I had to split my 2016 beauty favourites into 3 posts as there was SO much amazing beauty and makeup in my hoard. Check out my makeup favourites here and also my skincare winners.
Here is all the rest : The best of body, hair & fragrance:
I only recently discovered Byredo as a brand this year and I am absolutely loving the fragrances. They are unusual, unique, not ones that *everyone* is wearing AND they look beautiful and simple. I have a couple of them including Mojave Ghost and Gypsy Water and I think Gypsy Water has been my all round favourite scent. It celebrates a Romany lifestyle and smells of forests, burning campfires and earth/musk. Check Byredo out if you are a little bored of the run-of-the-mill DKNY’s, Marc Jacobs, Dior and Chanels’.
The Hayo’u method is a wellness brand that includes some fabulous, aromatherapy oil based, beauty products. I use quite a lot of the range but what really woo’ed me was these Bathe Rite Bath Minerals. You get a huge tub and they make your bathroom/entore home smell like a delicious spa. They contain Himalayan Pink Salt, Lotus Flower & Frankincense. If you like your aromatherapy oils, spas, relaxing, detoxing and wellness, then definitely this is a range you need to check out.
Haircare, as always, had a big investment from me in 2016. I have terribly damaged, bleached hair so i actually think after skincare, this is what I spend most of my money on in terms of beauty. A few years of being *pastel* really took it’s toll on my hair so I am doing everything I can to now treat it well, salvage the condition and get it back to some kind of normal state. I use the best haircare I can afford and usually use intensive masks 1-2 a week, and lots of protection sprays, conditioners and treatments. My favourite mask currently is the Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask which is a really rich concoction of pure prickly pear oil, Inula flower & Oakmoss extract. One of the best hair masks I have found for my damaged hair and will be getting another tub when my current one runs out. Before I dry my hair or put any heat on it, I have been using the Bumble & Bumble Repair Blow Dry My friend had this and I tried hers and loved it so much that I bought it the next day. Great for damaged coloured hair , and I find it makes my hair feel a lot softer and healthier after I have blow-dried it, and it protects my fine locks from any further damage.
ESalon is a brand that is relatively new to me and I have been using quite a few of their products. One in particular that I am really liking and have never tried anything similar to it is the Tinted Love Color Enhancing Treatment. It is a tinted ‘wash’ that you apply into your hair AFTER SHAMPOO and before conditioner, so like a 3rd intermittent step, but perfect for when you want to give your colour a boost. For me I used the lilac shade as I like to remove brassy tines but they also do multiple other tones which simply enrich and enliven your colour. Onto my 2nd tube now!
The L’Oreal Professionnel Vitamino Color Soft Cleanser (shampoo) was a huge hit for me. : doesn’t strip the hair or make it feel too squeaky clean if you know what I mean, which is never a good feeling on bleached hair! It is a sulphate-free shampoo which is more gentle but at the same time it *foams* into a really creamy mousse texture which feels amazing on the hair. You also only need HALF the amount of product than a normal shampoo as it’s a concentrate. Another win from L’Oreal is this Mythic Oil Serum De Force which is a super-hydrating oil-based serum that contains evening primrose oil. I apply it onto towel-dried hair before air drying and it just smooths the frizz and makes my bleached ends feel a little softer and manageable. Smells great also.
I only had a travel/deluxe sample size of the Aurelia Botanical Cream Deodorant but I am absolutely buying the full-size and more importantly it has really questioned my use of the typical, potentially dangerous anti-perspirants. Some of the ‘natural’ deodorants don’t work too well or smell pretty rancid but the Aurelia one smells lovely and actually works. Contains an arm-pit loving concoction of Arrowroot, Kaolin clay, Shea Butter, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint & Tea Tree. LOVE.
One of the best FAKE TANS I have ever used and a new brand for 2016 was Tan Luxe. It gives seriously good colour and I love the different and unique formulas they have with my personal favourite being the Self-Tan Water. It is a super clean formula, smell and look and it develops super quickly with amazing results everytime I have applied it.
We all know I love aromatherapy oils, and this year I was shopping on Kings Road and decided to pop into Neal’s yard as actually, it is a brand I haven’t used *that* much and I had a bit of time to peruse and have a look at the full range. I didn’t know they had a full aromatherapy range with burners etc too so I ended up spending a small fortune on an array of different bottles and potions and I got this cute stoneware oil burner too. They are very strong oils so I find they work well in a burner, but also I use a couple of drops of the Lavender on my pillow to help my sleep, which REALLY works.
For body hydration there has been two most-used for me : The Antipodes Heavenly Body Oil & the glorious Malin + Goetz Vitamin B5 Body Moisturiser. The body oil I have talked about quite a lot and have loved this for a couple of years now, but combining a few drops in with the M+G body cream is stuff that dreams are made of and scaly winter skin is terrified of. There is the equivalent of the oil of 8 Avocados in each bottle in the Antipodes body oil so it is super potent and nourishing. I have always found the best way to use it (& get around the slightly annoying dropper application) is to simply add it into body creams to *boost* them. The Malin + Goetz body moisturiser : super unattractive packaging (I think) but the product is UNREAL. Rich, non-greasy and leaves skin feeling supple and plump.
Have you used any of these products before? What were your stand-out bath & body products?