The Standouts of 2013

Hello 2014! I hope you guys all had a happy new year! I cannot believe another year has been and gone, and it will probably take me a while for the fact that we are in 2014 to sink in. Anyways lets live in the past and take a look at my most favoured products from 2013! I haven't covered all categories as I didn't necessarily have a FAVOURITE favourite for every area. Despite that, I still had trouble narrowing things down so you're in store for quite a few products! Also, I haven't touched on tools or skincare, haircare, bodycare or nails. For tools, pretty much all Real Techniques and for skincare, check out my skincare routine posts here, here and here. Reviews have been linked where applicable! Let's jump in!

Face:

• Laura Mercier Foundation Primer
• Maybelline Dream Pure BB cream in shade Medium
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in shade Light Beige
• Neutrogena Healthy Skin liquid makeup in shade Natural Beige

I find the Laura Mercier primer generally good at prolonging the wear of foundation and keeping it looking better for longer. My BB cream favourite was hard to choose, but I found myself reaching for the Maybelline a lot. Good colour, coverage and finish. Foundation wise, for a lot of the year the Bourjois was a go-to but I found the shade quite light towards the end of the year. I've used it by mixing with other products and a hefty load of bronzer. Lovely finish on the skin and a nice light-medium buildable coverage. The Neutrogena is pretty much a spot on colour and offers a good medium coverage with a very natural skin like finish. Not too dewy or too matte.

Cheeks:

• Models Prefer Desk to Date
• The Balm Instain Blush in Toile
• Essence Silky Touch blush in Natural Beauty
• Sleek Contour Kit in Light
• Jane Iredale Bronzing Powder in So-Bronze 1
• The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer

I am a self-professed blush junkie but these three were probably my most worn. I like Desk to Date for an easy, goes-with-everything light peachy pink, Toile for something slightly brighter but still natural and Natural Beauty for a bit of a 'nothingy' cheek - it's the perfect blend of a blush, bronzer and highlighter in one. For contouring my main favourite has been the Sleek (mainly just the contour shade), a nice brown that isn't hard to work with and creates a natural looking shadow. For bronzing all over the face, Jane Iredale has been my pick. A nice warm brown that is only slightly darker than my skintone and gives warmth and colour to the face. Highlighter fave is hands down Mary Lou-Manizer. It provides an amazing champagne-golden glow which I love.

Eyes:

• Essence I love Stage Eyeshadow Base
• Estee Lauder Pure Color Stay-on Shadow Paint in shade Halo
• Maybelline Color Tattoo in shade Bad to the Bronze
• MAC eyshadow in shade All that Glitters
• Essence Gel Eyeliner in shade BBC All Night Brown
• Napoleon Perdis Ultimate Nude Palette
• Lorac Pro Palette, particularly shades Taupe, Espresso, Gold, Lt. Bronze and Pewter
• Dolly Wink Eyebrow Powder in shade Dark Chocolate

The sadly discontinued Essence eye primer has been my most used and loved this year. My two favourite cream shadows were from Estee Lauder and Maybelline. Bad to the Bronze made the perfect single shadow eye look while Halo was both a great base and all over lid shade. All that Glitters was definitely a favourite - I love the pinky-beige metallic colour! Also discontinued is the Essence Gel Liner which I used quite often for both a winged liner and smudged on the lower lashline. The deep bronzy brown made for a perfect casual liner look. The Napoleon palette is filled with matte shades which I used both on their own or to accompany other eyeshadows. Also filled with mattes is the Pro Palette which contains a bevy of shades to create a multitude of looks! Also some of the best formulas were found in this palette. Pretty much the only thing to grace my eyebrows was the Dolly Wink powder - perfect shade for my black hair!

Lips:

• Essence lipstick in shade All about Cupcake
• L'oreal Nutri-shine balm in shade Nudy Coral
• Estee Lauder Signature Hydralustre Lipstick in Venetian Rose
• L'oreal Nutri-shine Lipstick in shade Pink Nude
• Estee Lauder Signature Hydralustre Lipstick in Soft Amethyst
• NYX Butter Gloss in shade Peaches and Cream
• Witchery Lip Gloss Wand in shade Blossom
• Nivea Lip Butter

All about Cupcake and Nudy Coral were probably my most worn lipsticks of the year. All about Cupcake being the perfect my-lips-but-better (and more pink) and Nudy Coral being a lovely tinted lip balm with the tiniest hint of colour. Venetian Rose is sadly discontinued but is probably the best peachy nude I've come across so far. It's not really nude but it's really the perfect neutral peach for my skin tone! Pink Nude is just a beautiful colour. It's got hints of pink and peach, with a neutral tone - lurve it! For the wearable purply-plum lip, my fave has to be Soft Amethyst. Lovely formula and really flattering! It's purple without being PURPLE. The NYX gloss has a lovely texture and the colour is just really lovely. The Witchery gloss however, is the lipgloss that got me liking lipglosses. Probably my favourite lipgloss formula yet (though the NYX is rivaling it) - thin, non-sticky and pigmented. The Nivea lip balm has definitely been my fave. My lips have been very fussy and lip balms that I used to love seemed to irritate my lips. The Lip Butter saved my lips and has been pretty much the only balm I've used since!

Fragrance:

• Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Camellia

This scent has definitely been my most used. It's light, summery and really nice for every day wear.

So that concludes my beauty favourites for the year that was! I will be doing a part two concerning more 'entertainment' favourites I guess you could call them, including favourite TV shows, books, movies and other varying ways to procrastinate.

What have been your favourite products of 2013?