Emmie’s Beauty Life: Best in Beauty 2021 – Part 1 – Makeup

Happy Tuesday, everyone! And welcome to my fourth annual Best In Beauty Awards! I’m so excited to finally be getting this post out for you. Like always, I’ll be doing this in two parts. Today is all about my makeup favourites. And on Friday, I’ll be talking all things skincare.

Now, I have relaxed my rules a little bit for this year. While all of these are products that I first discovered in 2021, obviously not all of them came out in 2021. I have also decided to not limit myself to one product per category this time. I tried a lot of really good makeup in 2021. And I want to share all of my favourites with you. So,let’s dive right on into my top picks for 2021!

We’ll kickstart with Primer’s first. And I had two major standouts. For hydration, it was hard to beat the BOBBI BROWN VITAMIN ENRICHED FACE BASE. This pot of lemony goodness was my saviour during the winter months. For summer, however, the MILK MAKEUP HYDRO GRIP PRIMER was an absolute game changer. I’ve always struggled with sweat and oils breaking down my foundation when it’s super hot and this primer makes my base last literally until I take it off!

Next up, foundation. And before I start, let’s take a moment of silence for the sheer irony of me going from having no foundations in my favourites for 2020, to having four in 2021. What can I say? It was a really good year! Ok, roll call! FENTY BEAUTY PRO FILT’R SOFT MATTE FOUNDATION, easily my most worn foundation of the year. Gorgeous finish and it wears so well. MILANI CONCEAL + PERFECT FOUNDATION, one of the best drugstore foundations I’ve tried in years. Especially if you want full coverage. NARS SOFT MATTE FOUNDATION, not to play favourites, but this is my foundation of the year. This will be buried with me. Finally, the CHARLOTTE TILBURY AIRBRUSH FLAWLESS FOUNDATION, my go to for when I want the best skin of my life.

Concealer time now. And you might recognise of the products here from my 2020 favourites. Yep, the NARS CREAMY RADIANT CONCEALER makes it two years in a row. Now, I don’t plan on making a habit of this (Though I will be doing it again a little later on). But in all honesty, I did use this way more in 2021 than I did in 2020. And this was the year that it became a true staple of my collection

But the Nars wasn’t the only concealer that I fell for this year. The other biggie was the HUDA BEAUTY THE OVERACHIEVER CONCEALER. While the Nars is my go to for my natural days, I whip out the Huda for those moments where I need that full coverage. So, so good!

Believe it or not, I fell for two pressed powders this year! The first is the classic CHARLOTTE TILBURY AIRBRUSH FLAWLESS FINISH POWDER. If you want coverage from your powder, this is your girl. She is beloved online for a reason.

The other one I loved a lot more than I expected to was the DIOR BACKSTAGE FACE & BODY POWDER NO POWDER. It’s less coverage than the Charlotte Tilbury. But it’s so finely milled. Which makes it perfect for the more delicate parts of my face like under my eyes.

Finally for face, we have the CHARLOTTE TILBURY AIRBRUSH FLAWLESS SETTING SPRAY. Now, this does lose some points for the spritzer (I so wish this was a continuous mist). But it more than makes up for it with whatever magic is in that bottle. Seriously, this settles down all of my powders and it makes my makeup wear so dang well. This is up there with the Urban Decay All Nighter in terms of amazing setting sprays.

Getting into eyes now, and we have to talk Dame Pat McGrath! Her palettes are still some of my favourites by a considerable mile. And I couldn’t choose which of these two palettes I liked more. So I chose both! The MOTHERSHIP I – SUBLIMINAL PALETTE (top left) is the Pat McGrath palette I recommend to anyone who wants to start out with this formula. There is a great mix of practical shades and sparkly, fun shades. And that purple in the top right hand corner needs to be swatched to be believed!

But on those occasions I want to play with some colour, the MOTHERSHIP IX – HUETOPIA DREAM (bottom right) has been my obsession since it launched. This is summer in a palette and I can’t stop using it. All of the shades compliment each other, the gold is easily her best and that coral matte in the bottom row makes an incredible blush.

Now, the Pat McGrath’s are for when I have the time to feel the fantasy. On the days where I need to just slap something on my face and hit the door, these two from Charlotte Tilbury are just right. The EASY EYE PALETTE in CHARLOTTE DARLING (top left) is probably the palette I used the most in 2021. But the EASY EYE PALETTE in SUPER NUDES (bottom right) would be a close second. These palettes are simple, but so easy to use. And the formula of the shadows, especially in the Super Nudes palette, is so easy to blend.

