Our DoubleTake on Best of Beauty 2012!

Hello Lovely Readers~

Today we are beyond excited to bring you our DoubleTake Beauty Report of 2012! To celebrate a new year in beauty, we are going to review our top 13 products of the year to get you ready for 2013. We totally love all the products listed here and hope you will try some out for yourselves. Since we’ve tested hundreds of products since our high school days, we want to save you the hassle and tell which ones have earned our stamp of approval. We have included a concise overview of each product and included links for where you can look up additional product info. Most of our links are for Sephora, the holy grail beauty retailer for makeup lovers like us!! If you don’t end up loving a product as much as we do, no worries! Return it back to Sephora with no questions asked! We think beauty shouldn’t be stressful, and Sephora fits this perfectly.  

So in no particular order, here’s our 2012 all-star products:

• bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Cream:  This product is amazing! We never thought we’d use a product with any type of “oil” – but these natural essential oils are just right for combating flaky skin patches this winter, without breaking us out. Also great for delicate skin near the eye and neck redness caused from wearing slightly itchy winter clothing. We use this product nightly.

• bareMinerals Advanced Protection SPF 20 Moisturizer: Our go-to daily moisturizer that is lightweight and doesn’t clog our pores. As you have probably learned by now, SPF protection during the day is an absolute must!

• Rodan + Fields Micro-dermabrasion Paste: The perfect exfoliator – it works wonders! Even if you aren’t new to exfoliating, this product will astound you. It makes your skin feel baby-bottom-smooth (okay, so we just made that up) and allows makeup to go on like a dream.  This product is fabulous to use all year, but especially crucial during the winter months when dead skin can really start to dull your complexion.

• BeautyBlender Sponge: This multi-tasking tool is great for applying all types of foundations, liquid or powder. We have used this for years and highly recommend it. While it is not available to purchase in Sephora stores, they do offer it online. The price tag may seem a bit steep for a makeup sponge but trust us, it is well worth it.  You can use the sponge wet or dry, but our fave technique is to use it damp (run under water and then use a washcloth or towel to absorb extra water) and then apply liquid foundation and set with powder.  It helps get in all the crevices, such as the eye area and around the nose, providing flawless application for that soft-focus effect. It’s a definite must in each of our makeup bags!

• bareMinerals Neutralizing Face Primer: Let’s start by saying we couldn’t wait to try this primer. Both of us naturally have very fair skin with redness. This color-correcting primer has a yellow tint that immediately calms our red areas and prepares the skin for flawless application of foundation. It’s also great for minimizing pores and shine. It’s a must try if you haven’t loved the old “green to correct red” primers from Smashbox and Clinique. 

• bareMinerals Ready Foundation: We’ve worn bareMinerals original and matte foundations off and on for over 10 years. We were thrilled when this new version came out a few months ago. The coverage is perfect – buildable without getting chalky. It’s also more hydrating than the original version and doesn’t settle into pores. We highly recommend getting a color match because the pan color doesn’t accurately represent how it will look on the skin. From our experience the shades tend to run a bit light. As fair complected as we are (practically in the ghost category!!), we don’t even wear the lightest shade in this new line. For reference, both of us use the shade called “fairly light”. We recommend this fabulous product to anyone that is new to makeup or foundation or is afraid to look like they are wearing a lot of product. It goes on so quickly and stays put all day, which is a definite win-win!

• Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation: We just started testing this about two weeks ago, and we are already calling this our holy grail foundation when we need fast, full coverage. We always wear concealer – always.  So when this product was released as a foundation miracle, we were skeptical about full, natural coverage without still needing a ton of concealer afterwards. But ladies, we must say this product delivers! While not as “natural” as bareMinerals ingredients are, this is paraben and oil free. And the best part: the coverage is impeccable. There are days when we can even skip the concealer because it covers all imperfections. We do want to note that the application method is very important. We first purchased the Good Karma Optical Blurring brush to use with it.  Although it gets rave reviews from many users, we both agreed that it did the foundation no justice.  It absorbed too much product, leaving us with thin, splotchy coverage. Instead we use a stippling brush from Ulta from the Real Techniques brand. For around $10, you can’t go wrong with purchasing this brush. Regarding shade range, there are a ton of options to pick from! We also found this foundation runs a tad light, so probably best to get color matched. For reference, we both use shade 0.5. 

• bareMinerals Stroke of Light: We started testing this back in October, after deciding that our undereye area needed a little boost with 30 just around the corner. This wand delivers an optical blurring concealer that helps hide undereye circles. Use just a little product to keep it from creasing. We use both shade 1 (very light) and 2 (light with a golden undertone). 

• Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Brow Mousse: This is hands down the easiest eye brow product to use. It comes in three colors and we use the darkest one called rich brown. Tarte even designed a fabulous double sided brush that comes with the mousee as a set, as seen above in the picture. The mousse-gel type formula is lightweight and stays all day. The brush provides easy application even for newbies.  This is one fantastic product and will forever have a home in our makeup drawer.

• Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Adored: A long-lasting cheek color that delivers lightweight, buildable color. Adored has the perfect mixture of peach and pink, that can be worn daily. It also has a little bit of a sheen for an angel-like glow. And who doesn’t want an ethereal glow that lasts all day?

• Tarte Glamazon Pure Performance 12-Hour Lipstick in Fierce: We searched high and low for a natural lip color that was a perfect shade of red. This new lipstick line from Tarte combines both safe ingredients, plus pure pigmented color that makes teeth look whiter. With this formula, a little goes a long way. We also recommend lining the lip first if you are new to wearing this bright of a lip color.

• L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes and Covergirl Lash Perfection Mascara: These are the best drugstore brand mascaras we’ve used over the year. First step is several coats of L’Oreal, followed with the Covergirl Lash Perfection. We promise, buying two drugstore brands is worth the investment. It really makes a difference to have the first step of making the lashes fuller, then lengthening them without making the lashes wet so they don’t stick together. 

P.S. Here is an easy way to shop our favorite beauty picks of the year!