My Favourite Beauty Discoveries of 2014

Apologies for the absence of the last few days, but I've been feeling a bit under the weather, and unfortunately had nothing scheduled for post-Christmas. Rather than force myself to sit at the computer (and probably spout utter nonsense to you!) I thought it was best to just leave things quiet of the blog front for a while. I had a couple of posts I wanted to get up before the New Year though, so I'm back again today with my favourite beauty discoveries of the year, This was initially going to be a "favourite launches" post, but I realised there were quite a few things that I discovered this year that, although new to me were not new to the market, and I really wanted to share those with you too. I won't go into too much detail on each product here, as there's a lot to get through, but if any of these products have a full review post on my blog, they'll be a clickable link in the product name.


Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils As you can see from my review, my first taste of these was in the January sales when I bought last year's tree ornament, but my first real taste of Aromatherapy Associates came when my husband bought me the full set of miniatures for Valentines Day. Having now had a taster of the whole range, Revive Morning still remains a favourite, along with the Relax range.


Revlon Colorstay Foundation I've only recently discovered this over the past couple of months but it is now without a doubt my favourite drugstore foundation. I love the application, coverage and staying power - the only thing that does annoy me a little is it's pump-less packaging!

YSL Babydoll Mascara I've never seen length in my lashes quite like what I can achieve with this mascara, it's truely wonderful. The brush seperates my lashes beautifully and can actually build up to quite good volume too, but if it's super long length you're after then this is definitely a mascara worth investing in. It's quite pricey, so I always dread running out - luckily my husband knew this was my fave and bought me a new one for Christmas!

Makeup Revolution Eyeshadows I think Makeup Revolution in general as a brand has been a brilliant launch this year. Whilst there has been a few dud products along the way, they have released so many great products at such an affordable price. The stand out products for me have been their eyeshadow palettes. Whilst they're not quite of Urban Decay standards (and who'd expect them to be at £4 a pop?!). they have produced some really good dupes of some of their most loved palettes, in particular the Naked palettes, at surprisingly really good quality.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water It took a while for me to find my perfect cleansing water but here it is! This is the best I've found for getting rid of my tough-to-remove eye makeup, and it cleanses my face without leaving it dry and irritated. A really good product for anyone with sensitive skin.

Dove Dry Shampoo This appears to be a bit of a love or hate product in the blogging world but, as you can probably tell, I love it. It leaves my hair looking healthy & clean, without a chalky look or feel to it. I know that without discovering this product, I would've washed my hair a lot more than I've had to this year!

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes These are simply beautiful. From the packaging, to the product inside, it all just screams out luxury to me. The colour is really subtle too, so you don't have to worry if you have a bit of a heavy hand like me, you'll still end up with a subtle flush to your cheeks, with a hint of a glow. I wish I could afford the entire collection!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Lipsticks A liquid lipstick that dries to a matte finish which stays put for hours - love these! They are really easy to apply and so comfortable to wear. I do feel that there's a few colours missing from their range though - come on Bourjois, start making some more!

Benefit Gimme Brow I'll admit that I was pretty lazy at doing my brows before this product came along, but this makes it so quick and easy! It's a tinted gel product, so you get the colour and the setting product all in one, so there's no faffing around. This makes my brows look surprisingly natural.

Nuxe Reve de Miel I bought this with my birthday money back in July and thought it was a good product, but it wasn't until the true test of winter came along that I could truely appreciate it in all it's glory. This is the most hydrating lip balm I have ever used, my lips stay softer for much longer, which is a must if I fancy rocking a matte lip. If you suffer badly from dry lips, I'd really recommend giving this a go.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil Who'd have thought that my most effective skincare item of the year would have cost me just £12?! There was a lot of hype surrounding this product when it was released at the start of the year, and rightly so. This serum is a lovely base for my evening moisturiser, it just helps it apply so much easier. My skin looks so healthy and feels soft & smooth come the morning. My skin just doesn't look the same if I don't use it.

Daisy Dream Perfume I'm a huge fan of Marc Jacobs fragrances, and whenever there's a new version of Daisy released, I have to have it. I've always like them, but gone back to my original Daisy as my favourite - until now. This scent has a slightly more sophisicated feel to it, and smells a lot fresher rather than florally. Nine times out of ten, I'll reach for this perfume. You can't really tell from the picture but there's less than half left, and I've only had it a few months!

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream This was my go-to base over the spring and summer. It has such a lightweight feel to it, but still gives a decent amount of coverage, ideal for that time of year. The colour correcting pigments even out your skintone and give a slight illuminating effect to the skin.

Revlon Matte Balms Quite possibly saving the best til last, I can't quite decide! These were released near the start of the year along with a range of lacquer balms which I wasn't really a fan of, but the matte balms were a real hit with me. I think it's safe to say I developed a bit of an obsession with these, and I ended up buy almost the entire collection! A really nice, comfortable, no-fuss lip product, which I personally think smells really good too!

What were your favourite discoveries of 2014?