Recently I’ve been buying a lot of new makeup and skin care items and as I move things around and reorganize my stash it’s given me a chance to look at what I really liked and used this year and what worked for me best. I’ve gathered my favorites below and thought I’d share with you all what I used and loved most!

First, Skincare. Keep in mind a lot of these things that are on here are recent discoveries but I already know they’re now staples so I’ve decided to add them on as well.

• I’ve been using my Clarisonic Mia for over two weeks now everyday and so far I liked it. I don’t know that it’s changed my skin or anything but I like it because it controls how long the product is on my face. Before I would lather up the cleanser, spread it on my face and then wash off all in under 30 seconds. With this, I feel like I get a good all around clean and scrub because it’s timed to shut off after a minute of use and you work it around your face as you go.
• My Neutrogena oil free eye makeup remover has also been my go to eye makeup remover this year. The only thing that I don’t love is that it makes your eyes feel oily even though there’s no oil in it. I think next year I may have a new favorite eye makeup remover but this one worked well for me this year.
• I love my Guicci Guilty perfume even though I’ve only had it for a month. I’ve been wanting this all year though and when I did get it, it was and is every bit as good as I remembered it to be!
• My Origins Mimosa moisturizer is my nightly cream. Its great because it has anti-aging but it’s not a thick cream like most other anti-aging creams. It’s sort of a soft, thin lotion texture and it smells so good! I’m almost done with the jar so probably sometime in the next 2-3 months I’ll be searching for a new night cream.
• I really like my Kate Sommerville spf 55 daily moisturizer so far. I’ve used it for almost 2 months now and it’s a daily part of my routine. I just love that it’s such a high spf but not thick and it absorbs nice and quick. And it’s not oily feeling.
• And of course my all time go to cleanser is my Neutrogena oil-free acne wash in grapefruit. No matter how many times I try different cleansers I always come back to this one because it just works and it gives my face the perfect amount of cleanliness and dryness after using it so it’s just perfect for me. I’ve been mostly acne free this year (fingers crossed) and I think it’s due to my consistent skin care routine. I’ve been a lot better at taking care of my skin and I’m so happy at the results!

Next, I have my favorite face products of this year.

• First is my smashbox primer. I used this pretty religiously this year but I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I dipped my toe into trying the MUFE HD primer. It just showed me how this product works with my face so much better.
• Next is a new item that is not really new, it’s the BE Pressed Mineral Veil. It’s new to my collection ( a week old) but it’s not really new in that I’ve always loved BE Mineral Veil. I just stopped using it because I was tired of the loose powder. So you can imagine how excited I was when they came out with the pressed version. I’ve used this everyday for the past week to set my makeup and I love it! I just makes my face so flawless looking and the combination of this and the Benefit porefessional does a really good job of keeping the oils at bay! You can bet that I’ll probably pick up my foundation shade in medium beige when it comes out as pressed too!
• Next are my two foundations of the year. Only this year did I start to wear foundation on a daily basis as part of my makeup routine so in a sense I’m still new to the foundation market. I’ve only tried four foundations so far: Revlon Photoready, Revlon ColorStay, Laura Mercier Silk Crème, and MUFE HD and so far these two are still my favorite. On here the shades are so different but on the skin they’re actually not too far apart. I still haven’t found a shade that matches me perfectly which is why these two are so different. Recently I’ve been using the colorstay more because its closer to where my skin tone is now but I really like the feel, stay and consistency of both of these foundations.
• Next is a also a newbie. It’s the Bobbi Brown concealer in Natural. I’m still searching for a perfect concealer but so far this one is getting close. I’ve now realize that I like creamy concealers with a sort of thicker consistency so that it will actually sit on the skin rather than blend out and this one does a good job of that. The only problem is it’s a tiny bit too orange for my skin if not blended out and the shade above this is too pinky and light. But for the most part it works.
• Next is a newbie as well, the Benefit Porefesional Primer. I just love this so far! It’s not silicone feeling like the Smashbox and it sinks in really quick. Also as mentioned above, I think this combined with the mineral veil is just magic for controlling my oil. I don’t know if it covers my pores since I don’t have super enlarged pores but I know it helps my makeup sit still longer.
• Next is my setting powder of the year, my Amazing cosmetics powder set. I’ve hit pan on this and it’s nearly almost gone! I love this pressed translucent powder! It feels nice and velvety and sets my makeup beautifully!
• Lastly is this NYX eyeshadow base. The latter part of this year I used this a lot because halfway through the year my huge Urban decay professional size primer became too hard and dry to use so I started using this and its actually really nice. It’s super creamy and blendable and melts right into my skin. I don’t know how it compares in terms of keeping my shadow on but on top of it shadows don’t crease and they do look better and bolder.

