Best Makeup and Beauty Products of January 2020
Can you believe it’s already February?! The first month of the year went by so quickly!
With another month gone, you know what that means! It’s time for another monthly favorites post!
Last month, instead of doing a December Favorites post, I rounded up my favorite products of the entire year.
Be sure to check those out here:
I spent the first half of January visiting my lovely boyfriend in Australia, so I didn’t try a whole lot of new beauty products out in January, especially new makeup products.
Probably because of my awful diet while I was in Australia (we were eating non-stop), my skin took a beating and I was riddled with tons of breakouts upon my return home.
Because of that, I focused a lot on my skin during the last half of January (and my skin is definitely thanking me for it), which is why you’ll see more skin care products in today’s post than I usually include in my monthly favorites posts.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
Affiliate links may be used in this post, which I may receive a commission from, at no extra cost to you. You can read my full disclosure here.
Check out my favorites from the end of 2019:
And if you’re planning on buying any new makeup soon (I know I am!), be sure to use Rakuten (formerly Ebates) to save some cash!
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Best Makeup and Skincare – January 2020 Favorites
Jeffree Star – Skin Frost Highlighters
in Sarcophagus and Peach Goddess
I’ve had my eye on these Jeffree Star highlighters since they were first released years ago!
But, since I do most of my makeup shopping at Sephora or Ulta and these aren’t available at either store, I never took the plunge and bought them.
While I was in Australia, I came across a newly opened Morphe store that had ALL of Jeffree Star’s products in stock.
There isn’t a Morphe store near me, so I have NEVER seen Jeffree Star products in person LOL. (It’s rough living on Maui sometimes.)
I wanted to buy literally everything, but I limited myself to these highlighters. My highlighter collection is already exploding, but can you really ever have too many?!
Peach Goddess is a gorgeous light peachy-pink shade and Sarcophogus is a light champagne shade.
Both shades are absolutely stunning! Especially on fair to light skin tones.
I’ll be honest, though – I was expecting both shades to be much more blinding with more of a metallic finish than they are.
However, I actually like that they’re not so “in you face.” I was really expecting them to be crazy bright even with the lightest application, but these are actually very wearable.
They can be lightly applied for a soft highlighted look, making it suitable for everyday wear and for those that don’t want a blinding highlight all the time.
Or, they can be built up to a super bright highlight for a super glam look!
The formula is very soft and smooth, so be careful not to be too rough with it because it seems like it would break fairly easily.
Bonus, the size of the pan is huge!! 0.53 oz (15g) is ridiculous! For your reference, the Becca highlighters are 0.28 oz (8.5g), so these are almost double in size.
Sarcophogus: Jeffree Star Cosmetics | Morphe
Peach Goddess: Jeffree Star Cosmetics | Morphe
Ofra – Snuggle Up Blush & Highlighter Duo
c/o Ofra via Octoly
Ofra highlighters have been a long-time favorite of mine. In fact, the shade Rodeo Drive is one of my all-time holy grails!
I’ve wanted to try the highlighter shade Star Island for a while now and with my newfound obsession with blush, this Snuggle Up highlighter and blush duo is literally the perfect product for me!
(Especially to take with me on a trip! Instead of taking two different compacts, one blush and one highlighter, I can kill two birds with one stone with this duo!)
Star Island is a warm ivory shade, which is the perfect icy shade for fair to light skin tones that has just enough warmth in it to prevent it from looking like a white streak across your cheek.
It’s amazing for a brow bone highlight as well!
Bellini is a neutral pinky-peach shade, which is also the perfect shade to add a bit of warmth to the cheeks for those with fair to light skin tones.
I’ll be honest – there isn’t anything particularly special about the blush shade, but it absolutely does its job and it’s pretty!
And it’s very convenient to use because it’s in the same compact as the highlighter.
I prefer more of a luminous blush or even a glowy blush that has shimmer in it, so I love mixing the highlighter and the blush in this duo together.
I’ll dip my blush brush into the blush shade and then lightly tap it on the highlighter to give it a luminous finish.
Shop now: Ulta
Star Island Highlighter only: Ulta
Bellini Blush only: Ofra
Laneige – Hypoallergneic Cica Sleeping Mask
c/o Laneige via Octoly
I am a huge fan of Laneige’s Water Sleeping Mask (it was in my October Favorites and it also made it into my 2019 Luxury Favorites!), so when I saw Laneige release this version of the sleeping mask, I knew I had to have it!
Made with Laneige’s exclusive forest yeast extract, it is more effective than traditional Cica products and delivers intense moisture and relief to the skin, especially sensitive skin.
I bet you’re thinking, “What is Cica?”
This might require an entire blog post to really get into what Cica is, but basically, it’s an herb that has been used for ages to treat wounds.
