2016 felt like a breeze! It was so fast that I felt like I was always running out of time haha. Nevertheless, 2016 was definitely a good year! There were a lot of lessons, adventures and memories that the last year brought me that I will surely value and treasure for the rest of my life.

When it comes to beauty products, there were also a lot of new things that I discovered and got to try last year. I recently went back to all my 2016 favorites posts to see which of those products I actually used and liked the most. You may have seen these products already and I know at times I usually post them again and again haha. That just goes to show how much I use these products and how much I want to make the most out of them.

Anyway, here are my top favorite products from 2016.

• SKINCARE

I've used this Avene Thermal Spring Water Spray so much last year ever since my mom gave me one from her stash. Until now, this is is my go-to water spray and I use this mostly to dampen my Real Techniques sponge when applying foundation, CC or BB cream. I also use this to moisturize my dry face and also for relieving itchy areas of my body.


I also discovered this Avene Light Hydrating cream last year when it was given as a free sample when my mom stocked up on their products. This is so good! It's not very thick and heavy but it is so effective on removing dry, patchy areas on my face that their other moisturizer (Cleanance Emulsion-Lotion) can't do. I mainly use this in the morning since it has SPF on it.

I haven't stocked up on the Biore Micellar Water again but it's definitely one of my favorite products of 2016. I used it so much last year because it was so good in removing makeup from my face. I even used it after I wash my face in the morning or at night. I'm currently using a different micellar water at the moment, which is the one from Garnier, but this Biore one will always have a special place in my vanity.

• HAIR PRODUCTS

There are only two products included in the hair catergory. The first one is the Organix/OGX Argan Oil of Morocco. This is really good! I got this from a set way back and I've used this so much last year. Aside from smelling so good, this works very well in taming and moisturizing my hair.


The other product, which is a late discovery for me, is this CO LAB Dry shampoo. I've tried other dry shampoos before but this is the best one so far! Other brands of the spray type usually leave a white residue on the hair that is so hard to remove while powder ones are sometimes a bit too difficult to apply because it scatters all over the place and you really have to blend it out well. However, this dry shampoo from CO LAB doesn't leave any white residue and it's very easy to use as well. It doesn't make my hair sticky or stiff even if I use loads of this.

• MAKEUP

  FACE:

There are only two products that I've used consistently last year. These are the LA Girl BB cream and Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream. I didn't like these two at first but after using them for quite a while, I eventually learned to like them.

I sometimes use the LA Girl BB cream on its own as a primer. I love that it minimizes and hides my pores. It's also so good for "no makeup makeup look" days. However, out of the two, I like the Bourjois one more. This CC cream is really good because it gives a very dewy, natural flawless finish! It can be a bit drying so I always apply this with a damp makeup sponge.


For concealer, nothing beats this NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer for me. I love this product because it is not drying to use and it conceals my dark circles very well!

  EYES/EYEBROWS:

This Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara has been my go-to mascara last year. I love that it separates and coats each strand to make it look much longer and thicker. However, don't expect too much volume with this mascara unless you use loads of this on your lashes.


For eyebrow products, only two products have been my go-to last year. I loved using this Essence Make Me Brow Mascara to tame, tint and add volume to sparse areas of my brows. This is said to be a dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow since it also has fibers on it that adds volume to your brows. The other product is this eyebrow pencil from Daiso. Aside from the fact that this is very affordable, it's so easy to use and does the job pretty well!

  CHEEKS:

This blush is a no brainer kind of blush for me. When I don't want to look too made up or when I don't know which blush to wear, I'd usually go for this blush from Essence. This works well with different looks and it's so good for everyday wear. I also love the fact that this is very cheap for 5g of product.

  LIPS:


For the lips, I used these Colourpop Liquid Lipsticks so much last year. I learned that I love the satin formula more than the matte because they're more forgiving on the lips. I find the satin ones are more comfortable to wear. My favorite ones are Lumiere 2, Echo Park, Dopey and Alyssa. Lumiere 2 is the only matte liquid lipstick out of this bunch.



On days when I don't want to wear lipstick or liquid lipsticks, I'd usually go for these lip tints from The Face Shop. I have a pink shade and a red one. I wore these tints all the time ever since I received them as part of my friends' birthday gifts to me. Aside from the cute package and being very affordable, I love that they're so easy to use and very comfortable to wear.