But on those occasions where I have negative time, The AURIC SMOKE REFLECT EYESHADOW DUOS are just perfection. My two standout shades are Temper (top row) and Defiance (bottom row). And all I have to do with these is tap my finger to blend them out, add some of the glitter if I’m in the mood, and then go. I can’t wait to see this range get extended in 2022!

And now, the big one. My mascara of the year. Easily my most anticipated award of them all. Now, I won’t lie, in 2021, I tried more mascaras than any other year. And I tried really hard to narrow it down to one. But where’s the fun in that. This year, I have five standouts! Firstly, the COVERGIRL LASH BLAST CLEAN MASCARA. I mean, I told y’all this would make it in! Next up, the MECCA MAX WHIP LASH MASCARA, probably the best tubing mascara that I’ve ever tried. MAYBELLINE SKY HIGH MASCARA, an early contender that managed to keep my attention all year long. The RARE BEAUTY PERFECT STROKES MASCARA, I mean, I’m literally wearing mascara as I type.

And finally, the BITE BEAUTY UPSWING MASCARA. Full disclosure, I haven’t repurchased this one yet, but it was the first high end mascara that I have tried in ages that was an absolute slam dunk as far as formulation goes for me.

Getting into cheeks now, and I have another 2020 returning favourite. The FENTY BEAUTY SUN STALK’R BRONZER in SHADY BIZ. Again, same story as the Nars concealer. Started using in late 2020, truly fell in love with it in 2021. I mean, I’m almost certain that I didn’t use another powder bronzer in 2021. That’s commitment.

The other big favourite is one that I’m sure you’ve seen in a ton of favourites videos or Instagram posts. It’s the CHARLOTTE TILBURY HOLLYWOOD CONTOUR WAND in LIGHT-MEDIUM. This is, no joke, worth all of the hype. Easy to apply, blends like a dream. Heaven in a tube!

2021 was a big year for blush. And this was another category that I had a hard time narrowing down. But I had three that I used pretty consistently throughout the year. For creams, the ROSE INC BLUSH DIVINE RADIANT LIP & CHEEK COLOUR in HELIOTROPE is one of the best formulas I’ve used in years. Like, this blush is impossible to screw up and I can’t wait to see this range get extended. For powders, I had two that I adored. The PAT MCGRATH SKIN FETISH DIVINE BLUSH in FLEURTATIOUS and the TOM FORD SHADE & ILLUMINATE BLUSH in EXPLICIT FLUSH. Both of these are definitely ‘a little goes a long way’ kind of blushes. But they both have incredible wear time and the pigmentation? *chef’s kiss*.

On the other end of the makeup spectrum, however, 2021 was not a big year for highlighter. My choice of foundations should have made it a dead giveaway. But I’ve really been embracing a more natural, soft matte kind of a look. Having said that, on those rare occasions where glow was necessary, you can bet that I was wearing the AURIC GLOW LUST RADIANT LUMINIZER in SELENITE. Nine times out of ten, I would mix this in with my foundation to boost the radiance. But this also works so well as a liquid highlighter on the cheeks, collarbones, nose. Hell, on my drier days, I would only wear this and maybe a little bit of powder.

Finally, lips. And unsurprisingly, 2021 wasn’t a huge lip wearing year for me (thanks Covid, you bitch). More often than not, I was only wearing lip balm (my favourites of which I’ll mention on Friday). But I did have one lip combo that I swore by. The HUDA BEAUTY LIP CONTOUR 2.0 in HONEY BEIGE, the CHARLOTTE TILBURY MATTE REVOLUTION LIPSTICK in PILLOW TALK and the CHARLOTTE TILBURY COLLAGEN LIP BATH in PILLOW TALK. This combo went with any look that I did and it was so simple to chuck on. I want to give a special shout out to the Collagen Lip Bath. Such an underrated formula.

And that is it for my makeup favourites for 2021! Phew, this was a long one. But like I mentioned before. I tried a lot of makeup last year. Some quick honourable mentions before I wrap this up. The CHANTECAILLE FLOWER POWER CHEEK SHADE (would have made the list were it not limited edition), The CHARLOTTE TILBURY EYES TO MESMERISE CREAM SHADOWS, The NATASHA DENONA MINI RETRO PALETTE. And finally, a special shout out to my loose powder cocktail. I have no idea what’s in it anymore. All I know is that it works! Stay tuned for Friday where I’m going to be talking all things skincare!

Cheers and love
Emily xo