Happy New Year! :P

Sorry for the lack of posts.. it's been a busy vacation! Plus I wasn't really sure what I wanted to post about.. but you know.. seeing all of your guys' "best and worst of 2009" sort of makes me want to do my own, so I lugged ALL of my stuff onto my desk and will proceed to do a very incoherent, mismatched, out-of-order, long and rambley sort of post! Let's see how long it will hold my interest before I end up saying I will break this post into a bunch of entries then never get to the rest of them... hahaha I'm such a bad beauty blogger :P

As a note, ALL PICTURES WERE TAKEN OFF GOOGLE IMAGES! I'm sorry if they were linked to YOUR blog, but I did not intentionally take your pictures. Plus, I'm not profiting off them anyways.. sssoooo.. yes. :P

And I suppose I have to deal with the disclaimer bit, eh? Well, not that any of you care :P but I did purchase all of these products with my own money unless stated. I'm not one of those lucky bloggers that receive products to try out and review!

BEST APPLICATION METHOD:

Applying concealer with a wedge-shaped sponge.

At first I was using my fingers.. which I felt was a bit rough, since I'm not the most light-handed person around (how on earth do I make jewelry?).. PLUS I decided, if I didn't like a particular concealer, I couldn't exactly SELL it since I had gotten my fingers all into it. I'm not sure why I decided to try it but we had a box of 100-or-so wedges sitting around (I surprisingly wasn't the one to buy it--the bf did, from CVS if you're wondering) and it works wonders. No washing my hands 100x when applying makeup, blends as I apply it, just works great. Though one con seems to be that I go through more concealer, since some of it gets into the sponge.. thus I hit pan on my Studio Sculpt concealer, which I never thought I'd do.

I'm glad I figured out this sponge thing.. because I was applying with some brushes from EcoTools (great brush line, btw) and it just wasn't working out for me. I ended up having to blend in with my finger.. or something else, it was just bad. And plus I haaaate cleaning brushes! Especially for cream products. Gross. And with so many sponges for so cheap at CVS, I could just throw it away and reach for another one after one or two uses.. or whenever I deemed necessary.

BEST OVERALL CONCEALER:

MAC Studio Sculpt Concealer

I'd have to say it was the one that comes in a little jar. It works like a charm covering up my dark circles on most days (compared to the other concealers I've tried) and application is easy with my new sponge. It can be a little cakey though.. and the best option would be to just take care of your skin so you don't need to cover anything up. I'm not sure if I'll look into purchasing another one of these when I run out of my current one.. I may just continue my search for an HG concealer.

I also tried the Kevin BeautyMaker Aqua Eyes concealer.. it's nice but there wasn't a whole lot of coverage, and when I need coverage, I need COVERAGE. I did like the feeling that it wasn't clogging my pores quite as much, so I do have one sitting around in case I have one of those "good skin days".. hahaha. And as a note, I am on my second KBM concealer, bought off Imomoko.com :)

BEST CONTOURING SHADE:

MAC Harmony

Though I have to say, I haven't tried anything else yet :P it's taken me a good year or so to even hit pan on this, and I use this basically every day. I hear you can use any sort of facial powder in 1-2 shades darker than your skintone.. in which case I'd probably reach for Maybelline Dream Matte Powder (love that!). I bought this after a friend recommended me to try MAC Emote.. which of course has been discontinued.. and both she and the SA said Harmony was a good dupe for Emote. When I run out, I'm not sure if I'll run to MAC or just go to CVS.. but I'll have at least a good 6 months if not more of my original pan :)

MOISTURIZERS (for oily/combo skin)

- Yes to Tomatoes Facial Hydrating Lotion: Smells good, was recommended to me by the beauty counter saleswoman at Walgreens but just didn't seem to hydrate my skin enough.. or was it too heavy? I don't know, either way it didn't keep me from getting oily any more or less than NOT applying moisturizer at all. I did like that it was in a pump container though :) and I have about a third of it left and I have no idea what to do with it. I also tried the Yes to Carrots Hydrating Lotion (for dry/normal skin) in hopes that my skin was well.. normal and dry.. but I had the same result. Still oily. I actually have no idea where that one is.. I mainly bought it for the BF. Not a huge loss.

- Korres Yogurt Moisturizer: Recommended to me by a Sephora SA (who, btw, did not seem to give a rat's ass about anything and seemed VERY bored by my existence). There is a light scent that smells sort of.. hmm.. well, it doesn't smell like yogurt to me. It comes in a sort of heavy glass jar (inconvenient and unhygienic). It also didn't seem to keep me from getting oily. I think I'm going to return it and get something else more worthwhile.

