12 of 2012

...Better late than never? Apologies for my longer-than-planned break, and the belatedness of this "best of 2012" year in review post; I'm looking forward to catching up with all of your picks (and other blog posts, and comments) soon.

My Favourite (New) Things: 2012

(I've excluded any new shades in formulas I was already familiar with -- as I'm much more texturally picky this helped focus my selection from a pretty good year for makeup discoveries.)

Shu Uemura Brightening UV Underbase Mousse SPF30 A moisturising, texture- and colour-correcting primer to knock out both sallowness and redness at once, and vanish pores, without leaving skin too ashy-cool or matte; effective enough that I can usually skip foundation afterwards.

Suki CC Cream 02 Whitening I still enjoy the ritual of applying foundation, even (maybe especially) when it isn't a necessity, and a tiny drop or two of this pigmented lavender-tinted bargain (about £2 at Sasa) lightens and neutralises most of the 'palest' shades on the market to actually match my skin, without discernibly changing their formulas.

Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Luminous Foundation 90 (more) Any foundation that matches me out of the box [okay, it's a hair dark now in the depths of winter, but nothing a dab of Suki can't solve] is a noteworthy discovery; factor in a creamy, clean-ingredients-filled formula, a skinlike finish and a small company with decent ethics to support and we have a favourite for this year, and no doubt many to come.

Burberry Sheer Touch Concealer 01 (more) The best texture I've ever encountered in a concealer, and the perfect pink tones in a shade darker than my skin to knock back my blue/green circles without making my face look unnaturally flat. One click suffices so this tube has been going strong since May, with daily use. (Honourable mention goes to Korres Materia Herba Anti-Dark Circles Eye Cream (reviewed here, with my other skincare discoveries of 2012), without which this click-pen wouldn't provide sufficient coverage.)

Rouge Bunny Rouge Eye Gloss Typical of RBR, to nail a product I'd been craving for years: a truly glossy (no glitter or iridescent sheen), absolutely un-sticky highlighter, versatile enough to use under, over or mixed with powders on the lid, or elsewhere on the face. Stands on its own in minimalist looks too.

L'Oreal Telescopic False Lash Waterproof Mascara (worn here and here) Every bit as good as the Fasio mascara I reviewed earlier this year, but available locally, and currently on BOGOF at Boots. Made in Italy, but with the gimmicky wand and separate-remover-needed apocalypse-proof formula more usually found in Japanese brands.

Tom Ford Eyeshadow Blend Brush (review and comparison with my other blenders soon.) Excellent balanced goat-hair crease/blending brush, made by Hakuhodo.

Most of the colour products I've already reviewed:
Dolce&Gabbana Sole blush (here) and Guerlain Rouge G L'Extrait M25 Colère (here) are both great examples of bright, clear reds with enough corally warmth to counteract my naturally cool pink cheeks and mauve lips, in faultless formulas.
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner 05 Eye Rock (here) is the best black liner I can imagine, and I've professed my love for the Shu Uemura Karl Lagerfeld Prestigious Bordeaux Palette so frequently and recently that surely no more need be said.

Still forthcoming, a review of Kiko Long-Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 04 Golden Chocolate, which in short is another By-Terry-Ombre-Blackstar-a-like, and even cheaper than the Topshop version.

Scent of the Year: L'Artisan Seville À L'Aube

I've helpfully drawn your attention to the reason for my purchase....

Totally cheating, since this is the only unplanned fragrance purchase I made this year. But I don't like playing favourites with my pretties anyway -- it feels like....playing favourites. I reach for lush white florals to chase away winter blues and this one is a particularly gorgeous rendition: bright orange-blossom and honeyed jasmine, delicately edged in incense, the sweetness cut with subtlest lavender and lifted by sparkling pink pepper -- bottled sunlight.


PS If any of you remember my resolution last January to buy only twelve new products in the year (discounting replacements and staples) and was expecting this post to wrap that up -- in conclusion, big fat fail. Of the eight products I bought before nixing the plan, I've kept two, only one of which (D&G Sole) made it onto this list of favourites (the other was RBR Calypso eye pencil), which is actually worse than my usual impulsive/unplanned hit-rate. [Overall my collection has shrunk -- of which more in a future post -- but I don't think the 12-12 project deserves any credit for that.]
For the last few months of 2012 I've had more success employing a one-in-one-out system of replacement buying, with no 'free' purchases, and will be continuing with that plan in 2013.