2022 favourites: the products i loved this year

Allow me to reflect on this year in beauty.

How, how, HOW are we nearing the end of 2022? What a wild twelve months. To speak for our little household only, we got engaged, moved into our home, lost jobs, gained jobs, tried some DIY, acquired (or were acquired by) two lovely little cats, left the country for the first time in two years, planned a wedding, and dealt with a whole host of stuff besides. It was exciting and stressful, but I think we’ve laid a bit of groundwork for the future. Hopefully this time next year we’ll be enjoying the results of all our work and worrying. Anyway. This is not what you’re here for. You’re here for beauty products.

I definitely do not have as many favourites as I had in 2021. Several of the products I mentioned last year are still very much in rotation — Armani Luminous Silk, Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter, and the Sculpted by Aimee concealers, for example. This was the year of realising stuff/honing in on exactly the kind of products I like, so any new stuff really had to impress me to make it in. However, I did find (and rediscover) a few gems that became staples in my routine. Let’s dive in!

ignore miggeldy peeping there

Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear All Over Concealer

Yes, the Sculpted by Aimee concealers got a lot of play this year… but Brighten Up was ever so slightly dethroned by this Lancome beaut. It has a little more coverage than Brighten Up, blends beautifully, and as the name suggests, can be used all over the face in place of foundation. I’ve often paired it with a bit of Flawless Filter for no-makeup days.

The shade I have (02 Lys Rosé) is perhaps a little too dark for me, but honestly, it melds with the skin so seamlessly that it works anyway. It can gather a little bit in the creases beneath my eyes, but I’ve yet to meet a concealer that doesn’t. Consider me a fan!

Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray

I didn’t think I believed in setting sprays until I met this one. It was bought in the initial panic after I’d decided to do my own wedding makeup — I’ve gone through a million different panics since then, but the first one was “How will my makeup last the day?” Never mind that my makeup has often lasted full days before, but I wanted to see if I could do better. 

I spritz this after I’ve finished all my complexion products to take away that overly powdered look and set everything. I find it hydrates the skin while also drying down quickly, so you don’t just end up with a wet face. And now for the million-dollar question: Does it actually help my makeup last? I say yes. I set my makeup with it on Christmas Day at 12pm, and at 10.30pm that night everything was still looking good. My foundation had worn away a little where my glasses touch my face (which is to be expected) but otherwise, everything was fairly pristine. I give Charlotte Tilbury a bit of a hard time in this newsletter but when she’s good, she’s GREAT. 

Rose Inc Cream Blush in Foxglove

When supermodel Roooosie (I can only ever say that name like Kevin Webster from Coronation Street) Huntington-Whiteley launched her own beauty brand last year, I wasn’t very excited. Like, who doesn’t have a brand these days? However, some of my favourite beauty gurus were raving about the cream blushes, so of course I had to see for myself. Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly, given how much I enjoy cream blushes), I fell in love.

This is different to the next blush I’m going to mention in that it’s super emollient and easy to blend, while still packing a nice amount of pigment. Foxglove is a perfect nude-terracotta shade that goes with absolutely everything and actually works as a lip colour, too. I’d like to try a few more bits from the brand, though from my research it appears to be a little hit-and-miss overall. Still, auld Roooosie seems to be doing something interesting with her corner of this highly saturated market.

Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes in Joy and Encourage

These kind of snuck up on me. I’d had Joy (a peachy coral) for a while but couldn’t really get the hang of it. This blush is highly pigmented — you may have seen TikToks of people dotting it all over their cheeks then blending it out to discover they’ve painted half of their faces pink. One dot really is enough. I even start with a half-dot, then build it up as necessary. 

Once it’s on, it lasts ALL day, especially when you set it with a powder blush. When I got the knack for it, I immediately wanted another shade, so I picked up Encourage (a dusky pink) during the summer. Rare Beauty has really proved itself to me as a celebrity beauty brand — I am dying to try the new powder highlighters. Selena Gomez is making me want to go back to powder highlighters!!!

