Thanks for the fun, 2014! Here is a wrap-up in case you missed any of the top 10 lists this year, which doubles as my top 100 beauty products that I tried during the past year. This has been the most productive year on record for me, personally, in regards to reviewing products. I was a lot better this past holiday season at turning around palettes and sets, which is a major feat for me! Thank you for your continued readership during the year, and I hope you’ll stick around to see what 2015 has to bring for all of us.

May your 2015 be filled with love, laughter, good health, and joy! Happy new year!

The Top 10s of 2014

• Best Blushes (High-End)
• Best Blushes (Budget-Friendly)
• Best Highlighters (High-End)
• Best Eye Products (Budget-Friendly)
• Best Eyeshadows (High-End)
• Best Makeup Palettes
• Best Lipsticks & Lipglosses (Budget-Friendly)
• Best Lipsticks (High-End)
• Best Lipglosses (High-End)
• Best Nail Polishes

Here are some fun facts about 2014…

• 1148 x Posts under “Reviews”
• 2395 x Posts (all categories)
• 436 x Cheek/Face Swatches (972 in total*)
• 1030 x Lip Swatches (2,319 in total*)
• 4955 x Swatches (14,127 in total*)
• 8018 x Product Photos (20,451 in total*)

* Based on images that are inventoried for MyTemptalia, so it doesn’t include the first four or so years of photos/swatches!

A lot of new favorite formulas were launched this year, like Estee Lauder Pure Color Envy and NARS Audacious, which certainly made it extra challenging to narrow down favorites to a list of ten. As much as I love coral lipsticks, I found several non-coral colors that made my heart sing, too

• OCC Technopagan — a bold, bluish-purple with a metallic finish
• Tom Ford Stavros — a purplish-taupe with a soft, frosted finish
• Buxom Dolly — a muted, rosy pink with warm undertones and soft shimmer
• Givenchy Rose Plumetis — a muted, dusty pink-plum with a soft sheen
• Bite Beauty Tatin — a light-medium, warm-toned pink
• MAC Marque — a dusty rosy beige with gold shimmer
• Guerlain Geneva — a brightened, coral-orange with soft gold pearl
• Estee Lauder Eccentric — a light-medium, pink-coral with warm undertones and a luminous finish
• NARS Dominique — a cool-toned, medium-dark lavender purple with hints of gray
• Urban Decay Ladyflower — a slightly muted, medium-dark cool-toned pink with a luminous finish

What were favorite lipsticks to wear this year?

I tend to like my lipgloss to be rather pigmented, and for the rare occasions I fall in love with a gloss that isn’t pigmented, it’s usually ridiculously sparkly. This list definitely reflects those preferences! I hope to hear from you about your personal faves!

• Chanel Crazy Fuchsia — a slightly muted, fuchsia-raspberry with shimmer and full color coverage
• NARS Corisca — a muted, rosy pink with subtle gold shimmer and mostly opaque coverage
• MAC Clear Water — a dazzling, ultra-sparkly gloss
• Chanel Audace — a muted, plummy brown with fine gold shimmer
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Gone Bad (216) — a bright, neon orange-red with opaque color coverage
• Illamasqua Touch — a bright red with light shimmer and mostly opaque pigmentation
• Hourglass Ballet — a brightened, light-medium pink with blue undertones and a creamy, glossy shine
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Boom Boom — a bright, fuchsia pink with shimmer
• Chanel Affriolant (13) — a light-medium, coral-pink with very fine shimmer
• OCC Aurora — a light-medium, yellow-toned pink with a subtle shine (I loved it, despite it not quite living up to claims)

What were your go-to lipglosses this year? Which shades did you discover?

It was tough, but here’s my list of favorites for individual eyeshadows (which means they aren’t only available in duos, quads, or palette — see Best Makeup Palettes of 2014 for those!). As you might expect, it was hard to narrow it down, and I’m a fan of variety and spreading the love around, so I chose favorites across brands and formulas (though some got two picks!). Some of the formulas where I felt like I could have picked another dozen favorites out of, I linked below so you can see the full range and explore options that might better align with your personal tastes, too.

I’m not sure exactly how many individual eyeshadows I reviewed this year and often review three or more in a single post (eyeshadows from palettes are all in the same category), but I have 306 posts categorized under “eyeshadow” and 26 for “cream eyeshadow,” so probably in the neighborhood of 1500 eyeshadows for the year (including palettes). I like to reflect back on what was covered over the year, because it helps me compare year over year how productive I was Numbers like that always fascinate me!

• Ardency Inn Rose Gold — a brilliant rose gold plum with a metallic sheen (the entire line Manuka Honey eyeshadows are amazing)
• NARS Subra — a rich burgundy with a pearly finish
• Giorgio Armani #16 — a cool-toned purple-taupe with a pearly sheen
• MAC Fathoms Deep — a frosted, muted purple
• Tom Ford Platinum — a chameleon of a color that changes from bronze to taupe to purplish-taupe
• Make Up For Ever D716 Crystalline Papaya — a sparkly, golden beige that I find myself reaching for to highlight the inner corner or lower lash line; brightens everything! (I’m basically in love with Artist Shadows, and I could have filled this list twice over, at least, with them!)
• Gucci Sasso — a cool-toned, light-medium taupe with a frosted, metallic finish (that’s hard to dupe)
• Ardency Inn Heaven — a bright, metallic antique gold
• Make Up For Ever ME624 Black Gold — an intense, olive-toned blackened brown with a pearly sheen (one of the more unique shades I reviewed in the range)
• Burberry Storm Grey — a cool-toned taupe with a satin-matte finish

What were your favorite eyeshadows you tried this year? New go-to combinations?

