please accept this roundup of my recent favourites

As a token of my love and affection and maybe guilt for abandoning this newsletter a bit. Eeek.

Last update May 11… Now well into July… Said I was working on something in my last post that I never finished… wow, I’m so good at this. But when all else fails, we go back to basics with a post about some recent favourites. Yes we do.

Also: I’m now almost six months into my beauty no-buy, and still haven’t done any impulse makeup shopping. Have I gone on the usual websites to browse the New In pages? Yes. Did I come very close to hitting “add to cart” on that Cult Beauty blush edit thing that I definitely didn’t need? I will admit that I did. But hand on heart, my beauty purchases over the first half of 2025 have amounted to skincare replacements and a full-size bottle of Glossier You Deux (it was 20% off and I’d just finished my bottle of Jazz Club, so let’s call it a necessity). It hasn’t felt very difficult, but maybe that’s because I have some expensive things going on in other parts of my life, so the money is certainly being used elsewhere.

I recently moved all my makeup into some new storage – god bless the IKEA Alex unit – and now that everything is just a little more accessible, some forgotten items have been thrown back into my rotation.

Benefit Benetint

This had a bit of a resurgence online a while back, which is undoubtedly what led to me purchasing it, whereupon it was immediately swallowed up by my makeup drawer. But recently, I’ve found myself looking again and again for a soft berry-pink lip colour, and this is the perfect one. I was honestly quite surprised when I twigged that I was wearing it for the third time in a week. Benetint? Not some sort of Korean innovation or one of those new peel-off lip stains, but ancient old Benetint? Yeah. Little bit of lipliner (Lisa Eldridge in 2C or Rimmel Cappuccino), little bit of this, little bit of gloss (the ELF Glow Reviver lip oil, more often than not) = the only colour I really want to wear this summer.

Half Magic Glitterpuck in Dopamine Sparkle

I love Urban Decay Space Cowboy, right? But recently there have been a few occasions on which I have found it almost not glittery enough. Enter Glitterpuck, which I 100% forgot I had. This pressed glitter can offer a gentle wash of pinky-gold sparkle, or be built up for more impact, which is what I’ve been looking for lately. Half Magic is such a fun brand and some day, when I’m spending money on makeup again, I will buy their Blushing Lizard eyeshadow and Punk Pony Sparklestik – but for now, I am thoroughly enjoying this.

Huda Beauty Blush Filter in Strawberry Cream and Haus Labs Bio-Radiant Gel Powder Highlighter in Rose Quartz

I’ve written about both these products before, but wow is this my favourite ~*blush combo*~ at the moment. If you also want to be sheeny and pink-cheeked, I cannot recommend this duo any more. I apply the Huda Beauty blush first for a milky-pink base, then dust on the Haus Labs highlighter to really amp it all up. The whole effect is so cherubic and sugar-plum-fairy-like. Looking at all these makeup favourites so far, I am clearly having a Pink Moment. It just feels very right for right now. If that makes sense.

Dae Cactus Fruit 3-in-1 Styling Cream

I had no knowledge about this brand, only that this product kept coming up da girlies’ “What I bought in Sephora” TikToks ahead of our New York trip in late January and I love a bandwagon. Now I’m seeing it was founded by a (seemingly former?) Mormon momfluencer, which is about the most American thing you can be. Anyway maybe I need to flag down the little Mormon missionary laddeens the next time I see them on O’Connell Street and thank them, because this is a very nice hair product.

I work a small amount through my damp hair post-shower to add some definition to my waves, and I honestly do find it makes my air-drying look more purposeful and less couldn’t-be-arsed. It appears to be more commonly used to create slicked-back hair styles, but I cannot vouch for that myself. I’m annoyed that I am once again getting attached to a product that’s unavailable over here, but I wonder if The Smooth Company’s styling cream might be a worthy replacement? Home grown and all.

Saltair Santal Bloom Moisture Bound Hair Oil

A second US-exclusive hair favourite has hit the Vanity Project newsletter. I apologise, but maybe it will be useful if any of you are making the (increasingly unwise) decision to set foot in that country soon. This I found in the Target in Times’ Square – awful place – when Derek was off looking for hand cream to soothe his NYC-winter-eaten hands. (He somehow came out with the EOS one beloved by TikTok, which made me laugh.) I was taken immediately by the gorgeous scent of this hair oil, warm and woody and ricchhhhh. I use it more for the fragrance than the hair benefits, but they can’t hurt either. The same scent exists in a body oil and lotion, but I could not find either of them for the life of me. I just want to smell really nice and have people tell me I smell really nice, which happens occasionally but not often enough! Why do you have to make it so hard, Saltair?

Thanks for reading Vanity Project! Not to be mysterious on main but I am very distracted by life right now so I appreciate you sticking around. Alright go on good luck bye bye!