One of my goals for 2019 is to get a little bit personal in my writing again. I used to share a WHOLE DANG LOT but I've found over the years I've buttoned up a bit and I'm not sure why? So why not start off with a trip down memory lane with some of my favourite makeup products?

A few months back Melanie from I'm Not a Beauty Guru wrote about some of her favourite beauty products based on what they meant to her, so I decided to try thinking about my collection and what certain products meant to me! Some of these stories were obvious winners from the start, while others I didn't even THINK of until I started poking through my makeup vanity! And now it's time to share it with the world, I hope you enjoy learning a wee bit more about me :)

Benefit Cosmetics Sugarbomb Blush

This may seem a weird choice, but I think this is an appropriate place to start. WAY WAY WAY back in 2011 or 2012, I won a HUGE Benefit Cosmetics contest, right when Darling Magpie was just a twinkle in my little eye. To my absolute delight I received a big box with $1000 of products and promptly went from drug store diva to a trendy-gal in a blink of an eye. While some of those products have come and gone, this Sugarbomb blush still remains! It'll be a sad day when this guy is empty, but I'll still think fondly of these prizes because they came at a time when I was still paying off significant parts of my student debt, accruing MORE from my post-grad and generally didn't have much money to spend on myself. This prize gave me the opportunity to up my game and also treat myself at the same time!

MAC Cosmetics Instagator Matte Lipstick

This was a product that came into my life in 2015. By that point, I'd spent a few years building up my beauty skills and was one year into beauty blogging (yeah that's right, Darling Magpie is FIVE this year!) But when it came down to it, I was still pretty tame when it came to my makeup looks. I was still using more neutral palettes like Urban Decay's Naked 3, and my lipstick was usually, red, pink or nude. But of course my pink-haired goth-girl style icon Kate Leth wore really good dark lipstick and I decided to give into my teen-goth desires and grab some too. Following her recommendation, I bought MAC's Instigator and have never looked back! I don't wear it THAT much any more as the formula is a lot more drying than I like these days (GLOSS FOREVER) but if I want to whip up a dark look in seconds, it's my pick.

Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly Palette

I pined, I waited, I imported and it was worth it! Some of you may have read my Too Faced Peanut Butter and Jelly Palette review before where I mention how I managed to snag one of these babies, but I thought I'd mention it here too. The year was 2016, and if I remember correctly, it was a particularly FRUSTRATING year for Canadian beauty lovers, the Canadian dollar was at a 10-year high at the start of the year, companies were raising prices on Canadian goods and getting things across the border was getting expensive. Now, we all know Too Faced products are usually fun and cute but there was just something here that piqued my interest, and with some gumption and VOCALNESS, I was able to get this illusive palette by teaming up with a Canadian who regularly shopped cross-border at Ulta, who nabbed it for me. This is a perfect example of what Marie Kondo means when she says "Does this spark joy?" because I still use this palette on the regular and every time I take it out, I get a little more happy.

Charlotte Tilbury Secret Salma Lipstick

2017 was a weird year for me. I was one year into owning my condo and was finally over the "hump" of refilling some of my savings accounts and getting used to my mortgage payments. But despite having a decent income and a good savings rate, I still felt guilty about spending money! Over the years as a makeup hobbyist, there were still a few brands I had yet to "splurge" on, even with my reward points from stores or from gift cards, and Charlotte Tilbury was one of those. I HAD won a Charlotte Tilbury Film Star palette at an event and used it quite frequently, but I'd had my eye on getting a Charlotte Tilbury lipstick for MONTHS as I knew so many people who swore by them. But I just felt GUILTY. Luckily that Christmas my boyfriend and I had made a pact to only get each other some smallish gifts instead of expensive ones, and he thought the price was perfectly fine for a little present under the tree! (I also got a Gudetama Funko pop, but that's a story for another day.) I adore this shade and this is my go-to lipstick for weddings and special events. J'adore! https://www.instagram.com/p/BdIg_TMHyMy/

Vera Wang Princess Perfume

Last but absolutely not least, is Vera Wang's Princess. I'm not sharing this one in 'chronological' order most of the other products because this is a different kind of story, a longer story. For those not in the know, Vera Wang was the "IT" perfume of the mid-00s and pretty much everyone who even cared a lick about perfume had it. However, back in the early 00s I was still significantly stuck in my tomboy phase and yet, uncharacteristically of me at the time, I begged my mom to buy me it for Christmas. (I was a very-broke university student at the time!) While it was a floral, feminine type of scent, it also smelled like adulthood to me at the time (now it reminds me of my youth} and really was the first proper adult perfume I owned that wasn't a sample size or gifted to me. It's not my favourite anymore and it definitely isn't as sharp a scent as it was, but it's absolutely my most-used perfume in my collection and I'm going to keep it until the bitter end. You can read more about my perfume history here.

I have to say, writing this post was really nice because I was able to dig down and bring up things with positive memories for myself, and I didn't even realize how much these products meant to me until I started writing about them! The way that Marie Kondo talks about what 'sparks joy' is how I want to tackle my writing as well, and this was a great start.

Do you have any sentimental products on your vanity or in your life? Let me know what they are and why they are so special!