My Top Products of 2011

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! Does anybody have any exciting plans for tonight? I have to admit, I really don't like New Year's Eve. I feel it's always so hyped up and then always turns out to be such a letdown of a night. Town is always wedged and ugh I just don't like it. This year one of my friends is having a couple of us over to her house for dinner and cocktails - much better than battling it out in town I think! I'm writing this part of the post just before I head out to her, and after working all day I don't have time to read other people's top products of 2011 posts, but I can't wait to read them tomorrow and get some ideas for what to try in 2012!

I know every blog is going to have one of these top products of 2011 posts, but sometimes it's inevitable that you end up on the bandwagon! Besides, I enjoyed thinking back on my standout products of the year. This is actually my second time writing this post....blogger ate my other one!

I suppose by right I should have individual 'top' posts for eyeshadow, lipstick etc. and maybe I will next year. For this year, however,  I decided to compile it into one post. I did a top 5 nail polish post though, which you can see here.

Unlike the nail polish post, this post doesn't necessarily include products that were released this year, more so it is a collection of products that I have discovered this year. As I have mentioned before, this year was the first year that I was truly intune with beauty and make-up collections and product launches and product types and tools and all sorts, so I had a lot of catching up to do!
This is why I didn't want to restrict my top products to new releases - there is just way too much good stuff out there!

MAC Pro Palettes

To kick us off I will start with Mac Pro Palettes. I bought my first 6 Mac eyeshadows in pot form in July 2010. (Vanilla,Wedge, Woodwinked, Yoghurt, Quarry and Club. All from the Mac counter in Harrods in London, just in case you were wondering!:p)

When I discovered YouTube, that November, I discovered the wonder of the palettes. They seemed such a convenient way to store and use the eyeshadows, especially the more your collection grew. January 2011,  I nervously attempted to depott my 6 precious eyeshadows. Club had a little accident, which thankfully was repaired and all the rest had a successful move!

Happily I then went and bought my pro palette (and some brand spanking new pro pan eyeshadows) and I was also able to complete my first Back to Mac with the empty eyeshadow pots:)

This was a really long, and probably unnecessary story about my first mac pro palette. In short, it is brilliant, so much easier to keep all your eyeshadows together. I am also very glad that I had the wisdom to decide to depott my pots when I had only 6 as opposed to when the collection grew considerably!

I now have 2 full Mac palettes and need to start a third. An overview of the palettes will appear soon!

Urban Decay Naked Palette

This product was a highly anticipated new release of 2011.  For me it was definitely worth the hype. A palette full of neutrals that could still create many different looks. The palette was as compact as could be, without forgoing eyeshadow size. This was the only palette and eyeshadow that I brought with me when I moved away for the summer, and I never got sick of it!

Catrice Nail Polish

A cheap brand with incredible quality.The nail varnish has great formulation and an extensive colour range. A brand that's readily available in Ireland? That we're not overcharged for? Sold! At averaging around €2.79 a bottle, it would be rude not to!

Revlon ColourBurst Lipgloss

I discovered these in about April. A smooth gloss with no sticky tendencies, it fast became my favourite lipgloss. It is now the brand that I have the most lipgloss from and I have nearly all the shades available to me in Ireland. I hope we get some more of the extensive shade range that is available over the other side of the pond! (Ignore the Carmex in the picture - although I love that as well!)

Dior Poison Perfume

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This certainly isn't a new release, it appeared in 1998 I believe. The one I'm loving is Hypnotic Posion. I got a bottle recently for Christmas but it's a perfume that I've been sniffing for a few months.  Intriguing, hypnotic and seductively sexy. Love it.

Mac 187 Face Brush

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Before purchasing this I used a  traditional foundation 'paintbrush' style brush. The 187 is a duo-fibred stippling brush and gives a flawless finish. 

Dove Supreme Body Silk

I've prattled on about this a lot. It is amazing. 

There has been lots of other items that I could have put here, but I needed to limit it somehow!

What have been your top products of 2011?

Project Empty - The Results

Back in this post in October, I started my Project Empty! I have since finished nearly all the products!

The finished line-up

The one bottle of shampoo I still have to finish. About two more uses left I think!

Additional products that I used up during project empty!

All together now!

I really don't think I would have used up that many products if I hadn't started project empty. They would have just sat there being used occasionally while I continuously went and bought more! Definitely going to make project empty a regular thing:)

Current Nail Polish Collection - December 2011

And here it is. My complete nail varnish collection. To some people it might seem like an insane amount, to others it might only be a tiny blip compared to other nail varnish collections out there.

The pictures today are just general photos, with a few close up shots. I intend to do a series of posts in the new year on each individual brands and what polishes I have from them.

My collection has grown considerably since November 2010, when I bought my first OPI nail varnish online and I descended down the slippery slope of nail polish addiction. You can check out this post, if you are interested at looking at what my original nail polish collection was like.

The gang.

 

Just for comparison to my original nail polish collection!!

Divided into groups by brand

I store my nail varnish in a 4-drawer cabinet/locker thing. 

Currently I use 2 of the drawers for nail varnish. The 3rd drawer is used for nail related tools/items. The 4th drawer is non-nail related, but I think I'm going to have to empty it and reassign it to nail stuff!

