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“Lately, I’ve been thinking about who I want to love, and how I want to love, and why I want to love the way I want to love, and what I need to learn to love that way, and who I need to become to become the kind of love I want to be… And when I break it all down, when I whittle it into a single breath, it essentially comes out like this: Before I die, I want to be somebody’s favorite hiding place, the place they can put everything they know they need to survive, every secret, every solitude, every nervous prayer, and be absolutely certain I will keep it safe. I will keep it safe.”

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Hello, my loves! Sorry this post is a little late. Life has been crazy, to say the least. But better late than never, right? 🙂

I narrowed this down quite a bit, I didn’t want a gigantic post with a million different products. I sat down and only chose products that I used close to daily, and in some cases – every single time I wore makeup.

If I’ve mentioned the product before or did a review on it, I will link to it!

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Primers:

Face –

Benefit’s Porefessional… Hands down my most used primer this year. I love the way it smoothes the skin and fills in larger pores. It helps to make the skin just a tiny bit more flawless looking. It’s a nice silky texture and melts into the skin quickly.

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Eyes –

MAC’s Paint Pot in Painterly.. A staple for me, some have issues with this creasing but I’ve never had a problem… It gives a smooth and flawless base for eyeshadows. Let it set for a minute or two before applying shadows, or apply a quick wash of a matte shadow first to prevent your initial eyeshadow from sticking to the base and making blending more difficult. It can be tacky when first applied so I always recommend doing one or the other to make the initial blending easier!

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Foundation:

Estee Lauder Double Wear…. I got this mid-through the year and have not touched another foundation since. This is everything people claim it to be and more. The coverage is incredible, it lasts literally all day long and makes your skin look flawless. I can’t rave about this enough.

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Concealer:

For Under the eyes –

Drugstore Favorite is Maybelline’s Fit Me. This concealer can go head-to-head with many high end ones. The coverage is fantastic, it blends easily and lasts all day.

High-End Favorite… Of course, MAC’s Pro Longwear… This is just a classic, can’t go wrong concealer. The coverage is amazing, it blends out beautifully and lasts all day.

For Spots/Blemishes –

Maybelline is the drugstore winner again, the Instant Age Rewind… I don’t love this under the eyes, it just doesn’t last for me but I love using this for spots on my face. It gives good coverage and blends out nicely.

Another MAC concealer, this is nice because you get four different shades of concealer as well as two corrective tones. The coverage is great and covers blemishes very well.

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Brows:

I almost skipped choosing a favorite for brows because this year I really struggled finding something I absolutely loved. I’ve tried pencils, shadows, gels as well as a different shade of the Dip Brow above and although I liked most, none of them really wowed me…. Until I purchased the Anastasia Dip Brow in another shade.

Soft Brown suits my brows so much better and it made a world of a difference! I’ve been absolutely loving this. Dip Brow can be a little bit more trickier to get used to at first but once you get it down, I find it even more easy than using a pencil! This gives a beautiful and long-lasting finish to the brows.

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Eyes:

There were many eyeshadows and palettes that I loved and used this year…. But absolutely nothing compares to my love and obsession with Makeup Geek. I use at least one shadow in every single look. I don’t know what it is about these but they are literally perfect. This was a photo from when I first purchased, they look a hot mess right now but I plan to get more shades soon! If you haven’t tried Makeup Geek yet, GO NOW! The hype is real.

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Lashes:

This year I got very into wearing falsies but I can’t say there is a brand/type that I absolutely fell in love with. I love Ardell and Kiss lashes are great as well but I’m always on the hunt for better! I also didn’t find a mascara or liner (I still love Maybelline’s Master Drama) that I really loved either, I used a lot of wonderful brands but there isn’t one specific that really stood out to me.

I used the Duo Lash Glue for half of the year until I picked up the Revlon Precision Lash Adhesive and I fell in love! This comes with a brush applicator and applies white, becomes blue-ish when it’s tacky and then dries clear. It gets tacky much quicker than Duo does, which is a huge plus and I find it keeps my lashes on much longer. My only complaint, this glue (for me) is NOT tear-proof! If I cry, my lashes will end up slowly but surely lifting up.. And for that reason, I’ll definitely be trying other lash glues but for now I’ve been enjoying this! Hopefully in 2015 I won’t have any reason to cry my lashes off LOL

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Bronzer/Contour:

1st half of the year:

Benefit’s Hoola bronzer… I really love this, it’s pigmented and a great shade for bronzing and contouring, it blends nicely. Overall, it’s just a great product. I prefer a cool-toned contour (warm-toned can give you that muddy look, cool tones create a shadow… Warm for bronzing, cool for contouring…) and that’s why my next product replaced this after I got it but this will always be a favorite and I’ll keep it in my collection.

