2012 - A year in review

New arbitrary "favorites"post? Yaaaay!! Lets do a rundown of my favorite Thing for each category this year. This will relate to the year I tried/fell for the product, not the year it came out, because I am nowhere near cluey enough for that. There will be diversions into nerdland, bear with me.

Best Skincare Find: Endota Glycolic polishing mask

It's a standard exfoliator or a face mask, and either application is wonderful. It smells herby and delicious, and the granules are big enough to feel like it's doing something, but the lotion has just enough slip in it to ensure I can really put my back into it and not inadvertently damage myself. Fantastic product.

Special mentions: La Roche Posay Effeclar cleansing gel

Best image: Prince Charles chasing small girl

Because OMFG.

Best makeup find: Chanel Mat Lumiere powder

On my second lot of this, and it knocks all other pressed powders out of the park. Gloriously smooth and easy to apply (the sponge is likewise perfect: I didn't have much luck using a brush with this), stays put, dense enough to be worn without foundation. I really can't imagine under what circumstances I'd stop using this. Oily lasses must check it out.

Special mentions: TheBalm Hot Mama blush

Best GIF:

In a year populated by cat gifs, 2012s honors go to this plucky little pug who just loves causing shit.

Best lipstick/gloss: Burberry lip glow in Hibiscus

Hefty, expensive-looking casing and a scent so glorious I've pulled it out of my makeup collection just to unscrew it and inhale. Hibiscus is a dark bluey pink (probably darker than this image implies), that's quite sheer and can be built. It's also got that indefinable quality that makes you look instantly better for no immediately discernable reason. I love those products.

Special mentions: Lipstick Queen Medieval, Clinique Chubby Sticks.

Best book:

This book is utterly perfect. Repugnant and epic, intimate and chilling, psychotic and very human. They way Suskind describes people and scents is glorious. A book that you wallow around in in a pure sensory daze.
Oh - and I'm on Goodreads, here. Get on it, it's awesome.

Special mentions: Death Note, Tipping the Velvet.

Best movie: The Avengers

Granted, it won't win the Palme D'Or, but in terms of sheer viewing pleasure, I can't go past this. Saw it three times, wigged out over Renner and Hiddleston and Downey Jnr and generally loved the crap out of it. The epitome of a superhero blockbuster; smart, fast moving, funny and glorious to behold.

Special mentions: The Hobbit, The Hunger Games.

Best mascara: Physician's Formula Lash Boosting mascara

Barring a ridiculous chunk of packaging (why are PF such crazies when it comes to packaging mascara?) this is a wonderful formula and has a big, chunky brush. I'm sure that'd annoy some, but it was really nice for me. And it's destinctive shape makes it easy to dig out of the bottom of a handbag. It doesn't take much to please me.

Special mentions: Lancome Hypnose. Fantastic mascara, but had a far shorter shelf life than most.

Best eyeshadow: Loreal Infallible Golden Mahoghany

Dense and rich and annoyingly expensive for a drugstore line. This is also still the only shade I own, which is a bit odd. There's no other color that jumps out at me as a must-have, so for now I am very content with my glittery red eyelids.

Special mentions: Maybelline Color Tattoos

Best accessory purchase: Gucci sunglasses

I've gotten over my anxiety about wearing my first legit pair of designer glasses, and we're getting along just swimmingly. I can't pull myself away from the Paris/Nicole bug glasses thing - the bigger the better. And I think these are pretty low key for Gucci glasses. Pretty much all the others had big gold things hanging off them and all that.

Special mention: Chat Chat purple leather handbag

Biggest celebrity crush: Tom Hiddleston

I am a sucker for cheekbones and an English accent. And I'll admit him calling Scarlett Johansson a "mewling quim" didn't hurt. 

Special mentions: Ben Whishaw and Joseph Gordon Levitt. 

Biggest ladycrush: Lena Headey

Biggest badass ever, and her GoT commentary was hysterically funny. Riveting in Game of Thrones, terrifying in Dredd, all-round awesome. 

Special mentions: Emma Watson

Best game: Minecraft

You don't understand the appeal of Minecraft until you've gone there. It's a exploration game, a gather-and-build game, a creative wonderland. It randomly generates landscape for as long as you continue to explore, and every landscape has something different to discover and do. And it's kidsafe - completely. You'll find your six year old probably showing you up with this game. The creative mode is a whole different game - as seen above, people have made and shared huge huge environments (this is The Wall from GoT), massive castles, dungeons, adventures with storylines for other players to play. And then there's PvP, which is a whole other beast. It's whatever you want it to be, and it's really difficult to understate the malleability and revolutionary aspect of this game. Gaming ladies must investigate this.

Special mentions: Torchlight 2, Diablo 3.

Best TV: Game of Thrones, Season 2

This show goes from strength to strength, and whilst the 2nd season doesn't have the cohesiveness of the 1st, it's still a more than worthy follow up with some heartstopping moments and virtuoso acting on all fronts. Special kudos to Charles Dance and Maisie Williams for their set of one-on-one scenes - god I loved the Tywin and Arya stuff. Those who haven't dived into the 1st season, you must. Must must must. It's vital viewing and has made all other TV shows for me look cheap and shabby by comparison.