Picture courtesy of Mac Cosmetics, see the full sized image here.
Azure, freshwater, sky, light blue.
Have you ever really thought about what’s inside your make up bag and how much of it you actually use? I keep my make up inside a small see through yellow plastic tool box (with a lift out tray!) and when I did a clear out in January I was disgusted. I threw out three or four dried out mascaras, lip glosses which had gone solid and eye shadows which had definitely seen better days.
I was also astounded at the amount of useable eye shadows that were in multiples through similar colours from different brands. I had a few blues and purples which had never even been opened and swiped!
Clutter. Sparkly clutter.
I quickly dumped everything out on my bed, sorted out what I wanted to keep, and threw the unusable out. But this made me realise that I had filled my make up box with clutter. Cheap clutter. Really, I should have splashed out a few expensive, but basic, products and went cheap on “party” items. I’ll be honest, and have not as of yet done that, but I’m working through what I do have first before I part with my hard earned cash (and blow my student budget) on magazine cover worthy products.
The A-List.
But what are the items you should splash out on for that airbrushed-flawless-not-wearing-make-up look?
Foundation – this is the base of any make up look. While most teenagers and young adults do not need full-face heavy coverage from a foundation, it’s an important beauty item. With my teenage-young adult skin, I find that I only need a bit of liquid foundation down the sides of my nose/cheeks and chin to even out my skin tone.
Concealer – whether that be under –eye or –blemish concealer, it’s probably the most important product in your bag. Just a small touch of it over a blemish will have you looking flawless. Best applied with a brush to avoid transfer of bacteria which will certainly not help any blemishes.
Powder – it’s part of your base, of course you should splash out! A fine powder is a must-have, as it lies better on your face and helps to disguise any pores and imperfections which haven’t already been hidden by your foundation and concealer. Alternatively you could combine your foundation and powder and get a high quality mineral foundation.
The Z-List.
I find that interchangeable items are the ones which you shouldn’t be splashing the cash on. Interchangeable being things which you wouldn’t put on your face every day.
Eye shadow – a variety of colours are ideal. So don’t splash out on them! Instead get an eye lid primer (usually the cost of one expensive eye shadow) which will turn all of your eye wear into long lasting and intensely coloured eye shadows which look more expensive than they are.
Lip sticks/glosses – if you’re genuinely honest with yourself, how many of those “8 hour stay!” lip products actually work? And how often do you really put on more than a quick swipe of lip balm or a simple gloss? Hence, spend cheap on the colours. Especially with the hot lip colour constantly changing (one minute it’s red, the next coral!) and glosses getting more and more hightech with their lip pumping ingredients.
Blusher – this is one where I’d probably get a lot of disagreement on, but I’m going to stick with it. I buy cheap blush because I just don’t like a strong colour on my cheek. I’ve tried PosieTint and other expensive ones, but found that they’re really no better than the £6 pot I can get from Bourjois.
Grey scale.
Of course, there will always be a grey area in regards to things like mascara and eyeliner. Some say buy cheap, others will demand that you splash out. Me, personally? The best eyeliner I have ever used is a £5 GlimmerStick eyeliner from Avon and my current mascara is Dior Show Iconic. I splash out for mascara because I’ve found expensive brands work better for me. I go cheap on eyeliner because I genuinely have never found a better eyeliner.
So I implore you to have a proper look at your make up and figure out where you could upgrade or trim the excess.
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