That's it for my 2016 Favorites! So excited to try new products this 2017. Hope you enjoyed this post and for much more in depth review of these products, check out my 2016 monthly favorites posts here in my blog. 😊

As I've mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't able to update my blog as I would've liked because there were a lot of things that came up. Even so, I'm still posting my December 2016 favorites to make up for it. I also really want to document my favorites each month for future reference anyway.

This season is one of my favorite times of the year. Aside from reunions, parties and gatherings, there were a lot of things I received, bought and got to try that became part of my favorites this month.

The first two are these Palmolive Aromasensations Shower Gel and CO LAB Dry Shampoo. I bought this Palmolive Aromasensations Feel Glamorous Shower Gel from the supermarket for P199 (if I remember it correctly).



I didn't know that it was an exfoliating shower gel so I was surprised when I used it for the first time. I bought it because it smelled so good!! I really love using this and it leaves its scent inside the bathroom after I shower. It is also very gentle on the skin despite it being an exfoliating shower gel.

The next one is this CO LAB Dry shampoo in Monaco that I got from Watsons for a discounted price of around P230. I think its original price is P320 something.


I was so excited when I saw CO LAB dry shampoos in Watsons! I was on the lookout for good dry shampoos for quite a while now but there are only a limited number of choices here in Manila. I also heard good reviews about this brand from UK beauty vloggers so I was really happy to find that this brand is finally here.



This dry shampoo smells so good and I like the fact that it doesn't leave any white residue on my hair. It also doesn't make it sticky, dry or stiff even if I use loads of this on my hair. 

Next is this City Color Intense Exposure Highlighting Powder that I got from this particular shop in UP Town Center. I got this highlighter for only P250 and I've been using it for the month of December and January nonstop. I heard good reviews about this highlighter (one coming from KathleenLights) so I was excited to get my hands on this and try it. I've been to City Color's counters but I didn't see this particular highlighter being sold there. I like that this highlighter can be used for intense highlighting and for subtle highlighting (which I prefer). I'm not a highlighter junkie but I find that using this, even just a little, gives me a natural glow.


A little goes a long way for this product so you can also build it up as you go, depending on how much you want to highlight areas on your face. This lasts almost the whole day on me and it is very affordable because you get 10g for that price.

Next up is this Watery Tint from The Face Shop, which is one of the gifts I received from my friends. I didn't like this at first because I felt that it's too watery and transparent. However, after using it for a couple of times I began to be drawn to this product because it is so easy to use and its shade instantly brightens up your face. I also discovered that I just needed to build it up to how red and "just bitten" I want my lips to look.

The next five items are non-beauty favorites. First is this Gudetama pen that I purchased from a seller in Shopee. I got each for only P35. I like anything Gudetama so I was so excited when I saw this pen.





I also purchased this Cluedo card game from that same shop in the Shopee app for only P180. I've tried playing this game with my sister and it was very exciting and nerve-wrecking! 

I purchased these two cute pom pom ponytails for around P30 each. I'm into pom pom stuff lately so this instantly piqued my interest haha!

Lastly, I've been loving this Camembert cheese, paired with some crackers, so much lately! I can't say anything else other than the fact that you have to try this one out haha.

I'm posting this late (and my December 2016 favorites as well) because a lot of things happened these past few months that I wasn't able to keep up and update my blog. As I've said in my past posts, I really wanted to document every favorites I have each month so I'm still posting this even though it's already very late. There were only a few things that piqued my interest for the month of November and here are these things:

First are these two liquid lipsticks from Colourpop. I've done another mini Coloupop haul during the month of November and these two were part of that. These are the Colourpop Ultra Satin Liquid Lipsticks in the shades Alyssa (part of KathleenLights' recent collab with Colourpop) and Dopey. I really liked these two from the formula down to their longevity. These shades are also very nice and perfect for every day wear. Really worth it! I got these cheaper (almost P300) because my friends and I ordered directly from the US.


The photo doesn't show the actual color of these liquid lipsticks but they do lean more on the pink-y than on the brown neutral side.

The third and last one is this pink Onda powerbank (20000 mAh) that I purchased from Lazada. I got this for only P1199 but I just checked Lazada and I found this very same powerbank currently discounted and being sold for only P837.



