Best Buys in 2012

Exactly a year has passed since I posted my Best Buys in 2011 post (I still love all the products mentioned there) and now it's time for the 2012 version. 

How can this year be summarized? BB creams enter drugstore, sheer lipsticks trend continues with Revlon lip butters and L'Oreal's Rouge Caresse, the more and more popular ombre hair and berry lips. For me it was all about fragrances - mostly from Refan, bright lipsticks and finding great hair care products. I found some great products in this year and I've been doing a list of which ones deserve to be on it for the past few months. All have been reviewed, so I won't bore you with my endless raves, but there are links to original reviews if you want to find out more.

Makeup

L'Oreal Lumi Magique - gives the most natural glow to the skin. Can be used under foundation for a more glowy skin or as a highlighter on top.

Maybelline Instant Anti-Age the Eraser Eye - My favourite ever concealer for under the eyes. Never looks cakey, looks like skin and covers very well. I went to Graz yesterday and bought another shade called Fair. 

Maybelline Kohl pencil Glaze - a freshtoned eyeliner. I've been wearing it loads this year.

Maybeline Liquid Effect eyeliner Brown Blaze - great alternative to black. It's very creamy, but very longlasting once it sets.

Essence Season of Extremes Bright Alert - a bright coral pink shade. Such a difficult colour to photograph. I wish it was permanent.

Depend Holographic 2025 nail polish -  a very affordable, holographic nail polish. 

Maybelline Vivids 910 Shocking Coral - bright medium pink with some coral. I just got it for Christmas and  I haven't posted swatches yet, but I will shorty. It's a part of the newest range by Maybelline called Color Sensational Vivids and I have my eye on another shade called Neon Red.

Bourjois Rouge Edition Fraise Remix - bright coral with a hint of pink.

Catrice Ultimate shine 210 Kiss Kiss Hibiskus - bright watermelon pink.

Shiseido Glowing Matte PK224 - light peach.

H&M Perfect red mini lipstick - blue toned red.

Skin care

Victoria Secret Love Spell body spray and body butter - a fantastic tropical sweet scent and the body butter is really good.

Soap & Glory the Righteous Butter - smells like a mix of Coco Mademoiselle and Miss Dior Cherie. Formula is great and the scent lingers forever.

Soap & Glory Flake Away - has the same scent as the Righteous Butter. It leaves an oily residue, so I don't need to use a moisturiser, plus the scent lasts so long.

Palmer's Swivel Stick - my absolute favourite lip balm and it doesn't feel waxy. I finally don't wake up with my lips dry as a Sahara. 

Dove Deeply Nourishing shower gel - a great shower gel with a thicker, moisturising formula. I really like the typical Dove soapy scent it has.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum - I miss it so much. My skin looked so well when I was using it. I rarely got a spot and my skin looked more healthy. Why does it have to cost an arm and a leg?

Dermalogica gentle cream exfoliant - a great exfoliator with high percentages of salicylic and lactic acid. Works wonders on problematic skin.

Hair care

Phyto Pytopolléine universal elixir - my miracle worker for my problematic scalp.

Herbal Essences Hello Hydration - one of the best smelling hair products ever. A nice hair mask for a really affordable price.

Alverde Mandel Argan oil - an absolute drugstore gem. An actual oil with absolutely no silicones, just a mix of argan, mandel, walnut and soy oil. Been using it almost every day to treat my ultra dry ends. Run and get it.

Orofluido Sahara - a lighter spray version of my beloved Orofluido oil. Makes my hair super shiny, managable and smelling fantastic.

Ebeline round ceramic brush

Joico K-Pack Hydrator - the best hair treatment I ever had and I tried a lot of them, but it does have an odd scent.

Fragrance

Paris Hilton Can Can - a super sweet, sensual scent. Girly, but a bit more grown up than Fantasy.

Yves Rocher Noix de Coco Malaysian Coconut - straight up coconut scent. Costs a mere 9€ for 100ml and is very long lasting.

Beyonce Pulse - orange candy mixed with powdery notes in a fantastic looking bottle. 

Coco Mademoiselle Refan version - a less sweet version of Miss Dior Cherie. To me it smells like camomille tea with lots of honey mixed with patchouli. Even though it's a Refan version, it smells identical as the original. In fact all my Refan fragrances do and I have a lot of them. I drew (well, redrew and perfected) the picture on the label myself.

Here is the collection of all my 15ml Refan fragrances with customised labels made by me. As you can see I am a regular on Memebase and 9gag :) . Refan sells imitation of popular fragrances for a fraction of the cost of the original. So basically for the price of one original scent in a pretty bottle I got all these. From left to right: Deep Red (Hugo Boss), Body (Burberry), Chance (Chanel), Magic Woman, Coco Madeimoselle, 1 Million (for men, hence the "like a sir" meme. I know I'm weird for having a man's scent, but I just love it so much. I don't wear it though), Black Xs, Venezia, Emporio Armani for her and my latest that I got for Christmas, Roberto Cavalli eau de parfum (available in Croatian Refan). By the way, here is an updated list of all the scents Refan (Slovenia) sells at the moment.

Room scents

Saubär spray - a relaxing gorgeous smelling spray for pillows and room that smells like lavender and camomile. 

Pajoma Schokolade - a scented oil that smells like melted chocolate. Makes my room smell like a candy shop. I love it!

Now for a kind of a random thing, but in the last month I've been loving Pinterest. I haven't been this excited about a website since 9gag and I've been there for years. It's so much fun. You can find my pins here and there is also a link under follow me in the sidebar. 

Since this is the last post in 2012, I wish you a Happy New Year and may 2013 be an awesome year. Thanks for reading!