application and all that jazz. I also once spent many hours looking for this eyeliner when in reality it just was hidden under my bathroom rug.
22. Natasha Denona My Dream Eyeshadow Palette ($89 CDN)
This is a repeater from last year but I pretty much haven’t reached for anything else eyeshadow wise, since I tried it in late 2020. I love the warm-tinged neutrals that leans kind of plummy and taupe-y, as they stay in that neutral family but are interesting and the kind of shades that I enjoy and suit me (as they are warm). The shadows are easy to work with and last really well for me, and I enjoy the selection in the palette of shimmering lid shades of a variety of depths, options for the crease as well as smokier shades. I’ve been particularly fond of the taupe this year and when I’m in the mood, I really enjoy the plums. It’s versatile.
23. Dior Lip Glow Oil in Rosewood ($54 CDN)
In the past few years, I’ve really gotten out of the habit of wearing any sort of lip makeup. However, this year I’ve been enjoying using this expensive non-sticky balm-gloss hybrid. It’s legitimately moisturizing and imparts just enough colour, adding a kind of my-lips-but-better warm rosy shade. It’s super low maintenance and suits easily chapped sensitive lips and is visible on its own, or looks great paired with lip liner.
beautylit& ramblings 