Short for its scientific name, centella asiatica, Cica is found to facilitate the healing of incisions and burns, which is why it provides relief to sensitive and irritated skin.
As someone with VERY sensitive, acne-prone, irritation-prone skin, this sleeping mask has been a lifesaver for me.
I arrived home from Australia with probably the worst skin I’ve had in ages. I can thank my poor diet and long flights for that! (And of course, I didn’t take this sleeping mask on my trip. *facepalm*)
Just a few nights of using this sleeping mask as part of my skin care routine – I swear to you, my skin improved tenfold. I had a lot of active acne and it cleared up much quicker than it normally would.
I used it every night for a few nights after my trip because my skin really needed it, but now I will use it a few times a week and my skin feels renewed every single morning after I use it.
It does have a thicker and more creamy consistency than the Water Sleeping Mask, so I wouldn’t recommend using it every night unless you have VERY dry skin.
Also, if you have oily skin, I have a feeling that this might be too thick for you and make your skin too oily. But, it might be perfect for you if you’re suffering from dry skin in the winter months!
Fresh Beauty – Rose Deep Hydration Facial Toner
c/o Fresh Beauty via Octoly
My boyfriend is kind of a skin care guru (keep an eye out for our skin care blog we are working on and hoping to launch soon!) and I’ve been complaining to him about how dry and sensitive my skin has been.
After my trip, he recommended that I start using a toner before I start my makeup routine in the morning.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I’m very minimalistic when it comes to skin care in the mornings.
I already have such a long makeup routine, it’s hard for me to dedicate even a few more minutes to skin care in the mornings!
But, I took his advice and started using this toner every single day before applying my moisturizing primer. (Moisturizer and primer in one! Yay for dual-use products! My holy grail is the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base.)
The Fresh Rose Deep Hydration Toner is an alcohol-free toner made with rose fruit extract, rosewater, and angelica leaf extract, to help soothe, nourish, and hydrate the skin in preparation for any products you apply after.
No joke, my skin feels so refreshed and hydrated after applying this toner. And in the mornings, it provides a huge “wake me up” for me, which I always desperately need!
Shop now: Sephora
Pixi Beauty – Glow Tonic Serum
c/o Pixi Beauty
I’m not going to lie – I’ve had this serum for a while without ever putting it into use. I used to think, “Do I really need to use a serum?”
LOL it seems so silly now that I can’t live without this serum!
The Pixi Glow Tonic (toner) has been pretty much the only skin care product that I’ve used on a regular basis as part of my nighttime routine for over a year.
Every other product kind of comes and goes as I get new products to try, but the Glow Tonic has definitely become a staple in my routine.
So, why not give the Glow Tonic Serum a try since the toner works so well for me, right?!
I don’t know why I took so long to try it, but being that the two products come from the same line, they work extremely well together.
The main ingredient is Glycolic Acid, which is a chemical exfoliant (AHA) meant to purify your skin and enhance your natural glow.
And trust me, it works. My skin has never looked or felt so healthy.
This product has definitely helped in my skin gaining its glow back after being dry and dull for so long!
(Side note: I am SO HAPPY that Pixi is now in Ulta! Literally only a 5 minute drive down the road from me!)
Shop now: Ulta | Pixi Beauty
Primera – Alpine Berry Water Cream
c/o Primera via Octoly
Primera is a very new brand to me and the Alpine Berry Water Cream is the first product that I’ve ever tried from the brand.
Well, it made a great first impression!
It’s made for those with dry skin (ME), although the consistency is very light and it absorbs very quickly without leaving your skin feeling greasy.
This dewy cream is formulated with Primera’s Alpine Berry Complex, which is a potent blend of wild strawberry sprouts with natural moisturizing factors that are knows to survive in the harsh Alpine region, and anti-oxidant rich blackberries to deliver intense hydration.
I use this moisturizer as the last step in my skin care routine (when I’m not using a sleeping mask) and it locks everything in to ensure my skin is well hydrated throughout the night.
My skin always feels so soft and supple the next morning!
Shop now: Sephora
And that’s it for my favorite makeup and skin care products of January!
Have you tried any of the products I’ve mentioned in this post? Are any of them a favorite of yours?
If not, will you be trying any of these products? What have been some of your favorite beauty products recently?
Be sure to let me know down in the comments! 🙂
And if you are planning on buying anything, be sure to use Rakuten (formerly Ebates) for cash back!
SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE AND GET A $10 BONUS after you make your first qualifying purchase using Ebates!
Thank you for reading and until next time! <3
Year-End 2019 Favorites:
Previous Monthly Favorites Posts:
- November 2019 Favorites
- October 2019 Favorites
- September 2019 Favorites
- August 2019 Favorites
- July 2019 Favorites
You can check out all of my favorites posts on my Monthly Favorites page.
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