My Top 10 Makeup Products of 2012

These are my top ten makeup products of 2012, and by that I mean products that I have bought this year, not necessarily ones that came out this year. These are the makeup products that really stood out to me this year, and ones that I expect to still be using in 2013.

1) Corrector: Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Peach

(No Runners Up)

This is actually the only 'corrector' I have ever used, but this is honestly HG status for me and I don't see any reason to try another one for the moment. I get blue/purple tones under my eyes (PRETTY!) so this really helps to cancel out those tones before I start properly concealing.

2) Concealer: Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer in Porcelain

(Runner Up: Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer)

My under-eyes have started to get incredibly dry (especially during this time of year) so I felt like the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer was just getting a little drying for me, although I do think it is a great product, so I now use the Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer which I think is excellent. It gives great coverage while not drying out my skin and it stays put all day with a bit of setting powder. I also think the colour is great for my pale skin because, similarly to Bobbi Brown herself, I do not find pinky tones flattering at all and pale foundations and concealers tend to be very pink.

3) Mascara: Armani Eyes To Kill 

(Runners Up: Revlon Grow Luscious & YSL False Lash Effect) 

This is such a great everyday mascara because it is really simple, it does not have a really fancy brush and you do not have to wait for your first coat to dry before applying another one because it just does not go clumpy. It really delivers in terms of giving volume and length.

4) Foundation: YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat in BD40

(Runners Up: Rimmel Match Perfection, Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum & Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation)

This is my new favourite foundation. It gives a really glowy/dewy effect and that is absolutely what I look for in a foundation as I have such dry skin. I think the colour range it great and it gives a nice coverage without any kind of cakey effect. HOLY GRAIL PRODUCT right here.

5) Blusher: NARS Blush in Luster

(Runners Up: Mac Sheertone Blush in Breath of Plum & Dainty Doll Cream Blush in Orange County Girl)

This is my favourite blusher of all time, I first heard about it through Estee and I just agree that it is the perfect blush for pale skin, it really helps lift my complexion and make it look healthier and brighter.

6) Highlighter: Mac Mineralize Skin Finish (Soft & Gentle)

(Runners Up: Jemma Kidd All Over Radiance Creme in Rose Gold)

I just think is a really pretty gold/peach highlighter and goes with any makeup look so it is really versatile and I think similarly to Nars Luster it helps make my skin look so much healthier.

7) Lip Product: YSL Glossy Stain in 11 & 7

(Runners Up: Revlon Kissable Balm Stains & Revlon Lip Butters)

I have really dry lips so any lip product that does not completely dry them out and feel uncomfortable is welcome into my life. I love how versatile these are because you can wear them as a really comfortable stain or as a full-on gloss which stays on for hours.

8) Eyeshadow: Maybelline 24 Hour Color Tattoo (Bad to the Bronze)

(Runners Up: Mac Eyeshadow in Cranberry & Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten)

This is what I wear when I don't know what to wear and I don't want to spend hours doing my makeup. I just put this on and a bit of mascara and my eyes are done. I think this looks amazing on blue eyes because it really brings the colour out.

9) Eyeliner: Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner

(Runners Up: Topshop Khol eyeliners)

This is just a great gel liner which is really easy to use, really black and stays put all day/all night. It also comes with a brush which is pretty useful.

10) Tool: Real Techniques Stippling Brush

(Runners Up: Real Techniques Buffing Brush, Real Techniques Buffing Brush & Japonesque Safari Mini Crease Brush)

I find this brush really useful because you can use it for foundation, blush, highlighting, bronzing, for cream products, for powder products... It is just a great all-round brush and it is particularly amazing for cream blushers.

Let me know what your favourite discoveries of 2012 have been!

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Green & Grey Nails

I never used to paint my nails on a regular basis but it is something I have started getting into quite recently. I bought a glitter nail varnish about a year ago and although I am not really a glittery/sparkly girl, I have been using it quite a lot in the last month. 

When I did my nails like this, I decided I wanted to use two colours I have been neglecting a bit at the moment, the grey nail polish and the green one. I don't actually really like the green polish by itself so this was a good way to add a bit of colour without painting all my nails in a disgusting pastel mint green colour (which I am not a huge fan of if I am honest).

Left to right: Sally Hansen Hard As Nails, OPI Skull & Glossbones, Barry M Nail Paint Mint Green, Rimmel I <3 Lasting Finish 500 Disco Ball, Seche Vite.

