2013 Beauty Favourites (Belated - whoops!)

Before you say anything, I know I'm probably the last to jump on the bandwagon and this is also quite belated. However, I used these products consistently throughout the year and I can't see them leaving my make up bag any time soon! These are my staple day-to-day beauty items, which I think are useful for any kind of occasion. 

First up is the MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Soft and Gentle. This is a beautiful subtle shade that gives highlighted areas a radiant glow. I tend to use it as a highlighter across my temples and the top of my cheekbones to brighten up my complexion. It blends easily and if you don't have a make up brush for the application, using your fingertips would work just as well. In photo's, this looks really pretty when it hits the light, but it also adds a bit of sparkle to my everyday makeup routine. I think it's quite pricey (£20ish?) but luckily this was a birthday present last year and it's definitely going to last me a good couple of years before I need to repurchase. 

Next is another MAC product. I'm not actually a massive fan of MAC, I just have a couple of pieces which I absolutely love, but I can't justify their price tag enough to centre my entire make up collection around them. This is one of their paint pots in 'Bare Study', which is a shimmering champagne colour with a creamy consistency. Sometimes I just use this as a base for my eye shadows because it allows pigments to stick, reducing fall out and providing a pretty shimmer. It can also be used as a quick and easy fix by sweeping it over the lid with your fingertips and voila, you're ready to go! A very versatile product that looks gorgeous however you apply it. The only issue is the price, as I believe this retails for roughly £15 and I do go through it quite quickly.

A very popular product in the beauty blogger-sphere, made famous by Samantha Chapman from Pixiwoo, the real techniques brushes are every beauty guru's must-have. And rightly so, because they do an amazing job. I own the core collection, the stippling brush and my newest favourite: the expert face brush. For a long time, I was using the Stippling brush to apply my foundation and it worked really well, so well in fact that my best friend also fell in love with it and I had to buy her one before she stole mine! I've recently converted to the expert face brush which I find to be softer and better at blending into the skin. The other shown is the contour brush which I obviously use for contouring! Whether it's highlighter, bronzer or blusher, I find that the shaping of this brush allows easy application and blending. They're also fairly affordable, the core collection being roughly £20 for 4 brushes and I picked up the expert face brush for half price in boots at £5.. Also, yes, maybe I should have washed these before photographing them but it proves how well loved they are.. right? 

Since my hair now reaches my lower back, I've wanted a tangle teezer for God knows how long! But it was one of those products I could never justify as I already owned countless amounts of hairbrushes. When I started uni however and moved into a flat with 3 other girls, my hairbrushes began mysteriously disappearing.. Hmmm. So when I was casually perusing TK Maxx and found this bright number I decided to snap it up quickly. Firstly, I love the contrast of bright orange against the purple, I think it looks really funky. But for practical reasons as well, this is a really ingenious product. Sometimes people describe my hair as a birds nest, but it has never been easier to untangle than with this. Also, it is so portable, living comfortably in my make up bag. I believe it was just less than £5 which I see as completely reasonable.

Finally, my last beauty favourite of 2013 has to be the YSL Shocking mascara in black. At the start of the year when I began working full time, I bought this for myself as a treat, justifying it by the extra income I was earning. This was a mistake as now, a poor student, I have to repurchase it every few months, and it's not cheap at roughly £23 a pop. However, it has to be the best mascara I've ever used. The formulation is so smooth that it applies like a dream, never clumpy, perfect every time. I love how fine the wand is, making it easy to get into the corner eyelashes and the volume it provides is incredible. Volume is the one quality I must have in a mascara and Shocking just does it for me! I think the packaging is also super classy and I really couldn't big it up enough. There's no going back for me now!

So those are my absolute favourites of 2013 with regards to beauty, I'd love to see what everyone else's were and if any matched mine? Post yours in the comments so I can check them out :)