Kim Kardashian is undoubtedly patient zero for the contouring and highlighting trend, which -- whether you love or hate Kim -- isn't going anywhere (and we're okay with that). Editors' Pick winner Kevyn Aucoin's The Contour Book, $59, wowed us with its buildable contour color, shimmery highlighters, easy to follow instructions and -- as an added bonus -- brow colors to make sure your entire face is ultra defined. Marc Jacobs' #Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Powder, $49 was another submission that elicited oohs and aahs. The sleek packaging and blendable, buildable formula made even the contouring newbies among us look as skilled as Kim K.'s makeup artist.

More recently, strobing, a megawatt highlighting technique that uses intense shimmer to spotlight and define cheekbones, has come into vogue. You can achieve the effect with Editors' Pick honorable mention Rouge Bunny Rouge's Seas of Illumination Highlighting Liquid, $44, a glistening fluid formula that gives skin an oh-so-pretty glow. For a subtle take on the trend, we love Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush, $35, our winner in the blush category, which combines the brand's skin-perfecting finishing powders with flushed pigments for radiant, defined cheekbones.

Product launches will frequently make us squeal with delight. But a whole line that's rave-worthy? That's much more rare. However, multiple stellar beauty brands hit shelves last year, and they totally brought it. We're talking killer packaging, transformative formulas and cool stories to tie it all together.

R+Co, which took home a Breakthrough Award in the hair category, has some of the most creatively designed packaging in the industry. And the products don't just work -- they reinvent the way we think about things like dry shampoo of cleansing conditioner.

Last September celebrity makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury brought her eponymous line to the US after a warm reception in the UK. The collection, which consists of dozens of products, is divvied up into 10 classic looks ranging from minimalist to full-on sexy -- and each one is prettier than the last. (Needless to say, it was enough to net the brand a Breakthrough Award honorable mention in the makeup category.)

And nail polish line Smith & Cult grabbed our attention with their cool, hammered metal caps, luxurious colors, immaculate coverage and hilarious nail polish names -- so much that we awarded them an honorable mention for best nail polish. More recently, the brand debuted lip glosses, proving that they're more than just manis.

Not to be overly dramatic, but if you don't have a dry texture spray in your hair care arsenal, you're missing out on a lot of amazing hair days. Unlike other texture sprays, dry texture sprays are applied post-styling, like a hairspray, and give you effortlessly sexy hair.

Curly-haired gals can also reap the benefits of this wonder product. Simply spray all over and then run your fingers through your hair for a supermodel vibe. So it's no wonder that dry texture sprays swept away the competition in the Texture Spray category in both Editors' Picks and Readers' Choice.

Our favorites: Rusk Texture Dry Finishing Spray, $18, and Garnier Fructis Style De-Constructed Texture Tease Dry Touch Finishing Spray, $4.29, both of which solidly transformed many okay hair days into great ones by adding volume, bounce and texture without being sticky. And readers loved Alterna Caviar Anti-Aging Perfect Texture Finishing Spray, $28, for the same reasons, crowning it the winner in the Readers' Choice category.

Raise you hand if you want a more radiant, even skin tone? Yeah, we thought so. Even if you don't have dark spots or hyperpigmentation, a brightening product can work wonders on your skin. Seemingly every other skin care product we received this year boasted brightening effects, but there were a few standout formulations that left our skin absolutely glowing.

For serious dark spots, editors raved about RéVive Perfectif Even Skin Tone Serum, $325, and awarded it an honorable mention. They noticed their brighter skin and diminished dark spots in just a few weeks, thanks to the formula that was inspired by Nobel Prize-winning technology. Our winner, ProActiv Advanced Dark Spot Correcting Serum, $50, took top honors for its ability to even skin tone without being irritating.

Eve Lom's Brightening Cream, $110, impressed us with its light texture and bevy of powerful ingredients -- including a brightening peptide that blocks melanin production in your skin, along with soothing ingredients, like rose otto oil, aloe vera and allantoin. Dolce and Gabbana's newly launched skin care line also included an array of skin-brightening products, like a brightening essence/lotion hybrid, $72, that's light enough to add to your daily and nightly routine without making you feel like you're packing on too many products.

Over the last few years, countless exciting innovations in skin care have come from Korea. Case in point: gel moisturizers like our day cream award winner, Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel, $18.99, and our entire BB and CC cream category.

As Korean trends gain traction stateside, Korean brands have hopped across the Pacific, as well. We awarded Belif -- a Korean brand that's new to the US -- a skin care Breakthrough Award. The textures are unusual in the best possible way, and it's one of the more natural lines to come over from Asia in recent years.