Getting Out Of The Rut Days 3, 4 and 5

I know I've disappeared for a bit, but it doesn't mean I wasn't keeping up with the challenge. It just means I didn't have much time to post. The past 4 days though I have been slacking a bit, so no photos of that, but I did incorporate a few products in my make up that I'd not used for a while, mainly blushes and lipsglosses/lipsticks. Anyway, here are the photos of the days I did make an effort:

Products used (other than my staples): Mac Crushed Metallic Pigments in Moss Garden, Spruced and Silk Stocking, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Covet, Laura Geller Baked Blush in Bora Bora and Mac Lipgelee in Lush & Bright.

See 2 more looks after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Blue Ribbon - Review and Swatches

I have another shade of Stila Smudge Stick to show you called Blue Ribbon. The name is a bit misleading because, well, it's not really blue. I'd say it's probably more of a steel blue, but definitely what I was expecting. Regardless, it's a nice colour.

Otherwise it's basically the same product as the other Smudge Sticks I have reviewed before (click here for my review). It is one of the more shimmery shades, but it's not glittery as such.

It has the same lovely, soft, easy to apply formula and it's long lasting, although I've never tested whether it's actually waterproof. It comes in the same twist up pen as the other Smudge Sticks and you still only get 0.28 g for £13.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner in Periwinkle - Review and Swatches

I feel really bad now reviewing this eyeliner because I've just looked on the Stila website and it's sold out now, and I believe this was a limited edition. But I've taken the pictures, so I might as well write up the review, right?

This shade was part of the Stila spring collection, but it's basically the same product as the other Smudge Sticks I have reviewed before (click here for my review). The shade is called Periwinkle and that's exactly what it is, a periwinkle blue shade (it is more purple in real life, but my camera refuses to pick up purples properly). This one isn't shimmery/glittery like some of the other shades, so that may be a plus for those who don't like glittery eyeliners. I don't mind either way and it's a gorgeous colour, so I'm happy.

It has the same lovely, soft, easy to apply formula and it's long lasting, although I've never tested whether it's actually waterproof. It comes in the same twist up pen as the other Smudge Sticks and you still only get 0.28 g for £13.

As I said, this is a limited edition shade, but I have just checked an it's still in stock on the BeautyBay website and you may be able to find it from other retailers too. It's a lovely, springlike colour, so well worth picking up.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Kiko Super Colour Eyeliner in 105 Jade Green

On a recent trip to Westfield I popped into the Kiko store and noticed their colourful liquid eyeliners. I picked up 105 jade Green, a colour I hadn't owned yet despite having loads of liquid eyeliners (mainly MUFE and Stila, but also other brands).

This is what Kiko say about the eyeliner: "Coloured Liquid Eyeliner in a water-resistant formula. Its water and polymer based formula creates a film of extra-brilliant no-transfer colour with great coverage. The light and gliding texture dries quickly adhering perfectly to eyelids, without fading or flaking. The innovative, cone-shaped applicator in soft felt makes application very comfortable, simple and perfectly measured, for a line that can go from thin to thick. Its special long-handled design ensures maximum control of application for lines that are always flawless. Exceptional by itself or on top of eyeshadow, eye pencil or classic eyeliner, Super Colour Eyeliner is available in 14 vibrant shades."

I'd say I agree with most of it, except that there is nothing innovative about the applicator as it's exactly the same as the above mentioned brands' applicators. Now that's not a bad thing, just nothing new. The formula is a little bit runny, watery for my liking and it takes a few goes to build up the colour and as a result it does take a little longer to dry, but once it's dry, it's going nowhere. However it comes off easily with oil based remover and unlike some other liquid eyeliners it dissolves rather than flakes off. Shade 105 Jade green is an almost duochromey light green shade with some yellow and blue shimmer to it depending on how the light hits it. Very pretty colour.

You get 1.7 ml for currently £3.90 (normally £6.90) which is a hell of a lot cheaper than MUFE and Stila, although I do feel that the formula isn't quite comparable, so I guess that's about alright.You can order it from Kiko's website (which I don't recommend due to a previous bad experience) or buy from a Kiko store in Westfield Stratford or Shepherd Bush.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

2012 Favourties - Part 2: Eyes

I buy and wear a lot of eyeshadows, eyeliners and mascaras, that is one thing I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. I have very undefined eyes, so I cannot be without eyeliner and mascara, eyeshadows are more of the fun part, I really enjoy playing with colours and have got pretty good at doing quite fancy looks.

