Hello lovelies, can you believe it’s the last week of 2016?? Today I’m going to be talking about the things that were a hit for me in 2016 as well as my favorite moments this year, so let’s jump into it!

BEAUTY

Starting with makeup, this was my favorite mascara this year. I did a Makeup Monday post on it in the beginning of the year about how much I liked it, and I’m still a fan!

It volumizes, lengthens, and holds a curl well, which are really important things to me as a girl with short, thin, and straight lashes. I’m currently trying a mascara that I like, but don’t love, so once I finish it, I’ll be heading straight back to this one!

Next up is a product I didn’t think would ever find its way into my makeup routine. This is the Pure Nude Essence highlighter and it’s amazing! After hearing good things about it from KathleenLights on YouTube, I gave it a try and really liked it. It made it into my November Product Review if you want to see a more detailed review on it!

The main thing is that it gives a much more subtle glow than other highlighters on the market, so if you’re looking for a natural highlight, then check this one out!  And since I have oily skin, this is perfect to give a slight glow to my matte foundations.

This was an unexpected favorite for me.I first talked about it in my Colourpop Haul when I wasn’t sure if I liked it that much, but for the past month or so, I’ve been using it almost every day.

This is one of the Super Shock eyeshadows in Un from the Jenn Ne Se Quoi collection (unfortunately, it was limited edition). My initial impression was that I liked it, but I thought it was a little too glittery for my liking. Fast forward to now, and it’s become one of my favorite eyeshadows!

As for a favorite eyeshadow palette, I’ll have to go with my trusty Maybelline quad in Give Me Gold. This made several appearances on my blog this year; I talked about it in my July Product Review, my Back to School makeup look, and I featured it on my How to Look More Awake post.

Basically, I was pretty obsessed with it since it could give me natural and smokier looks. I actually had to put it away and I haven’t used it for a few months because I was hitting pan on the gold shade and I wasn’t using any of my other eyeshadows. But I plan on using it again in 2017!

Okay, so these all look like the same color, and they pretty much are, but pinky nudes are my favorite type of lip color. Plus, these are all super different formulations. If you’re into nude lipsticks like I am and have a light/medium skin tone, you might like these shades!

Maybelline’s Touch of Spice is a dark pink nude on my lips. I would’ve preferred it for more evening looks since it’s kind of dark for daytime looks, but it was the first pink nude lipstick I bought so I wore it all the time. It has a matte formulation and it has decent staying power.

NYX’s soft matte lip cream in Cannes is actually an almost perfect match to my lips so this was another shade I wore all the time, especially in the summer when I wore more natural makeup. This is a a demi-matte lip, and it’s really comfortable on your lips.

Lastly, Rimmel came out with The Only One collection. I haven’t heard much about these lipsticks, but I think they’re amazing. They’re creamy, nicely pigmented, and smell amazing. I think I like the fragrance more than the actual lipstick, haha. It’s a very fruity scent and it applies easily. It has a shine at first, but then it dries to down to a velvet finish, which I really like.

SKINCARE

Ah, another recurring guest on my blog. This aloe vera gel has been my moisturizer for the majority of the year and I haven’t stopped liking it yet! I talked about for the first time when I said that aloe vera should be in your skincare routine. I then went on to review this aloe vera gel in my August Product Review and then mentioned it again this month in my current skincare routine post.

The main reasons why I love this product is because it absorbs quickly into your skin and feels lightweight, which is great for oily skin, and it smells amazing. I always look forward to using this before I go to bed. 🙂

I’m so obsessed with this lotion; I’m already halfway through the bottle, so when I got ready to go home for the holidays, I packed my other body lotion. I love how Bath and Body Works lotions have a lasting fragrance and they keep my skin moisturized without feeling greasy.

This is my ideal fragrance, but it’s more of a spring and summer scent, so I decided to leave it for now. If you want a more in-depth review on this lotion and on what the notes are for the fragrance, check out my November Product Review!

FASHION

My Converse were my go-to shoes this year; even though I would say I do rotate through my shoes pretty evenly, I always threw these on when I was in a rush.

This is an old photo, so they’re pretty beat up now, but it took me a really long time to break them in, like years. I couldn’t wear them for too long, otherwise I would get the worst blisters, so it took about 2ish years before they became comfortable for me.

This makes me super sad because I love the way Converse look, but I feel like because they’re a more narrow shoe, my feet don’t like them. Even though it was painful to break them in, I would consider buying new ones when my old ones fall apart, and I think the black and white ones look cute too.

This is one of my few exceptions to the comfort is more important rule, haha. But hopefully, I can still wear them for another year or 2 before I absolutely have to replace them!

I bought this anorak jacket in the summer when I did my August Haul. I feel like it took about 3 months before it was cool enough to wear this, and then it got really cold, haha.

Nevertheless, I still wore this jacket as much as I could because of how much I liked it even though I would get a little chilly. It’s on the thinner side, but it’s a great outerwear piece.

Even though it’s apparently “basic” because of the olive green color, I think what makes it stand out is the lapel on the jacket. This makes it look a little classier and less casual, which is one of the many reasons why this became a favorite for this year.

And my favorite sweater of this year has to be this one. I got this a couple months ago and I’ve been wearing it every chance I get. I have to force myself to pick other things so I don’t wear it out, haha.

This sweater was most recently shown in my latest holiday OOTD and I talk more about how obsessed I am with this sweater there. I know it just looks like a basic speckled knit, but I live for these simple neutral tones and I’m sure other minimalists or monochrome lovers would agree.

ACCESSORIES

I bought this necklace from Forever 21 and I’ve been wearing it so much this year! It instantly makes an outfit look a little bit more sophisticated and I like how it adds a delicate detail to the outfit.

This isn’t a fashion accessory, but I do carry it with me everywhere so I guess you could say it’s a life accessory. I picked this planner up after the school year started because I just wasn’t using my weekly planner.

I would get weekly planners from my middle school and high school, but they would always end up being empty. Ever since I bought this daily planner, I’ve been using it every week consistently.

I’m the type of person that needs to see every day planned out, and I love seeing it laid out in an hourly format, like this one is. This is the Day Designer collection sold at Target, and it’s quite affordable. I don’t know why I dislike weekly layouts, but I don’t plan on going back to those anymore since I find daily layouts easier to keep track of everything.

MY FAVORITE MOMENTS OF 2016

If you’ve actually followed my blog closely this year, you might have seen that I’ve had a rough year, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this (#wastemytime2016, anyone?). But I still had some good times that I’m thankful for.

At the beginning of the year, I went to The Broad with my roommate and we ended up having a semi-spontaneous LA day.

We stopped by Grand Central Market for some lunch and then I couldn’t resist the ice cream.

And lastly, we ended our day walking through Venice Beach to see what it was all about (fun fact: we actually took a nap in the car before heading home because 1. there was traffic and 2. we were so tired from walking so much, haha)

In the summer, I got to see DEAN, a Korean producer turned artist, in LA. Seeing him was really nice, and it’s even nicer knowing how he’s gotten so popular now.

I also got to see Jai Wolf this past summer. I’ve been a fan of him since LED USA 2015 and I also got to briefly see him at HARD Summer 2015. Like DEAN, his popularity has grown in the past year and I really like his music.

And one of my other top moments this year is the fact that I finally got on a plane and traveled for the first time!

I went to Oakland to participate in the Asian Pacific Americans of Higher Education (APAHE) conference and I was on a student panel for one of the presentations. I was so glad I had this opportunity and I hope I can go back again next year!

So those were my favorites for the year of 2016! I hope you enjoyed this post; let me know what your favorite things/moments were this year in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you lovelies tomorrow!