2021 Summary: A Year of Beauty

In this post, I want to make a summary of what 2021 has been for me from a beauty point of view. I will go through my 2021 summary in different categories such as hauls, favourites, empties, etc.

2021 Summary Subscription boxes

I started the year with four active subscriptions: Glossybox, Lookfantastic, Roccabox and Birchbox. I cancelled the Birchbox subscription at the beginning of the year as, in my opinion, it does not worth the costs. Most of the products inside the box are very small, not enough to test them properly.

I continued few months with the other three subscriptions, but Roccabox increased the price of the box after summer and I decided to cancel it.

At present, I am subscribed to Glossybox and Lookfantastic. I don’t know if I will continue with them. I may cancel one and get a different subscription or if I might make a pause in the subscription boxes.

I also tried this year a face sheet masks beauty box. I bought a one-off box, and I may get more of them this new year.

2021 Summary Hauls

I placed lots of orders this year. I placed orders in shops I already tried in the past, such as Beauty Bay, Lookfantastic, JustmyLook or Notino but I tried other stores also. I bought in two multi-brands Spanish stores, Maquillalia and Primor, and in a Polish shop, Makeup.uk. In these three shops, I can get some brands that are not available (or I could not find) in the UK, like Affect, Krash Cosmetics, Constance Carroll or Corazona, among others.
I discovered also brand stores. I placed my first order in Colurpop, Rituals, Huda Beauty and Tarte. I had a very good experience in every case and no problem at all with the taxes.

2021 Summary Brands

This year I discovered a few makeup and skincare brands, mainly high-end brands. I tried brands such as Huda Beauty, Colourpop, Q+A, Holika Holika, NARS, Krash Cosmetics, Rituals and Constance Carroll. Some products of these brands are now part of my favourites.

2021 Summary Favourites products

I tried so many different products this year and some of them are now part of my favourites. I could not make a ranking as I cannot compare a face wash with an eyeshadow, so I will simply list my new favourites:

• Krash Cosmetics – Duochrome eyeshadow, especially No More Dates shade
• Technic – Hot Foil Eyeshadow Palette
• Catrice – True Skin Foundation
• Essence – Longlasting Eye Pencil in different shades
• Essence – Duochrome Liquid Eyeshadows
• Holika Holika – Green Tera foaming face wash
• The Body Shop – Chamomile Cleansing Butter

2021 Summary Empty Products

During 2021 I finished around 50 products including skincare, body and hair care and makeup

Body and Haircare

I finished a few shower gels, most of them are not impressive, simply doing the job of cleansing my body. I am going to mention the Imperial Leather Foamburst. This product was a deception. I was, maybe, expecting too much of it, so when I tried it was like “only that?”. It cleanses the body but I was expecting something more impressive from the name of the product.

I finished one shampoo, Garnier Banana shampoo. I like how it leaves my hair and I love the smell. I have many other shampoos opened at this time and I will not buy again this one for the moment.

I would like to mention about one deodorant. I finished a few this year, but I would like to talk about the Rituals deodorant I have used, the one of the Ritual of Sakura. I love Rituals but the deodorant is not for me. I prefer the roll-on to the sprays.

Skincare

Moving to skincare, I finished products of different types. I will make a separate mention of the cleansers, as I finished lots of them. I am going to show here the list for the other skincare categories.

• St Ives Apricot Scrub
• Yves-Rocher Flask Mask
• The Ordinary Arbutin (2 flasks)
• The Ordinary Niacinamide
• Yves-Rocher Oui a l’amour Hand Cream
• Lacura Watermelon Moisturiser
• Elemis Pro-marine Collagen Day Cream (5 mL tube)
• Dr botanicals Hemp Moisturiser (30 mL tube)
• Lacura Pineapple Serum
• Olay Day Cream
• Laneige Water Sleeping Mask (15 mL pot)
• Garnier SPF 50 Spray
• Nivea SPF 50 Sun Protector with coenzyme Q10
• Ziaja Olive Oil Moisturiser
• Shea Bliss Skin Body Butter (2 jars)
• Yves-Rocher Hydra-vegetal Toner

I like the products from Aldi Lacura, both serum and moisturiser as they are really good. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get them again. Hope Aldi brings them back to stock soon.

Another product I loved is the Elemis Pro-marine Collagen Day Cream. It has a lovely smell and leaves my skin soft, hydrated and supple. I have already a spare in my drawer.

The Ordinary combo (arbutin and niacinamide) is showing excellent results on the reduction of my dark spot. After a couple of months of using them (in combination with tranexamic acid at night time), my dark spots are visibly clearer. I am going to continue with the treatment.

I found Garnier SPF 50 Spray handy and I already have a spare for the next summer. I can apply it on top of the makeup, and it is a very good option to carry in my bag for re-applications during the day after finishing the job.

Cleansers

I finished a few cleansing balms and water-based cleansers.

• W7 Peachy Cleansing Balm
• The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Butter
• Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm (2 pots)
• Eve Lom Cleansing Balm (20 mL)
• Olay Nourishing Cleansing Balm
• PS Face Cleanser
• Me+ Salicylic Acid Cleanser
• Lacura Face Wash (2 tubes)
• Boots Cucumber Face Wash
• Simple Moisturising Facial Wash
• Simple Refreshing Facial Wash
• Holika Holika Green Tea Foaming Face Wash
• St Ives Cactus Cleansing Stick
• Huygens Bois Rose Face Wash (30 mL)
• Real Chemistry Foaming Cleanser (15 mL)
• Dr botanicals Pomegranate Cleanser (30 mL)
• Skin&Co Cleansing Gel (20 mL)

Cleansing Balms

Among the cleansing balm, I would like to make a special mention to The Body Shop Chamomile Cleansing Butter, it has become one of my favourites. It removes makeup really well and leaves my dry skin hydrated. I already reviewed it in this blog.

I would like to mention also the W7 Peachy Cleansing Balm but for the opposite reason. It is very cheap but the job it does is not great and it is not gentle with my eyes.

Water-based Cleansers

Among the water-based cleanser, I would like to mention first the cleanser which at the moment is my favourite, Holika Holika Green Tea Foaming Face Wash. I can say a lot of good things about it but if you want to know why it is my favourite I invite you to read the review I wrote.

The Cleansing Stick from St Ives has been my biggest deception among the cleansers. I was very excited about the format and I bought it as soon as I could, but I don’t like how it cleans the skin or even how it feels when I use it.

The rest of the cleansers I used showed an average performance. They leave my skin clean but nothing special. They don’t give any extra hydration or other effects. They are good for a routine face wash and some of them are affordable and easily available.

Makeup

Lastly, I am going to talk about makeup. This is for me the most complicated category to finish products. I have a lot of makeup and, though I use makeup daily, I rotate the products so it is not easy to finish them.

I finished a setting spray by Catrice and a Primer by Revolution Beauty, the Pore Blur Primer. I cannot say anything special about them, they do their job and that is all.

I finished four foundations. I loved two of them, The Ordinary Coverage Foundation and L’Oreal True Match Foundation. I would like to re-purchase The Ordinary one, but I don’t know when I will do it as I have a lot of foundations ready to use which I would like to use this year.

The Rimmel foundation is not bad. It was on my favourite list for some time bit I tried new foundations that I like more than the Rimmel one.

The Collection Illuminating Foundation is a failed product. I don’t like the coverage, the finish or the durability. I will not buy it again.

I made a summary of my beauty year. It has been a good one discovering new brands, shops, products and favourites. I hope 2022 to be even better than this one.