2014 Top Favorite Products

Hello everyone, so I was tagged to show my top favorite products of 2014 and I thought a blog post would be much better than an Instagram post. So here we go.

Shown in  the picture above are:

Complexion

- Nars Sheer Glow Foundation
- Mac Pro Long Wear Concealer
- Mac Select Sheer Loose Powder
- Illamsqua Matte Veil Primer

 Eyeshadows:

- Naked 3 Eye shadow Palette
- Customized Makeup Forever Palette
- Essence Quattro Eye shadow Palette

Lashes:

- House of Lashes "Iconic"
- Chelsea Boutique "No.2"
- Huda Beauty "Claudia"

Brushes:

- Sigma F35 Tapered Highlighter Brush
- Sigma E-45 Small Tapered Blending
- Sigma E-15 Flat Definer Brush
- Mac 217 Blending Brush
- Mac 266 Angled Brush

Lips:

- Mac Lip Liner "Vino"
- Mac Lip Liner "Spice"
- Nyx lipliner "Natural"

Tools:

- Vera Mona Duo Colour Switch
- La-tweez tweezers

So, Because there are many products I will give a brief description to not make it long and boring.

1) Nars Sheer Glow Foundation

  I  tried many foundations in 2014 and this is honestly my favorite. It has a medium/build-able coverage, the more coverage you want just add on another layer. The finish is not completely dewy nor its matte, it just gives a nice glow to the skin and ofcourse you can mattify it using a powder. If you have oily skin you must wear an oil-control primer beneath. I personally use Illamsqua matte veil which I will talk about later on in this post, which keeps any foundation shine free on me.
All in all it is beautiful, easily blend-able and the coverage is build-able. Also looks great in photos.

2) Mac Pro Long Wear Concealer (NC42)

I have many shades of this concealer as I use it on my clients. However, I have to choose this shade NC42 due to the peachy undertones it has. My skin color is Nc35 and this colour works like a corrector on me. It is so beautiful to use on skin pigmentaion, dark circles and even spots. LOVE IT. I often use on scars and spots beneath my Nars foundation. 

3) Illamsqua Hydra Matte Veil 

Now, as I have an oily t-zone I used to hate foundations, because no matter what primers I tried I still got oily and the foundation did not last ( and I tried many popular primers, the mistake was that they were not designed to keep me matte rather than for other issues such as the Porefessional by benefit). I am so obsessed with this primer and I use it every single time I wear foundation. In simple words it works like magic on my skin and prevents my face from getting oily (yey!!).

4) Mac Select Sheer Loose Powder NC5

So for a long time I was looking for a great brightening powder to set my concealer with. I tried many including banana powder, but I did not think Banana brightened under my eyes enough because I think it is more suitable for darker skin tones. So once I went to Mac and the guy advice this to me and oh thank you for the advice. I love the color, it has a yellow undertone but its super bright on my complexion. It has a strong tent so it does not go translucent on your skin it adds a beautiful brighting colour. So yeah try it if you like highlighting certain areas of the face. Choose a colour depending on your skin tone. 

5) Naked 3 & Makeup Forever Customized Palette 

So I LOVE purple hue-d eye shadows so these colours have been my go to! I am just really into these shades thus they were my favourite. Plus, these eye shadows are pigmented and easily blendable, specially the ones from makeup forever, they give a strong colour pay off and feel like butter. 

The below palette is a great little affordable palette by Essence. I have been using it daily, using the dark shade to fill in my eyebrows and the shimmery shade to highlight them. 

6) Mac Lip liners + Nyx

Mac Vino lip liner have been a favorite by my clients. They love it and I love it too. I love the colour it gives, its a dark whine colour. As for Spice and Natrual by nyx, I really like the colour and I wear them almost everytime i wear a lipstick, they are great to contour the lips or to wear with different nude lipsticks. 

 7) Brushes

Sigma F35 Tapered Highlighter Brush

This brush is soft, PERFECT for setting your concealer, contouring and applying highlighter. Totally love it and my favorite to do the tasks i mentioned. 

Mac 217. I have tried many blending brushes but this remains my favorite and the best quality one. Even after years of owning it still soft and blends perfectly.

Sigma E45 I love this brush to apply color in the crease or in the outer corners, perfect. 

Mac 266 my absolute favorite for eyebrows filling.

Sigma E15, sorry the brush is dirty but this is a great brush for defining your lower lash line, especially if you wanna apply the colour so close to your lash line. Also great for top lash line definition and eyebrows filling.

8) Lashes

 Iconic by house of lashes. My top fav of 2014; it adds a beautiful look to the eyes, adds thickness and fullness. I have many makeup looks wearing this on my Instagram account @walaabeauty. I love the quality, I wore it more than 4 times and it is still usable. Just take care of it and clean it after each use.

I like this particular style by Huda beauty. It has long wispie hairs which make it look so pretty on the eyes.

 Chelsea no.2, this makes the eyes look sweet yet sexy. It is a mink lashes meaning its usable up to 25 times.

9) La tweez tweezers

I love the pink color ( also available in other shades), but the main reason I do is because it comes with a container which makes it very hygienic, also the container has a mirror and the tweezeer has a led light which makes perfect to tweeze in bad lighting as well. I mainly use it to apply lashes but it is sharp and great for tweezing. 

10) and finally the colour switch by Mona Vera

This is such an amazing product for Makeup Artists. It is so helpful when you wanna use the same brush but want to switch colors. Absloutley recommend this product. 

Thank you for reading in advance and I hope you enjoy the post xx

Love and kisses,

Walaa