Happy (belated) New Year! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed the holidays. I've decided that one of my new years resolutions is to blog more.. knowing me I won't stick to this but I really want to get into the habit of blogging. So I thought what better way of starting the new year with a '2013 favourites' blog post. Original, I know. Sorry it's late, I've been waiting for this nasty rain to clear up so I can take some decent pictures for you (poor excuse, but it's the truth!). 2013 was such a great year for me and it's the year where I've really begun to appreciate makeup and beauty and have learnt so much from YouTube Gurus and beauty bloggers. I'm hoping that I'll start trying out more products and do more reviews and swatch posts like I always promise to. So without further ado, I introduce, my 2013 favourites!

Concealer

The Bobbi Brown Corrector in light to medium peach is by far my most used and favourite product of all time. I've already created a post entirely dedicated to this product which you can see here, but I have to emphasize just how much I like it. It's the perfect formula to cover up those nasty dark under-eye circles that I am way too familiar with. The product lasts a very long time, I bought it around this time last year and I'm currently scraping out the last bits of the product left. Although it is on the high end of beauty products, it is definitely worth the spend, also check out Debenhams for when they have their beauty sales to get it a little cheaper.

I have another concealer that has made it in my favourites and it is a highstreet/drugstore alternative and I have heard nothing but good reviews on this product. It is the Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in Deep 4 (the label on the packaging has rubbed off, in case you're wondering). Although I don't find it that good for my under-eye circles, I absolutely love it for covering blemishes and any redness around my nose area. It's uber cheap and lasts a pretty long time! It has an easy applicator and has a formula that makes it real quick to blend into your skin.

Foundation

I'm yet to find my ideal foundation and I've spent the last 3 or 4 months changing foundations every other day. I wish I could show you my favourite foundation here, but I have to be honest and say I still haven't found one that lasts long and is the exact match for my skin. However, I may do a mini foundation review series to show you what I do and don't like about the ones I'm switching through at the moment.

Eyeliner

Towards the second half of the year I fell back in love with a product that I haven't used in such a long time. The Collection 2000 fast stroke eyeliner in Black 1 was my go to liquid liner back in the day but I decided to change to a different applicator. Long story short, I realised this eyeliner is much easier to control and I can get a more accurate cat wing. It lasts a really long time despite the size of the product and the actual product stays on all day! I'm so impressed with this product as it looks exactly the same in the evening as it did when you first put it on at 8 in the morning! I can not find any faults in this product and again it's super affordable.

Bronzer/Contour

The Sleek contour kit in Light has pretty much been the product I've used everyday since about June when I first discovered it. Perfect for bronzing or contouring, although I use it more as a contour. It's nicely pigmented (as all Sleek products tend to be!) and lasts a decent amount of time. I don't really use the highlighter part of it as much as I feel it doesn't really suit my skin tone, but maybe I'm just using it wrong.. Despite using it almost everyday, I haven't yet hit pan on the product so I'm assuming it's going to last me a long time.

Blush

You may remember that my previous posts were almost always about e.l.f. cosmetics and their products. I have to admit I was extremely addicted to the price and not so much the products themselves! However, out of all the deliveries there is one product I use almost everyday and that is their Studio blush in Mellow Mauve. It is the perfect colour for winter and with a light hand summer too! It's perfectly pigmented and long lasting too. Elf blushes are said to be the ideal dupe for nars blushes, but as I don't own a nars blush I can't tell you how true that is.

Mascara

Mascara is my go to product. If I'm going to wear one product it will definitely be mascara. I stick to Maybelline mascaras but the one I discovered this year is The Rocket mascara. I cannot explain how much I adore this mascara. It elongates and coats your eyelashes perfectly and almost looks as if you're wearing false eyelashes! There is one downside to this mascara and that's how difficult it is to remove! Yes, it's nice to have a long lasting mascara but it's a pain in the ass when you come home tired as hell and your mascara refuses to come off! However, it's definitely worth that struggle for thick flared eyelashes!

That is it for my 2013 favourites, I'm sure you'll agree when I say I've made this post ridiculously long but I hope this has been helpful to you anyway :) I hope you all have a lovely year and I look forward to all you new followers! 

Neelam xx