Best products of 2012

Bases

Koh Gen Do in PK-0- My Holy Grail foundation. It has light-medium (leaning medium) coverage and looks like fresh, healthy skin.
Mac Face & Body in white- I mix this with all my too-dark foundations. It does thin them out a tiny bit, but it  doesn’t change the texture of the foundation too much.
Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage in SC-2- This is my favorite concealer to use on blemishes. Its terrible for under eye concealing because it is so dry. For application, I like to warm it up and pat it on with my fingers.

Eyeshadow



Urban Decay Naked 2 palette- neutrals blah blah blah pigmented blah. I don’t think theres anything to say that hasn’t been said about this palette.
Burberry eyeshadows in Rosewood and Midnight Brown- these eyeshadows have a smooth, silky texture that requires very little effort for blending. Only problem is that there is a lack of brighter/bold colors, but it IS Burberry after all.

Other eye stuff

Nars Larger Than Life Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte- Long lasting, pigmented, glides on the waterline well. It brightens up my eyes and takes the red out of my waterline when I’m sleepy.
Physicians Formula Eye Booster Liquid Eyeliner in Ultra Black- This a long lasting, very dark liquid eyeliner. It is the best eyeliner I’ve found for making super thin lines.
Nars Pro-Prime Eye Primer- The only eye primer to make my eyeshadow stay vibrant and crease free on my oily eyelids.
L’oreal Voluminous Waterproof Mascara- It adds volume and length to my long but thin, clump-prone lashes.

Brows

Anastasia Eyebrow Powder in Ash Blonde- This softly defines my cool-toned light brown brows.

Bronzer/blush

Kevyn Aucoin the Sculpting Powder in Medium- My favorite contouring powder! Beware though: it is super pigmented and is hard to blend a heavy application away. I also like to use this for my crease.
Giorgio Armani Sheer Bronzer in #1- A great bronzer for fair, cool-toned skin. I don’t use bronzer daily but this is the best I’ve found.
Nars Blush in Exhibit A- A SUPER bright orange-red blush. I have to use a very light hand with this, but get a just-in-from-the-cold flush.

Lips

YSL Glossy Stains in 11 & 9- I am a lip product hoarder fanatic and these are one of my favorite formulas ever. They are very long lasting, pigmented, and glossy. 11 is muted pinky-red and 9 is a neon orange-red (though it changes to a blue-red on me).
Chantecaille Lip Chic in Camellia- Lip Chics are very moisturizing, sheer lipsticks with a jelly finish. They fill in the lines in your lips and make them look just better.
Tom Ford Lipsticks in Nude Blush and Black Orchid- TF lipsticks are opaque and creamy, but not too creamy *ahem* YSL Rouge Voluptee *ahem*. Nude Blush is a light neutral nude (maybe leaning pink) and Black Orchid is a vampy deep red-purple.

My favorite brushes

Brushes, in my opinion, make a huge impact in how your makeup looks. Depending on the type of brush, you can pack on a product for full opaque-ness or for a sheer wash of color. Here are my favorite brushes in my collection:

Hakuhodo G5526, G5514, J5523, G5507, Suqqu Cheek Brush, Suqqu Face Brush

The Suqqu Face brush is an amazingly soft, fluffy powder brush made from gray squirrel hair. If you are looking for a brush to get the most coverage out of your powder, then this is not for you (but you won’t mind sheerer coverage when you have such a luxuriously soft brush). I prefer a smaller, dense brush for that. If you are also in the US (where Suqqu is not sold-boo D:), you can purchase this online at Ichibankao, but with a high price markup. I ordered my Suqqu brushes from Selfridges by phone.

The Suqqu Cheek brush is, as Lisa Eldridge described, “soft as a kitten’s paw”. It is also made out of gray squirrel hair and applies products sheerly. I like to use for my super pigmented blushes and contouring powders, i.e. Nars blush in Exhibit A and Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder. I’ve noticed that when I try to use it with sheerer products and load up the brush with powder, the hairs can feel like they have “build-up” on them and aren’t as soft. Washing it with baby shampoo makes it good as new again.

J5523- A overall better version of the Mac 217. I like to use it for a sheer wash of color or as a blending brush.

G5507- A flat shader brush for packing on colors.
G5514- My favorite pencil brush for smudging eyeliner or eyeshadow and going under the eye with shadow.
G5526- Great for precise crease work, specifically the outer corner.