End of year:

This one may be slightly controversial, it seems to be a love it or hate it product… But I fell in love with the Anastasia Contour Kit.

This palette comes with three highlighting shades and three bronzer/contour shades. The top right shade is the only with a shimmer to it, all other are mattes. You can go to the Anastasia website and create your own palette or purchase one like this that is pre-made… The one sold in stores is the lightest palette, so it won’t flatter every skin-tone! But being as pale as can be, I’ve really loved this. The pigmentation is great and it blends out nicely. It lasts all day on my skin! I know some dislike this palette but I love it!

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Blush:

I was a bit of a blush whore this year… I purchased so many that I loved so it was difficult to narrow down but these are the shades I grabbed for the most!

 I’ll get the one you probably won’t be able to find out of the way first… The Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Prim. This was in a holiday release – I’m sorry to those who don’t have this! But I absolutely love this shade… This kit was the first time I tried these Amazonian Clay blushes and now I understand why there is so much hype behind these! They are beautiful!

NARS Dolce Vita…. Le sigh… I love this blush so much. I have a huge love affair with NARS… They can’t do wrong in my eyes. The blushes and lip products are some of the best and Dolce Vita is such a stunning matte shade. It’s insanely pigmented so you have to use a very light hand but it gives a natural, beautiful flush to the cheeks. It’s a shade that goes with almost every makeup look! When I don’t know what to use, I almost always grab this. It’s just perfect.

Lastly, my MAC blushes… From left to right: Rosy Outlook, Peaches, Melba, Cantaloupe and the bottom shade is Margin. These are so beautiful. MAC blushes are just incredible.

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Lips:

Liners:

Urban Decay’s Lip Liner in Naked… This is a sample size and I’ve had it for over a year! I’m not sure quite what it is about this that I love so much, it’s just  fantastic product and this shade is one that I’ve gravitated to this year.

These are so pigmented and they last forever on the lips! I’ll be purchasing more shades because I’m so impressed. Naked is that mauve-brown-ish shade that has been so popular, and definitely ties in with Marsala this year.

Milani’s Color Statement lip liners… I love these. They are fantastic. Pigmented, creamy and long-lasting. The shades are incredible. And I love the packaging! They do need to be sharpened but I love the gold!

Left to right: True Red, Nude and Spice.

Lipstick:

Maybelline’s Creamy Matte lipsticks.. I went on the most insane hunt for these when they were first released. I just knew they would be amazing… And I was so right. Now they are easily available anywhere and if you haven’t tried them yet, go grab a shade. Preferably this one, in Touch Of Spice…. This lipstick is me in a tube, I swear.

It’s a spicey deep red with brown undertones. It’s so stunning. I need to take a minute…….. UGH!!! I love it.

These lipsticks are absolutely some of the best in the drugstore and easily stand up against any high-end lipstick. Just try one and you will fall in love. They are that good.

This was the year of liquid lipsticks for me. I couldn’t get enough of them!

From left to right:

Bite Beauty’s Cashmere Lip Cream in Port… I’m torn about this product. The shade is gorgeous but the formula is really odd. It feels like it’s dried out from the start, does that make sense? It’s like, it feels like it had more moisture to it.. But it never did. It’s dry to apply but once you get it on, it looks beautiful. I don’t think I’d buy another shade but this one is pretty.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in Always Red, no introduction needed if you’ve read my blog before.. You know this is a holy grail red lip for me!

Cailyn’s Tinted Lip Gloss in Basic Instinct… This isn’t a liquid lipstick but it’s such a thick consistency that I sort of turn it into one, I apply it and then matte it down! I didn’t think this shade would look good on me but I love it!

Stila’s Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Patina… Oh, I love this shade. It’s so stunning! These are some of the creamiest liquid lipsticks I’ve tried.. As with most, they can be drying but I’ll throw a little bit of a balm under first and it helps, also if it feels too dry later on dab a little bit more over top. The only thing I dislike, and is pretty normal with most liquid lipsticks, if some of it wears off throughout the day and you apply more, it will ball up a bit and become uncomfortable. So if you need to reapply midday or at the end of the night, I recommend removing it completely and re-applying.

Kat Von D’s Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks (BauHau5, Vampira, Lolita)… These are amazing. The shades are so stunning and the formula is one of the best! I find myself looking at the shades every time I’m in Sephora and plotting on getting more.

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Setting Spray:

E.l.f’s Mist & Set… I did a post comparing these to the Urban Decay Sprays and this little baby is just as good! This is $3 and it holds my makeup just as well as any high end setting spray. I couldn’t even count how many times I’ve repurchased this! I love it.

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So there are my favorite makeup products from 2014! If you’d like to see miscellaneous favorites or skincare faves, let me know!

Leave your favorites from the year in the comments below!! 🙂

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Thank you for reading! xoxo