2017 Beauty Favorites

Trends, products, features… here’s what I loved in 2017 and what I’m looking forward to more of in 2018!

Unicorn Everything

I totally bandwagoned the unicorn trend in 2017, and at Ulta the other day I was thrilled to see the holographic, duochromatic look hasn’t faded… in fact, there were brand-new multi-hued products on display from NYX and L’Oréal, and Too Faced Unicorn Tears is incredibly back in stock! Sign me up for more.

Read more about some of my unicorn favorites.

Eyebrows

No, I’m not talking about weird eyebrow trends. 2017 was the year I finally got my own brows dialed in. I found an aesthetician I love, I explored more and better products for filling them in, and I embraced the difference a well-groomed brow can make. A male friend of mine who dated an aesthetician said after he said he didn’t notice women’s eyebrows, she advised him to look more closely at the faces of women he found attractive. Sure enough, he realized that the women he thought were beautiful all happened to have eyebrows that were clearly well-tended. This is the part of my beauty routine that is the most tedious and time-consuming, but I never neglect it anymore.

Watch me solo my eyebrows for the first time post-waxing.

Highlighting

Call it strobing or whatever you want, I am so here for the continuing emphasis on highlighting. As a longtime devotee of Benefit High Beam, I’m loving the proliferation and variety of highlighters on the market, from holographic to rainbow to whatever comes next.

Revisit a GWRM video in which my preschooler shows off her strobing skills.

Activated Charcoal Tooth Powder

I haven’t posted about this yet, but this year I started using an activated charcoal powder to clean my teeth, and I’m obsessed with it. It has made a visible difference in the whiteness of my teeth. I’ll share more in 2018 about what I use, how I use it, and the steps I’m taking to ensure my teeth stay healthy as well as stain-free.

Vivid Lip Color

It was blue lipstick that brought Below Freezing Beauty back to life this year, and while I’m not rocking a bold lip every day, I have been trying to push my boundaries and try to venture beyond my comfortable old red lip.

Check out my blue lipstick haul.

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I'm always encouraging other people to take makeup risks, and it dawned on me this morning that a dose of my own advice wouldn't hurt me. If I kept waiting around for the day I felt confident enough to wear a blue lip, these glosses would have sat gathering dust forever. So I just went for it! This is NYX #CosmicMetals in Electromagnetic and Comet's Tail with a touch of #Maybelline Shine Shot Prismatic Lip Topcoat. I have to say it has been fun stepping outside of my comfort zone today, and I haven't gotten a single comment or strange look — just a lot of smiles. The building in the background is #Wantable HQ, which is located in my neighborhood. I thought it was appropriate to document trying something new in front of a company that's all about that very idea!

A post shared by Below Freezing Beauty Blog (@belowfreezingbeauty) on Jun 12, 2017 at 12:47pm PDT

Here’s to trying more new things in 2018!