Next, I have my cheek products of the year:


• My go two combo whenever I don’t want to think about a look is my NARS orgasm/laguna blush and bronzer duo. Both colors are always flattering with basically any look and skin tone.
• My favorite blush of the year has got to be NARs Mata Hari. I’ve been really into purple tone blushes this year and this one is my favorite. It brightens up my skin really well and I loved it for cool tone looks.
• Next is a new favorite, my itty bitty benefit Hoola. I will definitely be buying a full size of this after I’m done with this small one. I think I’ve found my HG bronzer. I love it because it’s matte and a brown tone, not a shimmer and orange tone like NARS Laguna. This one will probably be a staple next year. I just wish I can get a full size one in packaging like this rather than the usual boxed sets.
• Next is my other favorite blush of the year, MAC’s Sakura. Again, I was obsessed with purple blushes this year. This one is a lot brighter and cooler than Nars Mata Hari and sometimes I would use them both together like put this on the cheeks and then Mata Hari as a bronzer to deepen the purple on my cheek bones.
• My go to pink blush this year was MAC pink swoon. It’s just the perfect shade of pink and I wore this whenever I wasn’t doing purple looks 🙂

Next are my favorite eye shadows/palettes.


• I really used my stila palette a lot when it was the 6 pan palette. I’ve boxed my favorite shades in the second picture. As you can see I’m a neutrals and smokes kind of girl.
• I’ve also loved my two maybellene quads in natural smokes and mocha motion this year. I kept these in my makeup bag so I would use these whenever I did my makeup on the road and they were perfect. On the neutral smokes palette I mostly used the pink toned color as highlighter and then the dark brown taupe above in the crease. On the mocha motion quad I used most of it except the grey shade.
• Of course I loved my naked palette this year because again, I’m a neutrals girl. I only used the light shades of it though and one of the darker shades because it’s got a purple undertone. I don’t think I’ve even dipped my brush into the other shades which is why I’m on the fence about purchasing Naked 2.
• Lastly I have my Loreal quad in Canyon. They’re my on-the-road browns and they work really well for a brown smokey eye or just a brown neutral eye.

Next are eye products of the year!

• I was really into gel liner this year and barely wore my usual liquid. I’ve played around with a few and this Stila one turned out to be my go-to gel liner. I’ve had it for a while and it still hasn’t dried out yet so that’s a plus!
• Next is my new favorite lash curler from Shiseido. I thought I loved my shu one but I’ve changed teams. This one is a lot flatter and better for my eyeshape than the shu and it’s a cute shiny little black curler!
• Next is my NYX double ended pencil with a pink and brown for the brows. I just use the pink side for highlighting under my brow and in my inner corner.
• Next is my brow pencil for the year. This year I stopped using powder and switched to a pencil which was the best decision I’ve ever made for my brows because they’re super thin on the ends after the arch and powder just doesn’t stay on my skin randomly without some hair there to hold it. This way I can sort of draw that section in. I just like this faceshop one because it’s got a spooly on the other end and the color matches me.
• Next is my go to waterline pencil from MAC in Graphblack. I found that it works well on the waterline without giving me raccoon eyes on the bottom. I tried the UD one but it just didn’t stay. I’m still trying out MUFE Aqua liner.
• I also really liked my NYX jumbo pencil in Mocha this year under my brown and purple shadows.
• And lastly, my favorite mascara, MUFE smokey lash. I’ve gone back to this over and over again and this will always be my favorite mascara.

And then here are my favorite lip products of the year:

• First is my favorite lipgloss of the year, The Sephora lipgloss in number 20. It’s just a great nude and it smells amazing! Also it is not sticky at all and still has color pay off for being a nude!
• Next is my NYX jumbo lip pencil in iced coffee. It’s sort of a brown nude and it was my go to nude of the year because I’ve literately spent half my year looking for nude lipsticks.
• Next are my two favorite NYX lipsticks this year, Thalia and Tea Rose. Thalia is just the perfect muavey nude and Tea Rose is just a perfect muted rose everyday color.
• Next is my new favorite pink of the year by Nars called Schiap. I just love the stay and consistency and the bright pink color!
• Finally, my favorite pink lipgloss in haute from Lorac. This one was my go to for pinky lips and light purple nudey lips.

And finally, my favorite brushes of 2011!

• My surprise favorite of the year was this Elf Contour Brush. I have 3 of them and I just love that its so versatile. I use it for liquid foundation and for powders so its just great and it’s only $3. I plan on getting more, one for each different foundation.
• Next is my huge Sephora Bronzing brush that I actually use for powder. It’s so dense and big so I just do a tiny swirl in my powder, tap and then brush on.
• Next is another newbie favorite from Real Techniques. I use this with bronzer and stick it right under my cheekbones and it just highlights the shape perfectly.
• Next are my two go-to brushes and I have multiples of these. They are the elf shadow and blending brushes and for $1 they are amazing! My sister and I used to keep our makeup together so I would tape my brushes so that we wouldn’t get mixed up and that’s what you see around the brushes. It’s just decorative tape.
• For doing more blending up the crease I love my Sonia Kashuk blending brush. It’s bigger and fluffier than the elf one so it blends out harsh creases a little better but it also spreads it out more.
• And last is my go to gel liner brush from smash box. I found that I prefer this brush to angled flat ones because this one is easier for me to draw a wing rather than drag out a wing.

And that’s it for my favorite beauty products of 2011. I know a lot of them are new products but keep in mind that I bought a lot of beauty products in the last 2 months so the ones I did pick out to add to this list are things that I’ve been loving and things I know I’ll continue to love in 2012. I can’t believe this year is over! I’m so excited for 2012!

♡ PaNhia