Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If one person doesn't see your beauty, doesn't mean everyone won't see it. Don't ever let anyone bring you down because you decide to wear makeup. These people say, "Take a girl swimming on the first date", but girl, remember, a person shouldn't only date you for your looks.
Now, to get on with the blogpost, here are the products I use on a daily basis: The products I use when I choose to wear makeup.
First, I believe that the most important part of makeup is the base. You need a good base, to have a good outcome.
After I moisturise, (I will be doing a skincare blogpost soon!) I ALWAYS use a primer. My go-to primer now is MUFE Step 1 Primer (bought at Debenhams) mixed with Nars Illuminator in Copacabana. I found that mixing your primer with an illuminator/highlighter gives a flawless and dewy base for foundation. A drugstore alternative primer and illuminator that I used to use was the Nivea Post-Shave Balm mixed with the L'oreal Lumi Magique.
Next, moving onto foundation. As a person with equally as many drugstore foundations compared to high-end, I have realised that all my foundations are good in their own way. To explain my statement, my MUFE HD Foundation is great coverage, but a tad too yellow on me so I usually mix it with my L'oreal True Match foundation to appear more cool toned. My favourite foundations, that I would recommend to everyone, would be all the L'oreal foundations (yes, all! I own all of them), the Nars All Day Weightless, the MUFE HD and the Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation. I own between 10-15 foundations so trust me when I say, I AM a foundation junkie. If anyone has some good recommendations for oily skin, please contact me!
Next, concealer. Now I have gone through a fair share of concealers, but unfortunately, I still haven't found THE one. As this is my everyday makeup, I did include the one I use for the sake of being truthful. I find that the NYX concealer is a very thick concealer, so if thats your preference, but it now! But for someone who would like to achieve a more natural, glowy and dewy look, a thick concealer isn't recommended. I have just ordered the LA Girl Concealer, as I know it is a 'Holy Grail' product for many so we'll see how that turns out...
A must for any oily person, powder. I will not leave the house without a powder. I have gone through MANY powders, drugstore and high-end. My search stopped when I can across the MUFE HD Powder. This powder is essentially, LIFE-CHANGING for my skin. It sets everything matte and smooth and lasts usually all day with a well primed face! For setting under-the-eye concealer, I use the Mac Select Sheer Pressed Powder in NC5.
Next, blush and bronzer. The blush I use on the daily, is the Nars Deep Throat. It is a very beautiful pink shade and looks very natural on the skin. I haven't included my bronzer in any photographs, as it is a palette, but it is the Morphe 9BZ palette. The 9BZ palette comes with 9 bronzer/blush shades, so is a very versatile palette! (Bought on Beauty Bay for around £18) A highlighter I use, again not shown in the photos, is one included in the Carli Bybel palette. I have thought about buying a single highlighter, possibly one from BECCA or ABH but will only do so when I no longer use the Carli Bybel palette, as the whole palette is just incredible for eyeshadows and highlighters!
Next, moving onto eyes and eyebrows. If I could only wear 3 makeup products, it would be eyeliner, mascara and concealer (eek, or maybe lipstick?). I own about 9 different eyeliners, but only wear two on the daily. My favourite eyeliners are the L'oreal Superliner and NYX Matte Liquid Eyeliner. I Like to create the outline with the felt-tip liner and then go over it with the matte liquid liner (I'm thinking of buying Inglot 77, anyone tried it before?)
Onto mascara. The best mascara, which I have repurchased twice now, is the Maybelline Lash Sensational. I haven't tried the waterproof version, only the original, but the Lash Sensational is the best mascara I have ever used! Runner up would be L'oreal Telescopic. This is prefer to use on my lower lash liner as the wand is thinner, therefore easier to use on the bottom lashes.
BROWS. I feel like brows is essentially the most important part about makeup for most people, but not for me. I used to use the L'oreal Brow Pencil daily and that was my staple brow pencil. Recently, I invested in the ABH Brow Wiz and to be truthfully honest, I prefer the L'oreal brow pencil. Possibly consistency or colour, but my L'oreal brow pencil matched my brows perfectly (blonde/taupe) but the ABH seems very stiff and is too warm toned. To set my eyebrows in place, I use the Maybelline Brow Drama in Transparent. This is a great product, not sure compared to others as it is the first I have ever used, but it does do the job perfectly.
Eyeshadow. May have cheated slightly here by including two eyeshadows that I do not use everyday, but they are my favourite at the moment. These are Morocco and Peach Smoothie by MUG. These are beautiful shades, one used as a transition shade and the other a beautiful orange shade (funny story but if you are someone who is still waiting to get their hands on the Morphe 35O, like I was, buy Morocco which is an orange shade for only £5).
Next, lips. I know I have included three, but I do generally use one of these three everyday. First of all, is Mac in Honeylove. This one I wear when I go for the more 'natural' look as it is very light and peachy. Next, is NYX lingerie in Lace Detail 03, which is a light shade again but this time is completely matte and can be quite drying if you haven't prepped your lips beforehand. Lastly, my favourite of all, is the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi 09. This one is essentially the one I use most of all three, as it is small enough to throw in my school bag and reapply when needed. The colour, is very orange-brown, but a very beautiful shade.
Lastly, is a setting spray. Mac Prep + Prime can be used as a primer or finishing/setting spray. As I already use a primer than suits my skin, I prefer to set my makeup with a spray. Now, I don't use this everyday but only on days when its hot outside (not that often, its the UK...) or when I know I'll be sweating. I also have the Urban Decay Setting Spray which is again, very good for setting makeup but tend to only use it for events or when I do a full face of makeup.
To conclude, these are my Everyday Makeup items and some of my favourite, "holy grail" items which I could not live without. Thank you so much for reading this post, which seems to have dragged on like an A Level essay, or even if you just scrolled past to see the pictures etc, it means a lot. Keep updated via Twitter or Instagram to see my upcoming posts, potentially a skincare post and another which I'll keep a secret until then ...
If you have any recommendations, please feel free to contact me on twitter @itserikahanson / @voguelence or Instagram @eriikahanson!
Photo taken on 23rd May 2016, using the products listed above.
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