The Year In Beauty: These Are My Favorite Things, Part 3

Welcome back. And here we have part three of my and Beauty Blogging Junkie's Amber's favorite beauty products of 2010. I don't think my cat makes a cameo in this video, but you will see a lot of wine!

The products I love in this video include Topshop's big, fat Lip Crayon -- I truly thought I couldn't do a big, bright hot pink, but it works in Topshop's matte -- Urban Decay's spectacular Naked Palette, which is a celebrations of beachy browns and golds, Sulwahsoo Concentrated Ginsing Cream, which costs a small fortune but is worth every stress-inducing dollar you'd part with for insanely hydrated skin, Honore de Pres Va A New York perfume, which smells like the end of a long night out in New York, Burberry's Effortless Mascara, and Maybelline's Volum Express The Falsies mascara.

Amber's beauty BFFs are Stila Smudge Pot in Kitten, La Prairie Advanced Marine Biology Tonic, Juliette Has a Gun Fragrance Set (Lady Vengeance), Napoleon Perdis Lipstick in Calypso, La Prairie Anti Aging Eye Cream SPF 15 and Alterna Kendi Oil.

Again, my outfit ended up being an exercise in what NOT to wear on TV. But speaking of TV, I'm going to be on VH1's Top 40 Music Videos of 2010 Countdown show tonight, so hopefully I will be exonerated. And the lady who did my makeup did ELTON JOHN'S makeup for years. No, she did not make me look like Elton. Oh well. There's always next year.

($44, Urban Decay)

Mandy Aftel's Face Exilir Will Give You Toddler Face

I recently had an INTENSE moisturizer conversation in the bathroom at work (I was talking to a friend, by the way, and not to myself. And we were in the anteroom, and not like on the toilet -- it's always so weird when people converse while on the toilet), and I ACTUALLY heard myself using the term "anti-aging." Ugh. Mortifying that that's actually in my lexicon now. It was like one of those moments where you suddenly find yourself hovering above yourself, watching and listening in horror as you actually say something you can't believe you're saying.

($40, Aftelier Perfumes, Aftelier.com)

Anyway, I said "anti-aging" because I've recently been using Mandy Aftel's Aftelier Perfumes all-natural face Geranium, Jasmine and Ylang Ylang elixir. I recently discovered Mandy Aftel after Nathan Branch (who's one of the smartest fashion/ retail writers I've a fortnight), introduced me to Mandy and her phenomenal collection of all-natural, handmade fragrances. I loved them so much I wrote a Naag.com story on her fragrances. So, where was I? Oh yeah, Mandy included a face elixir in the generous package she sent me, and I tried it out almost as an afterthought, having already fallen in love with her fragrances and not really looking for any extra love, you know?

Hand to God, people, her elixir made me look instantly younger. Like TEENAGE years, guys. Pre-teen even. It  moisturizers, hydrates and RADIATES youth. There's absolutely no messy greasiness. Just the clearest, brightest, softest skin I can ever remember experiencing. I wouldn't be surprised if people mistook me for a toddler. The difference between my skin when I use this and when I don't is the difference between awesomely perfect and gross.

My only gripe, and it's a small one, is that the bottle is very small -- 7 ml. BUT, I'm kind of an overuser, and while each bottle's $40, I figure lots of anti-aging products are barely bigger and about five times the price. And I guess what price toddler face?

Missha Vita-Feel So Good Serum: So Good Indeed

'Sbeen awhile since I've done any beauty products, and since I just got back from the 2-Up 2-Down, where I hand-delivered my moms another bottle (we sound like junkies) of a favorite product we both love: Missha's "Vita-Feel So Good Serum." Now, unless you speak both Korean and English, that name probably makes no sense. And even if you do, it still may not.

So, here's what I can deduce from my own experience as a total Westerner: first of all, I use it as a light morning/ daytime moisturizer. Second of all, it's cool but so much so that you can't use it in the winter; it's the perfect year-round moisturizer. Since it is a serum, it features the added bonus of zero C&C grease factor-y, and aside from feeling smoother and girlier than a newborn kitty's tum, your skin feels instantly softy without any of that sick tight dryness that makes you feel like a poor, enfeebled old lady. (That just me?)

And, since it's a Vitamin C serum (uhh, at least I think it is), this shit is not only fragrant, and light, but it's instantly refreshing and basically akin to a fruit salad on/ for your face. It rules. You should try it. It's $22.50 at Missha, which is basically the Korean Body Shop except at H&M prices... Actually, while most of Missha's products are insanely cheap (hence the H&M pricing), at $22.50 this product is a hypocritical exception to that rule, but considering this shit's $90 for an ounce, Missha's seems like an even better deal.

Binge Beauty Cold-Weather Dechapping MUSTS!

A couple of products keeping me from looking like Robert Downey, Jr. in The Singing Detective (and obviously, I mean no offense if you have the world's worst case of eczema or are a Katie Holmes fan).

($12.99, Yes To Carrots, Walgreens)

Yes To Carrots C Through the Dry Spell Body Butter is the shiz. It smells like something you should keep refrigerated and dip veggie chips into, yet I wouldn't recommend the latter. It's all natural, non-greasifying, and the excessively sad, dry skin on my shins and hips soaks this up like woah. And it smells all fresh and not grossly perfumed or anything. I also love Yes To Carrots Hand & Elbow Cream.

($6, Einstein Lip Therapy, LipTheory)

While I wasn't a fan of their lip moisturizer, I LOVE Einstein's genius little Lip Therapy tub -- it's not as mediciney and el stinko and thick as Carmex, and it leaves a gorgeous balmy gloss with a refreshing minty zing!

Alba's all-natural, petroleum-free lip balms are more exciting than boring-ass Chapstick, and both the Passion Fruit Lip Balm, which I'm a big fan of, and the Cherry Lip Balm with SPF 18 are only lightly flavored. The former leaves more of a glossy sheen, while the Cherry Lip Balm is good for guys too. (And me!) They're both under $3.50 and available at CVS and other such drug store locays.