I'm rambling on horribly, I do apologize... HAPPY 2015! Here were the stand out products of 2014 for me, makeup wise (if it were just beauty, I'd be here all year and well into 2016!). These are solely products I discovered in 2014. I'll admit, it was actually hard to find, even remember products I used at the start of the year, most of these are Summer and on wards discoveries but firm favourites nonetheless! It was hard to narrow it down, but I'm pretty happy with this list of game changers.
Face:
I can't exactly remember at what point in the year I discovered the 17 Stay Time Foundation, but as soon as I did it was love at first application. This is one of my favourite drugstore foundations. If you're a pale girl looking for full coverage on a budget, look no further. Even if you're not on a budget I'd suggest this product. The shade range is great, the coverage is second to none and the price and packaging are cherries on top. Less than a tenner and a handy pump? Yes please! Ivory (yellow toned) and Porcelain (pink toned) are particularly great shades for fair skin gals.
Keeping in tune with the complexion. 2014 was the year I finally tried the Collection (2000?) Lasting Perfection Concealer. I KNOW. Please don't throw things at me or shame me, I'm ashamed of myself for not trying it out sooner! This concealer has been talked about for years, and I 100% get it. Amazing coverage and such a great price point. I love my MAC foundations and concealers, but budget brands are really doing well in terms of face makeup! If you're a sleep deprived student with more bags under your eyes than Carrie Bradshaw has in her wardrobe, then you NEED this!
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Cheeks:
NYX came to Irish shores this year and I couldn't be more pleased. I have a couple of their products and NYX as a brand would be a top 2014 discovery for me, but NYX Taupe Blush is my baby. My friends bought this for me for my birthday in September and I don't think I've touched my MAC Harmony blush since. Again, if you're a pale girl looking for a cool toned contour with NO orange in it whatsoever, then this is the one. In fact, this is your bae. I'll admit, Taupe is very grey, and it can look a little bruise-esque if you're not careful, but I personally love a cool toned contour and think it looks most natural on fair skin. I use a little bit of bronzer to warm up the outer parts of my face/forehead/chin/across the nose etc, and then I go in down the sides of the nose (slightly), under my cheek bones and under the jawline with this!
MAC's Warm Soul. Another product I was very late to the bandwagon on. I borrowed my friend's Warm Soul on my birthday and bought it the next day. It's a great all rounder peach/tan with a shimmer. It doesn't compete or look like too much with whatever else you have going on with your face. I can't see this looking bad on anyone to be honest, it gives such a healthy lift to the face. If I could bitch for a moment; the new packaging for these mineralize products are horrible. Literally no need for it.
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Eyes:
Eye products was actually a bit of a tough one for me this year. I am a creature of habit when it comes to my liquid and pencil liners, and I'm disappointed to report that I did not try a single mascara this year that impressed me... HOW did that happen?! Eyeshadows are hard to narrow down, since I change up by eyeshadow so much, especially for my FOTD posts. So, to keep things contained, I chose 1 single eyeshadow and 2 palettes that were real knock-outs for me this year.Uninterrupted Pro Longwear Eyeshadow. Do I even need to talk about this colour anymore? Probably not... but you all know I'm going to. If any of you follow me on Instagram or even on here you'll know I use this eyeshadow so much. I tend to use it more in my everyday makeup routine because I can do the quickest blown out smokey eye with this in 2 minutes. You know how your mammy always told you to never judge a book by it's cover? Uninterrupted is the dullest looking of covers. It looks like nothing, actually, it looks like mustard poo brown smushy ugliness in the pan but I promise it is so far from that. This eyeshadow is brilliant for transition area, blending, the crease, the lid, the lower lashline.. I would rub this eyeshadow all over me and wear it head to toe if I could. You get the idea, this eyeshadow is pretty excellent.
I get so many questions from friends and family along the lines of "which Naked palette should I get? 1,2 or 3?" and I will almost always point them in the direction of this bad boy, the Naked Basics Palette. This palette has been around a while, but I put off getting it forever and I have no idea why. Like Uninterrupted, I use this so much in my everyday makeup, it goes everywhere with me! I know it's not the most exciting thing to look at, but I use it so much and have never really talked about it on here before so now is a good time! I used this religiously throughout 2014 and travelling from Galway-Dublin-Dundalk all year meant that this nifty little thing was perfect for my makeup bag. It's so good for travel, I can do some excellent matte basic looks with this, a dark smokey eye and even my brows and cheek highlight with this palette alone. It's wizardry. I haven't tried the second Naked Basics, I guess I'm always late to the Urban Decay bandwagon when it comes to their permanent and non neon items, but I'm sure that review will be somewhere on this blog in 2015!
Speaking of Urban Decay and neons... The Electric Palette is bad ass. There is no other way around it. I reviewed it with swatches and used it in a couple of FOTD posts and I absolutely love it. You will definitely be seeing this more in 2015! Not for everyone, but I used this a lot for Halloween and my fun bright looks on my blog since I got it, I think it's amazing.
Lips:
Lips are another difficult category, because I change my favourite lip colours so often that it's hard to keep up with monthly favourites - let alone yearly favourites! I was lucky this year in the sense that I tried 2 completely new lipstick formulas to me, and fell in love. I have a few favourite colours from both brands, but overall these formulas of lipsticks really impressed me this year. If you guys were expecting a lot of MAC favourites, you would be absolutely right in thinking I had some... some? I had loads! They are my favourite lipsticks, but they're a very very long time favourite. BUT, some 2014 MAC lipstick discoveries that I loved this year were Flat Out Fabulous, Patisserie and Kinda Sexy.
Like NYX, Wet n Wild were another brand to find itself on Irish soil this year. I was very excited about this one. I've tried quite a lot of Wet n Wild products since they set up shop here, and I haven't been disappointed by any of them. I'm actually thinking of doing a Wet n Wild product focus post in the future, but for now, their Megalast Lipsticks are the true star of the line. These babies are less than 3 euro but look and feel like a MAC lipstick. I've said it before, but the only crap thing about these is the packaging... but for 3 euro, I can't really complain (but I'm Irish so you know I'm gonna whinge regardless!). One of my most popular posts is actually a big swatch and comparison one I did ages ago on the Wet n Wild lipsticks which I'll leave here. I found so many MAC and Urban Decay dupes among them, I couldn't believe it! I've actually since bought several more of the Wet n Wild lipsticks, so I'll probably do an updated swatch post when I complete my collection! My favourites are Cherry Bomb, Cinnamon Spice, Sugar Plum Fairy and Think Pink.
Eyebrows:
I'm giving this a special category because although I love all my 2014 discoveries, and there really aren't any favourites.. okay that's a total lie, this is my number 1 makeup product of 2014. It will come as little to no surprise that it is indeed, the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade. How do I even begin to describe Regina George/the Dipbrow Pomade? To steal a line from Mean Girls and Beyoncé, it is "flawless". Well, maybe not flawless.. I definitely found a few (minor) cons in my review of this product (here), but it's still my greatest discovery of 2014. I don't really think I can stress enough how good this product is. There's nothing else quite like this for me, and if any brand tries to come out with something similar, it just won't be the same. My brows love this stuff, and I've enabled a few people into buying, and loving it too. Anastasia, you da queen of brows... YOU DA REAL MVP! This was the real makeup game changer of last year for me, and it'll be a firm favourite for a long time.
What were your 2014 favourites? Maybe I can make them my January favourites! Trying new brands is what I'm hoping to do most in 2015 makeup resolution wise. Don't forget to let me know what products you loved last year below, and please follow me on Twitter, Instagram and of course Bloglovin' for updated posts and makeup talk! x
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