Top 10 Most Popular Blog Posts of 2014, and 3 Honourable Mentions

2014 is ending, and I thought it would be appropriate to do a recap of some of this year's popular blogposts! After making 2013's list of most popular blogposts, there were some unexpected results, so, just for fun, I thought it would be great to do one for 2014, too!

Some of my Top 10 most popular blogposts, as well as the 3 honourable mentions!

Just like in 2013, this year, I have also picked the top 10 by raw number of blogpost views, because it's the simplest way to go about doing things. I've written last year that I feel this method isn't totally ideal because it disadvantages posts that are popular but were written at the end of the year, or "evergreen" posts (like posts on classic topics like skincare, foundation, etc., such as my post on parabens in skincare, as opposed to a more trend-based post, like the latest MAC makeup collection) that may not garner as many initial views, but tend to do very well over a longer period of time. I always feel like counting the raw number of views tends to overlook the evergreen posts and the posts written towards the end of the year. Nevertheless, this seems to be the simplest way of doing things. Of course, if you wanted to be really particular about it you could pro-rate the number of views to the length of time the post was up, but this seems to present its own problems, because not every post follows the same viewcount trajectory - some (like the trends-based posts) do really well for a short time, and then quickly taper off, while others tend to follow a steadier growth trajectory.

But in any case, since we are using raw views, let's get to it, and here's the top 10 posts of 2014! I've also included 3 honourable mentions, which are posts that did well views-wise, but didn't get into the top 10 because they were written in the later part of the year. So let's check out the top 10 posts!

Benefit Bathina Body Mist Review: "Just Confess, You're Obsessed"

Benefit's Bathina All-Over Body Mist, with the cute tagline "Just Confess, You're Obsessed", was launched in Singapore in October. I thought it was about time I gave this little baby a review!

Benefit Cosmetics already has existing products called Bathina. There's a Bathina Body Oil Mist, and a Bathina Body Balm, so it looks like this is a new addition to the Bathina body line. Unlike the others though, there isn't any heaviness or oiliness in this Bathina Body Mist - if anything, it seems a bit more like a light, moisturizing fragrance than anything else!

Benefit Bathina All-Over Body Mist: "Just Confess, You're Obsessed"!

Isn't the bottle pretty, and the box just so adorable? One of the things I really love Benefit's bath and body products (and actually their entire line) is the cute, girly, flirty and quirky packaging. And, the products are usually pretty solid as well - in the course of my 5 years of beauty blogging, I've encountered their lipglosses, eyeshadows, blushes, primers, and foundations, and they've all been really good. So I had high hopes for Bathina Body Mist too!


Benefit Bathina All-Over Body Mist: The packaging is the pin-up girls beloved by the brand.
I know you're wondering about the fragrance in the product, so I'll just cut to the chase and start the review!

Benefit Majorette Booster Blush Review and Swatches

Benefit's Majorette Booster Blush, its first-ever cream blush offering, has been making waves online, as people have been raving about it. And if you've seen this Instagram post of mine, as well as this post, you'll know that I've been testing it out and have been meaning to write a review on it for awhile! Now that it's finally Friday and I can settle into the weekend, here's the review!

Benefit Majorette Booster Blush: A cream-to-powder blush

The Majorette Booster Blush is billed as a "cream-to-powder" blush that can be worn either by itself as a blush, or under a powder blush of your own choice. Benefit also describes it as having a peach-pink colour, but the colour appeared more like a nice wearable coral to my eye.


Benefit Majorette Booster Blush: With majorette-inspired packaging!
Like almost all the Benefit Cosmetics products I've come across, Majorette is just full of quirky girly cuteness, packaging-wise. From the marching, baton-twirling inspired name to the little drum-like packaging, it's cute from the moment you open it.

Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner Review and Swatches: Really Worth the Hype?

Benefit's latest eyeliner, the They're Real! Push Up Liner, has finally launched, and you can bet the hype about this "lash-hugging gel liner pen" (Benefit's words) has been nothing short of craazy. The hype for the They're Real Eyeliner is probably one of the most I've seen for a recently launched Benefit product. Everyone is talking about it and raving about it, and I just had to check out the hype!

Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner: Definitely Benefit's most hyped product to date!

I happened to be travelling to Turkey (you would have seen some of my travel photos on Instagram) while the hype was building up, and when I came back to Singapore, the next thing you know, everyone and their mothers were talking about it! And, the They're Real Eyeliner just launched yesterday, so I thought since I had the product on hand, I should do a review too, and see if it's really worth the hype.


Benefit They're Real Push Up Liner: Claims to help you get gorgeously-lined eyes in a jiffy.
The hype generated comes from lots of things - from the unique "Accuflex" tip that the pen nib has, to the claims that it is waterproof, smudgeproof, and long wearing. The unique shape of the They're Real! Eyeliner pen is supposed to allow us girls who have trouble lining their eyes to finally line our peepers like a pro. Well, a claim like this is best tested against the hardest-to-line type of eyes, and yours truly, with my small, flat, contour-less eyes, and what I like to call a hooded lashline (that Asian fold of skin that hangs over your lashes and makes your eyeliner "disappear" once you open your eyes - you girls will know what I mean!), thought that there would be no better guinea pig than me.


The crux of one of the claims of Benefit's They're Real Push Up Liner: the Accuflex tip.
So I couldn't wait to try this out, and see if it indeed lived up to the hype of making my eyes prettier more easily and quickly!

Benefit Lollitint Quick Swatches

Benefit's Lollitint has been making the rounds since its launch, and I'm pretty sure some of the buzz is due to the fact that it is such a 2014-appropriate colour, nailing the Pantone Color of the Year Radiant Orchid on its head. SO for today's post, here are some quick swatches of Benefit's Lollitint!

I'll be brutally honest - I made this at the Vanity Trove event at Zouk, because the Benefit booth there had it, and I was like, "Oooh you guys have it! Can I try?" and of course my beauty blogger impulse was to snap a swatch. So here you go, swatches in club lighting! (Well, I did adjust the colour so it looks more realistic and less, erm, clubby, I suppose.)

Benefit Lollitint Swatches

At first I kept thinking Lollitint was like, lavender, or lilac, or one of those purple-based shades with a hint of pink. Actually, it's more pink than that, which is what makes it wearable. It's a candy-like shade of pink that has quite a bit of purple, making it a magenta colour. It's a shade that's best suited to the cooler-toned ladies, for sure, and on warmer skins, it might look a tad unnatural as the purple tones will stand out. On me, with my olive with slightly cool undertones (you'll have to read my undertones post if you need a refresher), it looks like a rosy purply-pink, which I think is quite flattering.

On a side note, I've reviewed Benefit's previous Cha Cha Tint before, and if this is anything like it, it's going to be pretty long-lasting (and by corollary, staining). I certainly had to scrub my arm a few times before the Lollitint swatches fully came out.