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!

Bellabox December: Skincare and Haircare From Lesser-Known Niche Brands

So my Bellabox December review is totally going up after Christmas rather than before, but man, the holidays have seem to fly by so fast! Oh well, better late than never! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and are all ready for the new year!

Bellabox December: Skincare and Haircare from a range of lesser-known niche brands

Anyway, I'm sure you're wondering how December's Bellabox was, well here we are! It's mostly skincare and haircare from lesser-known brands this time, so if you're into these types of products, then that's great. Perhaps I've been living under a rock or something, but only two of these brands are brands I've actually heard of before, and I've actually only reviewed products from one of them! So this month's box is really all about exploring new, niche brands for me.


Bellabox December: If you're into finding out and trying new brands for yourself, the range of brands here might just pique your interest
Well, without further ado, let's get this review started!

Etude House My Castle Hand Cream: Review and Ingredients Analysis

Etude House's My Castle Hand Creams are seriously cute, and that's saying a lot because Etude House is pretty famous for its cute, girly, and princessy packaging. The Korean beauty brand has previously put out tons of cute, pretty beauty products (if you don't believe, a quick glance through my Etude House blogposts should convince you of this), and even so, I think these are particularly cute! Etude House has certainly outdone themselves this time!

Etude House My Castle Hand Cream: Etude House has outdone themselves in the cuteness department

The hand creams are called My Castle Hand Cream (perhaps a nod to the cute house-like packaging), and there are four different scents of hand cream, which correspondingly have four different cute little house containers with four different colour schemes - Pink Wish (pink), Ice Frozen (blue), Forever Rose (Green) and Sweet Cookie (Brown).


Etude House My Castle Hand Cream: Four colours correspond to four different scents, from powdery to floral to gourmand
So now that you've got a good idea of what the My Castle Hand Creams are like, let's take a closer look at each of them, and what their scents are!

The Face Shop SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Treatment, Toner, Emulsion Special Set Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Face Shop, the Korean brand known for its skincare and makeup, has released a few sets for Christmas, and one of the sets (which I predict is is going to be pretty popular, if it isn't already!) is The SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Special Set ($69.90), which consists of bottles of The SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Total Treatment, The SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Toner, and The SMIM Ferementation Concentrate Emulsion. If you're wondering what SMIM stands for, it's apparently a shortened way of the Korean phrase "seu-myeo-deul-da", which means to absorb and penetrate, which is what the products are advertised to do. The SMIM product line consists of Yeast Ferment Extract, which apparently is the feature ingredient here.

The Face Shop SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Special Set: Just in time for Christmas, too!

And apparently, I've been told by other bloggers at a previous Face Shop event sometime back (and documented on my Instagram) that apparently, The SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Treatment is very similar to the fabled SKII Facial Treatment Essence, although I've no idea if that is true or not. I suppose that is where all the similarities to SKII come about - after all, SKII has their story about Pitera too (I have to file that Pitera thing for another post - I've been getting some friends asking me whether pitera really works).


The Face Shop SMIM Fermentation Concentrate Special Set: With Treatment, Toner, and Emulsion
But in any case, you can see why the product set is going to sell well - aesthetically speaking, these are lightweight, lotion-formula products that feel great on the skin, and the Yeast Fermentation concept, are definitely attractive to consumers. The comparisons to SKII can't hurt either! So, I thought it's high time I did my review on this, seeing that Christmas is approaching. I've been so caught up this holiday season that I haven't been blogging about the Christmas things as much as I'd like, but I thought this was worth a review!

And of course, we're going to review this my style, and start at my favourite part of the product - the ingredients lists!

Clio Salon de Cara Review: Mascara That Styles Your Lashes

Clio, the popular Korean drugstore makeup brand, has launched a line of three mascaras, called Salon de Cara (I suppose Cara is a contraction of "mascara"). The entire collection is touted as being inspired by hair tools that style the hair - these mascaras aim to style the lashes, too. There are three different mascaras, each with different brush heads, and they are supposed to perform different functions - there's Hair Roll Cara 001, which is inspired by hair rollers, Roll Brush Cara 002, which is inspired by hair brushes, and Finger Cara 003 which is inspired by the fingers of hairstylists.

Clio Salon de Cara Review: Mascara in three different styles!

Interestingly, each of the mascaras have different functions, too. Hair Roll Cara 001 (pink) is supposed to mimic hair rollers for extra volume, Roll Brush Cara 002 (yellow) is supposed to mimic a round hairbrush for a curling effect, and Finger Cara 003 (orange) is supposed to mimic stylist's hands with "bristles that part three ways at the tip" to lengthen the lashes. Sounds intriguing, right? I agree that the concept (mascara that styles your lashes the way hair salons style your hair), right down to the collection name of Salon de Cara, is definitely one that's new to me!


