Top 14 of 2014

To start off beauty blogging for 2015, I decided to share a recap of some of my beauty & lifestyle favorites over the past year. Whilst makeup is still my love, I've been stepping up my game on the maintenance of my skin condition especially now that I am in my late twenties with the big Three-O slowly  approaching.

Skin Favorites
SK-II Facial Treatment Essence
My all time favorite pre-serum treatment and I've been using it everyday for the past 2 years. I doubt I will ever be changing to another brand unless they discontinue it. Enough said.

Fresh Rose Floral Toner 
This is a product that I've picked up in 2014 after finished using my Dermalogica face toner. I love how refreshing it feels on my skin and I am totally obsessed with the rose scent that it comes in. A definite pick me up especially on those dreadful mornings.

Lush Mask of Magnaminty
One of my favorite face mask from Lush and I can't stress this enough about how clarifying it feels on my skin everytime I have it on. And thank God for payday (smiles sneakily), I picked it up as a my year end treat after popping by Lush. Love love love! 

Dr. Morita Face & Eye Masks
Another product that I discovered in 2014. I picked this up in place of my usual My Beauty Diary Masks after feeling bit adventurous at Watsons (drugstore in Singapore) during one of my monthly run there and it did not disappoint at all. In fact, I am slowly preferring this over MBD masks since hydration has pretty much become my focus in 2014 to keep a youthful texture to my skin. If you are a sheet masks lover, definitely give this a shot!

Makeup Favorites  
Make Up Forever HD Foundation 
This has pretty much been up on my foundation wish list for the longest period and I finally took the plunge during my pay day a few months back. Lo and behold, I finally understood the reason of its popularity among the beauty community. The foundation is dewy and gives off a picture perfect canvas for any other color to build on. Though the coverage is sheer, but I love how easy the foundation builds up without any hint of cakiness.

Tarte Blush in Exposed
My new found "Nude" blush love. If you do notice a trend here, I love natural looking makeup. If I could, I would love to be more adventurous in my color palette but being in a corporate environment, too much color often gives out the wrong signal that I spent more time on makeup than work (sad, huh?). That topic aside, this blush is definitely a "Corporate Foolproof Makeup" must have. It gives off the most complimenting glow to the skin without looking too out there. It just looks as if you have a natural glow going on. I think this would be right down your alley if you are into the likes of MAC Tenderling & NARS Sex Appeal. 

MAC Blush in Tenderling
The reason I love it is the same as Tarte Exposed and NARS Sex Appeal. On work days, I just rotate between these three blushes and they are simply perfect! 

MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack  
It must seem quite odd for a beauty junkie like to have never tried the famous MAC Blacktrack fluidline. I decided to invest in one of it after exhausting all of my liquid liners and I must say it is definitely well worth the purchase. Unlike some of my liquid liners, this is pretty much smudge proof on my eyes and with a good base, it doesn't budge throughout the entire day unless I constantly rub my eyes. If you hate touch ups like me, this would be your eyeliner salvation. The only thing I would add in is - I am going back for other colors on my next pay check's "treat day".

Hair Favorites
Mucota Aire 09 Veil for Wave
I bought this at a local salon after perming my hair and I absolutely love it. This is like the magic lotion for curls especially because the curls that it gives off are soft and silky. It also acts like a heat protectant to your hair. I apply this at the end of my curls and blow dry and it's amazing! I wish I could solely use this but due to the crazy price and how it could only be bought at designated salons, I mixed it with the Marc Anthony Curl Envy cream for my daily use.

Marc Anthony Curl Envy Perfect Curl Cream 
Though this is not as great as the Mucota but the price point is definitely three times cheaper and could be purchased from most drugstores where I live. I love the cream format but detest the lotion version so do be aware of it if you are not a fan of very liquid-like type of consistency for hair products.
 

Tresemme Heat Protector 
Since I do apply quite alot of heat to my hair on a daily basis, I use the Tresemme Heat Protectant for the upper portion of my hair right after towel drying and before blow drying. It does what it's set out to do without burning a hole in your pocket and it's awesome!

Batiste Dry Shampoo
This is also something that I discovered after perming my hair. Since I'm not a big fan of redoing my curls on a daily basis (and also to try to avoid that much heat), I went ahead and tryout the Batiste Dry Shampoo and have been loving it since. I wish we had more brands in Singapore but with Batiste, I feel that it does the job and again doesn't burn the bank account which is a plus! I tried a few versions of it and prefer the brunette type as I do noticed that the original/other versions do leave a white residue on my hair.  

Lifestyle Favorites  
Filofax The Original A5 in Nude
Planning has been an obsession as long as I can remember and I am the type of person with a planner on hand every year since junior high. After stumbling upon a few Youtube videos on planning, I discovered "Filofax" and omg, it is amazing! Pre-Filofax, I was using a Moleskin planner. I thoroughly enjoyed it as a "bring it with me" type planner but I wanted something which I could use as my data referencing library. I tried the digital methods previously, but I just do so much better at remembering things with writing down on paper. So I took the plunge and invested in an A5 Filofax in prep for 2015 and have been loving it ever since. It is definitely an expensive purchase but since I can envision myself using this for the next few years, I would say the investment is well worth. I am still using a moleskin for 2015 as my carry around planner but I  am totally itching to replace it with a personal size Filofax Malden for 2016. Fingers crossed! 

Hot Yoga 
I started Yoga in 2014 in an attempt to train my focus and also as a rehabilitation to my frequent long runs and occasional marathons. I had my doubts on its effectiveness initially but I think it was a right choice and I have been loving it ever since. I especially enjoyed Hot Yoga to the rest since the intense heat in the room often forces me to focus on a pose which is great as an alternate source to take my mind off work. If you are in an industry where work is often consuming your personal life, definitely try out Yoga as an exercise.

xx