Top 5 products of 2014 - Makeup

Firstly I just want to apologise for the pretty bad picture I've ended up having to use for this post. I'm currently really struggling with trying to find somewhere to take my picture and of course lighting and then to top it off I dropped my camera a few days ago. Although my camera does still work the casing is damaged and this actually affects being able to use the camera. The screen on my camera slides in and out to turn it on and off (although there is also a button to do this) but you also have to move the screen to be able to get to the menus and settings. The screen was out when it fell and it hit the floor at an angle, which meant the screen half popped out. I managed to force it back in but this cracked and broken part of the case and it's now very difficult to slide in and out, so I'm not sure how much longer it will last. One of the things I want to do this year is really try and improve my photography, so breaking my camera and having to use a picture I'm not happy with isn't a great start!

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I wanted to get this post up as close as possible to my skincare one and also we're getting quite far into the new year and we don't want to dwell on last year for too long do we.  So I've been forced to use a photo I'm not happy with as I've just run out of time to try and take a better one.

So bad photo aside, here are my top five makeup products of 2014!

So lets start with the base shall we? I don't think I've ever actually reviewed a primer on my blog before (yes I've just realised I haven't even reviewed this one yet!) and the reason for that is because I've just never got on with them. Admittedly I haven't tried many of them, but I think that's because when you try a couple of products of the same type that just don't seem to work for you, you give up? Then I tried the Laura Mercier Mineral foundation primer and it just kind of clicked, 'ah that's how a primer is supposed to work'! This has a little bit of a strange smell, but I'm trying to decide whether that's because it's the mineral version or whether it could possibly be slightly past it's best as it only has a shelf life of 6 months. Can anybody enlighten me at all on that? Anyway, this leaves my skin feeling really smooth, which is obviously the perfect base for foundation, and I find it really helps my foundation stay in place and stay looking good. As it's the first primer I've found that works for me that means it hits the top spot.

This year last year (I still can't get used to this yet!) I discovered what I think may now be my favourite foundation of all time and this is the YSL Fusion Ink foundation (review). I was drawn in by the offer of a free seven day sample if you went to counter to be colour matched so I popped along to pick mine up. I was slightly concerned that the lady on the counter applied a few shades over the top of the foundation I was wearing and then just gave me a mirror and asked which I thought looked the closest match, but I did end up coming away with a shade that I think is perfect for me. I just love this stuff! It's a light fluid, almost like it has a serum base to it, but yet it offers fantastic coverage and just really perfects my skin. It also lasts for hours and works well both on my oily chin and the dry skin on the rest of my face, although if my skin is flaky it can highlight this a little.

The theBalm How 'bout them apples Cheek & lip cream may not look like much as it's only a small sample I received in a Birchbox, but I'm actually really quite impressed with it and it's become one of my favourite cheek products to use. I'm not particularly a fan of the packaging as it's cardboard and inside has a topless cowboy, which I personally think is just pretty tacky, but the product itself is very good. The full size set contains six 'apples' in different shades but the sample contains just one and I received the shade Pie. It's just about big enough to get your finger in to pick up some product but it's a very soft cream and very pigmented, so you only need to use a small amount. It's super easy to apply, you just dot some on and blend away, either with your finger or a brush, and Pie is a lovely shade that provides a flushed cheek effect. I'd love to get my hands on the full set but I believe it's £20+ so I'm holding off until I've at least got through my sample.

I've never been any good at applying eye liner, the only way I've ever really been able to do it was using an eye shadow with a liner brush, but since I decided to try the Soap & Glory Supercat liner (review) I've found I can now use liquid liner. I'm by no means a liquid liner expert now, but this one is just so easy to use. It flows really well, giving a nice black line, and the thin pointed nib means you can use the end for a thin line or angle the nib more for a thicker line. It also doesn't dry out really quickly. I've had this for just over a year now (yes I realise that is probably a little too long for an eye liner) and although I don't use it daily or even that regularly, it has only just run out/started to dry out. A great one for beginners or people who aren't very skilled at eye liner application. 

Finally, this year last year (damn it!) was the year I started to embrace matte lips. I don't think I'd ever bought a matte lip product before because my lips are just too dry to wear them comfortably. However, in the last year or so several products have been released that despite being matte have a much more comfortable formula to wear. When the Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet lipsticks (review) were released they really appealed to me and I now have three shades (Ole Flamingo!, Frambourjoise and Personne ne rouge!). Ok they're not completely matte, as the name suggests they have a velvet appearance to them, but as they start out as a liquid they're very easy to apply and they're comfortable to wear. They do start to dry out on my lips after a few hours, but I can live with that as I just really like using them and love the way they look.

Are you a fan of any of my top makeup picks of 2014?

 

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Labels: Bourjois , Laura Mercier , Soap & Glory , theBalm , YSL