I'll start with eyeshadows. One of the brands I mostly raved on about on here in 2012 is L'Oreal, I love their Infallible eyeshadows. Nowadays I tend to gravitate towards high end eyeshadows, but every so often cheaper brands that come out with something amazing and I'm not that much of a snob not to check them out. I did a series of reviews as I bought 20 shades of them, here's the recap post that is linked to all the reviews.

My other favourite eyeshadows that I often compare the L'Oreal Infallibles to were Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill and Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows. You can find several reviews of these on the blog as well, just do a search. I loved the Infallible eyeshadows most for their affordableness and big colour selection (although we don't get quite as many in the UK, but thank God for eBay and US sellers).

Carry on reading after the jump to discover which other products I loved in 2012!

Stila Luxe Palette Review, Swatches and a FOTD

Before I show you this lovely palette, I just want to say that I'm really struggling with writing new posts at the moment. Firstly, I am currently very busy with school and children related activities. Secondly, due to the gloomy weather we've been having in the UK, I've found it incredibly difficult to take proper photos of products, which means if I can't take pictures of my new acquisitions, I then can't start using them, and obviously can't review them in detail. So for the time being I think you might be seeing a few more nail polish posts, I have a big backlog of NOTD pictures that were taken back in the autumn when we still knew what the sun looked like. Hopefully I'll be back with some proper product reviews soon.

For now, here's a lovely palette from Stila to drool over. This one is called Luxe palette and it contains 3 matte and 6 sparkly eyeshadows, plus a smudge stick waterproof eyeliner in Ladyfish (an exclusive shade). You also get a small booklet with ideas on looks to create with the palette. I bought it with my £5 off discount code StilaKiss which is valid for another 3 days on the Stila UK website (minimum spend £25).

I have to say, I'm a bit on the fence about this palette, I'm just not sure about the matte shades. I would've preferred either 3 more sparkly eyeshadows instead of the matte ones, or at least shades that go better with the rest of the palette. Quality-wise I can't really fault the palette, because the matte shades are really nice, the sparkle shades are gorgeous and the eyeliner is lovely too.

I have only worn the eyeshadows over a primer (Too Faced Shadow Insurance), but I didn't experience any creasing and there was only minimal fallout (usually during application). The smudge stick is really long lasting, even on the waterline.

The matte shades are a bit brown for my liking. Actually Bubble Bath is a pinky highlighter colour, it's pretty, but I prefer highlighting with more sparkly, satiny colours. I couldn't combine the two different finishes in the palette. I did do a look with the mattes, it was a nice, but rather boring look for my liking.

I also used the shadows in the middle row which resulted in a lovely pink/purple look. But my most favourite shade in the palette has to be ♥ Of The Ocean. At first it looks really dark and a bit dull in the palette, but on the skin it turns into an amazing teal/peacock green colour with loads of pearl. Absolutely gorgeous! I've included pictures of the look I did with it (actually not including any other eyeshadow from the palette, I used it with Sassy Marshmallow and Time Resist White L'Oreal Infallible as well as Stila Peacock smudge stick on the lower lashline). It was really lovely, probably even better in real life.

The palette costs £30, but you can get £5 off with StilaKiss on stila.co.uk. I'm too tired to work out how much value you get, but altogether there's 13.5 g eyeshadows and 0.28 g eyeliner, so you can be sure you're getting great value for your money. I also like it that you get a mirror in this one, definitely something that was missing form the other Stila palettes before.

See lots more pictures including swatches and a look I did after the jump!

Stila Positively Pink Powder Blush and Lip Glaze Set

Stila has released this gorgeous set of blush and lip glaze for Breast Cancer Awereness month (October) and as I'm a sucker for pretty powders, of course I couldn't say no. It also helped that this set was an absolute bargain at £12.50.

I'd like to apologise in advance for the lack of swatches, but I didn't want to mess up the powder (yes, I'm weird) and I have so many glosses right now, there's no point in opening another one. I think I will just keep the set nicely boxed up as it is.

A portion of proceeds will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (although Stila doesn't specify how big that protion is). The powder is 7.9 g and the gloss is 1.5 ml. The set costs £12.50, but the powder is also available on its own for £10.

