Favourites of 2011

Well another years has whizzed by and here we are nearing the start of 2012!

I have been blogging on and off for the whole of 2011 (in fact 01/01/12 marks the first anniversary of my blog) and I wanted to do a favourites post detailing my top 10 favourite products of 2011.

1) Urban Decay Naked Palette

Urban Decay Naked Palette £35.00

I have never written a post on the Naked palette - mainly because there's already a million floating around out there in the blogosphere and mine is so well loved it looks pretty disgusting (can we all be in agreement that velvet is a horrendous choice of casing for a make up palette?!) - but as far as I'm concerned this is ultimate make up palette, I love the selection of eyeshadows and use it near enough everyday. The Naked Palette 2 looks gorgeous although given that I already own the original I'm not totally sure whether I will purchase it, in a way I wish I could pick and choose colours from the two and combine them to make my own ultimate Naked palette! 

2) Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder, £6.99

I'm a huge fan of this bronzer which I blogged about here. I am not blessed with beautiful olive skin so any help with bronzing is much appreciated, Bourjois have come up with an inexpensive matte bronzer that is well loved by beauty bloggers far and wide and has become my go to bronzer.

3) Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb

Viktor&Rolf Flowerbomb Eau de Parfum, £46.50

A gorgeous sweet smelling perfume packaged as a pink grenade, see my review here. This lovely, if not slightly expensive perfume can be worn day or night and leaves you smelling sugary sweet.

4) Naked Bare Faced Cheek Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil

Naked Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil, £4.49

After years of using heavy creams and cleansers to remove my make up this face wash by Naked has become my staple make up remover. I use Bare Faced Cheek every night to cleanse my face and I still can't get over how super soft it leaves my skin feeling, I love the rose scent of this product and am now on my third bottle. This face wash is great at removing all traces of make up including eye make up and given that it is 97% natural is also very gentle on skin.

5) Batiste Dry Shampoo in Brit

Batiste Brit, £2.99

Batiste was always going to feature on this list as I rely on it so heavily in between washes. Brit is my favourite Batiste scent and is exclusive to Superdrug. As with all Batiste products Brit is great at mopping up excess grease and freshening up hair, the scent is gorgeous and I find it smells similar to a Chloe perfume. 

6) Clean & Clear Morning Energy Moisturiser

Clean and Clear Morning Energy Skin Brightening
Moisturiser, £3.99

I'm really surprised this product made it onto the list as I'm really not a fan of Clean and Clear products. This moisturiser surprised me as not only does it smell lovely and fresh but also leaves my skin feeling moisturised and hydrated and makes a perfect base for make up application. I must really like this product as I've repurchased it a couple of times.

7) Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Happy Birthday

Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday, £16.00

The first of two nail polishes that feature on this list. This is probably my favourite nail polish ever, it's so colourful and sparkly, I absolutely love it even if it is a complete nightmare to remove! Stay tuned for a Happy Birthday nail look coming up.

8) Chanel Nail Colour in Black Pearl

Chanel Black Pearl, £17.50

I lusted after this polish for a long time before I finally took the plunge and bought it. This polish is beautiful, the milky, grey colour with a petrol shimmer looks gorgeous on the nails and feels classic and sophisticated.

9) Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer, £4.19

Well done Collection 2000 for bringing out such an amazing quality concealer at a very low price, a definite contender for product of the year. This concealer is fab and gives excellent coverage, I've heard many people compare it to Estee Lauders Double Wear Concealer and for such a low price it really is fantastic, I'm already on my second tube!

10) Tangle Teezer

Tangle Teezer, £10.20

Finally, whilst not particularly exciting I had to include a Tangle Teezer into this list. I use mine everyday without fail as it's the only thing that can un-knot my long hair without pulling half of it out. 

Naked Bare Faced Cheek Face Wash with Rose Oil

Naked Bare Faced Cheek Softening Face Wash with Rose Oil, £4.49 nakedbodycare.co.uk

'Rose is known to be soothing and can leave your face really soft. We use Damask Rose, bursting with antioxidants, which fight free radicals (must be a revolution in anti-aging). It’s very gentle and your face should feel as clear as a brand new credit card.' 

I absolutely loved this product by Naked, so it was pretty much a no brainer that I was going to love their softening face wash, especially as it contains gorgeous smelling rose oil.  

This face wash is designed for sensitive skin (ideal for my skin which is a general mish mash of spots, dry patches and blotchyness) it is alcohol and synthetic fragrance free, and like all Naked products 97% natural, so no nasties here!

The product itself is a clear gel which lathers when rubbed into the skin, it feels very gentle and doesn't irritate my skin in anyway. Whilst it's not particularly drying (good news if, like me, you hate the tight skin feeling you often get from face wash) I would always follow this product with a moisturiser - cleanse, tone, moisturise and all that.  It does however leave your skin feeling extremely soft and squeaky clean! I tend to use this product as a face wash rather than a way of removing make up. I think it would do a pretty good job at removing most make up but it would be advisable to follow up with a deeper cleanse to remove all traces, especially on stubborn eye make up.

I would continue to repurchase this product for the scent alone as I can't get enough of rose and rose oil scents, it smells gorgeous. I love how beautifully clean this product leaves my skin feeling and the fact it costs under £5. Get it here.

Naked: Heaven Scent Rose Body Wash

Naked: Rose Body Wash £3.79 Boots

'Gorgeous oils produce an aroma so addictive you'll want to eat it and the extracts in here are bursting with anti-oxidants to help protect and soothe skin. This body wash is heaven on earth, so wake up and smell the roses (they were picked before dawn, after all).'

I have heard countless good things about the Naked brand, so I decided it was time to try it out for myself. My small-ish Boots only carries three Naked lines/flavours, the other two being Starflower and Coco de Mer products. I chose the Rose Body Wash as I  absolutely love the smell of roses - so feminine and girly.

Naked products are 97% natural and free from SLS, Parabens and other nasties. I have to say there is something quite satisfying about using a product which is relatively natural, compared to all the other chemical filled products out there. This product is reasonably priced at £3.79 for 250ml (£3.99 on the Naked website) and when you consider this costs the same amount as any other body wash it makes sense to buy a more natural product.

This body wash produces an adequate lather using a bath puff, the foam produced probably isn't as good as products containing Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, however this product does not dry my skin out in the way that many other (chemically filled) products do. I have also noticed that after using this my skin feels lovely and soft.

The best part of this product for me is the scent, it smells just like Turkish Delight - gorgeous! If you like the smell of rose then I'm pretty sure you will love this. Sadly I don't find the scent lingers on my skin post bath which is pretty disappointing.

I would definitely recommend this product and the Naked brand. After using the Rose Body Wash I would love to try out some of their other products, the full range is available on the Naked website and Boots also carry selected lines.