Hey everyone!

I hope all of you are having an amazing holiday season so far! It’s a couple days after Christmas and for those of you who celebrated… how was your Christmas?! I had an exceptionally fun and easy Christmas this year. I spent the early morning opening gifts (I definitely scored!) and the rest of the day cooking with my mom! Then the whole family got together for dinner and watched our favorite Christmas movie: Diehard lol! I’m not a natural gift giver or receiver. I always feel weird about it and somehow make things awkward or blow the surprise. It’s not my love language, BUT quality time most definitely is and I look forward to Christmas every year for that exact reason! But that is not what this post is about!

I want to share my favorite items from the ASOS Beauty Advent Calendar! Y’all know what an advent calendar is all about, right? There’s twenty five little gifts inside and you are supposed to open one each day from Dec 1st to Dec 25th. I obviously don’t have the patience for that; because in true Alex fashion, I opened all 25 on day one. Oops! I already told you that I’m bad with gifts (and pretty much with rules in general). So sorry, not sorry? Do the cool kids still say that? The calendar had a nice mix of skincare, makeup, hair, and body products; and I really appreciated the size of the samples! I’m happy that I opened the whole calendar, because I was able to test the products throughout the month and share my favorites with all of you!  

My Top 5:

If you would’ve asked me beforehand which kind of beauty products I was most excited about, my answer would have definitely been makeup. But my favorite products are the skincare! One thing that stands out right away are the two different cleansers. I personally don’t use cleanser in the morning, because I have super dry skin; so I use these cleansers at night. DHC deep cleansing oil ($$) is perfect for removing makeup and cleansing on a good/dry skin day. But even with my dry skin, I get bad breakouts during my period. That’s when I use the REN T-Zone Control cleansing gel ($$)! I’m so in love with the Alpha-H Liquid Gold ($$$).This glycolic acid treatment goes on every other night after cleanser and works to revitalize and firm your skin. It’s like a mini facial in a bottle and it didn’t dry out my skin – major win! I was surprised by The Ordinary surface hydrating moisturizer ($). To be honest, it doesn’t have that spa/lux feeling when you first apply the product. But the moisture lasts all day and my makeup sat so well on this formula that I had to add it to the top five. The Cowshed lippy cow balm ($$) is my favorite product from the whole calendar! My lips chap like no other! Cracking, peeling, chapped lips are usually an annual shame that I go through every fall and winter, but Chowshed has completely alleviated this problem! I am so hype about it too! I’ve used the balm on my lips, of course, but also on dry patches around my nose and chin. I cannot recommend this product enough! Hello new skincare routine! I will definitely be purchasing all of these items again!

Honorable Mentions:

Eyeko London – Liquid Eyeliner in Black: ($$) Goes on smooth and stays put!

Caudalie – Vinosource Creme Sorbet: ($$) Skin feels plump and it smells so good!

Foreo LUNA travel cleansing brush: ($$$) Love to use this after the shower when my pores are still open! Its feels like I’m getting a really deep cleaning that isn’t too harsh or damaging.

Smashbox – Photo Finish Primer: ($$) A classic! This is my go to primer any day!

Rodial – Stem Cell Magic Gel: ($$$) This product felt amazing! Apply more product and you can use it overnight as a sleeping mask! This sample was pretty small, so I was only able to use it twice.

Thank you ASOS Beauty for helping me celebrate the holidays! The calendar was so much fun and the introduction to these amazing products was the perfect gift! And thank you to all of my readers! I appreciate that you spent these last few moments with me! 

XoXo

Alex