Clio Salon de Cara Review: Inspired by hair tools that style your hair, these mascaras claim to style your lashes
So anyway, I figured I just had to put all three of the Salon de Cara mascaras to the test, to see if they really lived up to the hype! But before I start, here are some shots of my bare mascara-less eyes. As you can tell, having long, lush and naturally curled lashes aren't my strong point at all! It's been a long time since I've reviewed a mascara (my mascara reviews are all here), and I think it's because my lashes are so puny and wimpy that even the best mascara doesn't work the magic that you see in the ads - I think I've been complaining about mascaras since my first ever mascara review on the blog from way back in 2010 (the then-super-popular Rimmel Lash Accelerator mascara). In any case, I suppose my lashes are so wimpy, they really do make the perfect test candidate for mascaras of all sorts - curling, lengthening, volumizing. Just bring it all on, goodness knows I need every kind of benefit!

Kiehl's Vetiver and Black Tea Aromatic Blends Review: EDT, Body Lotion, Body Cleanser

Kiehl's Vetiver and Black Tea Aromatic Blends collection is finally here, and, like the previous Patchouli and Rose Aromatic Blends set of products, this consists of a body wash, a body lotion, and a fragrance - the Vetiver and Black tea Skin-Softening Body Lotion (SGD$43), the Vetiver and Black Tea Skin-Softening Body Cleanser (SGD$33), and the Vetiver and Black Tea Eau de Toilette Natural Spray (SGD$45). I was a fan of the previous Patchouli and Rose Aromatic Blend, so I was definitely keen to check out the Vetiver and Black Tea!

Kiehl's Vetiver and Black Tea Aromatic Blends: Body Cleanser, Body Lotion, and Eau de Toilette

Vetiver and Black Tea sounds pretty exciting, and if you've seen some of my instagram posts (like this photo of my perfume stash), you'll know I'm something of a fragrance-nerd - I love being able to sniff a fragrance and try to discern the various notes in it, so of course this piqued my interest. (And yes, those black things in the background of the photos are tea leaves!)


Kiehl's Vetiver and Black Tea: This year's addition to Kiehl's Aromatic Blends range
As you might expect, the Vetiver and Black Tea scent is present in all three products, but all three products have a slightly different take on the same scent, perhaps due to the nature of the product. You can tell they are in the same scent range, but each is slightly different. Like I did with last year's Patchouli and Rose Aromatic Blends review, I'll start by looking at the Body Cleanser and Body Lotion, and then looking at the fragrance! And yes, we will start off, as you might expect, with some ingredients analysis!

Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove Dupe: Daiso Silicone Mat/Pot Holder

Sigma's Spa Brush Cleaning Glove has been making its rounds in the blogosphere/beauty-guru-sphere, and naturally, being the avid beauty fan I am, I had to check it out. I though the concept was a good one, but I had my doubts over whether a simple silicone glove was worth US$35 or not. Then, I realized - all it really brought to the table was just a textured silicone surface to more effectively dislodge makeup and dirt from the brushes during use. And certainly, this was something dupe-able, right?

A cheap alternative to the Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove: A $2 silicone mat from Daiso

I had also seen other bloggers suggesting various dupes for the Sigma Brush Cleaning Glove - all the way from simple silicone textured place mats, pot holders, laundry scrubbers, and even silicone pet care gloves for pet hair! Of course, this prompted me to make a trip to my nearest Daiso, where I came across this


A cheap alternative to the Sigma Spa Brush Cleaning Glove: US$35 vs SGD$2, worth a shot!
I'm sure you're wondering, how does it perform? Does it really work? So I gave it a go, and I think it does work!

Etude House Pink Wish Tree Holiday 2014 Collection: Old Favourites, New Packaging!

Etude House's Christmas 2014 offerings are its Pink Wish Tree Collection, which is quite a comprehensive collection - it has everything from some of Etude House's bestselling makeup, skincare, handcare and lipcare. All of these are permanent items, but they have been specially dressed up for the holidays, so don't worry about falling in love with a limited edition product. This includes their Moistfull Collagen skincare line, their Precious Mineral Any Cushion, their Petit Bijou body care line, and their Hand bouquet and Kissful handcreams and lipbalms respectively.

Etude House Pink Wish Tree Holiday 2014 Collection: Makeup, skincare, hand cream, bodycare, and lipcare!

The best thing about the Etude House Pink Wish Tree Collection is that, in addition to being totally presentable and gift-worthy, the collection also supports charity. Etude House will donate ₩100 (100 Won, or around SGD$0.10) for every Pink Wish Tree item purchased to the School Me Campaign by Save the Children, which will help to provide educationa opportunities for African girls in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivire and Uganda. An additional ₩100 will be donated if shoppers endorse the Pink Wish Card that comes along with the product. It may not seem like a lot of money per item, but the products themselves aren't expensive either (the sets are anywhere from SGD$8 to SGD$32), and Etude House does deal with pretty large volumes of sales, so the final amount donated will hopefully be an amount that can make a meaningful contribution to the campaign.


Etude House Pink Wish Tree Holiday 2014 Collection: ₩100 from the sale of each item is donated to charity.
Anyway, let's take a quick look at the Pink Wish Tree items! This is just a quick run through, and I will get around to reviewing some of the individual sets in more detail hopefully!