little white truths

I've seen a lot of these videos on Youtube lately and I think they started with Samantha March, but I've also seen ladies like Kaily Baute, Jen Luvs Reviews and Livloveshermakeup do them too - so I'm taking inspiration from them and writing my own post on the topic.

Those ladies have also done a 'brands I would like to try in 2018' follow-up post to this and I may well attempt that one too, although I'll see how I go because not many brands are coming to mind at the moment. Perhaps tomorrow if I've had a better sleep ; )

In no particular order...

* Image courtesy of cultbeauty.co.uk

Alpha-H

This one's mainly for my international readers because I reckon that most beauty-loving Australians will have tried at least one product from Alpha-H in their time. And if you haven't, what are you doing?!

This is a homegrown brand that takes skincare seriously, and it's not as expensive as you might think. So if you're someone who's prepared to pay reasonable (but not ridiculous) prices for good skincare and you haven't tried anything from Alpha-H, now's the time.

Truckloads of Alpha-H products have become staples for me and they have consistently changed my skin for the best. They're well-formulated and they work, plus they don't cost the earth when you consider how effective they are. Plus they're often on special at some of the big local or international retailers, so it pays to shop around.

If you choose one thing, I would say Alpha-H's Liquid Gold is the place to start, but you could pick just about anything from these guys and you're unlikely to be disappointed.

* Image courtesy of spontaneouschick.com

Suki Skincare

Although I haven't talked about these guys much lately, if you've been with me for a while then you may know that I went through a Suki Skincare period a couple of years ago and lately I've been wanting to get my hands on some of the brand's products again. Why? Because most of them are brilliant and they work, and I've been missing Suki's bestselling Exfoliating Foaming Cleanser in particular.

This is a natural brand that uses organic ingredients and it's also cruelty free, and although many of the more natural brands have nice products but ones that don't do a hell of a lot, these ones do.

Suki's clarity line is great for clearing up blemishes and its hydrating line is great for dry skin. I'm sure there are plenty more products waiting for me to discover from Suki in future, and I have a feeling that I'll be making a big Suki order once my skincare no buy lifts: I want the brand's products in my life again. Love.

* Image courtesy of getthegloss.com

Marc Jacobs Beauty

Ok, so we've all heard of Marc Jacobs Beauty by now - but have we all tried something from them? I suspect that we haven't, for the simple reason that the products are more expensive and we also couldn't get our hands on them until Sephora finally opened in Australia - and by then many of us probably all had the high-end makeup we wanted anyway.

But Marc Jacobs Beauty has been kicking goals from all directions lately and I honestly think it's the brand to watch. I'm obsessed with its Airblushes and also the new, reformulated Eye-conic Eyeshadow Palettes, and I've heard that Marc Jacobs makes a fantastic bronzer too.

So if you're in need of a new blush, bronzer or eyeshadow palette, take a moment to go into Sephora and have a play with what Marc Jacobs has to offer. I'll be surprised if you don't fall in love with at least one of those things. Then wait for Sephora's next sale and you can get 20 per cent off the full price.

* Image courtesy of pinterest.com

Rituals

You've likely heard me rave about almost every Rituals product I've ever tried - but have you used anything from Rituals yet? I'm willing to bet that most people haven't, for the simple reason that it's not as easy to come by for many of us as it is in Europe.

I first fell in love with Rituals when we lived in Berlin - it's priced at around what you'd expect from The Body Shop, it's just that the products are better and feel more luxe - and while I was overjoyed when the brand finally arrived in Australia, last year it packed up and left again after only being here for something like a year. Foo.

Happily, though, you can find it at some of the international retailers these days (eg lookfantastic.com), and I definitely suggest that you wait for one of the big promotions and use the opportunity to stock up on a few items at a discounted price (and they're not that expensive to start with, so yay to that). 

I recommend starting with the Rituals Foaming Shower Gels and perhaps one of the body scrubs or body creams. Really, you could try just about anything from Rituals and you're unlikely to be disappointed. Get into it!

