Best of 2010 - My Favorite Beauty Products and More

I know I am a bit late (Oh, do you know that I still have some products I got from 2010 that I didn't get to review?) on the yearly round up thing but I am determined to get this done since I didn't get to do one last year...Of course, I have to start with my favorite lip gloss(es) of the year...

I already declared my love for Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss back in 2008 when I got the best selling shade called Nude Lustre but I was hoping for more,something more exciting and less auntie...With their summer collection, these Revlon glosses leave me no room to complain: They are non-sticky, pigmented, in fashion-forward shades, reasonably long lasting and affordable.  My two favorite of the bunch are Coral Reef and Lilac Pastelle(which for some random reason is going on clearance in CVS...WTH?) 

Of course I cannot just pick one range when it comes to lip gloss. L'Oreal Colour Juice Lip Gloss in Raspberry Smash happens to another of my most reached gloss of the year, closely followed by NYC lip slider in Sugar Fairy.

Lipsticks

While I still am not of fan of Maybelline Color Sensational Lipsticks' texture and finish, I cannot overlooked the fact that some shades (Coral Crush and Berry Beautiful) are so gorgeous that I am willing to compromise/spend extra time prime it under or gloss it over to get my desired finish/texture.

For a natural, everyday look, I love MAC Creme Sheen Lipstick in Ever Hip(from the Liberty of London Collection)which is the first nude (I call anything lighter than my natural lip color "nude") that doesn't wash me out. If I want a bit of shimmer, Shiseido Maquillage moisture rouge would be another winner of its own category.

Nail Polish

Thanks to several readers, now I know that OPI Chapel of Love is the shimmering coral jelly I have been loving (and didn't know the name of). It somehow reminds me of MAC ever hip lipstick that both of them are soft, gentle, girly but neither boring or over-the-top.

Eye Makeup
I didn't buy that many eye makeup this year so the pick is rather easy: L'Oreal HIP studio secret eyeshadow duo in Electrified an intense silver taupe that's as malleable as the actual metal.

Face/Cheeks products
I am actually being really boring that I am still pretty loyal to my Benefit Thrrrob (a powdery cool pink that's almost impossible to overdo) and Coralista (a juicy shimmering coral). If I have to pick something new from 2010, NYC Blushable Cream Stick in Pink Flash and Wild Berry are cheap, pretty and fun to play with.I do have a love-at-first-swipe blush from a 2010 collection but I guess it will take a while before I finish the review.  

Best Tool 

Yup, Too Faced Retractable Kabuki brush has become my favorite face brush(Bye bye Stila #21). Of course, I still cannot live without my all mighty Tweezerman tweezers, which works great with the Sony SD card, which won't get in/out of my laptop otherwise (I heard that they finally caved in and make Camera that take regular sized SD cards) and some unfriendly guys between my eyebrows. Because not everyone can pull off that look like Frida Kahlo...

Skin Care 
I kept things pretty simple for last year (and intend to keep it that way) and all I needed are Neutrogena Sunscreen (Clean & Clear Morning glow moisturizer) Shiseido White Lucent Cleanser and Merlot Grape Seed Night Cream.  Of course, no girl should leave her eye(ball)s behind...so here is another important member of my skincare squad:
Square-round (Squircle?) over sized sunglasses from Vera Wang. (There is a loose hinge on them so I guess that's why they are so cheap from TJ Maxx. I still feel lucky finding them though.) I love the shape, weight and how comfortable they feel.

Clothes

I remember I first saw girls wearing leggings back in 2005 and thought those are completely pointless (I mean, if it's too cold, why don't they just wear pants instead of having these tight pants under a mini-skirt?) but the trend went on and even my mom started to get into them (don't worry, she doesn't go for anything flashy).

She bought me a pair and I started getting compliments (OK, from the cashier lady from Walgreens...but it still counts)...Before I know it, I started to wear it with casual dresses and shorts and they have been keeping my seriously-in-need-of-some-exercise thighs warm (in the over-conditioned hallway) since...

BTW. I hate these cut-out leggings from the above picture (too tight, too long and the holes are too wide/skanky)and I promise you that they are nowhere to be found...for the greater good.

Accessories 

This green nephrite fish has got to be my favorite purchase of the year.The seller (click here for the shop.BTW, in Chinese), who is nice, approachable (reads: easy on the haggling) and very reputable. It also seems that he/his wife share the same love for cute (seahorse, tropical fish, turtles, corn, goose...you don't see those kind of jade piece often elsewhere) and affordable pieces.

Food/Drink 
After years of unhealthy addition to Gatorade and other sport drink (and the tragic accident involving my 1-year old camera getting drowned to death) I finally got tired of this and replace the old addiction with a new one: Alcohol...

Edit (2hr after it's published): Did blogger just deleted a paragraph (that's meant to be funny)!? I was totally kidding on this part(as I never had anything more than 2 glasses of wine for any day)and totally old enough to drink. FYI, I am kind of into non-dairy milk kick at this moment: Soy milk and almond milk are totally delicious!

Movie - Black Swan

Beside the gorgeous Natalie Portman,capable cast and a non-dragging story line, I love how well they weave Tchaikovsky's music into the plot so seamlessly...

The ending credits about the music entertained me a tad bit. It's like 7-8 different pieces with name this and that "xxx" written by somebody...then "contains music by P.I.Tchaikovsky". Come on, they just scaled down (from orchestra to chamber/piano) his works from the ballet and tweaked some notes (even the closing credit is a chopped down version of the main theme) and now that music is written by you?! Does it kill to give the old guy a little bit more credit? Is not like he wants/can get a share of your money anyway.

Enough with the rambling, if you don't mind some bleeding and adult content (and are old enough to watch it) , Black Swan is quite a piece of art. And if you like the music, I think the 1965 recording of Karajan with Vienna Philharmonic (it's called Tchaikovsky ballet suites from Decca) is pretty decent (as opposed to actually have the sound tracks of the movie). I listened to it quite a few times, just to relive the movie...

Book- My attempt to be literary fail miserably...so you guys just have to deal with my bad grammar and misspelling for at least another year. Wait... does music score count?(Because I am totally loving the Polish National Edition of Chopin's works...)

Musician 
You have probably heard somewhere that 2010 is the bicentennial of composer Frederic Chopin's birth, also the year in which the 16th international Chopin competition is held. A few of my favorite artists all got their careers started from this, I was naturally paying close attention to how the competition was going with their live broadcast and video archive.

Nikolay Khozyainov is one of my favorites with his first round (and started get worse since then...but I still love him) along with two other pianist whose last names also start with "K". Anyway, the competition was won by a 25-year-old Russian lady named Avdeeva and cute little Kolya only managed to get a distinction.


If you are fan of adorable Russian boy who looks like a chubby angel Chopin's music, be sure to check out his performance on the video archive. My other favorites from the competition are Marcin Koziak and Miroslav Kultyshev. Neither of them got really far...

Ok, that's about it for my 2010 favorite. What about you? Do you have any favorite beauty product,book, movie or anything/anybody that you want to share?