The Beauty Products That Changed My Life in 2019

I know some of you are rolling you eyes. I can’t blame you. I have rolled my eyes even when people tell me about books and movies they claim have changed their life. Beauty products changing your life is a pretty ridiculous claim. Right? Well all I can say this is the first winter in London I haven’t bothered wearing make-up (trust me, this is not usual). Also, I managed to finally find the perfect long-lasting cruelty free blood red lipstick which is matt and creamy so don’t try and I tell my life isn’t changed.

This is a really short list – lets be real, life changing beauty products don’t come in dozens. It consists of two skin care products and one makeup item. Before I get into the list I just want to summarise my current winter skincare and beauty situation so you get some perspective.

Most of the skin care products I use are from the Ordinary and Beauty Pie – I am still using the retinol (check the post). I also want to add in some rose hip tree oil which I usually add in after my moisturiser in winter.

On the beauty front, honestly its quite dire. I don’t buy new makeup almost ever. Before this new purchase the last makeup items I bought were my foundation since the previous one finished. So my makeup is mostly to replace – I am not very experimental. I also barely ever buy lipstick. The last lipstick I bought was when I lived in India. Now this doesn’t really mean I don’t get new lipsticks in goodie bags or at events or free from Sephora! But since I get these I feel its a waste to buy more even if they are not really the colours I enjoy wearing. After this long-winded tale the point to make was this lipstick is actually the first one I have bought myself in London in about 7 years!

Now that the little introduction is over lets get to the list.

Tatcha The Water Cream

Yup – this cream has changed my life. I can actually say this without being sarcastic. Now the story (yes, of course there is story). When I was going to New York, Bidisha wanted me to get her this cream since it isn’t available anywhere else. I went to Sephora and picked it up for her. DJ was going to India the next month so I thought I could send it through him. Unfortunately, (actually thank God for small mercies) DJ’s plans changed so the cream was still lying on my shelf. Once I finished whatever jar of cream I had I started using the water cream – why waste it was my original thought? And wow. I was a convert.

As of now I have been using it for about almost 3 months now and I cannot imagine using anything else. I have of course, done a deep dive checking out reviews for the cream and I can see none of them are as gushing as mine. But what I can say – it just works for me! It makes my skin so much better. I use it at night after the retinol.

However, I have realised its not as suitable for winter so either I might skip using it in winter or use the rose hip seed oil as well. Its quite expensive and extremely difficult to get hold of (its only available in the USA) so its not an ideal situation. I need to see how this works out long-term. For now, I have an extra jar since I made friends get me a jar when they recently were in the USA for a holiday.

Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Lotion Exfoliant 

Its slightly difficult to explain what this is and how it fits into your skincare routine. This is basically a chemical exfoliant (in case you are wondering you should be using chemical exfoliants instead of physical ones like face scrubs since this is way too harsh for your skin). I got a tiny sample bottle of it to try out. Now even a tiny bottle will last you about 4 – 6 months. You start by using it once a week – just swipe it across your face with your reusable cotton round. Increase the frequency as your skin gets used it. I saw a marked change in my skin while I was using it. The spots became lighter.

The only reason I haven’t bought another bottle after this finished was because I picked up the Drunk Elephant Babyfacial when I was in New York. This product is not available in the UK so I thought I might as well. Now honestly, I have to say I haven’t noticed that much of a different using the Babyfacial. Yes, my skin is really soft after I use it but long-term I don’t know how its been helping. With Paula’s Choice I could really see the long-term benefits. Once my Babyfacial is over I will buy my next bottle of Paula’s Choice.

Lisa Eldridge Velvet Ribbon True Velvet Lipstick

You know I loved my MAC Ruby Woo lipstick till I went cruelty free (yes, sadly MAC is not cruelty free). I have been trying to find the perfect blue tinged bright red long-lasting cruelty free lipstick for what it feels like is forever. And I finally managed to find it.

You guys have definitely read about Lisa Eldrige on this blog. She released a set of lipstick and this was one of them – Velvet Ribbon. They are not cheap in the least – one is 26 pounds which is quite steep for a lipstick. But they are so so luxurious and so so gorgeous. This is a lipstick you look forward to wearing and enjoy putting on. It isn’t a rushed job you scribble on while running to work. The lipsticks are really long-lasting and creamier and feel much nicer on your lips than MAC. I am now waiting for her summer collection and will definitely be buying one of the pinks from that collection.

Have you used or tried any of the products? Did any of them sound interesting? And of course, most important, which are your best products of 2019 or even just you holy-grail beauty products? I know everyone’s skin is different but I feel we make such assumptions about what we like we never end up trying out something completely random. This could be a fun way to encourage this.

– Anisha