- Vitacreme B12: Received this in my SS package from Momoko (thank you dear!!).. this cream is pink and comes in a sturdy metal tube. This has been on my wishlist for awhile but at the price of $35.99, I was a bit hesitant to shell out the bucks in fear that it wouldn't do anything for me. It has a slight perfume (flowery?) smell which may bother some, but it hasn't bothered me--even when I have a headache. I've only been using this for about two weeks, but I've been using it for both a day and night cream, and my face IS LESS OILY! It's totally remarkable to me :) I don't feel the need to blot twice a day. It sinks right into the skin. It hasn't totally done away with dry patches but I've been on a plane twice within two weeks.. so I'll have to report back on this fully. I will definitely repurchase when I run out, though I may cringe when I hit the check out button.

LEAST USED COSMETICS:

FOUNDATION AND MASCARA

I have a good 5 tubes of unused mascara.. hahaha I know I'm so bad! That is definitely going to be one of my beauty resolutions.. to strive to wake up a little earlier and to make myself look a little prettier. Funny story.. I wear base makeup every day. I conceal and set with powder, use blush (most of the time) with a highlight and contour. The one day I wear eyeshadow and eyeliner, my intern boss compliments me on how great I look--haha! So I guess my base makeup looks really natural? That's good, right? :P

I have a couple bottles of foundation sitting around that haven't been used at all.. I mean, I've tried it but I usually apply in sort of a rush and still want to get my hands on a stippling brush.. so.. I guess I'm going to try to use those up this year too, or maybe I'll just stick them up on blogsale. I'm always tempted to get a foundation or try this or try that but.. I don't know. I think I'm just too lazy for it :P I'd rather take care of my skin and not have to use it, you know?

MOST USED:

Eyeshadow: Rimmel Color Rush Quad "Smokey Brun 002"

Blush: This would be a good show down :P I actually tried to go through all of my blushes equally.. but.. the ones that are in my palette won out. MAC Dollymix, Peachykeen, Margin and Milani Luminous. They're all just right next to my contour shade.. so.. it's just so easy..

Highlight: Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc: Peach Mosaic

Contour: Read above

Concealer: Read above

Shampoo/Conditioner: Dove brand (you can buy HUGE bottles at Costco.. hahaha. So sue me! I have a few other brands to try but I just haven't gotten around to using my Dove ones up just yet). I've grown up using Dove (well, besides Pert which Costco no longer carries, thus the switch haha) and I loooooove it! Keeps my hair smooth and shiny :) I may do a post on this later.. maybe.. hmm.

Top Coat: Seche Vite! Oh it's so glorious and it makes your nails look SOOOOO glossy.. and definitely helps my nail polish stay put for a few extra days :)

Base Coat: Essie Protein.. something. I don't have anything else to compare it to.. so.. yes. I do love the bottle.. so little and square! I do want to try Zoya Anchor though :) it's on my wishlist.

Lipstick: I'd have to saaaaay.. MAC Freckletone. I dooo love this color, and want to get a back up :)

Lipgloss: I haven't used lipgloss as much recently but when I did, I did use my Dior Clutch Pink a loooooot, as evidenced in my blogposts :P

Eyeliner: MUFE Aqua Eyes. Though I recently did discover that I liked the Stila Kajal for smudging.. and haven't found a completely awesome eyeliner for the waterline. Ah, well. I still have a few brands to try that are sitting unopened in my drawer (d'oh!).

Powder: Maybelline Dream Matte Powder. It does a GREAT job of keeping me matte--far longer than if I hadn't put anything on. A good many bloggers have raved about this powder, and I've definitely been in line with that, but just kept quiet :P it's pretty finely milled for being a drugstore powder, and definitely doesn't look cakey. It's just great. I love it. I have two back ups :) love BOGOs!

Sunscreen: ColoreScience Sunforgettable SPF30 powder. I've talked about this once before.. it was recommended to me by my dermatologist, and she and her family uses it all the time as well. I love it since it doesn't make me oilier, it looks natural when applied, and works great. It's not completely sweatproof, especially if you sweat A LOT like me (and wipe off the sweat too) but if you sweat less, I assume it would be perfect. I didn't particularly like the BRUSH that it comes with (brush attached to a tube) so I bought the refill (comes in a metal tube) and tap that onto my own brush--much more sanitary IMO. Would definitely recommend it, though it may be a little hard to find.

Brushes: Hmm.. this may have to be a different post :P

Eyeshadow base: MAC paintpots. I do have quite a few other primers.. but I just haven't gotten around to using them, especially when I can't seem to put much of a dent in my paintpot (yes, only one!).

MOST COLLECTED:

Eyeshadow color: I would have to say.. blues and purples. Purples I can understand since I looooooove purples.. but.. I don't really wear blues! Mostly as a pop on the lower lashline.. but I rarely do full on blue EOTD's.

Overall: Lipsticks. Whenever I went into a store, it was usually to check out the different lippie shades.. not eyeshadows or blushes or eyeliners. I may have a swatchfest tonight and put my lesser-used ones up on blogsale :P