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A non-comprehensive but impassioned list of Beautylish favorites. Beautylish carriessome of my favorite beauty brands that aren’t stocked at Ulta or Sephora or even department stores. They also have impeccable customer service and very fast shipping, in my experience.
The Beautylish Gift Card Event gives you a $20 gift card for every $100 you spend, from now until 11:59pm PT on October 24th. Keep in mind, this is not a sale in which you get a discount off your purchase.
This list is organized starting with brands you can only find at Beautylish to brands you can find elsewhere — in other words, in order of shopping priority, in my opinion.
Sonia G — Honestly, you can’t go wrong with Sonia G brushes. Any of them. Sonia works with brush artisans in Japan to design and create specialized Kumono-style brushes. In laymen’s terms: these are top of the line; they will give you the softest, easiest, smoothest blend. Her brushes were just restocked in time for the Gift Card Event, which is fantastic because they are often sold out.
Sky Eye Set (with the blue handles on the left) — Includes the Flat Definer, Mini Booster, Soft Shader, Classic Crease, and Jumbo Blender (also sold separately via the links). I regularly use every single brush in this set. If I lost all of my eyeshadow brushes, I’d purchase this first. If I had to pick two, I’d go for the Mini Booster (a must-have for hooded eyes) and the Soft Shader (ideal cream eyeshadow brush). I review the brushes in greater detail here, and you can see them in action here!
Smooth Buffer — This brush is designed specifically for buffing powders into the skin without disturbing your base makeup. Beautiful for buffing in blush, powder foundation, finishing powder, bronzer. It can do no wrong. It has a small ferrule, so it’s very versatile and works for detail work as well as larger surface areas of the face.
Sachajuan Dark Hair Dry Shampoo — The dark shampoo for anyone with dark hair that’s struggled with white cast. It’s not the *most* cleansing of dry shampoos, but I use this more as a styling product because it adds the perfect amount of textural volume to the hair. I actually use this through the roots even on first day hair, and it maintains volume and prevents oiliness over the next few days.
I also love the Scalp Shampoo to soothe flaky, dry scalp and irritation and the Shine Serum to add back shine to the hair before or after styling.
Sisley Le Phyto Rouge in 12 Beige Bali— Sisley is a brand I haven’t explored much still because, hello, she’s expensive. But, this is one of my all time favorite lipsticks in both formula and color. The formula is a creamy and hydrating with a natural finish. It starts out luminous and becomes more satin over time, but feels like nothing on the lips. Beige Bali is a burnt apricot, slightly rusty, slightly terracotta, with the brightness of a peach? It brings my face to life. I talk about it here and use it here!
Surratt Beauty — Troy Surratt’s makeup line, this line is sleek, sophisticated, elevated, editorial.
Cheek Brush — A Japanese Kumano brush with natural bristles, this cheek brush is one of the softest in my collection. I love the smaller ferrule for more targeted blush application. Creates a super diffused, watercolor type blush application I’m almost a little too precious with this brush because it is truly a work of art.
Dew Drop — I wear shade 8. This is a stunning luminous foundation with medium coverage, surprisingly more than you might expect from a foundation with this name. It’s definitely a fall/winter foundation for my combo skin type. I love the true skin-like finish of this foundation. I use it here.
Noir Lash Tint — A top 5 mascara, this is unlike anything else you’ve tried. I can almost guarantee it. The wand is a metal “tube” with tiny notches that create the most lifted, separated, elongated lashes that do not smudge. At all. I You can see me use it here and here. Pairs beautifully with the Relevee Lash Curler!
Lipslique — A twist-up lipstick with a creamy, balmy, shiny finish. Think sheer, juicy lips with buildable pigment. So comfortable and moisturizing on the lips. Bandy and Paramour are go-tos for me. I use both here!
Danessa Myricks Beauty — Founded by Danessa Myricks, an incredible MUA who just really gets skin and glow. A Black-owned business, DMB also really understand skin tone and pigment. Personally, I’m eyeing the new Lightwork Volume III Palette.
Vision Flush in Ballet Slippers (worn on the left)— I love the Vision Flush formula, a liquid formula designed for cheeks, eyes, and lips. It’s incredibly pigmented; just one dot will be more than sufficient for blush. This is a great formula for people who want to try liquid makeup but are nervous about stickiness, dewiness, or added texture. These set down all the way (not powdery, but no added texture), and are truly long-lasting. I have the shade Ballet Slippers, a mid-tone rosy coral with a hint of brown. You can see me using it here! The shade Tiara is an stunning champagne liquid highlight, and you can see me use it here!
Essentials Waterproof Cream Palette — This palette gives me my perfect cream contour. It is a makeup artist-geared palette, so it contains six cream shades of varying warm and cool tones that can create beautiful cheek shades. You can mix and match to get your perfect shade. That said, because this is an artistry palette, it ranges from light to very deep, so you may or may not use every single shade. I use it here!
Chantecaille — I mean. I love almost everything I’ve tried from Chantecaille. I don’t know what to tell you. They are absolutely a high-end brand in quality, performance, and, of course, price point. A splurge. Also, highly giftable!