Essence Lash Princess Mascara

Remember in my last post when I said I’d never buy an expensive mascara again? That’s because I’d already returned to one of my old faves: Essence Lash Princess. A little over €4 and just as good as any “designer” product. There are a million different versions of Lash Princess but I’m using False Lash Effect, which provides tons of volume and drama. Basically any Essence mascara is worth a go — I want to try Double Trouble next.

yes she’s dirty but that’s because she’s loved!

Makeup by Mario Master Mattes Eyeshadow Palette

I bought this on St Stephen’s Day last year, and when I tell you I have used it at least once a week since, I mean it. It’s just a workhorse of a palette — smoky eyes, soft liners, one-and-done looks… it does it all. These days, people judge eyeshadows based on how they perform when swatched, which is quite different to how you actually apply them. These aren’t one-swatch “wow” shadows, but they are buildable and easy to manipulate. The palette is also the perfect size for travel, so naturally it has accompanied me everywhere for the last twelve months. You can tell it was created by a makeup artist to be as useful as possible. GRMA, Mario.

Glossier Ultralips in Trench and Villa

I mentioned the Glossier Ultralips in my lipstick post a few months ago so I won’t dwell too long on them, but suffice it to say, I wore these a lot this year. They’re easy, glossy lip colours that are perfect to throw on and then throw in your handbag. Trench is a caramel brown and Villa is a soft pink, so I have all my everyday lipstick bases covered with these two. The brand describes them as “the (cashmere) sweatpants of lipstick,” which is spot on, actually.

Lisa Eldridge True Velvet Lip Colour in Velvet Ribbon

I really embraced the return of lipstick this year after two years of solid masking. That’s probably why the Mario palette was such a hit with me — I wasn’t really doing anything too extravagant, eyeshadow-wise, because it was all about the lips. I know I named the Lisa Eldridge lipsticks in general as favourites last time, but 2022 was the year of Velvet Ribbon in particular. I wore it over and over again, partly because I simply love it and partly to see how it would hold up to lots of kissing, drinking, and eating on our wedding day. I bought the matching lipliner in Lisa’s pop-up shop in London and with that underneath, it’s close to bulletproof. It’s just the perfect red.

I’d also like to give a small mention to her new shade Velvet Duchess, which was also purchased at the pop-up. Lisa describes it as a slightly deeper version of Ribbon, and I’ve been wearing it loads over the festive period. With a touch of pink blush, it very much gives Snow White. The best lipstick formula, the most interesting shades — I will never not be delighted by Lisa’s launches.

Skinceuticals Retinol 0.3

I don’t have many new skincare favourites this year, mostly because I have been focusing on keeping my routine consistent. My skin is in a really good place at the moment, thanks to a combination of hormonal birth control and the aforementioned routine, so I don’t want to do anything that will throw it off-kilter. In the morning, I cleanse, do a Vitamin C serum, and apply an SPF moisturiser. At night, it’s another cleanse followed by either: my retinol, a hydrating serum and sleeping mask combo, or an exfoliating product to get rid of the dead skin sloughed off by the retinol.

This is the first retinol I’d used regularly, and as I said in my last empties post, it really improved my skin texture and tone. I never managed to find a tube of Retinol 0.5 (the next step up), but when I was getting a Hydrafacial in the South William Clinic, several staff members recommended the Obagi Retinol 0.5, so I’ve moved on to that one. We’ll see how it goes!

And of course, you

As always, I’d like to thank you all for reading yet another yearful of my silly missives. I still love doing this! I still love that you read them! It’s always so exciting to send one out and see people liking and commenting and sharing. We’re almost at 1000 subscribers now, which is just ridiculous. Thank you thank you thank you.

That’s it for another year of Vanity Project! I’ll be back soon with the final empties of 2022, so see you then. Tell me all about your beauty favourites from the year, please!