Not all good things are French! Last week I showed you my top 5 makeup products by French brands for 2017, but now it's time for me to present my 5 favorite beauty products from other brands. Are you ready? Any guesses?

While I mostly feature products from French brands on the blog, I use and love a lot of others by beauty brands based in the US or other countries too. While going through my stash to compile my top 5, I realized that I never mentioned most of them on the blog. There's only one product here, in fact, that I wrote a full review for. Would you like me to post more about products I enjoy, even when they're not French or not new? Let me know in the comments!

But without further ado, here's my list of the best beauty products of 2017! They were very easy to pick: all 5 are products that really stood out among all the (very many) new releases this year, and they wowed me as soon as I tried them.


ESTEE LAUDER DOUBLE WEAR NUDE WATER FRESH




Sorry for using a stock photo for this one, but I haven't actually bought it yet. I got a sample at an Estée Lauder counter and fell in love with it, but I haven't finished the small vial yet. I had tried Lauder's iconic Double Wear in the past and didn't like it: I found it heavy, cakey and dry. This recently released Double Wear Nude Water Fresh is the exact opposite. It feels fresh, light, and looks like skin. The coverage is lighter but buildable to medium in my experience, and the application is foolproof. You can use your fingers (that's the method recommended by the sales associate at the counter), you can use a brush, it always looks good. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a sponge such as a beauty blender, simply because it would absorb too much of this very liquid-y formula.

If you're not into the fake looking full coverage, if you want to look flawless but natural, I definitely recommend giving it a try!


LORAC OCEAN SUNSET EYESHADOW PALETTE


This is a palette I haven't heard much about in the beauty community, but it's hands down my favorite eyeshadow palette of the year. In a sea of red-based, warm-toned "neutral" palettes (when did red and orange become neutral shades exactly??), Lorac delivered 3 sunset inspired palettes with refreshing shade combinations. I have the Mountain Sunset and this one, my favorite, the Ocean Sunset.

I absolutely love the mix of soft warm and cool shades, they all work beautifully together and I find the color combination so inspiring. It's one of these rare palettes that boost my creativity: I open it and I see so many different looks that I can create, from an all matte colorful smoky to a shiny halo or an office-friendly soft look. The shades are colorful and vibrant but not loud, so they're easy to wear. The two mid-tone pinks are absolutely unique in my collection. The quality of the shadows is also excellent overall. There's some kickback in the pans, but they don't look powdery on the lid or cause much fallout, and they blend very well. The only difficult shade is Sea Water, the glittery silver with green undertones. This one needs extra care, but the rest are a breeze to apply.

I wholeheartedly recommend this palette if you're tired of true neutral browns, but want neither a red-toned warm palette or a collection of neon brights.


NARS BORD DE PLAGE FACE PALETTE


This palette is so good I get a little emotional when I use it. The compact is absolutely beautiful, classy and "grown up" (no tacky gold or unicorns here!), the colors are perfectly picked, and the powders are so finely milled they caress my skin without a hint of powderiness. They make my skin look bronzed and glowy, in such a natural way that it's hard to tell I'm wearing makeup. This is the one product in this list that I reviewed. I absolutely recommend Bord de Plage to anyone with light to medium skin tone.


NARS LIQUID BLUSH


Nars has launched some really amazing products this year. Their Liquid Blush is another one of them. Again, it's a product that, if applied well, makes my skin look naturally gorgeous rather than "made up". It's surprisingly pigmented, even the lighter shade Luster that I own, so a little goes a very long way and there's a bit of a learning curve to apply it. But it has such a beautiful, healthy-looking satin finish and the color is so perfect for my skin tone! I definitely recommend it if you like a natural looking flush, just keep in mind that the liquid is extremely pigmented.


PETER THOMAS ROTH WATER DRENCH HYALURONIC CLOUD CREAM


Beauty isn't only about makeup, and one of my 5 favorite products this year is this new moisturizer. Peter Thomas Roth always goes overboard with their marketing, but if you look past that, they have some really good products. For me the Water Drench Cloud Cream is a game changer. The weightless gel texture literally melts on the skin, and despite being very light it provides a ton of moisture. I didn't have to switch to a heavier moisturizer when the weather got cooler, I get all I need from it. I'd definitely recommend it for people with dehydrated skin who don't like creamier textures.






The products featured in this post were all purchased by me. I received no compensation to write this post, which only reflects my personal opinion. This post contains affiliate links. I receive a very small commission when you click on those links, and the money generated covers a small portion of my expenses to purchase products for review. Clicking on those links helps ensure that Beaumiroir continues to publish reviews of new and exciting high end French products - at no cost to you!