As 2011 comes to a close I thought I'd share what I think were the three best and worst makeup designs of the year.

My picks for the best:  MAC Art of Powder palettes, since they were directly inspired by various art genres:

The Dior Lady Dior palette - a modern update of their classic bag perfectly captured in makeup form:

And of course, the Chanel Byzantine palette - rich in both art and Chanel's history.

And now for the worst!

Chantecaille classic palette.  I'm not sure why they bothered putting their initial on each color - it doesn't make this palette any less boring. 

(image from chantecaille.com)

Too-faced holiday collection - not only is this ridiculously juvenile, it also looks very cheap, like it belongs in a dollar store:

(image from sephora.com)

Finally, the Stila Love and Empowerment travel palette - incredibly uninspired when it shouldn't have been given that it was based on a movie (which in turn was based on a best-selling book).  Honestly, most of the travel palettes this year weren't great.  I hope Stila comes out with better things in 2012.

So what do you think about these picks?  Take a peek in the archives to pick out your faves (and least faves) and let me know in the comments!