Luminescent Eye Shades — A baked gelée single eyeshadow, each Luminescent Eye Shade is named after an endangered animal species. Some of the sales of each eyeshadow benefits organizations working toward the conservation of each animal. Each of these shadows creates a beautiful one and done look, some with micro-glitter, some with a duo chrome flip. These are not your uber-pigmented eyeshadows; rather, they create a sophisticated sheen.
My favorites: Lion, Rhino, and Zebra. I use them here! Shown on the right: Elephant, Lion, Giraffe, and Pangolin.
Lip Chic — One of my top 5 bullet lipstick formulas, the Lip Chic is a creamy, balmy, shiny lipstick that actually moisturizes my lips over time. It’s a thicker, more emollient lip formula that coats the lips almost like a lip mask. But, no sliding around or migrating outside of lip lines. Starts out sheer but is buildable in pigment. I swatch and use the Fall 2021 Lip Chic Collection in this video! Spoiler: Latana is a new favorite.
Lily & Jasmine Healing Mask — This is a 2021 favorite for sure. It’s very rare that a mask impresses me like this. The cooling, hydrating, calming mask of dreams. Containing panthenol, some plant oils, and botanicals, it can be used as a wash-off mask or as a night cream. I always keep it on overnight, because why would I wash off such a lush formula? It takes down redness and evens skin tone in a way that no other product can.
Anti-Pollution Mattifying Cream — An oily skin must-have, this cream was a summer staple for me. I don't generally love mattifying or pore-filling primers, but this was a lightweight, silky gel-cream that added no texture or heaviness to the skin. It helps my makeup endure long days, especially if I'm sweating or having a particularly oily day.
Tom Ford Beauty — Another favorite luxury brand of mine. If you’re planning to shop the Sephora sale, you may want to hold off until then. But, here are a couple of my favorites.
Cream and Powder Eye Color in Golden Peach — Another long-standing favorite for a one-and-done eye look. This is a duo with cream eyeshadow on bottom and a pressed glitter topper on top. The Tom Ford cream eyeshadow formula is slightly creamy, slightly moussey. It blends out like a dream and wears well throughout the day (over a primer, for my oily lids). You can apply with a brush or finger and sweep it all over the eye to create a super easy, luminous, sophisticated eye look. Golden Peach gives me a pink champagne sort of look all over the eye. The glitter topper is a sheer base with champagne micro-glitters that creates a wet twinkly look on the lids. Both products can be worn separately or together.
Honeymoon Quad — This is an ideal product for someone who appreciates a sophisticated eye look, but doesn’t want the fuss of a large palette. This quad has stood the test of time for me; I've reached for it consistently through the years, even as my eyeshadow palette collection has grown considerably. The color story is so balanced and is excellent for one-and-done eyeshadow looks or something more dramatic. Tom Ford’s wet/dry formula is a baked gelée, super smooth and blendable when dry, and even more pigmented and metallic when wet.
Natasha Denona — There are so many standouts from this brand, but any of her eyeshadows, especially the larger format palettes, are excellent.
Biba — An “investment” palette that has proven its worth in my collection over time, Biba is one of the first eyeshadow palettes I’d go out and repurchase if I lost all my makeup. Perfect for neutrals, from everyday looks to glam. This was the foundation for my elopement makeup!
Bronze (shown left) — A gorgeous fall palette for warm-toned, pumpkin spice looks in her $65 midi palette format. The warm tones are balanced by two very interesting cooler-toned plum-leaning shades. The formulas in this palette are something else, uber creamy and rich. The metallics are uber foiled and wet-feeling. You can see me using it here.
Triochrome and Zendo are newer in my collection and definitely for the color lovers out there. I can say, both are excellent in formula, pigmentation, and performance. Natasha doesn’t play when it comes to color. Triochrome swatched here and used here. Zendo swatched here and used here.
T3 Twirl Trio — T3 is top of the line. I know. I recently had the opportunity to try several of their tools and I have to say, I am really impressed. The Twirl Trio is a convertible curling wand with 3 different barrel sizes (1”, 1.25”, 1.5”) and 5 adjustable heat settings. Or, if a wand is more your style, try the Whirl Trio. It really delivers. Heats up in like, 30 seconds. Very easy to switch barrel sizes and very sturdy. Creates smooth curls without burning the hair, of course a must. I gush more about the details here, but if you like to curl your hair and you want options, you’ll want this.
T3 Lucea + Heat IQ — This is a very high tech straightener, a great option if you’re looking to invest in a high quality straightener. It has a smart-touch interface with nine settings. When you first use the straightener, you can customize your HeatID personalized settings depending on your hair type, coarseness, and color treatment history. It basically guarantees you won’t overheat or over damage your hair. The tool will remember these settings, or you can easily switch back to manual. There are 9 settings in total. It also heats up SO quickly. As expected with a T3 tool, it delivers shiny, soft hair and an elegant experience. The Lucea is also available without the touch screen interface for a lower price point.