And here's a £5 off code for you to use on orders of £25 or over at stila.co.uk, just enter StilaKiss at the checkout. It's valid until 30th November 2012. I've already ordered the Sparke Luxe eyeshadow palette, will review it as soon as I can.

See more pictures after the jump!

Stila Seeing Stars Smudge Stick Waterproof Eye Liner Set

First of all, apologies for the lack of posts over the last couple of days, but I've been very busy with my children. On Wednesday we spent the day preparing for Halloween, carved 4 pumpkins, decorated the house and I even did my first ever face painting. Today's been more about shopping, food as well as make up, I went to the Boots Points Event and to the Mac counter to pick up some of the new products from the holiday collection. Incidentally, I'm really behind with taking pictures and swatching, so there may be a small gap in posting, but normal service should resume come Tuesday.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired now, so this is going to be a very quick look at one of Stila's holiday offerings. What we have here is a set of 5 full size Smudge Sticks.

I just love great value sets and this is definitely one of those. You get £65 worth of eyeliners for £25. What's not to like? Smudge Sticks are very good eyeliners,they are waterproof and smudge-proof, they last for hours even on my waterline.

In this set you get Stargazer (black with gold and silver pearl), Angelfish (metallic pewter), Tetra (deep shimmery purple), Moray (golden olive shimmer) and Oscar Fish (warm brown with gold pearl). I believe that out of the 4 only Oscar Fish is limited edition, I only owned Tetra and Moray, so even that way it was worth buying as individually they cost £13 each. I can only see Moray listed on the Stila website, my Tetra came with one of the palettes, so I don't actually know if you can buy Stargazer or Angekfish separately. Maybe in the US?

My only criticism of Smudge Sticks is that you get very little for your money. While Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners contain 1.2 g, these Stila ones only contain 0.28 g each! However, these come in a plastic pencil and instead of sharpening them, you just twist them up as and when you need to. So I gues you save quite a bit that you would lose with sharpening, but I still think these could contain more product.

Other than that, Stila Smudge Sticks are great eyeliners and this set is certainly worth getting if you like them and don't already own many of the shades.

See more pictures after the jump!

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Amore - Review and Swatches

Stila has released a new liquid lipstick called Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick. I was sent a sample in the colour Amore to try out and here's what I thought about it.

Firstly, let me say that the name "Stay All Day" is actually a terrible name. To me this suggests 8+ hours of wear, minimum. Even Stila only claim this is supposed to provide 6 hours of continuous wear. So putting "all day" in the name is pretty much like putting "miracle" in the name, it puts my expectations so high, the product can only fail afterwards.

I'd say this lipstick stayed on me for 4 hours, but with eating and drinking it quickly disappeared from the inner part of my lipst mostly just leaving a not very attractive rim after a couple of hours. I found application quite difficult as there doesn't seem to be a stopper at the end of the tube, so when you pull the wand out, the doefoot applicator is covered in the product. Therefore unless you wipe it off on a tissue (and wasting loads), you are applying way too much product on your lips. It feels quite nice and smooth when applied, it quickly dries down and feels a bit dry on the lips. I kept wanting to lick my lips as they didn't feel comfortable. It wasn't drying though, but not moisturising either (which is another thing Stila claims this does).

The colour Amore is a vampy plum shade, perfect for autumn and winter. It's actually very similar to my hair colour right now. You get only 3 ml for £15 which actually makes this liquid lipstick more expensive than Guerlain! Their Rouge G L'Extrait liquid lipsticks retail for £29.50 for 6 ml, so double the size of this one. They are actually very similar products, but if I had to choose I'd go for the Guerlain ones, the gorgeous case with mirror is just so much nicer than a see through plastic tube.

All in all I like this, but don't love it. The colour's nice, but the formula isn't the best, it doesn't last as long as it claims, the name is stupid (6 hours is NOT all day) and the packaging is really not great. I won't be purchasing the other colours in this line.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Topshop Liquid Eyeliner in Intensify by Louise Gray Review and Swatches

I have another Topshop product to show you today. This is from the latest collection, a collaboration with Louise Gray and the product is a lovely blue sparkly liquid eyeliner.

