NAIL POLISH

L.O.V. LOVinity Long Lasting Nail Polish

I took an instant liking to these, not just because of the Marc Jacobs like packaging, but because I like their basic selection of colours (though they are so missing a sparkly navy and a good proper nude). I bought one shade first, the deep red-purple 210 Alluring Amethyst, which impressed me so much, I got the taupe 290 Ash Allusion too. Formula is smooth and the brush fits my nails so well, so the application is much less messy than usual. The staying power is great, though most nail polishes last well on my nails, but I feel I get a few days extra from these.

ESSIE Nail Lacquer

Eternal Optimist

This year I finally found the muted powdery pink that I've been searching for. I wanted Kiko's Bois de Rose to be it, but it's too dark and too pink on my nails, while this is perfect. The formula is another fantastic one from Essie - it's so smooth, a simple two coater and very easy to apply with their brush. It looked so inconspicuous on the stand that I didn't pay it much attention for years, but online swatches showed me its true beauty, Thank the stars for beauty blogger community, well those who still do swatches.

SKIN CARE

GARNIER Biophase Micellar Cleansing Water in Oil

Micellar waters got an upgrade this year. Garnier added a bit of oil into theirs, which works like a hybrid between the classic micellars and duo-phase removers, so it's stronger than regular formula, but it still doesn't remove waterproof mascara because it's not greasy enough. This leaves my skin feeling very soft, almost like I used a silicone primer, it removes makeup and feels ok on dry skin. The scent is lovely too, but it may be heavy to some. I heard very conflicting opinions about this micellar, but I like it. 

GREEN LINE Natural Clear Cleansing Cream + Scrub + Mask + Antibacterial Effect

This is one of those products that the moment I tried it, I said to myself - yup, I really like this. It's a better scrub than cleanser or mask and it's actually quite a harsh-ish scrub, but not that much. As a mask, it's one of those clay masks that never dries fully, which I read recently it's supposedly a good thing, but then I feel it doesn't pull out enough from the pores, however, it contains zinc which helps with inflammation. As I scrub I love it, as a mask I think that L'Oreal's are better, but I didn't include them here because I only just got them.

PALMER'S Flip Balm Ripe Mango

When it comes to lip balms, I've only used Palmer's Swivel stick for five-ish years now and I don't buy others at all because I already know I won't use them, but when I saw Palmer's made these Flip Balms, I needed to have them.This is a bit lighter and a much more fun version of my old favourite Swivel Stick, which is a very soft, non-waxy lip balm and it doesn't feel like that coat of product on the lips which merely keeps the existing moisture locked in, but I genuinely have a feeling it's nourishing my lips. The scent is lovely too, though not what you'd expect from the name, but Palmer's original chocolate cake batter scent is still there, just mixed with a tropical fruit note (not mango though). It even tastes delicious. 

BODY

SOAP & GLORY Orangeasm Super Rich Body Butter

Just like their Righteous Butter this one is again a great body moisturiser and even though it's called a body butter, it's not super thick like some Balea's can be, so it sinks into the skin quite fast for such a product, though not immediately of course. It fixes my dry skin, still I could need something extra for my elbows, but on the rest of the body it's excellent. The scent is lovely too, more like lemon citrusy and bitter fresh than orange juice sweet.

L'OCCITANE Melting Honey Exfoliating Sugars

Although I believe this isn't sold anymore or at least I can't find it on the website, I had to add it here because it's such a lovely scrub and I hope L'Occitane keeps it/brings it back. This is my favourite scrub so far because it basically ticks all the boxes - it's thick and balmy, it's sugar based so one of those more harsh scrubs that I like, it nourishes the skin, so no need for an extra moisturiser, but the winner for me is the scent. It is utterly divine! It smells more like a flowery version of honey, but that flowery note is the same as in my favourite fragrance by L'Occitane Vanilla, which they discontinued years ago, I think it's orchid, but definitely a darker floral scent

SOAP & GLORY Hand Maid Antibacterial Hand Cleansing Gel

I got a few antibacterial gels this year, all new to me and all a lot more fancy than regular ones we get here. It's the best anti-bacterial gel I've tried. It leaves the skin completely residue free and smells so amazing, like 505 s crtom sweets. BBW's smell amazing too and are so cute to keep in the pocket/bag, but S&G's are slightly better for the skin.

