A Look In My Makeup Bag - Daily Look
Today's products are all about the makeup items I use everyday- to school, shopping, getting coffee, etc.! And before we get started, I know these pictures might be a little overedited and they may look funny, but because I don't have the best camera (regular or on my phone), I wanted you to really be able to see the products names and such. ^_^
I do have to confess that for a while I was really into bronzer for contouring, but I actually don't use the bronzer every single day, just sometimes. lol ^_~ Also, since I took these pictures, I have switched out my foundation to either a Korean BB cream (which I will have a post of later), a matte foundation, or both. However I still recommend this foundation above!
So for my basic skin makeup routine, I first start off using Maybelline New York's Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser. It's a clear gel that I apply on the places where my pores are bigger, so my nose mainly and some on my cheeks. When I first got it, I put it all over my face as like a base, but I don't recommend this because the bottle is pretty small, so you will run out quickly! Instead just gently rub into the areas where you feel your pores are visible. For me however, I feel like this product is just okay and I will probably look for something different if I want to shrink my pores. It's a cool, cute product in it's packaging and what it's supposed to do, but I after using it in my daily makeup, I feel like it hasn't shown much change. In my opinion unfortunately unlike it's name, this product is not an "instant" pore eraser. I will update when I find and buy a new pore eraser/pore shrinkage product in the future.
Next comes my concealer, and I love this product! As a concealer, I use Hard Candy's Glamoflauge in medium. This product works great with concealing small imperfections, redness, and pimples. However, I do feel that if you are more prone to acne or have bigger "imperfections" you want to conceal, this product may not be the best choice. I once got a rash on my neck from wearing a necklace too long, and tried to conceal the rash and redness with this, but unfortunately the rash was still pretty visible. Overall though I love the brand Hard Candy, and it just comes from Walmart which is convient and cheap!
The foundation from the picture above is L'Oreal Paris' Magic Nude Liquid Powder in True Beige. I used this for quite a while, as I was shopping for a good BB cream here in the states. While the foundation provides great coverage, color, and does what foundation is supposed to do, I always felt like it left my skin looking and feeling a bit oily/shiny. It also doesn't smell the greatest, it's almost like a chemically, nail polish smell. You may find that this product works well for you though, if you have dry skin, but for me personally I have oily skin and I think this just increased that.
So next in my beauty routine, I apply my bronzer. The bronzer I use is Sun 'n' Bronze Bronzing Powder by New York Cosmetics (NYC) in Montauk Bronze. I don't usually use a crazy amount of bronzer, especially during the day so just a little bit of this product works well for me! I apply it to just the hollows of my cheekbones (only a little!), the sides of my nose, and a tiny bit near the hairline on my forehead, and right underneath my jaw bones. As with all bronzers, make sure it is blended well so you don't have clear, hard lines! I usually use the bigger powder brush (above) to apply this.
Next I apply my blush which is again from Hard Candy! The packaging is so cute and stylish! The product is Fox In A Box in Spicy and Sweet. Unfortunately I'm almost out of it! It comes with it's own brush inside the box, but I usually just use a big brush, as I the brush they give you is really small, and I feel like it doesn't stay soft for long. I'm not sure if this product is still available, as I can't find it on their site, which is really disappointing (Amazon has it!)! The color is great as it gives you a nice light pink flush, but you can also build up the color to make it more dramatic! It also has subtle sparkles in the blush, which is really pretty!
Now I pull out my highlighter stick, which originally came from my mom who thought it was lipstick! >.< lol To highlight, I love to use is actually not really a highlighter, but CoverGirl's Smoothers Concealer in Illuminator (I'm almost out of it too! Oh no!!). The bottle is so worn, because I literally use this whenever I put on my makeup. Every. Time. Where I apply it and how much depends on the occassion, but for daily makeup I usually draw a light line on my cheekbones going up to my temples, down the center of my nose, on my lip's cupid's bow and a tiny bit under the center of my bottom lip, under the eyebrows, the inner corners of my eyes, and right underneath the waterline underneath my eyes from the inner corners to about the middle. Phew, now you see why I'm almost out of this product! ^_~ Then after drawing all those lines, look and laugh at yourself in the mirror, then blend, blend, blend!! You want no obvious lines or breaks in your face, that is so important with all makeup! I use this product constantly, and I definitely recommend it to everyone! They have different shades, so it's a product for anyone!
For my eyes, I actually wait to highlight when I'm done with the rest of my eye makeup. I realized that I forgot to get a close up of my eyeliner, but I use NYX Gel Liner & Smudger. I have found that I like gel liners the best, but that is personal preference. I used to use pencil liner, but found that it was harder to smudge and would end up under my eyes or messed up, and then lord knows I cannot get liquid liner down for the life of me! So I found this gel liner and fell in love! I now use a really small angled brush to apply it to the top of my eyes, right above the lashes and wing it out and create a almost sideways triangle up to the inside the crease (Lots of blending!). I'm not sure how to explain it, so I'll put a picture (below)! ^.^ I also put just a little bit on the outside corners of my bottom waterline. Now I just add some Revlon Diamond Lust eyeshadow in Celestial Silver across my lids for a little shimmer. I love this color because it's not too much, but gives you just the right amount of sparkle to make your eyes stand out! Lastly like I said, I would add my highlighter.
The main brushes I use, shown in the picture, are my big powder brush, and smaller angled brush by EcoTools. The ones shown are actually part of their Six Piece Starter Set, which give tons of useful brushes! They are made from bamboo and recycled materials, and are excellent brushes that I've had for a while, so they are a great brand! The white brush is what I would use for my foundation, and it's actually a flat brush made specially for liquid foundation! The brand is Sonia Kashuk, and is another brush that has lasted me for quite a while. Both brand's bristles on the brushes have remained soft, so they are comfortable to use as well! I would recommend each brand in a heartbeat!
Now depending on my outfit, I might throw on some colored lip balm or just a light application of lipstick, but that varies so this is my daily routine! I hope you enjoyed and got inspired! Sorry for this being so long like my other posts, but because they are the first ones, I wanted to explain what each post is about! What is your daily routine? Do you have a favorite makeup product? Let me know!
xoxo, Ashley
