top 10 beauty products of 2015

Happy New Year! To celebrate, I thought I’d do a round up of my most loved makeup of 2015. It was hard to pick just 10 products, so this is quite a carefully-considered list of things that made me the happiest to use. Some made the cut for their excellent formulas, some for their visual appeal, most because they have both:

1. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush
I used to be afraid of wearing non-matte blushes because of my skin texture, but these were game changers for me. I love that the subtle glow in this formula makes my skin look luminous and healthy.
See more here.

2. SUQQU Blend Colour Eyeshadow Quads
My SUQQU obsession is already well documented on this blog, so I’ll just summarise by saying they were by far my favourite shadow formulas of 2015. #18 Sakuraori and #19 Awafujisukashi were the first two quads I purchased.
See more here and here.

3. Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade
I’m pretty terrible with brow pencils, so this was my saving grace during the bold brow trend of 2015…though I find it versatile enough to use for more natural looks too. My only gripe is that it dries out pretty quick.

4. Marc Jacobs Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Powder
I can’t say enough good things about this. It’s ultra-finely milled and blendable, you get tons of product for the price, the contour isn’t orange, the highlight is matte, the compact has a gigantic mirror but is still lightweight…basically it’s perfect.
See more here.

5. Rouge Bunny Rouge Sea of Clouds
Magic in a bottle, and undoubtedly the star of my Highlighter Chronicles. I love everything about this highlighter, from the bottle to the scent to the formula. Of the three shades, Sea of Clouds remains my favourite.
See more here and here.

6. Wayne Goss Brushes
I was torn between these and my Hakuhodos, but for price and accessibility these take the cake. I really should do a full review on these brushes, but in short, they’re excellent and I’m planning to buy more. (And with free international shipping, why not?)

7. MAC Lightscapade
It was a close call between this and Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight, but ultimately this won for being pretty – good makeup should delight on multiple levels. The opal-esque marbling is so dreamy, and I like that it won’t rub off with use.
See more here and here.

8. Make Up For Ever Aqua Matics
These for me are the goldilocks of eyeshadow sticks: not too dry, not too slippery – just right. I reach for these every time I have to do five-minute-makeup that I do not want to look like five-minute-makeup. Even my mom loves how foolproof these are.
See more here.

9. Bite Beauty Luminous Crème Lipsticks
My favourite lipstick formula of 2015. I have very dry, deeply wrinkled lips and have always assumed that lipstick was just something to suffer through for the sake of vanity…till I discovered these creamy, pigmented, long wearing and kind-to-my-lips gems.
See more here.

10. Guerlain Météorites
Specifically these limited edition Perles des Neiges, a late but stunning addition to my 2015 faves. Trust me: nothing makes you feel quite as glamorous as finishing your makeup routine off with a dusting of Meteorites. And this version has stars to boot! Review coming soon.