Unlike Desert Sun Cheek Duo I was much more impressed by this. Very similar in style to my MUFE, Mac and Stila liquid eyeliners, it has a spongy very pointy tip, excellent for precision. The colour is a lovely sparkly medium blue and the formula is really nice. It dries pretty quickly and once on, it doesn't budge. You will see at the bottom of the post a picture I did after I smeared the liner after about 2 minutes. The only bit that smudged was the bit where I had applied it rather heavily so you can see the colour properly. The thin line did not smudge at all. It stayed on my eyes all day, but came off easily with make up remover.

The liquid eyeliner costs £8 and it contains 1.7 ml which is the same as the MUFE and Stila liners. Available from Topshop online and in selected stores.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer in Bronze Shimmer Review and Swatches

I love myself some shimmer, and I was happy to try out Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer when it was sent to me for consideration. Although I don't get on very well with liquid highlighters, this is more of a base product that you can mix with your foundation or lotion for a radiant glow.

I got Bronze Shimmer which is a golden bronzy colour. It's good for adding a bit of a sun-lissed glow to your skin. I'm fairly pale even after the summer (yeah I know, what summer?), but this wasn't at all dark for me. The shimmery liquid that comes in a small bottle with a brush in the lid that you can use to apply the product with. It's fairly runny which makes it very blendable.

I like it, but I don't love it. Used under foundation the glow pretty much disappears. If used mixed into a lotion, it will give a more all-over glow which I'm not sure I want on my face. You can dab it onto your cheeks and blend it, it does blend out very easily and isn't too shimmery, certainly not glittery or metallic. I just don't feel like it's a must have product myself, and to be honest I'm not sure I would pay £16 for it. You get 14 ml which is plenty, probably way more than you would ever use up.

Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer is available in 4 shades: Bronze Shimmer, Kitten Shimmer, Pink Shimmer and Rose Gold Shimmer. They can be purchased from BeautyBay and Stila directly for £16.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

FOTD: Estee Lauder Summer

Here is the look I did with the new Estee Lauder summer products. I don't know about you, but I still feel like the teal shade doesn't work very well with the other shades, certainly not the copper. Or maybe it's just me. Let me know what you think.

Here's a list of all the products I used to create this look:

Eyes:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette gold shade in the inner corner of the lid
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette copper shade in the middle of the lid
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette teal gold shade in the outer corner and crease
Estee Lauder Pure Color Five Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow Palette white shade in the inner corner of lid and on browbone to highlight
Stila Smudge Stick in Peacock on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero on waterline
Mac Zoom Lash mascara in Black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:

MUA Beauty Balm BB Cream
Mac Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
Estee Lauder Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in Shimmering Sands on cheeks
Mac Extra Dimension Skinfinish in Whisper of Gilt to highlight

Lips:

Mac Riviera Life lipglass

See more photos after the jump!

FOTD: Gold And Purple Look With Stila's In The Moment Palette

I'm still playing catching up, so here's another quick post, this time a look I did with my new Stila In The Moment palette. I really liked this look, purple is one of my favourite colours and I think it works well with gold. I also tried out the new Mac Viva Glam Nicki lipstick for the first time and man, it is so bright! Fun colour though, just need sunglasses with it. Anyway, here's the look I did, let me know how you like it.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Make UP For Ever Aqua Cream #11 (gold)
Stila In The Moment palette Spontaneous eyeshadow all over the lid
Stila In The Moment palette Glance eyeshadow in the crease
Stila In The Moment palette Instinct eyeshadow on browbone to highlight
Mac Superslick Liquid Eyeliner in Pure Show on upper lashline
L'Oreal HIP Color Chrome Eyeliner in Violet Volt on lower lashline
Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid foundation in 020 Cameo
Guerlain Meteorites Travel Touch loose powder in 01 Mythic
Laura Geller Blush n Brighten in Sateen Subtle Orchid
Mac Lightscapade Mineralize Skinfinish to highlight

Lips:
Mac Viva Glam Nicki lipstick

See more pictures after the jump!

Stila Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliners Review and Swatches

While on the subject of eyeliners, I thought I'd do a post on Stila's Smudge Stick Eyeliners as well (having already reviewed three of them with the palettes I've shown you recently). I'd been meaning to pick up a few more shades but there isn't a Stila counter near me and I really wanted to swatch them first, so when I eventually went to Westfield (Shepherds Bush) Shopping Center I managed to pick up these 4. For the shades I've already reviewed, check them out here: Tetra, Starfish and Damsel.

