If there’s one thing I know how to take seriously, it’s presenting myself when I go out in public. Nobody wants to see your ratty self straight outta bed. Unless you wake up looking like Lisa Vander Pump…then I’m coming to your house so you can teach me your ways.
Now, you’re all in for a real treat, because today I’m showing you exactly what’s in my makeup bag. I don’t claim to know a thing about makeup (I don’t). But I do know what works best for me and I’ve always found that so long as I take care of the skin on my face, my makeup looks a hell of a lot better. I mean, there’s only so much foundation and blush can do. You’ve got to be working off a good palette! I swear by Korres products and use their White Tea cleaner, and yoghurt hydration regimen. It’s pricey, I won’t lie, and I cringe every time I have to go to Sephora and purchase more, but it’s worth it. I also use a Clarisonic every other day (every day in the summer), which helps to remove dead skins, flakes, & grossness in general. Worth every penny–so much so that I got Dane one. Judge away, but he has the softest, most clear skin of anyone I’ve ever met.
Now, if you can believe it, all my stuff fits in the lovely Vera Bradley bag to the left. It’s mandatory for me that all my junk my entire face be able to fit neatly in one place, because I’m constantly on the go. The two round silver things up top are the Korres yoghurt regime previously mentioned.
Let’s start with the basics–Smashbox Photo Finish and Smashbox Studio skin. I swear by them for making my skin look and feel like a smooth surface. I have acne, red blotches, and freckles–all of which I prefer be covered up. On days when I don’t necessarily need full coverage, I turn to Clinique BB Cream (green tube). Once I’ve decided on a face base, I slather on Benefit Pore-fessional. Thanks to my Clarisonic, I have clean pores. Also thanks to my Clarisonic, you can see how large they are. No me gusta, so I turn to this wonder cream.
Now, let’s say the following together….BRONZER IS YOUR FRIEND IN SMALL DOSES. I’m a big follower of safe sun and so a tanning bed just isn’t going to cut it for me when I want to look slightly more tinted than the snow. I turn to Too Faced California in a Compact and Bare Minerals READY Bronzer. I’ll admit, Too Faced has a little too much shimmer for my liking, but it’s good for a summer day or night out.
Up next? Blush. I hate to admit I use NARS “Orgasm”, because before I bought it I swore up and down I would never purchase or use something for fear of jumping on the “Oh my word it looks great on everyone” bandwagon. Well it does. There’s a reason for that bandwagon. This product is unreal. Go getcha some and then join the party.
Highlighters aren’t just for your face anymore and finding one that doesn’t make you look like you just plugged your face into an electrical socket is tricky. For me, Benefit High Beam works best. I have Benefit Watt’s Up also pictured, but that is honestly only in there because I got it as a free sample. It doesn’t work for me and I’m not sure why. Every time I use it, a blending issue occurs and you can see highlighting “lines”. Gross.
Eye makeup was never really my thing. In junior high I wore yellow and blue cream eye shadow that got creases by mid-day, so I would go into the bathroom and smear it all around creating a lovely vomit colored eye lid I proudly wore the rest of the day.
Fast forward more years than I care to admit and I’ve progressed A LITTLE. Eye shadow really isn’t my thing and I do roughly the same routine every day. I swear by MAC paint pots in Painterly, Quite Natural, and Bare Study. I usually use those first and then work with the Tarte “Natural” Palette shown above.
My kryptonite? Mascara. I coat it on like it’s going to otherwise run away from me and if false eyelashes are wrong, I don’t want to be right. Throw in a good eyelash curler and I. AM. SOLD.
I know it seems like a lot, but in all honesty, I’ve got my routine down and it takes me 10 minutes or less to put my face on for the day. Did I miss anything that I absolutely MUST have?! What are products that you swear by?