Dainty Ditsy In 2018 - The Best Bits... #DitsyDecember

This post is definitely a regular round these parts come #DitsyDecember. Not only do I enjoy doing yearly favourites posts (which will be coming in the early new year as always), I also really like looking back on my blog itself over the past year too. I did it this time last year here for 2017 and the year before that in 2016 - so why not continue a running tradition, right? Let's get into looking back on Dainty Ditsy over the past year of 2018...

Starting in January, I of course kicked things off by looking ahead towards the coming year and what my plans may be, before (as always) running you through my yearly favourites of 2017 here and here. I discovered a brand new hair brush that I still love - and a new favourite shampoo and conditioner duo that I are also still my go-to's. I found some brand new awesome makeup from the drugstore and also made some good finds from Revolution (in particular, their at-the-time-new Conceal and Define Concealer), before rounding off the month with some helpful hints 'n' tips for liquid highlighter!

In February, I did a pretty big makeup declutter (split into three posts here, here and here), before also giving my nail polish collection the same treatment. I made up for it by hauling a few new items - one of which being the a new launch from Benefit, which I later reviewed and perhaps wasn't too much of a fan of - and I also extended my collection of new sheet masks too, before discovering a new favourite foundation/base combination, which I still really enjoy.

Then we come to March - and I started the month off by trying out a well-known beauty hack - trying out my concealer as contour. Yes, really! I also shared my current nude lipstick favourites, before doing yet another haul of new-in goodies from Revolution. I know, I know. I finally did a round-up of all of my favourite matte liquid lip formulas that I've tried so far, before giving one colour from one range in particular a standalone shout-out, but I also definitely shone the spotlight on the base side of my makeup this month too, such as when I compared the formulas of my two all-time favourite concealers here. To finish off the month, I also shared what I deem to be my favourite hair 'treatment' too!

And then we come to April - my namesake month! I started the month by sharing with you my current crop of Empties, before also sharing you my hair, when I decided to start going even blonder! I did a few hauls (what's new?) of some new makeup and also some new brushes and also showed you all what was currently making up my haircare routine! I showed a couple of new, super-pretty nail polishes that I really rather like (here and here), before rounding off the month by doing a much-needed round up of all of my top, top picks from Revolution that I'd tried so far. Because, I definitely think I'd have some others to add by this point...

Next up, we have May - my birthday month! What with it being my 21st, I did a fair few birthday-related posts - including a more personal one and also my birthday nails, twice! You can check both of them out here and here. It was also definitely the month of all things glittery and glowy - what with me sharing a potential Stila dupe, before rounding up all of my favourite Summer highlighters too! I also rediscovered an old favourite haircare miracle product, before reviewing a brand new eyeshadow palette, which has now become one of my all-time favourites. Definitely check it out if you haven't already!

June was certainly the month of a lot of nail posts! Whether it be running you all through my Summer go-to's, showing you my recent 'Night Out' nail look or adding a few new lacquers into my stash - there was quite a lot of nail-related goodness, which I love. But, I definitely also shared a lot of non-nail content too! I discovered a lot of new favourite products (which included rediscovering this body scrub), shared with you some tips on how to get the most out of your eyeshadow palettes, before trying out the new Soph X Revolution Collection - which I bloomin' loved. It was a pretty good month...

July saw a rather makeup-heavy month. I discovered a new liquid lipstick formula (that actually, reminded me a lot of an old favourite), did yet another Revolution Beauty Haul (yes, really) and also shared my 'First Impressions' of some new makeup products that I'd recently added to my stash. I also kinds stepped out of my comfort zone a little - whether it be skipping face primer for the first time in a while, or even trying out a heated eyelash curler! Spoiler alert - it wasn't all I thought it would be. However, with it being slap-bang in the middle of the year, let's not forget that I also did my usual half-yearly favourites too! It's a tradition, yanno?

Then we come to August! The month where Zoella Beauty typically release their Summer Collection - which they did - and so, I of course shared my review here! I also was lucky enough to go to London this month for the first time in literal years and inevitably made a few makeup purchases (and also one bag purchase) too! Aside from that, I also did a couple of mini 'series' this month - one where I shared with you some awesome budget picks (here and here) and another that featured sharing with you some go-to brushes (here and here) - and I also shared a rundown of what I would deem to be the perfect 'Makeup Starter Kit' too!

September saw the start of Autumn and I rediscovered an old favourite mascara, ran through all of my favourite nail colours for the upcoming season and also some nude lip colours that are ideal for Autumn too. But, that wasn't all - I also did a couple of handy 'The Many Uses Of' Posts, a couple of pretty 'Polish Picks' and also, perhaps most excitingly - tried out the at-the-time-new Revolution Conceal and Define Foundation (Spoiler alert - I love it) and later in the month gave you an updated base routine featuring how I'd been integrating it into my routine!

In October made a lot of good, exciting makeup discoveries. Not only did I finally try out the infamous P.Louise Base, I also sampled the new mascara from Revolution and finally gave Wet 'N' Wild a go, with the brand at last launching over here in the UK! I featured a couple of new Barry M lacquers in a couple of 'Polish Picks', empties my beauty bin again and did a kind of sequel to the 'Autumn Nudes' post I did the month before, this time sharing all of the bold and deeper colours I like to wear come the Autumn time. I also finally updated what I like to call my 'Beauty Station'-type storage system in my bedroom too - yay!

Then, we come to November - the penultimate month of the year! As it was the month before #DitsyDecember, I definitely spent a lot of my time that month preparing and getting ready as much as I could for December, but that certainly doesn't mean there weren't some good'un's this month. I discovered a new bangin' spot cleaner for my eye brushes (that's super-affordable too), shared the love by giving shout-outs to some of my favourite makeup accounts on Instagram and shared with you a couple of eye makeup additions I'd made to my stash recently too, to name but a few. But, that wasn't all! I also showed you all just what was on my Beauty Bay Wishlist - with their 'Blagging Rights' Black Friday Sale doing on at the time - shared my first festive-inspired nail look of the year and rounded off the month by showing a few things I'd picked up in Primark Beauty section lately...
 
And so, last but certainly by no means least - we come to December! The last month of the year, the month of Christmas and obviously, my daily blogging series #DitsyDecember. Once again, I've throughly enjoyed it this year and it's not even full over just yet. Fingers crossed you're all up-to-date on this years' series, but if not - feel free to catch up here!

So, overall, this year's been pretty good for my blog. I'm really happy with my content this year and I really, really hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have putting it all together. Here's to 2019!