The Best Songs of 2014 (according to Melismatic)

Here it is -- The Big Kahuna. Every blog around this time is putting on proud display their list of what was the "cream of the crop" in 2014. Here are the songs that I felt most deserve a spot on your music player of choice. Please note the ranking is pretty arbitrary. Basically, these 100 tunes are good 'uns.

The Best Albums of 2014 (according to Melismatic)

Before we get to songs (which is a whole other animal to be quite honest), let's chat about the must have albums released this year. The stipulations for this list are thusly: any LP or EP that was released in 2014 that had more than five original songs on it. Each eligible album is given a percentage by yours truly based on total number of original songs (remixes or alternate song takes are not included) divided by number of songs I actively enjoy and was impressed by. It goes without saying this list is my own opinion, kthanks.

The order may surprise you...

A YEAR IN REVIEW: 2014's 'Live From New York'

It can't be just me who feels like this year flew by, right? I did something crazy this year and actually put together a 'Best Of' list. You might be thinking -- that's insane! Melismatic never does 'Best Of's' (anymore).  Nope, that changes now. You're welcome in advance.

Before we get to that, let's take a look back at all of the fantastic shows I was lucky enough to see this year...not including the superb Broadway shows that are 'Matilda', 'Once', 'Newsies', 'Hedwig & the Angry Inch', 'Beautiful: the Carole King Musical', 'Motown', 'Side Show' and the soon to be included 'Into The Woods'. 

TOTAL ARTISTS SEEN IN 2014: 

Forty-One (decent,  huh?)

BEAUTY BREAK: Getting Pretty'd Up for the Holidays with One Direction Makeup

Nope, you did not read that title incorrectly. Are you ready to get glam this holiday season with

Harry, Zayn, Niall, Louis, & Liam?

The good folks over at Markwins (who also house affordable but effective cosmetics lines like Physicians Formula and Wet n Wild) have recently joined forces with the music scene's biggest boy band (of the moment, at least), creating a new line of cosmetics just in time for the holiday season dubbed Makeup by One Direction. I've had the chance to sample some of the line and would like to share my thoughts with you.

Markwins has sent me three selections of this rather large cosmetics line offering: Electroglam Mascara, Rock Me Nail Varnish, and Liquilights Glow Lip Gloss.

Each type of cosmetic came in a set of three, that retail for around $17 a piece. All of the items came to me in pretty luxe packaging, featuring a brick background, with a plastic overlay that features the One Direction band logo and embossed autographs (heyyy!) by each of the boys. Sorry Directioners, no photos of the boys are featured on the packaging I received (womp womp).

First up, the Electroglam Mascara. According to the packaging, you can use the mascara on your hair or on your eyes, if you're really daring. The three colors are: Does He Know? (bright hot pink), Why Don't We Go There (blue), and Story Of My Life (highlighter yellow).

Personally, my initial thought was that these shades are a little too bright for me to put on my eyelashes. But because I'm doing this review for you all -- and for science -- I tried all three mascaras on both my hair and my eyelashes. I was surprisingly most partial to the yellow, as it really showed up best. My hair is naturally very dark and also very curly, so colored hair mascara just doesn't work for me in general. My suggestion if you'd like to use these in your hair -- comb it through your ends for a fun pop of color.

Next, the Rock Me Nail Varnish (you know it's legit 1D merch because it use British colloquialism of "nail varnish" -- here in the States we just say "nail polish").  The shades of polish included in the kit are: Happily (a dark blue seen to the left -- however, it did take about four coats to have real coverage), Moments (a cool-toned hot pink), and Diana (a silver-based glitter bomb full of different sizes of silver glitter -- some of which are holographic). The kit also includes three bonus loose glitter pots: Kicks ("snow cone" blue glitter), Not Afraid (pink glitter), and Star (a gorgeous pinky purple iridescent glitter that I'm wearing as easy nail art to the left -- yes, it's that dense).

The packaging for the polishes is much akin to the butter LONDON polishes (although slightly smaller. On the black cap is the familiar brick embossing that is on the outer packaging.

My favorite part of the nail kit was obviously the glitter -- it was quite easy to apply and, in particular, the Star glitter is so ridiculously beautiful.

Finally, my personal favorite of the samples I received, the LiquiLights Glow Lip Gloss. The shades I received are: Taken (a cool-toned hot pink gloss with lots of shimmer), Kiss You (a coral-y, creamsicle shimmer shade), and Through The Dark (a warm red with, again, lots of shimmer).

The glosses are surprisingly not too sticky and come in some great packaging. The color payoff is pretty substantial (especially for a gloss). You can wear them alone a nice wash of color and sparkle, or layer it over a similar shade of lipstick for more pow. They all have a bit of a sugar-y scent to them too which is enjoyable --  but by far the best scented (and my favorite color) is the pretty pink shade (Taken).

TOP:Through The Night. MIDDLE: Kiss You. BOTTOM: Taken.

However, if you don't like shimmery things, this is not for you. When trying these suckers out, even when the color/gloss starts to fade off, my lips were still lined with glitter. 

Per the description, these glosses are also UV-reactive and "change color" under UV light (aka "blacklight"). 

This line is available for purchase right now and the lip gloss set in particular would make for a great gift for any 1D-obsessed gal or guy on your holiday list. For more on the complete Makeup By One Direction line, check out https://www.facebook.com/MakeupbyOneDirection. My thanks to Markwins and BrandBacker for the opportunity to try out this these cute products!

*Sponsored Post, powered by BrandBacker.