Since I was a teenager, one of my monthly must-reads has been Shape magazine. There’s nothing like it for motivating met to get my butt off the couch and onto the treadmill. So when the folks at Shape offered a special sneak peek of their annual Shape of Beauty awards–hitting news stands this week!–I just had to share it with my gals here at EAD Living!

Almost 5,000 readers, beauty pros, and Shape editors cast their votes for their favorite beauty products released from May ’08 to May ’09. The list is jam-packed with little gems that have been a hit with me too this year. Neutrogena’s new Pink Grapefruit Cleanser is a fab pick-me-up after a long day at the office, and Aveda’s Dry Remedy line has not only made my hair shinier and healthier, it’s also saved me money by increasing the length of time I can go between haircuts.

But even better are the products that have caught my eye but that I’ve been hesitant to spend on, for fear that they might be duds. Could Pantene’s Nature Fusion collection really be better than regular Pantene? Apparently so! And can Origins’ Totally Pure Deodorant convince me that there’s hope for natural deodorants after all? According to Shape’s experts and readers, it will!

This is just an eensy weensy taste of the 2009 Shape of Beauty Awards–I don’t want to spoil the whole thing for you! But tell me: what are your best beauty discoveries of the past year?