Author: Nikki

Last year, I published my favorites post before Black Friday, in case people were curious about them and wanted to do some shopping, so I figured we’d do that again this year. For the 2024 Favorites, I selected only products that I reviewed in that year. However, I felt that it would be more accurate this year to simply pick my favorites (and a couple of honorable mentions), regardless of whether I reviewed them in 2025. I’ll also link to some of the end-of-year wrap-ups and favorite posts I’ve done in past years. For reference, I am 40+ and have dry, eczema-prone skin. I have an olive undertone, and my best foundation shade matches are NARS Tahoe (Natural Radiant Longwear Formula) and 4W4 Hazel in the Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation. Alright, let’s get into it. 🙂

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Favorite Makeup of 2025

**Estee Lauder Pure Color Creme Lipstick (488 Level Up), $42

Since the Beautylish Gift card event started today (October 23, 2025 – October 26, 2025), I wanted to post about Chikuhodo’s new-ish GL Series Brushes. If you are interested in shopping during the Beautylish gift card event, you will receive a $20 gift card for every $100 that you spend. Although Chikuhodo is available from other retailers, Beautylish is often a more accessible option for buying Fude Brushes when they are available there. I’m not well-versed in Chikuohodo, but from what I understand, the GL Series was a relaunch for the brand in May 2025. I purchased the GL-3 Cheek ($63), GL-4 Cheek/Highlight ($56), and GL-7 Liquid ($35) Brushes back in June. And while I’ve had plenty of time to get to know them, I do still consider myself to be a novice when it comes to both Chikuhodo and Fude Brushes in general. It was just over 4 years ago that I started buying more Fude brushes, and I admit that I don’t dig too deeply into the history or research. I’m mainly interested in finding brush shapes and handle styles that suit my preferences. If you don’t know, Fude refers to Japanese makeup brushes handmade by artisans. If you are interested in learning more information on different types of Fude brushes, my go-to sources are my friend Lili’s blog (Fude Collection Series) and Alicia Archer on YouTube (her Fude Q + A may be a good place to start).

The GL Series features gold ferrules and white pearl handles and is marketed as designed for professional use while still being easy for beginners. They are well-made and feel substantial without being heavy. I have experienced some shedding during use and washing, but not enough to cause concern. They do shed more than I experienced with both Sonia G brushes (Soft Cheek, eye brushes, classic cheek, and classic base) and the one Koyudo brush that I’ve used. All of these brushes apply makeup beautifully, and the bristles feel soft to the touch. However, I don’t like the GL-3 Cheek brush nearly as much as the GL-4 Cheek/Highlight and the GL-7 Liquid brushes.

The recent news that Coty is looking for a buyer for the Rimmel and CoverGirl brands (among others) has brought the CoverGirl Clean Fresh Clean Color Eyeshadows back to the top of my mind. I tried them several months ago, and to be honest, I’ve been putting off this review lol. In the last couple of years, I’ve made it a point to reacquaint myself with drugstore makeup, and checking out these eyeshadow quads was part of that. I have a soft spot for CoverGirl, so I always expect great things, but these quads didn’t impress me. I purchased the shades 252 Spiced Copper and 262 Golden Toffee. The CoverGirl Clean Color Eyeshadow Quads are cruelty-free, talc-free, fragrance-free, and vegan. 

The One Size Boucle Silk Airbrushed Talc-Free Finishing Powder ($40, 8g) is a sheer powder that promises to deliver a blurred, airbrushed finish and feel weightless while lasting up to 12 hours. It is also supposed to visibly even skin tone with dimensional coverage. Claiming to be sheer and provide coverage is a bit confusing to me, but the powder does offer a little bit of coverage. The other claims, however, I can agree with, but it does have some issues I still want to call out. For context, I’m in my early 40s, and my skin type is dry, sensitive, and eczema-prone. I use heavy and hydrating skincare (glycerin-based serum, heavy oil-based moisturizer), which will affect how products look and perform. Alright, let’s get into the details.

Starting with less important quirks, but I think some may want a heads up on. This product is messy, with a lot of kick-up in the pan.

In hindsight, I should have never dipped my toe into the world of Tom Ford Beauty. While most of the products I have tried from this brand have been great, I struggle to justify the price tag of any of them. Except for two items (Olive Smoke Quad and Bronze Isle Quad), I purchased my Tom Ford products at the Cosmetics Company Outlet, an outlet store for brands under the Estee Lauder Companies’ Umbrella. Keep in mind that the discount you see varies depending on the in-store promotion currently being offered. For the 40-50% discount I received on my purchases from the outlet, I can see myself repurchasing them in the future. However, at $60 for the Traceless Soft Matte Concealer, $95 – $100 for the Highlighters, and $95 for these Eye Color Quads ($100 for limited edition versions), I won’t be paying full retail price for this brand anymore. And let me tell you, it has been a bit of a rollercoaster coming to that conclusion, especially with these eyeshadow quads, because I really like them and get a lot of use out of them. That is why these became “Sleeper Hits” for me. My first impression was that they are nice, but definitely not worth the retail price. But now, over a year later, they have become a go-to and are one of my favorite eyeshadow formulas to use.