I started off by applying Sally Hansen Hard As Nails, then once that was dry I applied OPI Skull & Glossbones over, but only on four nails on each hand. I decided to put the Barry M Mint Green colour on my ring finger on my left hand and my thumb on my other hand. Once that was dry, I put the Rimmel Disco Ball varnish over the top of the green nails, concentrating more heavily on the tips. I then used my trusty Seche Vite over all my nails so they would dry quicker, I also find it stops the nails with glitter on them from feeling so gritty as well as making my nails look shinier.

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O.P.I Just Spotted The Lizard

I actually have to thank Chelsea from chelsea wears... for this find because she talked about it a while back and it has been on my mind ever since! My boyfriend actually bought this for me so I thankfully did not have to pay £11 for it (which I think is a bit of a crazy sum of money for a nail varnish but hey ho!).

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Five Fall Favourites

Although I have been super busy at the moment and crap at posting anything, I thought I would do a quick post on some of my favourite things this Autumn/Fall, whatever you want to call it.

I just picked up a few things that I have been gravitating towards this month, with no particular plan of what kind of things I was going to be writing about.

MAC Sheertone Blush in Breath of Plum

I have been using this blush quite a lot over the last two months or so, because I find it goes with pretty much any make-up look I have going on. It is quite natural looking, and it looks particularly great with a dark lip.

Prada Candy

This is probably going to be a lifelong favourite of mine and I would love to be really accurate at describing smells but I am the worst. TO ME, this smells kind of floral, but warm and pretty sweet at the same time. If you don't like sweet perfumes you will absolutely hate this, but I'm not really into any kind of zesty, zingy smells when it comes to perfume and to me this is perfection.

I am a bit of a Daisy by Marc Jacobs kind of girl but I have been wearing this more at the moment (I feel like I am cheating on my boyfriend).

Ikea Apple & Cinnamon Candle

Am I right in thinking apple & cinnamon is a really Autumnal smell? I am sure a lot of the Diptyque/Neom candle girls out there would be disgusted by my taste in candles, but I absolutely love Ikea candles. They are so cheap and a lot of them smell so, so good. Some of them I am not so keen on, but I love this one and the rose one.

Barry M Nail Paint in Raspberry

This is new to me, old to most. I just think this is a really pretty colour for this time of year, when the leaves are all falling. (Although most of ours have been mushed by premature snow).

PS: I am aware that I should hate this because it is called 'Raspberry'- bleurgh.

The Body Shop Peach Body Butter

I am not a huge fan of The Body Shop body butters just because I used to work there so I kind of got bored of them and all the smells. However, I love the smell of peaches and so this is right up my street. It is so moisturising and I love covering myself in this before getting into bed so my bed smells all delicious too.

Let me know what your favourites are!

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Five Autumn Lip Picks

Autumn kicked in a few ago now so these are the lip products I have been wearing the most. They are all products that are still in store at the moment so if you are in need of a new lip colour, I recommend all five of these.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush

It took me so long to jump on the bandwagon, but I am so glad I finally did! I absolutely love the moisturising formula of these bad boys, although I am not that excited by the colour range (in the UK at least). However, this colour is really gorgeous for Autumn time because AS ALWAYS, berry/cherry/burgundy/etc lips are always 'in' around this time of year and they just go really well with the whole Autumn 'look'. So unoriginal, I know, but this kind of colour just really screams Autumn.

Revlon Colorstay Lipliner in Plum

Another one of those colours, which features quite heavily in this post but what can you do. I thought this would go really well with all the deep red lipsticks I had bought and it matches them all pretty well.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry

I had been on the hunt for this particular shade for quite a while before I finally noticed they were in stock in Boots. I first heard about this through Essiebutton's blog and just thought it was really beautiful. I really love this and it is so satisfying to actually own this after it being on my mind for such a long period of time. (Sad?!)

Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in 113

A nice orange toned nude lipstick. I don't own a lot of matte lipstick because my lips are so dry but I really liked the peachy tones in this. It's just a really nice nude shade and it's not as drying as I usually find other matte lipsticks.

Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick in 107

Another one of those deep red colours (I'm so sorry) but again this one is matte which made it a bit more adventurous for me and I had seen it on other people and thought it was stunning so how could I not?!

Kate Moss 107, Revlon Kissable Balm Stain in Crush,
Revlon lipliner in Plum, Revlon Black Cherry, Kate Moss 113.