I get many charges from this powerbank and I like the fact that it has 3 USB ports and some other ports for other charging cables so you can charge devices at the same time. It also has a power button although it automatically turns on and off once you attach or remove your cable. This powerbank also has four very small light indicators on one side to show how much battery is left.



I love the color of this powerbank and how it is so slim despite the fact that it is pretty heavy and large to tote around with. I brought this with me to my recent trips and it really is heavy. However, I couldn't really complain because it charges my devices pretty well. I can charge my iPhone 5s for about 6-7 times and two indicator lights remain lit indicating that there is still about half of charging power left for me to use.

October was such a blast! There were a lot of things that happened during this month including my birthday! I'm not keen with having "big" celebrations anymore unlike when I was younger. I don't know why but I guess that's what really happens as you grow older. You begin to prefer simple celebrations with the people that you truly care about and who feel the same about you. Anyway, onto my October 2016 Favorites! I only have a few things to show you that I was very much into this month.

The first one is this The Face Shop's Watery Tint in 01 Pink Bella. This was one of the birthday gifts that I received from my friends.


At first, I was skeptical how this would work as a tint because of its very bright and opaque pink color but I was really blown away when I used this. It appears very bright and opaque when you apply it but it turns into a very gorgeous just-bitten kind of pink color on the lips when you spread and blend it out.  I also love the fact that it is very affordable and that it lasts almost the whole day on my lips! :)

Next one is this Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel Mascara in 01 blondy brows, which is supposedly a dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow Eyebrow Gel.


I heard so many good reviews about this product so I was so happy when I found out that this is finally here in Manila. I don't know how long this has already been in the shelves of Essence counters but I bought this around the last week of September. I picked up the shade 01 blondy brows since the second shade wasn't available. This is a very light taupe-y brown shade but it works perfectly fine for me even though my brows are very dark and thick since it helps lighten its color. It also works perfectly well with my ashy brown hair color at the moment. This product also helps tame wayward eyebrow hairs and put them back in place.  I think I got this for only P199 since it was on sale but its original price is actually P249.75.

This next product was included in my "Mini Daiso Haul" post here. I didn't think that I would like this eyebrow pencil but it turned out to be pretty good.


This is one of the eyebrow pencils you can get from Daiso. I wasn't really a fan of using pencils or powders before since I felt that they made my brows much bigger and thicker (in a negative way) since they're already pretty thick to begin with. I'd only used tinted brow gels before so I could tame and change my brows' color depending on my actual hair color. But when I heard good reviews about this product, I bought it and began to apply it only on areas that I think needed it.


I learned how to apply them only on sparse areas and I liked how it looked after- much neater and more tame. At this moment, I'm still into this product and I always find myself reaching for it.



I love the fact that this is available locally at any Daiso stores and it is only P88! Such a steal! Bonus brownie points for its longevity since it lasts almost the whole day on me!

I've had this next product for a while now and I bought this during the time I was obsessed with finding dupes for high end blushes. This blush from Elf in Pink Passion is said to be a dupe for NARS Desire.


I've recently purchased my own NARS Desire blush (included in a palette in this post) and I can really say that it is a perfect dupe for it! Surprisingly, I find myself much more drawn to this Elf blush because it gives a much more natural glowy pink color on my cheeks that brightens up the face compared to the NARS one.


The other good thing about this product is that it is only P249.75 in various Elf counters here in Manila. It's way, way cheaper than the NARS blush in Desire. 

Lastly, this next product was featured here in my blog for about two times already here and here. I'm bringing it back as a favorite for the month of October because I've enjoyed using this product again but in a different way. This Maybelline Colorsensational Lipstick in Vibrant Violet is a straight up, unpretentious violet shade. Basically, what you see is what you get.




Through out the months of using this, I discovered that it leaves a gorgeous bright, pink stain on the lips as it fades. I then started using this as a tint to create a Korean gradiation lip look.



I do this by applying a couple of swipes and immediately wiping it off to leave that pink stain that is hidden underneath the violet color. It lasts a couple of hours as well, better than other tints on the market haha!

That's it for my October favorites! How about you? What products have you discovered and enjoyed for the month of October? :)