2012 Favourite Beauty Products

| Topics: Bobbi Brown, brows, Estée Lauder, eyes, face, Hakuhodo, kit building, lips

Happy New Year everyone! I realise this blog hasn't been touched in a while, so I'm going to do a big round-up of my favourite and most frequently used products of the year as a catch-up.

FACE
1. DMK Crème Glacé: This primer is amazing and I only need a tiny dab to cover my whole face! Highly spreadable until it dries to a matte finish, the glacé melts into my skin and easily minimizes large pores. It also tends to slightly lighten the skin, so don't put too much on as it will take a while to set.

2. Ben Nye Total Conceal-All Wheel Nk11: A seriously all-in-one wheel that pretty much covers everything. I mostly use the green for redness (GC-1), yellow for dark circles (MY-3), light beige for lightening under the eyes (NR-1), and pink for brown spots (NT-1). Only a very little amount needs to be used as the product is highly pigmented and can otherwise be too thick.

3. Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation (#52): Gives light to medium coverage. Best worn at night as it does not contain SPF and will not give you that deathly look in flash photos. It does not look caked on no matter how much I apply, and gives me a dewy finish.

4. Ben Nye Neutral Set Translucent Powder: Super super fine powder to set my foundation. The perfect finisher to makeup. Also great for touchups to control oil and shine throughout the day. I sprinkle some out on a tissue and use a buffer brush to gently apply.

EYES
1. MAC Paint Pot in Painterly: A fully nude, matte colour that I use as an eyeshadow primer/base. Once dried, it. does. not. budge. :D

2. Max Factor Colour Effects Trio Eye Shadow in Coco Crazy: I use this for work as it is compact and very sheer. The lightest colour is great to dab on the inner corners to brighten up the eyes and as a brow-bone highlighter, while the dark brown gives just a hint of shadow. Colour payoff is a little better when used wet, but I normally just brush it on dry.

3. Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliner in Black Plum Ink: The first time my gf found this, she chased me all over the shop with it to get me to buy, but I preferred black and refused. The next time I visited, I chanced upon it again and decided to try it out. I am now totally in love. Not only is it the one gel liner that's genuinely smudge-proof when dried, it's also waterproof and lasts ALL DAY. No other pencil, gel or liquid liner that I've ever tried comes as close. Despite the name, the colour is a dark brown that I can use to multi-task on both my eyes and brows.

CHEEKS
1. Canmake Cream Blush in #03: The first product ever that I've actually hit pan! That's how much I love and use it. Given to me by a gf who had 2 and did not like it. However, I found the product incredibly blendable and surprisingly sheer.

LIPS
1. EOS Lip Balm Sphere in Summer Fruit: Not only is the packaging totally cute and fun to use, it smells delicious and tastes sweet. Oh, and it keeps my lips super soft and moisturised too.

2. Gorgeous Cosmetics Lipstick in Dreamy: A nude coral-pink lipstick that I can smack on without looking lipless or dead. It works well under almost any tinted gloss.

3. Estee Lauder Pure Color Gloss to Go Set: I love every colour in this set, but the ones I use the most has got to be Pink Innocence, Wired Copper, and Star Ruby. They all smell heavenly, are super glossy, and gives a slight colour boost (or alternative tint) to any lipstick.

BRUSHES
When I'm in a rush, I tend to use fingers, but my basic brushes are narrowed down to these:

1. Hakuhodo K005 Eye Shadow Brush (H2159): Stiff hairs but soft tips. My absolute essential brush for applying gel liner.

2. G5557-2mm Powder & Liquid Brush round/angled (H2277): I only use this for liquid foundation as it stipples and buffs to perfection. I have hated all other duo-fibre stippling brushes as I find the bristles too long and prickly for my liking. These bristles, however, are much shorter, softer, and incredibly dense, giving me greater pricision and control. I need very little product to cover my whole face. Cleaning and drying takes ages, but that's easily forgivable in light of what it does.

3. Hakuhodo J527G Powder Brush D (H2982): Best. Buffer. Brush. Ever! The bristles are super fine and super soft. It buffs like a dream and gives me an absolutely flawless finish. Price is horribly steep but I swear it's well worth it as I will now not use any other brush for powder.