What are your Autumn lip picks?

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Recent Purchases # 2

Hey hey.

There have been quite a lot of student discount deals going on at the moment so I made a few purchases from Urban Outfitters and Topshop because they both had 20% off quite recently.

In my Urban Outfitters order I got the Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat nail varnish because I think Chelsea has mentioned this before and I'm a pretty big Chelsea Wears fan so when I saw it on sale I had to get it. I also don't own a top coat so I thought I might as well give one a go.

Price: £10

Sale Price: £5

+ 20% off: £4

I also got these skull cross earrings from Urban Outfitters as well because I love a good skull or two. Always have, always will. I think these are super cute so you know, why not!

Price: £10

Sale Price: £5

+ 20% off: £4

At Topshop I got a couple of eyeliners, in the colours Coal and Saddle (so basically black and brown).

I really like these, they are really creamy eyeliners and glide on really well.

They also don't transfer or smudge throughout the day on me so I like these a lot.

Price: £4

+ 20% off: £3.20

I also got in my Urban Outfitters order this super cute set of brushes from Japonesque, and they are the ones from the Safari range.

They are quite small so I don't know if they are supposed to be travel size or what but they are so soft and pretty and they also come in a little case which is useful.

You get an eyeshadow brush, a powder brush and a blending brush. However I find the eyeshadow brush a bit too big and fluffly for that purpose so I will be using it as a crease brush.

Price: £28

+ 20% off: £22.4

And I think that is all!

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Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme in Rose Gold

I have read a lot about this product in the past and although people kept saying that pale skinned girls should go for the Iced Gold colour, I went for Rose Gold anyway.

The reason why I did that was because I think I tend to suit warmer toned make-up rather than cooler tones. I am not sure why because I am a pale, blue eyed, blonde girl so I should suit silvery colours but I really don't.

RAMBLE!

Onto the product itself, it is a cream based product (no kidding) and it is actually a lot more subtle than I thought it was going to be. This is a bit of a bummer for me because I like to go pretty heavy on the highlighter and I find cream products harder to build up. It isn't overly shimmery which is probably why it looks quite subdued. 

The colour is a really pretty warm gold colour and I just put it down the bridge of my nose, above my cheekbones and above my top lip. As I said, it is pretty subtle compared to the powder highlighters I am used to but the colour is really unique and beautiful- and for that reason, I could get used to going down the more subtle road.

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MAC Costa Chic

Whenever I am at a Mac counter I get pretty overwhelmed by all the different lipsticks so I have started asking my boyfriend to pick one out for me (not because I am a man-pleaser but because I am lazy).

Obviously if he pointed out a revolting sparkly baby pink I would say HELL NAW.

He actually bought this one for me so IF you are reading, THANK YOU!

This is Mac Costa Chic.

It is a pale coral colour and it is a Frost but I actually don't understand...this seems no different to me from the Cremesheen formula. It doesn't seem to have any sort of frosty effect. Maybe it is so subtle that it is barely visible, I don't know.

Like 99% of all beauty bloggers I am obsessed with peachy/coral/apricot tones, so it is no surprise that this is my kind of lipstick. It is so easy to wear because although it is quite a bright coral, the fact that it is fairly pale makes it not too OTT.

I just think this is really pretty and although I only got it recently I can tell this is going to become a favourite of mine. I don't own anything else like it so I am really happy to now have this :)

What are your favourite Mac lipsticks?

LET ME KNOW!

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Some Things I Love From The Body Shop

OH HEY!

I just thought I would mention a couple of my favourite products from The Body Shop right now because there are some really lovely products that stand out to me.

The first product is the Peach Body Butter which if I am correct only just came out quite recently.

In general I am not a HUGE body butter fan just because I have worked at TBS in the past and kind of got bored of all the smells.

However, I still really like the Cocoa one and this Peach one because I absolutely LOVE the smell of peaches and this is very peachy.

I don't really need to tell you all about the benefits of body butters because I am sure 99% of the people reading this will have heard of or tried them before.

This is my absolute favourite face mask EVER. The Honey & Oat 3-In-1 Scrub Mask works wonders for my particular type of skin (fairly sensitive, very dry). I just put it on for 10-15 mins, let it work it's magic and then take it off with warm water. I do this in circular motions though so I get the scrubby effect.

I find this really hydrating and just a 10/10 product :)

So...yeah. Check me out with the face mask on.

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