Oh, boy, there were some beautiful highlighters released this year (I reviewed a little over 50). Of all products, highlighters seem to be a weakness for me. They’re often products that I stow away in my basics drawer, which is really the most coveted of all drawers (for my makeup stash, that is), as it is where my go-tos live. Every single product mentioned below has found its way into this drawer (consequently, I have no room any more and need to pare it back!).

• Kevyn Aucoin Starlight — a light-medium peach with warm undertones and champagne shimmer
• Burberry Gold Glow No. 01 — a dirty, light-medium antique gold with a luminous finish
• Chanel Camelia de Plumes — the closest I’ve seen to cool-toned gold with a luminous finish
• Cle de Peau Sand Beige (13) — golden beige with hints of peach and a luminous finish; this is the shade I use most in the range, but I loved all the shades
• Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar — a highlighting/bronzing duo that has gained popular for good reason; superb textures, delicate finishes
• Chanel Dentelle Precieuse — a light, golden beige with a soft sheen
• Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Medium/Candlelight — another duo, but this cream highlighter looks so glowy and luminous on the skin (hope they make it available alone, too!)
• Tom Ford Stroked — the texture of the highlighter is off-the-charts divine; it’s soft, silky, blendable, and buttery; another formula I hope will be find its way into permanence
• Burberry Nude Radiance No. 01 — a luminous, champagne-beige liquid highlighter perfect for mixing with foundation (my preferred usage)
• theBalm Cindy-Lou — a lovely rosy peach with a luminous sheen

What were your favorite highlighters you tried this year? Are they new holy grails?

Bringing down my favorites to a mere ten–TEN!!–from over 200 blushes that I’ve reviewed this year was painful. There were so many amazing formulas and shades released this past year! To that end, I wanted to make sure to share the love (and not just choose ten from the same formula!), but I urge you to check out these formulas in general as they perform well consistently and have a great selection of shades: Clinique Cheek Pops, Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow (Blush), and Make Up For Ever HD Blush. Given that these are my favorites, they all tend to lean warm and closer to coral/brown tones as those are the types of colors I find most flattering on myself.

• Clinique Peach Pop — a pink-coral with a satiny sheen
• Charlotte Tilbury Love Glow — a pop of muted pink with golden shimmer
• IT Cosmetics Pretty in Peony — a pop of medium-dark, pink-coral with a gold sheen and intense pigmentation
• MAC Make You Mine — a muted, warm brown with a satin finish
• Make Up For Ever #310 HD — a muted, plummy pink with a satin finish
• Chanel Jersey (80) — a soft, peach-brown with a satin finish
• Clinique Plum Pop — a cool-toned, plummy pink
• Becca Raspberry/Opal — a shimmery plum-brown
• Make Up For Ever S718 Salmon — the Artist Shadows actually made beautiful blushes because they have a lovely, luminous sheen like this peachy one
• Hourglass Diffused Heat — a light-medium, warm-toned pink with a satin-matte finish

What were your favorite blushes you tried this year?

I think there’s a trend in my favorites this year: shimmer, dusty/faded/muted shades, and anything but classic red creams. I found myself loving quite a bit of Formula X and Zoya this year, and NARS’ revamped formula had some nice shade offerings. I’m glad MAC reformulated their polish with a new brush and a much more palatable price tag, too.

• Cult Nails Nevermore — new-to-me in 2014, it’s one of the best black cream polishes I’ve ever tried
• Urban Decay Chaos — such a nice pop of cobalt blue with pearl
• MAC Before Dawn — a murky, storm green with gray and subtle pearl shimmer
• Illamasqua Melange — an antique green with flecks of copper and gold
• Formula X Alchemy — a festive mix of dirty antique gold and a multitude of fine glitter
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Cora (170) — a deepened burgundy brown with warm undertones and flecks of shimmer
• Zoya Binx — a pop of blue-based pink with gold shimmer and micro-glitter
• NARS Thasos — a pastel, mint green with a cream finish that goes on beautifully
• Marc Jacobs Beauty Patsy (164) — a shimmery golden taupe-brown
• Zoya Sansa — a deepened purple with gold flecks

What were your favorite nail polishes you tried this year?

It really shouldn’t be a surprise to see so many of Makeup Geek’s blushes on this list, because from the first one I tried to the last, they were stellar. They really nailed the formula; it’s not just good for the money, but it’s a fantastic powder blush, period. The texture was soft without being powdery or chalky. While many categories at the drugstore are comparable to high-end products, blushes and highlighters are an area that I find tends to miss, so I’m thrilled to see Makeup Geek enter the space and do budget blush justice (and then some). I really hope to see more shades next year!  I’ll be studying your favorite finds this year for products to make note to review in 2015!

• Makeu p Geek Love Affair — a medium-dark, pink-coral with subtle gold shimmer
• NYX Dusty Rose — a light-medium, rosy pink with subtle, warm undertones and a matte finish
• Makeup Geek Romance — a coral-orange with warm undertones and a soft, golden frost finish
• Milani Bella Rosa (11) — an intense fuchsia-magenta pink with rich color payoff
• Makeup Geek Rendezvous — a softened, cool-toned pink with a satin finish
• Milani Delizioso Pink (10) — a brightened, cool-toned pink with strong blue undertones
• Makeup Geek Bliss — a soft, peachy-coral with a satin finish
• Makeup Geek Summer Fling — a brightened, medium orange with warm, red undertones
• Makeup Geek Spell Bound — a neutral-warm pink with a soft sheen (a very wearable, everyday shade for me)
• Makeup Geek Head Over Heels — a shimmery, cool-toned lilac-pink

What were your favorite budget-friendly cheek products this year?