Hey guys! After nearly a year, I decided to bring back monthly favorites. Admittedly, a huge part of that is because this month had some outstanding favorites for me and I really, really wanted to share them with you guys. For the most part, this has been new to me products, but there are a couple of old favorites in here as well. I'd love it if you'd let me know if Favorites posts are something that you guys really like in the comments,  because some months I know I'll be excited to do them and others I know I'll feel like they're a bit of a chore, but I'm happy to do them if they're something you guys like!

Keep reading to check out what I'm currently obsessed with... because that really is the state of this month's favorites!

SKINCARE FAVORITES

CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream*

Full Review | Night cream generally doesn't whip me up into excitement, but my skin has been loving this so much that I absolutely had to feature it. This cream is rich, but not too heavy, and gives my skin a plump, healthy and luminous look whenever I use it. For my winter skin, I honestly feel like this is one of the best things I have on my (very messy and filled) vanity at the moment and I absolutely love that it's an affordable, easy-to-find product. Seriously, how was I sleeping on this for so long??

Mériance Collagene Native Collagen Serum*

Full Review | Guh, I'm so obsessed with this serum. It has a really gorgeous sort of milky texture that sinks well into the skin, making it a great addition to my morning skin care routine, and I really feel like this is helping with both the overall appearance of my skin as well as its ability to bounce back from things like hormonal breakouts (which are always worse in the winter when my skin is a little bit more sensitive and the PMS is inevitably worse.) It also adds some hydration to the skin, which is always appreciated at this time of year wherever I can get it.

Pixi Rose Cream Cleanser

Full Review | Cleansers are so very much my thing and this one is just a stunner. It has a light, really pretty and non-granny rose scent and it cleans my skin really well, but leaves it feeling smooth and hydrated. When it comes to cleanser, I'm really, really careful  not to use anything that's going to irritate my skin or disrupt my moisture barrier, and this fits that bill while also really being enjoyable and lovely to use. This one is honestly one of my favorite finds in quite a long time.

MAKEUP FAVORITES

Dominique Cosmetics Berries & Cream Palette

Full Review | 5 Looks | I don't remember the last time a palette from a newer brand impressed me as much as this one. Not only is it truly unique, allowing me to do a wide variety of looks that are somewhat outside of my norm, but the formula on the shadows is gorgeous. It has amazing pigmentation, beautiful blendability, and wears like a dream through even the longest day. Seriously, I will buy just about anything Christen Dominique releases in the future - can't wait for more palettes from the brand. 

BITE Beauty Agave Lip Mask - Maple

Full Review | I've used the original Agave Lip Mask in the past, but more recently I picked up the Agave Treat Trio featuring the Maple version and I'm obsessed. It has the gorgeous hydration and rich, protective texture of the original, but the full out pancakes scent and flavour as well as the slight bronzey sheen to this one has made it the one I've been reaching for the most. I love this as actual makeup rather than just a treatment, because it makes my lips look juicy, even toned, and gorgeous. 

Catrice Highlighting Powder in Champagne Campaign

Now that we can finally get Catrice locally here in Canada (I picked this up at my local Superstore), I was really excited to try out some of the products I've been eyeing up for ages now and this one was pretty high on the list. I'm definitely more of a natural highlight kind of a girl - give me pearl over metallic any day - and the tone and finish of this one is perfect for my skin. It's definitely more of a subtle glow that wakes up my skin and makes it look really healthy and pretty. 

Essence Volume Stylist 18hr Lash Extension Mascara

This mascara was listed in my 2017 Favorites and it's probably the one I've recommended most when people ask me about great drugstore mascaras, but I hadn't picked it up in ages and decided to grab myself another tube and I'm so glad that I did. This mascara is just gorgeous. It's a somewhat drier formula, but it builds great volume and length and wears really, really well. If you're looking for a great drugstore mascara, I'd definitely recommend this one, because I'd reach for it over most of the higher end mascaras I've enjoyed any day. 

NAIL FAVORITES

ILNP Nail Polish in No Promises

Admittedly, I'm starting to delve more and more into indie polishes and I've really gotten into ILNP recently. On Boxing Day I took advantage of Harlow & Co's sale to pick up a few polishes and ILNP No Promises has been the stand out for me. Describe as a "dark amaranth pink with a stunning reflective metallic finish", this shade is just so beautiful and unique. It's one of those shades that looks different depending on the light, but no matter how it's pulling it looks beautiful. 

Cuter Cuticles Fuzzy Peach Barrier Butter

People have been recommending Cuter Cuticles to me for ages now and I hadn't gotten around to trying any of their products until my nail buddy passed this one along to me because it didn't work for her. It definitely, definitely has worked for me and I'm already putting together a shopping list from the Cuter Cuticles website as a result. In fact, within two days of starting to apply this (maybe a little more often than some people would), I looked down at my hands and literally said, "How, though?" out loud. This has been keeping my cuticles looking gorgeous even as the temperatures have dipped to what me and my best friend not-so-affectionately call Witch Balls Cold. Love this stuff, can't wait to try more from the brand!

ILNP Birthday Suit
This polish had been on my list for quite a while, so I finally grabbed it during that same Boxing Day sale and it's definitely been my most used polish this past month - I even used it in two Mani Monday posts in a row. To see it in action, check out my Nude Stamped Dry Brush Nails and my Sheer Nude & Olive Plaid Nails. I love that I can build this up to opacity or leave it a little more sheer and it just looks gorgeous either way. Seriously, I think 2019 is going to be the year I go hard on indie polishes and I think ILNP is going to get a lot of love because both of the polishes in this post are gorgeous.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

I want to do something a little bit different this year and recommend some non-beauty things in each of these favorites posts to shake them up a little. The first book I want to recommend was actually a Christmas gift from one of my best friends, who gets me a book each year relating in some way to feminism or social issues that interest me and I've always pretty much devoured the books she gives me. This year she gifted me I'm Afraid Of Men by Vivek Shraya, a Canadian trans woman from Calgary. This book is beautifully written and somewhat heartbreaking - truly, I cried through big chunks of it - but I also feel like it's incredibly poignant and challenging to antiquated and damaging ideas. Honestly, I think pretty much anyone who's willing to really open up and let themselves both listen and relate will take a lot from this book, I certainly did. 

I have to say, it feels really good to get back to doing Favorites posts and I'm looking forward to this being a monthly - or maybe semi-monthly - thing here on the blog again. I'd love to hear about what you've been loving and if there are any recommendations for stuff I should try or requests for stuff you'd like to see on the blog in the comments!

Thanks for reading!