Maryam from My Marrakesh (whose blog I love, by the way) asked what some of my favorite beauty products are. I divide my favorite cosmetics into two categories: The stuff I carry around and don’t leave my house without, and the products that I love for photoshoots. Over the past year or two I’ve really cut down on my everyday makeup. I’m pretty sure this is a product of having to wear a full face of makeup everyday for work. I also tend to go through phases: I’ll wear the same blush for a month or a season, or the same eyeshadow every time I go out, etc. This is what’s in my bag right now:
1. Benefit Benetint: Be very wary of Benetint. It is not made for everyone. It’s main selling point is that you can use it for a blush and lip stain. But beware - it is a bright pink color…I like bright pink, so I’m okay with this. However, most people don’t like to look like a doll so, for the third time, I suggest extreme caution.
2. MAC Mineralized Skinfinish Natural: I have pretty nice skin, thanks to Dr. Pattison, my miracle working dermatologist. However, blush looks kind of poo on bare skin so I use the skinfinish to give myself a little bit of a base, a little sheen, and a little bit of color. It gives kind of a glowing smooth finish to your skin.
3. MAC Powder Blush: Powder tends to stay on longer than cremes so that’s what I generally use. Also, it should be mentioned that I am a blush whore. Without blush I look like a corpse. I usually carry several shades of blush with me…although they’re all some degree of pink it seems My favorite colors are Foolish Me (which was foolishly discontinued), Fleur Power, and Salsarose, which is the brightest fuschia known to mankind.
4. Clear Mascara or Brow Set of Some Sort: The only thing I inherited from my Italian side of the family is an excessive amount of body hair, including a unibrow. MAC makes a clear brow set and Sephora a clear mascara. I’m sure other brands have similar products. They are all basically the same, except the MAC one is $14 and the Sephora one $10. You can get tinted brow sets, but beware, they will also tint all the fine hairs around your brows.
5. MAC Plush Lash: I’m kind of a mascara snob. I say kind of because I would use a drug store brand, I’m not not sure what one to go with. MAC makes a lot of so so mascaras in my opinion, and Plush Lash is the only one that makes a difference but doesn’t require you to spend 5 minutes wiggling out clumps. My favortite mascara of all time is Perscriptives Lash Envy, but it’s $20, and that amount of money will pay for my gas for the week.
6. MAC Moisturecover Concealer: A medium weight creamy concealer. I need a lot of concealing, especially in the eye area. This one is nice because it doesn’t collect in my fine lines as long as I dust a little powder over it. Also, you can get more coverage by letting it dry and then putting on another light later. I apply my concealer with a fluffy eyeshadow brush to make sure it goes on even and thin.
7. Sephora Retractable Blush Brush: This is so nice…and inexpensive…and it doesn’t get blush all over the inside of your bag because it also has a cap.
8. MAC 182 Buffer Kabuki Brush: Gives you really great coverage with powders. I use it for my mineralized skinfinish, and also when I wear MAC Fix powder as a foundation.
9. MAC Lip Gelee: Now, my ultimate lip product is Aquaphore, but I talk about it enough on this blog as it is. So, for color I will often wear a little lip gelee in Dewy Jube. It’s pretty sheer, has limited stickiness and is fairly moisturizing. Pink is a definite trend in my makeup selections, as you can see.
Products that are on rotation in my bag:
1. Benefit Dandelion Blush: A very pretty light pink, but a color that really only works as a blush if you are quite fair (or at leas that’s what I think). It also conveniently comes with a mini paddle brush.
2. MAC Eye Khol: I perfer the khols because they wash off more easily than waterproof pencils, and in my experience stay on just as long. Although if you want to improve their wear, just pat a little powder over them. My favorite and most often worn colors are Teddy (bronze) and Smolder (black).
3. MAC Brow Shader: As mention above, I am brow obsessed. While I have huge brows, they aren’t particuarly thick, so when I have the time I’ll fill them in. I prefer powder over pencil because I think it looks more natural. You can also use a matte eyeshadow to fill in your brows, but shadows are much more pigmented (so in other words, you’re going to get a lot of color).
So that’s pretty much what I carry around and wear everyday. To be honest, I also carry around tweezers because I am obsessive about my eyebrows. If I know I’m going to be going out later on that evening, or the next day, or whatever, these are some products I might add to the stash:
1. MAC Carbon Eyeshadow: Or really any other black eyeshaodw you have. Adding just a little the outside of your eye will make any look “smoky” and much more dramatic.
2. MAC Vanilla Pigment: A cream color with a gold pearl. Works really well as a highlighter for the eye and cheek.
3. MAC Paint Pot in Otherwordly: When I’m feeling colorful I just wear a paint pot in Otherwordly on my lid and Vanilla Pigment on my brow bone. Otherwordly is a robin’s egg blue, so it’s not most people’s everyday color. For that, my favorite paint pot is Rubenesque, which is a orange-gold, which looks great with a warm brown in the crease. Otherwordly was limited, but you can get the same color as a shadow from the PRO site (Aqua or Sky Blue will work). Just be sure to use a neutral paint underneath so that it stays on all day.
4. MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack: Excellent for a cat eye or winged eyeliner. It’s waterproof so it doesn’t smudge, but it washes off easily with soap and water (which is a major plus for me).
5. A Neutral Lip Gloss of Sorts: If I’m doing a bright or dramatic eye then I go with a neutral colored gloss, if we are talking MAC, then perhaps Ample Pink, Love Nectar, Nice Buzz, or Viva Glam V.
6. MAC Eyeshadow in Woodwinked (or Amber Lights): A perfect crease or lid color for anyone with blue eyes or who wants to bring out gold undertones.
7. MAC Lipstick in Queen’s Sin: This is my all time favorite red, so of course it was a limited edition product. Luckily MAC likes to repeatedly release the same products under different names, so now you can purchase it as Port Red.
I also happen to own 1 Clinique product, and that would be their Breast Cancer shimmer block thing. It was limited edition but they come out with a new one every year, and generally in two different colors. Unfortunately this year their breast cancer campaign revolves around a moisturizer. How boring is that? This is mine, and in addition to being really cute looking in the box, it also looks quite nice on my face.
I am, by the way, lusting after this Cargo blush in Echo Beach…in fact, I think I’m going to have to purchase it tomorrow.
Isn’t it super pretty? It must be mine!
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