I also loved: 

BATH & BODY WORKS Pocket Bac Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel

DVOREC TREBNIK Shea Butter Cream 

HAIR

NEUTROGENA T/Gel Total Shampooing

So far it's the most effective shampoo I found and in combination with Matrix ScalpSync my scalp gets a bit of rest for a few days. It smells like burned rubber and it's not moisturising, but you get used to it. It was recommended to me by a reader (thank you) and as you can see it's already empty, so I need to repurchase it because the version for dry hair I have currently, isn't as good.

L'OREAL Professionnel Série Expert Intense Repair Masque and Série Expert Absolut Repair Lipidium

I still feel stupid for not picking either of these sooner, even though I had them on my list to try for years, but I was being weird because I though these can't be that good considering how much cheaper they are from other salon brand treatments. I have never been more wrong. I have very demanding hair, it's not only dry, but also very thick and coarse, so a lot of hair treatments fail at making a difference and truly nourish my hair, but these both work so well for me and do everything I expect from a hair mask - really nourish my hair, make it more manageable, smoother and easier to style. I will invest in a 500 ml pots, which are very affordable online and stick to them. 

MATRIX Biolage ScalpSync Exfoliating Treatment

I've tried a few scalp exfoliators before, most notably the highly praised Phillips Kinsley Scalp Mask, but nothing worked so well as this thing. I know that I can't be without this if I ever want my scalp to feel normal at least for a few days. I'm still stuck with this stupid dandruff, it's a never ending battle, but this purifies my scalp, it exfoliates it and completely removes all signs of dandruff, but without drying out my skin. Based on official description this bottle should only last you a couple of applications, but I stretched it far more.

DOVE Style+Care Frizz Free Cream Serum and Quench Absolute Supreme Crème Serum 

This. Is. Gold. Oh my word, this just as good than Kerastase or Sebastian's Professional Potion 9. I first found Absolute Quench in our drugstores, fell madly in love with it and went to stock up only to discover it has vanished from every shop here. Only at the end of the year I found a dupe also from Dove, their Style + Care Serum which works exactly the same and isn't sold here (why?!). Both are creamy serum leave-in products that can be used on both damp and dry hair. When I blow dry my hair it leaves them so silky and smooth, frizz is significantly reduced I don't even need to use a round brush and my hair is so smooth, plus it leaves it nourished enough, though my hair does get dry as the days go by, but a pump of this with some Orofluido on dry hair, helps to fix it. This was just made for my hair and my cousin adores it too. 

I also loved: 

BALEA Beautiful Long Wunder Serum

PERFUME

PACO RABANNE Olympea

I just adore this scent. I've been a fan of Paco Rabanne fragrances for many years, but this one is such an untypical scent for this brand. You won't find their almost signature notes of patchouli and pepper in this, instead it's a more mellow floral vanilla mix. It's actually got a very complex character as I feel it changes scent on me a lot. Sometimes I get that Monte hazelnut chocolate note, on other occasions jasmine and another variation is some gorgeous high-end note, which might be cashmere or wood. All versions are fantastic and it just makes my day when I spray this. The lasting power is excellent, which is not that surprising given the notes and the fact it's an eau de parfum. I can smell it faintly at the end of the day and it lasts so well on clothes. The bottle is outstandingly gorgeous to me, though I wish I had the 50 or 80 ml, which has a rose gold laurel leaf design instead of just glass. 

HUGO BOSS The Scent for Her

Another fragrance I absolutely love and just like Olympea, it was a fragrance I knew I needed from the first time I sprayed it on my wrist. As a fan of peach, this obviously appealed to me even before I had a chance to test it and the beautiful bottle caught my eye too, but the scent is so utterly gorgeous to me that I wouldn't mind if it were in a boring plastic bottle. It starts with a peach note burst and then it centres around osymathis and cocoa, so it's a fruity-floral like most Boss fragrances, except as a base it has cocoa, which is something new to Boss, making this scent a bit more special even though it's another in the long line of Boss' office appropriate, "clean with a fruity-floral twist" scents that won't offend anyone.

SOAP & GLORY Mist you Madly Body Spray

Before I got this I immersed myself into a slew of Soap & Glory reviews and this had such a high feedback - it's well deserved. This is very different from my usually modern fruity-floral-vanillas and it has a vintage high-end fragrance vibe. It just reminds me of classic perfumes before it was all about heavy vanilla in everything. It smells so nice, classy, vintage-y, floral-clean (citrusy). Staying power on the skin is weak, so I prefer to spray this on clothes and hair to make it last longer. Notes list bergamot, blackcurrant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla and musk.

First part with all the makeup products is here. You can read lasts years Best Buys here, here and here is the under 5 € version. For all years I have a link list on this page.

Have a great day!