2012 Favourites

Although I did use a lot of old tried-and-true stuff in 2012, I wanted to narrow this end of year post into just the favourites I discovered this year. It was a good year for new products, especially drugstore, so there are a few things that I suspect will crop up on pretty much everyone's list.

Real Techniques Brushes
There's not much to say about these - everyone has them, everyone loves them. I just grabbed the two cleanest ones for my picture but honestly I love almost all the ones I have (there are a couple of eye ones I don't really use much but they came in a set). These brushes seem to have (rightly) overshadowed the ubiquitous and highly over-rated Sigma somewhat this year. More power to them.

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Light Medium
I think this cropped up in my last 3 or so monthly favourites. It's been my go to powder for months now and I just love it. It doesn't cake, it doesn't feel dry, it doesn't look 'powdery'. Awesome stuff.

Revlon Lip Butters
Again, I just grabbed a couple out of the fridge but if I had to pin down favourite colours I'd probably say Berry Smoothie and Pink Truffle. These are probably my all time favourite lip products - so easy to wear, nice colour without being OTT, moisturising. LOVE.

Garnier BB Cream Miracle Skin Perfector for Oily to Combination Skin
I've said many times I hated the original version of this with a passion, but this one is fan-freakin'-tastic. It's not a BB Cream - we all know that. But it's good stuff, and I love it teamed with the MAC MSF for a quick and easy face.

Echolife Rose Hip Oil
I use it as a night moisturiser 4 or 5 times a week and it makes my skin soft and smooth, and tones down any redness I might have gotten from messing about with too many products. Love this stuff. I still have about half a bottle left and I've been using it for months so a teeny bit really goes a long way.

Maybelline Color Tattoos
Oh, Maybelline. You really pulled a rabbit out of a hat with these! Fantastic cream shadows that I use both as a base for powder shadows or on their own if I'm being lazy and still want to look like I made a bit of an effort. I can't get enough of them. My most used is probably Tough as Taupe, but that would be closely followed by Bad to the Bronze.

January Empties and Chuckers Part 2

I already did a January Empties post in the middle of the month because things were starting to pile up. The second half of the month was slower, so there weren't that many more after all.

EMPTIES

Cetaphil Oily Skin Cleanser
This belongs to Noodle Arms, though I used it a few times. I'm undecided about whether to repurchase - at the moment she's using Silk Naturals cleansers, and after reading the ingredients on the back of this I'm not overly impressed with its contents, so I'd say probably not.

Nature's Goodness Olive Leave Mouthwash
I talked about this in my Echolife haul post, so I won't say any more about it except that it's a definite repurchase once I finish the Listerine Zero bottle I'm working through.

Garnier Clean Sensitive Gentle Eye Makeup Remover
I found I had to do a bit of pulling and rubbing to get eye makeup off entirely with this, so I wouldn't repurchase it.

Silk Naturals Pore Refining Toner
This is the third bottle Noodles and I have gone through - it's a really lovely hydrating, moisturising toner. It's really annoying that it only comes in 60ml bottles, though. Definite repurchase.

Silk Naturals Awesomesauce 5ml sample
Another of Silk Naturals' many serums. I liked it, and I'd probably buy a full bottle at some point, but I've got the Vitamin C one still going at the moment.

CHUCKERS

Apologies for the hair there - gross! I'm afraid my bathroom always has stray hairs around no matter how diligently I clean it, because I shed like a mofo.

Maybelline Lash Stylist Mascara
I'm pretty sure this was discontinued a couple of years ago - I picked it up a while ago for $5 in a Chemist Warehouse clearance bin. In theory I love mascaras with a comb instead of a brush, because I hate clumpy lashes and they do a good job of separating them. Unfortunately, in practice I got sick of poking myself in the eye at least 4 times a week, so it's going.

Bioeffects EGF Serum 3ml sample
This was some high-falutin' serum sample that came in one of those monthly boxes and I was using it under my eyes because I didn't really know what else to do with it. However, after reading this article that Sarah posted on Twitter, I stopped immediately, and frankly I wish I'd never touched it now. :-/