I got Peacock, Lionfish, Moray and Bluefin. Peacock is teal, Lionfish is warm brown, Moray is khaki green with gold flecks and Bluefin is blue with shimmer.They are all nice and creamy, but set pretty quickly and once they do, they're not going anywhere. They're fairly easy to remove with make up remover, but they really don't come off just by rubbing. I'm not 100% sure how waterproof they are as I haven't tested that, but they stay vibrant and in place on my waterline all day, so that's good enought for me.

I like all the colours I got, out of the 4 Peacock is my favourite as it's a reallly gorgeous teal shade. There's one thing I don't like about these eyeliners, and that is just how little you actually get. Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliners and Mac Pearlglide liners are both 1.2 g, whereas Stila Smudge Sticks are a measly 0.28 g! That's not even a quarter of the size of the other two! So at £13 each they are actually very expensive per gram! On the other hand you don't need to sharpen these, so there's no wastage as you just twist the end to get more product out.

Stila products in the UK are available from Stila's own website, Boots, BeautyBay and Lookfantastic (or at least those are the ones I know about). 

Do you own these? Have you got a favourite shade? Let me know in the comments!  

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila In The Moment Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

Another day, another Stila palette. This is practically the same as the In The Garden palette, only it's purple. Okay, it's not the same, but very similar, it has the same issues (no mirror, useless quote from someone I don't know or care about for that matter) and it also contains 10 eyeshadows, a smudge stick eyeliner and a booklet.

Let's just talk about the colours rather than repeating everything I said about the In The Garden palette, shall we? This time we only have one matte (Desire) which is the same disappear-on-my-skintone shade as Nectar in the other palette, perhaps a bit pinker. It's pretty, but not very interesting. I do love the other shades very much, love it that there's several purples in the palette as well as a few neutrals. Glance (middle one on the top row) is a beautiful midtone purple with a subtle sheen, probably my most favourite shade in the palette. I also love Catalyst (top row, far right) which is a blackened purple with purple shimmer (think Mac Young Punk mineralize eyeshadow) and looks beautiful as a liner. I'm sporting it on my top lashline as I type. Instinct is a nice, although rather frosty highlighter shade. My least favourite is probably Improvise, a satiny plum colour that hasn't got a very good colour payoff and looks rather dull blended out. Perhaps this one will work better wet. Otherwise I'm happy with this palette, for me it's the nicer of the two Stila spring palettes.

Once again you get a full size smudge stick as well, this time it's Tetra, a dark purple one with purple shimmer. It compliments the purple shades well, although not sure how it would work with the shades in the bottom row. A more plumy eyeliner would work better with those I think.

Just like the In The Garden palette this costs £25 and you get 14 g of eyeshadows and 0.28 g of eyeliner. Available from BeautyBay, although I bought mine on eBay because I wasn't sure whether we were getting this.

See lots of pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila In The Garden Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches

One of the Stila spring palettes I've purchased is the In The Garden palette. It is a very similar style to the Naturaleyes palette that I reviewed a few months ago. You get 10 eyeshadows (out of which 2 are matte) and a full size smudge stick eyeliner for £25. You also get a booklet with some suggestions for looks you can create. 

The eyeshadows are nicely pigmented, some better than others, but it tends to be that the frostier shades are the most pigmented. The two matte shades are alright, not chalky at all. The darker of the two (Nectar) is pretty much the same as my skin colour and doesn't really who up on me. The darker shades are more satiny than frosty except for Moss which is a really lovely dirty brown colour with gold flecks. There aren't really any true highlighters in this palette (I don't like highlighting with matte eyeshadows), but other than that it's a nice palette. The smudge stick eyeliner you get is in the shade Starfish which is a mossy green colour with gold shimmer. It is supposed to be waterproof and it does stay on through the whole day, once it's set, it's very hard to remove (make up remover does remove it easily though).

I did a look with Breeze, Sage and Moss, plus Starfish smudge stick and it was very pretty, the shadows applied and blended easily and everything stayed in place all day (used them over my trusty Barbara Daly eyeshadow primer). 

The palette is still lacking a mirror in the lid and it has yet another quote from Sarah Lucero whoever she might be (I need to look her up!). Otherwise it's a nice palette, although not as bright and spring like as I would have expected. For £25 you get 14 g of eyeshadows and 0.28 g of smudge stick eyeliner.

See more pictures including swatches after the jump!

