The 13 best beauty trends of 2012

This year we said sayonara to regular eyeliner, replacing it with everything from extended cat-eyes and geometric shapes to liners in every color of the rainbow. You have designers such as Albert Elbaz of Lanvin to thank for that one.

This year, stars went bold with dark burgundy lipstick. Some, like Naomi Watts, chose a no-shine version, while others rocked a full-on glossy lip.

Peace-out pink and white! In 2012, the French manicure got a major makeover. Exhibit A: the red-tipped version Deborah Lippmann created for Donna Karan’s fall 2012 show.

Consider it our in-a-pinch date-night makeup look. Gilded lids, similar to Megan Fox’s, provide a hint of glitter that could catch any guy’s eye.

Model Cara Delevingne and other full-browed beauties inspired us all to step away from the tweezers and let our eyebrows grow in naturally. No plucking, no tweezing--instead we filled in them in with powder and tamed them with a bit of brow gel.

“Square or oval?” celeb manicurists asked. “How about talon nails instead,” stars such as Rihanna and Beyoncé answered. And just like that, whether we thought they were fabulous and fierce or just plain scary, long and pointy nails became the shape du jour.

While we’ll always love smoldering black smoky eyes, 2012 brought us new versions to add to our night-out makeup arsenal (think plum and navy). Kate Hudson’s glittery version sent us reaching for a new palette to play with.

Topknot! Messy! Sock! Braided! Nary a regular ol’ bun in sight this year, folks. Instead, celebs including Brooklyn Decker went the over-the-top route. And why not? Even something as simple as a bun can use a jolt every now and then.

Is she or isn’t she? (wearing makeup, that is) was the question on our minds on more than one occasion during 2012. In keeping with the full-eyebrow trend, Carolina Herrera’s fall 2012 show caused us to embrace the au naturel makeup look.

For those of us who appreciated the nail-art trend but couldn’t fully hop on board, Cynthia Rowley and other tastemakers provided a fantastic alternative. Paint one of your nails a color that’s different from the other four and there you have it—an eye-catching accent nail.