Holy Grail Status

Within the beauty blogging community, the term "holy grail" gets thrown around a lot (often shortened simply to HG). When I first began reading blogs several years ago, I'll fully admit that I saw the term HG tossed around a lot without any clue what it meant. Fast forward to today, and I can finally understand the elusive quest for the best beauty products, the "holy grail" products that outshine any and all competition.

Now, as I'm sure many of you have noticed, I'm a bit fickle when it comes to makeup. Often I'll rave about something one day then find a new favorite the next. So perhaps for me, my HG products are a little more on a short term basis. But for right now, there are a few products I love that I have found just completely and totally surpass any of the competition (and I have tried a lot of competitors). And today, I'd like to share a few of those with you!

Foundation

Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua -I am forever grateful to Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup for writing about this foundation, because without reading her rave reviews of it I probably wouldn't have even bothered to try it out. Up until this foundation I was strictly a tinted moisturizer/BB Cream type girl - a low-coverage option with hydrating properties was always my go-to. However the Vitalumiere Aqua completely changed my perception of foundations, and the water-y formula for this guy showed me that foundations can look completely natural and radiant. Unfortunately, the one downside to this formula is that I find it clings to my dry patches during the colder months, so it's strictly a Spring/Summer base for me. That being said, it's still the only foundation I've come across that I've really fallen head over heels for, so I can deal with that minor inconvenience and still safely call this my HG foundation.

Tinted Moisturizer

Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturizer - I know, I know, I need to shut up about this already. But it's just. so. good! I am all for low-coverage base options, and this product provides just enough coverage to even out my skin tone and add a hint of radiance that brightens my face. While it's named as a tinted moisturizer, the coverage and consistency sit somewhere between a higher-coverage TM and a low-coverage foundation. This all adds up to the most natural looking makeup that I've ever had the pleasure to put on my face!

Corrector

Giorgio Armani Master Corrector - With my dark circles I've tried out my fair share of correctors, but nothing I've used even holds a candle to the amazing formula that is Armani's Master Corrector! This thin liquid corrector comes in two shades (a pink and an orange) and is specifically formulated to correct darkness underneath the eyes. I personally own the pink shade, and the highly pigmented corrector helps to drastically cut down the darkness underneath my eyes. Once I layer a little concealer on top, I'm good to go for the day! This corrector is also incredibly natural looking (a theme I'm sure you're starting to see in all these products) and gives a skin-like finish that I had never had the pleasure of coming across with a corrector. Overall, this is a real winner in my book, and there's no competition for it being named as HG Corrector for me.

Concealer

Giorgio Armani Maestro Eraser -What this concealer lacks in coverage it more than makes up for in skincare benefits and a natural, skin-like finish. As someone with ridiculously dark undereye circles I'm always looking for something that will cover them up, and ironically my HG came in the form of a low-coverage, liquid-y concealer. I have this in shade 3 which is a wonderful pinkish beige color that works to color correct and cover. While I usually need to layer a bit of a highlighter on top of this, it's well worth it for all the benefits I get from this awesome concealer. 

Highlighter

By Terry Touche Veloutee -I often layer this on top of my Armani Maestro Eraser for a (still natural looking) brighter finish to underneath my eyes. I've tried many different highlighters, but this thin formula is the only one I've tried that I would consider to be both a medium-coverage concealer as well as an ultra-brightening highlighter. Aside from working wonderfully underneath my eyes, this highlighter is also perfect for brightening other areas of my face, such as my cheekbones and down my nose. This gem is an all-around great buy, and one that I have a feeling will be a future repeat purchase (even if it's ridiculously expensive - I'm crazy).

Blush

Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush -  Now I must start off with saying that while this is HG status for me, it's not just for one shade. I currently own four different shades of this gem, and I fall in love with each one more than the next. At the moment, my favorite is Natural Beauty, which is a gorgeous rosy red (my rather repetitive description) that adds the perfect flush of colors to my cheeks. The reason this holds HG status for me is the color range, the pigmentation, the longevity and a never ending list of other lovely features.

What are your HG beauty products? Let me know in the comments below!