My favourite products of 2012

If I were to describe this year in terms of cosmetics I'd say that for me this was a year of red lips, nude palettes and Korean cosmetics with a particular focus on BB creams.

As you'll gather from the picture above, I've stashed a collection of a variety of shades of reds of different finishes, shapes and consistencies. Lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, glosses, pencils, stains, lip balms etc. All of them gorgeous!   

For years I rejected the look. nude looks cause they don't always agree with my complexion and tend to make me look tired. However, after experimenting with cooler and darker shades I managed to pull out a satisfactory

This year I also risked ordering stuff from Korea, which turned out to be a pleasant surprise cause shipping takes about a week and Korean cosmetics are really good quality. I tried out a number of BB creams. I really liked a great number of them, it would be hard to specify my favourite. 

When I was thinking about writing this post I found it hard to decide whether it should be about my favourites and personal discoveries of the year or about the best products released in 2012. I decided to do both cause good old evergreens also deserve a mention.

Products I reached for most often were:

 Quite surprisingly, Nars lip pencil in New Lover. I got it for free and I'd never have ordered it myself but it turned out to be such a nice shade.

ELF Studio Concealer & Highlighter is my favourite concealer ever. Not much coverage but it's non-drying and doesn't need tons of powder to set it.  

Korean skincare. The picture above shows random products I'm currently using. In 2012 I used a number of Korean skincare products, mostly by Skinfood and I loved almost every single one of them. 

I resisted the Urban Decay Naked palettes for a long time but I broke finally and got both. Naked 2 is the prettiest and most versatile cool-toned nude palette with Tease, Pistol and Busted being my favourite shades.

Everyone knows MAC Paint Pots. I've got only one in Painterly and I love it dearly. My collection of Paint Pots will expand as soon as I get to any MAC store!

I didn't buy many blushes this year, the ones I reached out for most often were Burberry blush in Peony and MAC  highlight powder in Crew from this spring's Hey, sailor collection.

I got two lip liners from Make Up For Ever and I believe that qualitywise these pencils are the besdt in history. When it comes to lip liners there are only two kinds: MUFE Aqua Lip Pencils and everything else.

I fell in love with NYX Jumbo Eye pencils used as eyeshadow bases. Cheap, creamy, blendable and effective. They come in a wide variety of shades so everyone will find something for themselves.

In 2012 I came across a number of excellent eye pencils, both high-end and drugstore. My favourites were  most of Bourjois Smoky pencils, black pencils by Too Faced and Urban Decay and cornflower blue Aqua Eyes by MUFE.

My favourite products released in 2012

I absolutely loved my Chanel nail polish in Tentation. I'm not sure whether it was the pretty colour or the quality of the polish that grabbed my heart. What I remember about it was that the shade was exactly what I was looking for. And it doesn't happen often that I get exactly what I want!

Dior Diorific lipstick in Lady won my heart for being such a wearable red and a classy lipstick overall.

My first thing by Too Faced impressed me so much with the quality of eyeshadows. Very frosty but surprisingly wearable. And pretty colour selection as well. It rarely happens that I like every single shade in the palette!

Urban Decay Smoked palette is very pretty and versatile but my love is directed at one shadow in particular. Mushroom is its name. Gorgeous taupey gray brown with the right amount of shimmer. Pigmented, smooth and blendable. The eyeshadow of the year for me!

In 2012 I tried a number of foundations, bought a couple of them and those I liked best were Urban Decay Naked Skin and Lancome Teint Idole Ultra 24H. Both lightweight and give such a beautiful, natural coverage. The Lancome also smells lovely!

Disclaimer: I bought the products myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.