Stila Spring 2012 Collection Haul

This spring Stila has come out with a lot of pretty stuff. As well as some new Jewel eyeshadows, Sparkle Luxe glosses and Smudge Crayons, they also released two lovely eyeshadow palettes and a gorgeous blush. I haven't got any of the above mentioned goodies because I really want to go to a Stila counter and have a good swatching session, and unfortunately there aren't any near me. But I did pick up the two eyeshadow palettes and the gorgeous Love At First Blush.

The two eyeshadow palettes are In The Garden (green) and In The Moment (purple). I actually thought we may not get the purple one as I think it was a Sephora exclusive in the US, so I bought it on eBay, whereas I ordered the other two from BeautyBay. The palettes cost £25 each and the blush costs £12 (for 6.2 g which is actually a brilliant price I think).

I will post swatches or rather I will do proper reviews of both palettes soon. For the blush, I'm not sure if I'll be able to ruin it by using it (weird, I know), but I was brave and swatched it, and you can see the swatches at the bottom of this post.

See more pictures after the jump!

FOTD with Accessorize Merged Eyeshadow in Purple Drama

This is the look I created with the Accessorize Purple Drama Merged Eyeshadow I showed you earlier this week. I really liked this look, I generally love purples and I especially adore Stila's Royal (purple) Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner which always makes any purple look pop. I used the pink part of the eyeshadow on the lid and the purple in the crease and it worked really well.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Barbara Daly Even Smoother Eye Base
Accessorize Merged Eyeshadow in Purple Drama all over lid and in crease
Mac Vellum eyeshadow on browbone to highlight
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Zero on waterline
Stila Sparkle Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner in Royal on upper lashline
Guerlain Noir G de Guerlain mascara in Noir
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Face:
Guerlain Parure Aqua foundation in 02 Beige Clair
Guerlain Radiant Butterfly Meteorites Voyage Powder
Blush from Vivo Baked Shimmer Palette in Paparazzi

Lips:
Chanel Glossimer in #104 Astral

See more pictures after the jump!

2011's Favourite Products: Part 1 - Eyes

As 2011 is drawing to a close, I decided to do a series of posts about my favourite beauty products of the year. To be honest though, I do find it quite difficult to do posts like this, because a year is a pretty long period and I often find if I think of my favourites of a certain period, the latest favourites will most likely be included rather than the ones I was crazy about 6 months ago. But I will try to be as objective as possible. I'm not doing detailed reviews on everything since I have actually reviewed a lot of these products, so I will just link them back to the posts if they've already been reviewed.

First up are base products. My favourites are in no particular order: Barbara Daly (for Tesco) Even Smoother Eye Base, Mac Paint Pots and Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr eyeshadows. Click on the links for the reviews. The only one of these three that I haven't reviewed yet are the Mac Paint Pots. I don't know why, I've just never got around to doing it. I actually own a lot of them, having bought 10 with the last 2 Mac collections and also the permanent ones, or older limited edition ones that I'd already owned. They can be used as primers as they don't crease at all or just on their own for a subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) colour. My only problem with them is that my older ones are beginning to dry out, even though I keep them upside down and sealed properly. They are the most expensive of the bunch at £13.50 for 5 g.

Keep reading to find out what other eye products made it into my favourites this year!

Givenchy Phenomen'eyes Paillettes Glitter Topcoat in Plum Sparkles

I wore this mascara top coat in my previous post, so I thought I'd show you in a bit more details. It's part of Givenchy's holiday offerings and comes in 3 shades: Plum Sparkles, Gold Sparkles and Black Sparkles.

Givenchy Phenomen'eyes Mascaras are one of my favourite ones, so I was hoping this topcoat would have the same qualities, but sadly, no. I tried wearing it on its own, but the formula is too runny/thin for that and it hardly made any differenc to my lashes. On top of another mascara it adds some very hardly noticeable sparkles, but no volume or length. The sparkles were just not obvious enough to justify paying £20 for a topcoat, so I'm quite disappointed with this product. I haven't tried the gold shade, maybe that's a bit more blingy, but this plum shade is certainly very subtle.

Otherwise, it has the same brilliant brush as the regular Phenomen'eyes mascaras and you get 7 g which is a good size for £20. I think I will just stick to my regular Phenomen'eyes mascaras, they have never disappointed me.

See more pictures after the jump!