The Best Makeup of 2010!

2010 was such a banner year for cosmetics. So many beautiful collections, and so many new releases. These are the best items, in my opinion, of 2010. Starting with the lips,

Best Lipstick: Edward Bess lipstick in Night Orchid. I love this color, it compliments my complexion so well, and the formula is so creamy and hydrating. I also love the high quality metal packaging, although it appears that will be going by the wayside. Oh well. 

The best Lipgloss: Chanel Extrait de Gloss. I basically want every color from this line. The formula is gel like, and moisturizing. There are little speckles of microglitter, but these are far less blingtastic than the glossimer line. Score. 

Best Lipliner: Paul & Joe Lip Pencil Duos. These pencils are creamy and long lasting. I own 01 Melon, 03 Sepia, and 05 Scarlet, and between the three of them, essentially all of my lip lining needs are met.

Best Blush: Le Metier de Beaute Creme Fresh Tints. These are basically the best blushes I've ever used. As I've mentioned previously, I'm a sucker for any sort of cream product, and these are truly the cadillacs of cream products. The Creme Fresh Tints just melt into the skin for a completely natural flush. 

Best Eyeshadow: definitely the Rouge Bunny Rouge! Solstice Halcyon and Abyssinian Catbird have been on the menu a lot this past fall and winter. These shadows are just beautiful and easy to use. True love.

Best Highlighter: Tom Pecheux for Estee Lauder Pure Color Luminous  Powder. I was one of the lucky few to purchase this from Bergdorf Goodman this past fall. It's been my favorite highlighter ever since. Unfortunately the formula is so luxuriously soft and buttery, that there's already a crack through the powder! So no more travel for this palette, I love it too much to put into harms way!

Best Mascara: Dolce & Gabbana The Mascara. As I mentioned in the review for this product, I received this as a gift for purchase, and it's been a big hit.

Best Nail Polish: Chanel Khaki Brun. Are you as shocked as I am that I just said that? I was expecting to pass on Khaki Brun, because honestly, it's so damn ugly just sitting there in the bottle. But of course I had bought the other two khaki shades, so I was compelled to round out my collection and add brun. And it turned out to be my surprise favorite of the year. It's so beautiful once applied to the nail, that even my (very conservative) sister thought it was bangin'. I've already worn this color three times, twice in a row! That's nearly unheard of. 

Last, but not least, Best Collection of 2010: usually I'm all about fall and winter, give me crandberry, ochre, bronze and mustard, but this year I have to say that Dior Summer '10 was the best collection. I bought both the palettes, and I've really enjoyed them both.

That's a wrap. Happy New Year everyone!

Estee Lauder Extravagant Golds Palette, Swatches and Review

Can we please talk about my love for Estee Lauder? Admittedly, it's a fairly recent love. Ever since the Tom Pecheux Pure Color Night collection, I've been paying attention to their new products. Not only have I found a few gems among the mascara, but I'm really digging the eyeshadows. This holiday, Estee Lauder brought us the Extravagant Golds Five Color Palette, which instantly won me over with that light milk chocolate-y taupe in the upper right hand corner. All of the colors are a buttery soft consistency, and have a delicate frost texture once applied to the skin. Obviously except the matte brown in the center, which is incidentally the highest quality matte I've ever come across. I wish I could have a whole rainbow of colors in this perfect smooth matte finish. 

The colors are, from upper left clockwise: true gold, warm brown taupe, orange copper, cream frost, and matte chocolate brown. They're all coordinated beautifully, and blend very well into one another. The amount of product is also very generous, especially for the low price. The palette is pretty hefty, comes with a huge mirror, and clocks in at $42. So affordable for a high quality department store brand.

You can probably see how pigmented the eyeshadows are in the swatch photos. I tried to photograph the swatches from different angles to show how the colors change slightly, depending on how you look at them. I've really have been enjoying wearing this palette. Highly recommended.