* Image courtesy of candlefandom.com

Volupsa

If you're into candles, then I urge you to try what Volupsa has to offer. You can buy their stuff from plenty of retailers, but I personally buy mine from Adore Beauty.

Last year I bought my first-ever Volupsa candle, and I bought it because I needed to increase the value of an order to qualify for a gift, so I threw one of the $19.95 AUD tins into my cart and I haven't looked back. Those little tins now line my shelves (some of them are absolutely beautiful - I've kept them all) and they now often wind up in presents to friends and family members.

Not only are the tins and scents gorgeous, but these things say they burn for 25 hours (that's just the small ones) and I actually think they burn for longer than that - these are the longest-burning candles I've ever encountered. 

Plus they're apparently healthier for you because they contain better ingredients, and while I can't speak to that because I don't know the difference between a 'more healthy' candle and a 'less healthy' one, I can tell you that they're the nicest candles I've ever found. Yep, better than Glasshouse. No! Yes.

* Image courtesy of theglamatory.com

Kevyn Aucoin

If I look at my makeup display shelves, I have a serious over-representation of compacts from Hourglass, Becca and Kevyn Aucoin (with Marc Jacobs starting to catch up), and while I think that we all know about Becca and Hourglass and we hear heaps about them, Kevyn Aucoin has always flown under the radar and it's only the serious beauty junkies that have tried a range of items from the brand. It's time for that to change.

The brand's powders are among the best in their class - I own bronzers, blushes, eyeshadows and highlighters from Kevyn Aucoin and they're all brilliant - and its base products aren't to be sneezed at either. I just used The Etherealist Foundation again yesterday after sampling it and falling in love, and it's one of the nicest foundations I've ever put on my face.

Sure, the products don't come cheap, but if you're someone who doesn't blink an eye at spending money on Tom Ford, Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, Marc Jacobs or any of the department store brands (Chanel, Dior, the works), then these prices might even look reasonable to you. Start testing. Now.

* Image courtesy of theordinary.com

The Ordinary

If you're a beauty lover then just skip over this because you're probably sick of hearing about The Ordinary by now: this is for those readers who aren't heavily into beauty and might not even have heard about The Ordinary yet (believe me, there are people on this planet who haven't!).

If you don't already know, this is the brand that shook the market because it suddenly offered us active ingredients at clearance-bin prices. So if you want to try things like AHAs or retinols and you don't want to break the bank, here's your chance.

So far the best items I've tried are the Salicylic Acid, the Glycolic Acid Toner, the Alpha Lipoic Acid and any of the oils, but I do have other items lined up from The Ordinary (including one of the retinols, which I can start using as soon as I've finished weaning my son), and I definitely recommend doing your research and working out what you want to try first.

Once you've chosen your products, my only advice would be to tread carefully and build up to how often you use them - otherwise you may risk skin irritations. But gosh they're good and they work.

* Image courtesy of antipodesnature.com

Antipodes

This is another brand that I'm including more for any international readers than I am for fellow Australians or those from New Zealand.

While you see plenty of people from Australia and New Zealand rave about Antipodes (for good reason), I don't think I've ever seen anyone from the Northern Hemisphere talk about this brand - and it's definitely time to look into it.

While there are products from Antipodes that I don't feel are special, there are a lot more that I think are fantastic: the Kiwi Seed Oil Eye Cream, the Avocado Pear Night Cream, the Joyous Protein Rich Night Serum and the Chia and Kiwi Seed Superfood Serum to name my favourites. 

Better still, you can buy Antipodes products from plenty of local and international retailers, and us Aussies can buy them in Priceline - plus they're not the most expensive brand on the market and you can often find them on special. Yay.

In sum

I hope you enjoyed this little post and found some ideas for new brands to try in 2018.

Do let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions for brands that we should look into this year: I'd love to hear.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x