The Tom Ford Eye Color Quads in Honeymoon, Golden Hour, and Peach Dawn contain Tom Ford’s wet/dry baked formula, which is made in Italy. Using this type of formula is more expensive, as it is only manufactured in Italy, where the process is specialized and the labor costs are higher. I wanted to point that out for additional context on price, although there are still cheaper baked eyeshadows available. If you aren’t familiar with the wet/dry formula, it means that when applied dry, the eyeshadows give a soft, sheer look, and when applied wet, they give a bold, dramatic finish. I don’t personally use eyeshadows wet, so I’m not sure how much that helps this formula. However, I don’t think that they apply sheer when applied dry. They have enough opacity for my skin tone to see the colors as they appear in the pan. I can agree that they are soft, though.

Another touch of luxury makeup that Tom Ford includes is a pouch with every compact, along with two double-ended brush/spongetip applicators. My Honeymoon Quad is in red packaging because it was part of a limited-edition collection. It is a permanent quad, though, so it is housed in the traditional brown packaging if you were to buy one now.

Tarte recently discontinued their 12-pan palettes and has rereleased them in slimmer packaging. The Tarte Tartelette Toasted Eyeshadow Palette ($49) is a warm palette featuring 6 matte shades, 1 matte shade with lots of shimmer, 4 shimmer/metallic shades, and 1 satin shade. I’m not going to go into as much depth on the Tarte Tartelette Toasted Palette because I’ve had essentially the same overall experience as the Tarte #trippinwithtarte Palette that I reviewed in July 2025. However, the Tartelette Toasted Palette does perform a little better, and more of the shades work well for my NARS Tahoe/Estee Lauder 4W4 Skin tone. The shimmers perform much better in this palette, with no hard pan and a nice shine that doesn’t accentuate texture. The Tartelette Toasted Eyeshadows worked well with both natural hair and synthetic brushes, and the shimmers applied with more impact when I used my fingers (that’s typical). Well, except for the shade Flame, which looked great whether I used a brush or my fingers. The shade Simmer was better with fingers, but it wasn’t far off in performance with a brush. The sparkle in the shade, Crackle, is a turn-off for me. I’m not entirely sure how to use it. Candle is the dry, flaky shimmer with fallout in this palette (similar to Turks & Caicos from the #trippinwithtartepalette), but it does look smooth on my eyes. It is somewhat sheer but not patchy or necessarily weak in pigment. The mattes are all powdery, with the shade Fireside being less so (I’m guessing because it was designed for liner purposes). The mattes blend easily, and both my Urban Decay Primer Potion and MAC 24-Hour Eye Base eyeshadow primers worked well with the Tarte formula. As I’ve mentioned, Urban Decay makes it easier to blend matte eyeshadows, but MAC intensifies colors more. I tend to use MAC more as my default because I’m ok with blending a little longer if it gives me more color intensity. Both of those eye primers also keep the Tarte eyeshadows from creasing, and I haven’t experienced any fading.

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I just want to quickly note some things about the scent of this palette and the packaging for those who haven’t read my Tarte #trippinwithtarte Palette review. After I open the palette, I can immediately smell the vanilla scent. The formula has both vanilla planifolia fruit extract and vanillin. Luckily for me and my sensitive nose, the smell does fade quickly after application. It features a fantastic mirror that spans almost the entire size of the palette. The only downside to using the mirror is that the scent of the eyeshadows is in your face.

I also had a little trouble getting this to show up true to color, due to the reflective packaging. The picture above is taken in warm artificial light, and the picture below is taken in natural daylight. Unfortunately, the color I see in person is somewhere between the two. The warm artificial lighting showcases how shimmery the shade Crackle is, but you’ll see in the swatches how some of those particles dust away.

Click “Continue Reading” for the full review, which includes a shade-by-shade breakdown and swatches.

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I first talked about the **Smashbox Always On Mood Board Eyeshadow Palette in Earthy Vibes ($39) back in May of this year. In my post featuring that palette, I mentioned that the palette was worth the discounted price that I paid for it ($23), but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for the retail price of $39. Over time, I was also able to buy the other 3 variations of the Smashbox Mood Board Palettes at the Cosmetics Company Outlet, an outlet store for brands under the Estee Lauder Companies’ umbrella, for 40% off. If you are unfamiliar with the line, they are mini palettes featuring 8 shades in a mix of matte, shimmer, and metallic finishes. The packaging is a combination of paper and plastic, has a mirror, and a click closure. There is nothing fancy about the packaging, but it is along the same lines to me as **Smashbox’s 4-pan Halo Sculpt + Glow Face Palettes, and their long-discontinued CoverShot Eyeshadow palettes. The Cali Contour Face Palettes feel a little bit more substantial, but I think that is due mainly to the larger size. Smashbox is a cruelty-free brand and lists these palettes as vegan. Although they don’t mention it in the marketing, I don’t see talc listed as an ingredient on any of the boxes.