2007 in Beauty.

I'm quite indifferent to year-end festivities as I don't celebrate Christmas (spent hunched over a laptop while my family cavorted in the hotel pool) and the New Year as a holiday baffles me. None of the places I've worked in were big on office parties, and while I like champagne and fireworks, I dislike sweaty, drunken crowds of revellers.

But the new year never fails to bring on a bout of introspection, and g33kchic's coverage of 2007's best beauty products reminded me that I had a great year in beauty. Screw raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, these were a few of my favourite things in 2007:

7 for 2007

7. Benefit Cosmetics Benetint Pocket Pal - I received this as a gift from the chic geek herself, but did not really use it until 2007 was on its last legs. I'd resigned from my job and was hiding in L.'s apartment in California, trying to figure out The Next Step. It seemed ridiculous for a recluse to put on a full face of makeup, but I didn't want to be a complete slob so I pared my normal routine down to the barest minimum: all I used were eyebrow pencil, mascara, concealer and lipbalm. In a fit of inspiration, I dabbed some Benetint onto my cheeks and voila! the perfect 'bare' face. Benetint imparts a natural 'just-came-in-from-the-cold' rosiness to the complexion, and the sheer, practically transparent formula makes this liquid blush nearly impossible to botch. It did give me a bit of a scare as the product appeared to irritate my skin immediately after application, but the red patches disappeared after a while and it's yet to happen to me in Malaysia.

6. Blinc Kiss Me mascara - I am now utterly ADDICTED to this mascara's ease of removal. Eye makeup remover has always irritated my eyes, especially when I'm trying to clean about six coats of waterproof mascara off my lashes, but such battles are a thing of the past with the Kiss Me mascara in my cosmetics arsenal. I still need a second mascara for occasions that demand thick, sooty lashes, but I think I've found the perfect mascara for every day use.

5. MAC rediscovery - Having sampled a few MAC classics like the clear lipglass, Spice lip liner and Studiofix compact foundation, I dismissed MAC cosmetics and moved on. The consistency of MAC products leave something to be desired and there are better products out there: Dior shadows are more finely milled, more densely pigmented; Nars lipglosses aren't as sticky etc. This year, I've discovered very, very belatedly that their limited edition makeup collections are unrivalled. The Barbie Loves MAC collection first caught my eye, but I didn't make my first purchase until Flashtronic. Then the floodgates opened. My Smoking Eyes quad from the Smoke Signals and Electroplush lipglass from Flashtronic are now among my favourite items to use.

4. Vincent Longo eyeshadow trio in Easy Rider - The first eyeshadow palette I've used to the very end. The cool, velvety neutrals went well with my skintone and I wore this nearly every day to work.

3. Winged-out eyeliner aka the Cat Eye - I'm still an eyeliner novice, but I spent many hours this year learning how to 'wing out' my eyeliner to approximate the look favoured by silver screen sirens in the 60s. Instead of liquid liner or kohl, I used dark eye shadow and the eyeliner brush from the dual-ended applicator that came with my Bobbi Brown palette for a softer look. This took me quite some time and I was invariably late to work on the mornings I decided to wear eyeliner in this fashion on weekdays. Oopsy.

2. Hermes Eau des Merveilles EDT - Pepper, oranges and salt. The scent I put on in the mornings to empower myself before meeting fussy, tiresomely garrulous clients. The scent I can count on to stand out and assert itself in a room without being chokingly overbearing. The scent with which people began to associate me and the scent that garnered me the most compliments!

1. My partner in crime - The only person whom I know will pull a pair of women's stockings over her head to rob a beauty emporium with me. Right, g33kchic?? We probably (only probably!) bought more makeup than we needed, but I'll be damned if we did not have a fantastic time discovering new products, gawking at the hauls on Specktra and running wild among the makeup counters in department stores with a patient Mr. g33kchic in tow. May you get your bottle of Kelly Caleche this year!