Best of Make-Up 2012!

Here is the final part of my three-part series on my Best of Beauty 2012!

I went on a hunt for my perfect foundation this year and after many unsuccessful attempts (both with drugstore and high-end) I found it!  The Burberry Sheer Foundation in Trench No. 01 ($54) is perfect for me, it's yellow-toned enough and what's more, it's 'intelligent', meaning it matches to your skin color, making the small collection of shades very universal! It's a light coverage foundation, but it lasts for quite a long time, and it looks especially nice over top of the Burberry Fresh Glow ($48), which is a primer that gives off a beautiful sheen on the face and could even be used as a highlighter!

As for powder, the Burberry Sheer Powder in Porcelain No. 01 ($45) is the perfect thing to put on top of this gorgeous base, as it's a luminous powder and doesn't mattify the look, but simply adds to it, without making you look too glowy.  My concealers of choice were the Bobbi Brown Creamy Corrector in Porcelain Bisque ($23) for underneath my eyes, as it works wonders for those of us with awful dark circles and has turned into a HG item for me, and the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in 1 Fair (about £4), which I use for blemishes all over my face.

Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows: No. 02 Trench, No. 09 Rosewood, No. 18 Midnight Black

Moving onto eyes, I fell in love with the formulation of the Burberry Sheer Eyeshadows ($29), and I have yet to try one I didn't like, but I particularly liked No. 02 Trench as an all-over lid color (to cover an veins and such) and also No. 09 Rosewood, which is a gorgeous pink-purple taupe color.  I also like to use No. 18 Midnight Black as my eyeliner as it lasts all day and is quite natural looking on the upper lash line.  I also liked to use the NARS Larger Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte ($23) on my waterline, it's a flesh-toned eyeliner that really makes you look awake and can even make your eyes look bigger!

This year was the year I started paying attention to my eyebrows, and I realized how important they were to the overall look of my make-up.  I tried a few different eyebrow products, but I fell in love with the Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Taupe ($42). It's very natural looking and it lasts all day, it even comes with a spooli! I even did a review on it, which you can read here.

My mascara routine consisted of two parts: I first used the Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum ($28) to elongate and volumize my lashes (I promise this stuff works, it's fantastic!) and then I almost always opted for the Maybelline Mega Plush Mascara (about $6), which got really bad reviews, but I think it's amazing for elongating the lashes (definitely not for volumizing them, though), I loved it so much, I even repurchased it!

Top to Bottom: Burberry Light Glow - Earthy Blush No. 07, NARS Douceur Blush,  Dior Shimmer Star in 002 Amber Diamond

I didn't really fall in love with a bronzer until the end of the year (which you can see in my December Favorites Post), but I found a blush that worked amazingly well as a contour color for me, the Burberry Light Glow - Earthy Blush No. 07 ($42).  I would highly recommend it for those of you with warm, pale skin, who struggle to find a contour color that suits you! I then usually used NARS Douceur ($28) on my cheeks as my blush of choice, which is a lovely pink-brown color that looks really natural and absolutely stunning on just about anyone who has fair-light skin-tone (maybe even Medium skin-tone, but it might not show up).  I didn't often use a highlighter throughout the year, but when I did it was almost always the Dior Shimmer Star in 002 Amber Diamond ($44).  It's absolutely stunning, if you are warm-toned, get this now!  If you're cool-toned, I would recommend trying the Dior Shimmer Star in 001 Rose Diamond, but it's definitely possible to pull both off no matter what you're skin-tone is!

Revlon Rose Velvet Lipstick

Finally, my favorite lipstick this year has to be Revlon's Rose Velvet Lipstick (about $6), which is a really nice warm-toned, light orange-red.  It's strong enough to be worn at night, but muted enough to be worn during the day, it's also a color that could be worn throughout the year and one that I think works really nicely in a professional setting!  I wore this almost everyday this summer when I was working in an office and I definitely didn't feel out of place with this on!

That's it for my 'Best of Beauty 2012' Series, I hope you enjoyed it :) You can read my Best of Skincare and my Best of Body-Care and Fragrance posts here and here!