Favourite Products of 2012

Firstly and most importantly Happy New Year! I know it's a bit late to be saying it, but better late than never! Hope you're having a fabulous 2013 so far :)

2012 was a great year for me blog wise because back in April I set up my little corner of the blogosphere and started rambling about all things beauty related... Now I have almost 80 followers which makes me very happy :) the fact that you take a few minutes out of your day to read my blog posts really means a lot to me!
As most of you will probably agree, over spending comes with the blogging territory! I read so many fabulous blogs but my bank balance sobs as I add things to my beauty wishlist then decide I absolutely need these items and purchase them without a second's thought. On a positive note, this meant I found some amazing products last year, so let's dive straight into my favourites of 2012.

Makeup Brushes

Sigma F82 - The perfect brush for using with my Revlon Photoready Airbrush foundation (more on that in a minute...) it's quite a dense brush and blends so beautifully, creating a flawless finish. I have a few foundation brushes but to be honest I barely use any of the others now.
Real Techniques Blush brush - 2012 was a huge year for Real Techniques, I think every beauty blogger in the world will own at least one of these brushes! They're easy to get hold of, affordable and amazing quality. I use the blush brush for bronzer, it's soft and fluffy, easy to wash and I can see it lasting me a very long time.
Real Techniques contour brush - this is the perfect brush for highlighter, I use it pretty much everyday.

Top-Bottom: Sigma F82, RT blush brush, RT contour brush

Makeup

Maybelline gel eyeliner - in all fairness this is the only gel liner I've ever used so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I've absolutely fallen in love with it and I don't see the need to try any other brands! It's about £7 which is amazing and it just glides onto the eye so perfectly. I can get a really precise, smooth line using my Sigma E05 brush.
Naked palette - another hugely popular product. I reach for this constantly to achieve a neutral eye, there's just so many possibilities with this palette and although it's quite pricey it's worth it. I'm saving for the Naked 2!
Revlon Photoready airbrush foundation - I bought this after 2 of my favourite YouTubers (Chloe Morello & Carli Bybel) were using it, I wear the shade Nude and this has definitely taken pride of place as my every day foundation. It's creamy with a slight shimmer (not everyone's cup of tea) but when it's blended in, it really does create an airbrush finish.
eBay blush palette - I bought this back in the summer and it was a serious bargain at 99p. I love the range of colours and they're really well pigmented. Some cheaper blush products tend to be really powdery and can look a bit patchy on your skin but I don't have that problem at all with these. No different to a higher priced blush in my opinion and so handy to have all these colours in one palette.
Nars Chihuahua lipgloss - this was my first Nars purchase and it's a really beautiful dusky pink shade which is perfect for me. The staying powder isn't great which is a let down as its quite pricey but it's still one of my favourite glosses due to the colour. It's really creamy and shiny but not sticky at all and I can wear it with just about any make up look.
Revlon lip butters - A lot of people love these and a lot hate them but I'm definitely in the love camp :) I actually won about 12 of them in a twitter competition so I had a lot of shades to play with. My favourites are Strawberry Shortcake, Creme Brûlée and Peach Parfait.
Clinique bottom lash mascara - a relatively new find, but now I don't know what I ever did without it! It has a tiny brush that's perfect for applying mascara to your bottom lashes without any clumps or messy mistakes under your eyes. A must have for everyone! I'll be doing a full review on this little beauty so keep an eye out for that... 
Rimmel Stay Matte powder - another wonder product in the blogosphere, it's cheap, it gives my skin a smooth, matte finish and in my opinion its just as good if not better than high end pressed powders.
Maybelline Baby Lips in Grape Vine - I ordered a couple of these on eBay a few months ago as they're only available in the US. This one is a yummy purple lip balm that smells like grape juice and although it's reasonably sheer, it leaves a slight berry colour on my lips which I've been loving during winter. It also lasts ages! So no need to reapply every hour.
Ardell Natural Demi Wispies - one thing I love about these lashes is that I don't have to trim the width to fit my eye, which saves faffing about! I've tried lots of different strip lashes but these are just perfect for me for an evening out. They're pretty dramatic but because they're really wispy they still look quite natural. Love them!

Skin, Body & Hair Care

I tried quite a few different moisturisers and cleansers throughout the year and nothing really stood out to me, so I haven't included any, but I've chosen a couple of other great skin care products that I've been loving.

La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo - a very recent purchase but so far I'm really liking this. I apply it to areas where I have some slight scarring on my face and I can already see it reducing their appearance, I find it makes my skin smooth too and helps to soothe spots when they're feeling swollen.
Lush tea tree toner - I mentioned this in my 'beating breakouts' post, it really freshens up my skin and it's a great product to use when you're suffering with spots, the tea tree dries them up and I love the smell of this.
Soap & Glory Flake Away - hands down the best body exfoliator I've used! It really does the job when scrubbing away dead skin, it doesn't irritate the sensitive skin on my legs and I'm left with smooth, glowing skin. This is something I'll always repurchase.
Schwartzkof conditioning treatment - I saw this on one of Kayleigh's post from Couture Girl and after she raved about it I knew I had to try it. It costs just under £2 from Superdrug and I apply it to damp, towel dried hair. It's made my hair super soft and it was a great find for 2012 :)
Toni & Guy Sculpting Powder - This is a great product to use when you want big, voluminous (I think that's the right word!) hair for a night out. I sprinkle some at my roots after back combing to get even more volume. This is also small enough to pop in your clutch bag :)

Hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite products, I wanted to include nail polishes but I tried to keep it a relatively short post!
2013 is going to be an even bigger and better year for the beauty world and I can't wait to try out lots more exciting products :)