Hello, my beauties and welcome back to another post. Since it is the end of the year, I figured I would do two ‘Best Of’ posts. One for skincare and one for makeup which will be up this coming week. Today I’m going to share with you what was my best in skincare for this year. Some of the products aren’t the newest but they are tried and true favorites that I want to share with you. I will link to as many products as I can. None of these links are affiliate links, I make no commission if you click on or buy from the link I provide. I just do it to make it easy for you to find the products I am talking about if you want to check them out yourself. I’m going to try and go in the order that I would do my skincare in. I hope you enjoy!

First up, makeup remover. Along with my makeup eraser, I use these two makeup removers to really get rid of any trace of my makeup. I use the Body Shop’s Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil ($21)to dissolve my makeup, especially my eye makeup. This is very gentle on the eyes and the skin. I especially like how gentle this oil is but it still does a great job at removing makeup- especially mascara, regular or waterproof! Now if I’m being lazy for a night or two (I mean, come on, who isn’t once in a while?) I love to use my Bioderma Sebium H20. The 250mL is $9.90. This Bioderma is made especially for oily, acne prone skin. I love how little time I need to take my makeup off using this. Again, it gets rid of regular and waterproof mascara which is perfect since I really only use waterproof. I got the big bottle at IMATS last year and I’m hoping they will be there again this year so I can pick up more.

Now, to wash the face I have two washes I have fallen in love with over the past year. In first place is my La Roche-Posay Effaclar Medicated Gel face wash. I started using this at the start of this year and my skin has never looked better. Whenever I use this wash, my spots just clear up and I have the clearest skin I have ever had. For only $15, I buy two at a time so I won’t run out! Above is the only bottle I have currently because I received this Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser in my Ipsy Glam Bag Plus and I’ve been using that. I have been liking the results these past few months and while exfoliating, it’s not super harsh. It almost feels like small pieces of sand and when I’m done, my skin feels smooth and clean. This one is a bit pricier coming in at $40. I also use my Clairsonic Mia every other day. I do that because I did it everyday and it really irritated my skin. Unfortunately they don’t sell this Clairsonic anymore but they do have three newer ones on the Ulta website if you want to check them out. I’ve got my eye on the Mia Prima if mine should die (which I hope it doesn’t but best to be prepared). I used to be really bad at washing my face day and night but once I did start doing it, it was a night to day difference. Now that I’ve found these washes and I an actually see that they are doing good for my skin I actually look forward to washing my face.

Up next are toners and facial sprays. Oddly enough, the two products you see are both products I only use at night. After toning with The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution I spray my face with the Mario Badescu Facial Spray with Aloe, Chamomile, and Lavender. The toner is really reasonably priced coming in at $8.70 for 8oz of product. I always get the 8oz size of the facial spray and that is $12, and again, very reasonable. The toner you can only get on the Sephora site but I am so glad I’ve tried it! It doesn’t burn, it doesn’t sting, but I’ve noticed that my skin looks a bit brighter and fresher. I use the Mario Badescu spray after toning to prepare for my moisturizer(s). I spray it all over my face and then pat it in with my hands. I also use this to melt my makeup into my skin before I use setting spray. There are a few different scents of this now but the Lavender one is my favorite followed by the Rose scented one. You can now get it at Ulta or Sephora which I think is fabulous.

After toning and all that, if I want to do a mask, I do that before I use my moisturizers. I have three that I have fallen in love with this year. The LUSH Rosy Cheeks fresh face mask, since it is a fresh face mask you can only buy it in the store, they won’t ship it. It costs $12.95 for 2.1oz. This is probably my favorite mask that they make. The next mask I discovered I love this year is the Peter Thomas Roth Pumpkin Enzyme Mask the full size is $60 for 5oz. I agree that is pretty steep but I got mine in a kit of 6 of his masks so I didn’t spend too pretty of a penny for it. First of all, I adore how this smells- it makes me think of fall. It’s gritty and definitely helps to smooth your skin. My one tip is don’t do it when you’re in a bathtub because it will be gritty for days even when you wash it out. I do mine in a shower or just rinse it off over a sink and that seems to make the most sense. The last mask is the Boscia Mermaid Fire and Ice Crosea Peel-Off Mask. I received this product from Influenster for review. I actually did a blog post about it, click here if you want to see my full review. The is available at Ulta for $39 for 2.8oz. Now, I’m usually not a peel-off mask person but I find myself reaching for this more than any of my other peel-off masks. It’s is really, fire and ice, so to speak. It’s sort of like Icy Hot but not as strong. I actually enjoy the feeling. It’s silver and goes on easier than other peel-off masks that I’ve used. I’m so glad they sent it to me for review because I never would have tried it otherwise.

Last but certainly not least, we have moisturizers. All of these but one is brand new to me. The not new product is the Tarte Maracuja Oil. I will admit that this is a pretty penny coming in at $48 for 1.7oz but it really helps my skin, especially during the winter. Next is my Laneige Water Sleeping Mask in Lavender. This tub is worth $25 for 2.3oz of product. You only need the tiniest amount so this will last you a good while. I love the lavender scent, since I use it only at bedtime, it helps to get me into the right mind frame to sleep. I use this product every other day, on the days I do not use my Maracuja Oil. I believe using both would just be too much for my skin. For my base moisturizer, I use Olay Regenerist Retinol 24 night moisturizer that I received from Influenster for review and I fell in love! This tub costs $38.99 for 1.7oz of product. This is a bit pricey but I only need very little to cover my whole face and neck. It is creamy, soothing, and hydrating. I can imagine that this would be great for older or dryer skin. For my nighttime eye cream again I’m using Olay Retinol 24 eye cream which, again, was graciously sent to me for review from Influenster. The product itself is $38.99 for 0.5oz. WOW but you only use the tiniest amount to do each of your eyes so, unlike normal moisturizers that you go through in a few weeks, this has lasted me close to two months! Both of these are pricey, I know, but I wanted to share them with you in case you wanted something a little higher end to treat yourself during the cold winter months. The final product is actually my day cream. I use the Garnier Skin Active Gel Cream moisturizer for Normal to Combo skin, the green one. This product is much more purse friendly costing $8.99 for 1.7oz. It is definitely more a gel than a cream but it isn’t sticky like other gel moisturizers can be. I discovered this moisturizer purely by accident when I couldn’t find what then was my normal one when I was in the store. It looked good, better price, and I could reach it. Three big qualifiers with me, haha.

There you have it, my Best of Skincare 2019! I would love to know what you have been loving or have discovered over the course of this year, I’m always on the hunt! I hope you enjoyed today’s post, if you like it please think about subscribing so you will be up to date whenever I do a new post. Who wouldn’t want that? 😀 Until next time, be bold, be beautiful, and most importantly be YOU! XO