Drawer 1 holds China Glaze, Revlon, Rimmel,No7, Gosh, Models Own, Wet n Wild, Sally Hansen, Essence, Bourjois and possibly a few singles I may have missed.

Drawer 2 contains OPI, Essie, Zoya, Catrice, Barry M, Kiko, Illamasqua and Orly. Again there may be individuals I have missed.

Here are my Chanels, Ciates, Kiss and 17 nail polishes. These don't fit in the drawers and so are currently homeless and just sitting on my desk!

The 3rd drawer has my nail wheels, nail polish strips, nail polish remover, konad stamping stuff, nail files and my nail tool bag.

Inside the nail tool bag. This holds all the nail stuff I use most frequently when I go to do my nails. Cuticle oil, cuticle remover, buffer, top and base coats, leftover tinfoil for glitter removal etc. It's great to have everything like that held together in one bag.

A complete list of what nail polish I have can be found under the tab entitled 'Nail Polish Collection' at the top of the page. 

Don't forget to keep an eye out for the individual brand posts starting early in the new year!

Top 5 Nail Varnishes of 2011

I hope everybody had a great Christmas! It always goes way too quick:(

Today's post is a top products of 2011 style post. This one focuses on my top 5 nail varnishes that were released in 2011.

As you all know, it was really only this year that I truly discovered nail varnish, so a lot of it was all so new to me anyway. However, for the sake of this post I decided to stick with polishes that were released this year.

I had a hard time narrowing it down but I somehow managed it! The shades I picked are ones that are not only standout shades but ones I feel I will wear over and over without ever getting bored!

They are in no particular order.

Chanel Péridot from the Illusions d'Ombres Collection (Autumn 2011)

A stunning green gold nail varnish. More detailed post here.

OPI Mermaids Tears from the Pirates of the Caribbean Collection (Summer 2011)

A beautiful green, slightly dusty, polish. More detailed post here.

OPI Not Like The Movies  from the Katy Perry Collection (Spring 2011)

One of the most stunning green purple duochromes of the year. More detailed post here.

China Glaze Glittering Garland from the Let it Snow Collection (Winter 2011)

A newly released glittering green. More detailed post here.

ZOYA Caitlin from the Intimate Collection (Spring 2011)

A grey-tinged purple. More detailed post here.

I think from this post it's fairly obvious that anything with any kind of green in it, is a favourite of mine! 

Any stand-out shades for you this year?

Christmas Day N.O.T.D - OPI Smitten With Mittens

Merry Christmas everybody! 

This is just a quick, scheduled post of what polish I'm wearing on my nails today. 

It's OPI's Smitten with Mittens from the 2009 Holiday Wishes collection.

I've wanted this for quite a while and finally tracked it down on eBay for a reasonable enough rate. 

Smitten with Mittens is a soft red with a gentle glitter. In the bottle the glitter looks gold but it doesn't really transfer like that on to the nail. 

Hope everybody is having a great day with family and friends, eating good food and enjoying presents:D 

Stormy Skies E.O.T.D

I created this eye look earlier in the week. I originally intended to just use silvers and greys but blue somehow managed to wind its way into the look!

To get this look I used: 

• Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden
• (all eyeshadows are MAC)
• Vanilla from lid to brow
• Silver Ring on lid
• Swell Baby on outer lid
• Knight Divine on outer lid
• Prussian in crease
• Flashtrack to deepen crease and on lower lash line
• Prisimique on brow bone
• Maybelline Gel Eyeliner on upper, lower and to tightline
• CoverGirl Lashblast mascara

Barry M Dusky Mauve

Wednesday night already! Christmas is this weekend, yay! Hope everybody is all prepared:) (or nearly prepared!)

Time for more Barry M love! Today's polish is called Dusky Mauve. 

My pictures are showing it up to be very brown, but in the very last picture you can see the purple throughout the bottle, which does somewhat reflect on the nails.

 

Dusky Mauve has been hailed as the dupe to Chanel's Paradoxal. I don't personally own Paradoxal so I can't compare it myself but from looking at comparison swatches online, it does seem to be true!

Review: Too Faced 'Romantic Eye' Palette

The Romantic Eye palette is my second eye palette from Too Faced, the first being the Natural Eye palette which I reviewed here.

The eyeshadows

The 'how-to' cards

For each of the 3 eye looks, I followed the steps on the card. The primer used for each was Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden, the eyeliner was Maybelline Gel Eyeliner. The mascara used in the 'Day' look was Lancome Hypnose and for the 'Classic' and 'Fashion' looks the mascara was CoverGirl's LashBlast

Day

Classic

Fashion

Overall, like the Natural palette, this is a very user-friendly palette. Most of the eyeshadows are buttery soft and very easy to work with. The only exception is the colour First Dance from the Classic section. It's the deep purple colour and whilst I have no aversion to wearing dark purples, I felt that it was too dark in comparison to the lid colour that it was supposed to be used in conjunction with. It was also the most difficult of the eyeshadows to blend out. 

Overall my favourite eye look was the Fashion one. I feel that it is the only one that the colours blend seamlessly and easily together and would also be the easiest for a beginner to work with.