This weekend I thought it was time for a moment of reflection. 2014 has been a good year so far for the landscape of my beauty stash. There has been a slew of new foundation formulas that have made their way into my collection, a drugstore lipstick formula that’s been satisfying my need for really matte, really bold lips, new brushes that I go to grab on a daily basis and finally, finally – a replacement for the long discontinued L’Oreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara. So I thought I’d check in today with a list of 10 of the best really cool products that I’ve discovered this year to date…
1) St Tropez Self Tan Express Tanning Mousse. Of course the Xen-Tan Dark Lotion Absolute Luxe will always be up there when it comes to tanning, but this offering from St Tropez comes in very handy when you’re in need of a quickie boost. Yes the three hours when you walk around feeling very bronzed and slightly tacky aren’t the most comfortable of your day but when it’s rinsed off tanned limbs are exposed and those uncomfortable hours are forgotten.
2) Optrex Eyedew Dazzling Eye Drops. Long nights and tired eyes made me look like a vampire for the first half of the year, but my peepers were restored to their bright eyed, eight hours of sleep look again when I found these. The blue-tinged formula waves goodbye to the redness and adds a bit of dew back into my otherwise dry and watery eyes. Nice.
3) Make Up For Ever HD Foundation in 125. My new filming foundation of choice. The combination of lights and a camera lens do weird things to makeup but this base is the equivalent of good skin in a bottle in HD quality. For everyday use I find it a little heavy, but for on camera or evenings out it’s perfect and gives a good whack of coverage without feeling or looking like a mask.
4) Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipstick. I think may just be one of my favourite finds of the year as I’ve just never tried anything like or as good as this before when it comes to bold lips. The texture is thin and it’s difficult to work out how it turns so opaque and matte on the lips but once it dries down it ain’t going anywhere and the colours are just spot on. Olé Flamingo, Pink Pong and Hot Pepper are my favourites.
5) LORAC Pro Eyeshadow Palette. Neutral eye goodness. With 16 shades in total – 8 shimmer and 8 matte – I think I could quite happily exclusively use this palette every day and be chuffed with the finished eyeshadow look. There’s a mix of warm and cool tones and the formula is spot-on: buttery, pigmented and easy to blend. A toughie to find in the UK, but it’s definitely worth hopping over the Atlantic for.
6) Oskia Get Up & Glow. A skincare/makeup hybrid that delivers a big dose of glow in just one pump. It’s not shimmery, nor overly dewy in texture so I’m not quite sure how it does it but this has become my go-to grab for no makeup days to de-grey my complexion. In fact Oskia in general is a 2014 major discovery. There’s not one thing I’ve tried that I haven’t loved.
7) Fairydrops Scandal Queen Waterproof Mascara. After about a year of seeking for it, I’ve finally found the LOreal Telescopic Waterproof Mascara replacement. This stuff rocks. With the ability to hold a curl though wind, rain and tears and in a formula that doesn’t even leave a hint of shadow under my eyes by the end of a long day, there’s nothing I don’t love about it.
8) Bobbi Brown Brushes. Why you so soft? Seriously. It’s been a long time since any new brushes have been welcomed into the clan, but after hauling a few of these recently – the Eye Blender, Sheer Powder and Full Coverage Face ones – I’m converted. Fluffy and in cuts that result in a professional finish which others do I need to add to my collection?
9) Tom Ford Eye Defining Pen. I’ve gradually been improving my lining skills throughout this year and while they’re still not perfect and the odd cotton bud has to perform clean-up duty every now and again, this liquid liner has played a big part in my improvement. It glides over the lash line depositing an opaque line of black, black pigment and the choice of nib lengths means you can reach right in to the inner and outer corners.
10) Anastasia Brow Wiz. I think I’m at the point where I finally feel comfortable to say that yes – I do prefer this to the Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil. The shade Soft Brown is a decent enough match and the teenie, tiny nib means I can address my sparse areas with precision filling-in. With this discovery and my entry into the world of threading it’s fair to say that 2014 has been the year of the brow.
Only a few months left for products to weasel their way into my 2014 Favourites, which means it’s less than a 100 days till Christmas Day and I’m not gonna’ lie. That makes me way too excited.
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