Everyday Essentials

When it comes to doing my makeup everyday I like to keep it simple, but because I am an over organized woman, I always bring extra bits and pieces for a just in case scenario in my makeup bag.

My everyday essentials would have to be complexion products, foundation, concealer, powder and blush are a must for me personally. I’m sure everyone has Kylie Jenner on Snapchat (she has the coolest life ever!) she sometimes posts makeup or skin tutorials and lets everyone know exactly what she uses. Ofcourse I was one of those people who immediately went out and bought what she used, which was the Urban Decay One and Done. This product is like a tinted moisturizer with great skin care benefits that gives a nice sheer, luminous coverage that looks like your skin but better. It has peptides, vitamins and moisturizing ingredients that are meant to firm and make your skin look more radiant over time.

 

If I have squeezed a pimple or need more coverage, I then grab either my Too Faced Born This Way concealer or Bare Minerals powder concealer, or both if I have something that needs heavy duty coverage! Born this way is nice and hydrating, so really great for under eyes and over flaky pimples that have been squeezed. The Bare Minerals powder concealer is made for the under eyes but works really well to cover blemishes as well.

 

I have always loved the Mac Studio Fix powder. It smooths out your skin and gives more coverage to any base so that is why I love using this with a tinted moisturizer for the perfect amount of effortless coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For blush I don’t believe there is a better brand than Hourglass. Their Ambient Lighting blushes are stunning and give luminosity to the skin with one swipe. They are also beautiful as eye shadows, which is what I use them for as well if I need a little extra colour. My personal favourites are ‘Mood Exposure‘ and ‘Dim Infusion‘.

Honorable mentions for my essentials are my Hourglass Arch pencil in ‘Blonde’, Urban Decay Brow Tamer in clear, Too Faced Shadow Insurance (in case I decide to wear blush as eye shadow), Bare Minerals Prime Time, Maybelline Great Lash mascara, Stila Stay All Day liquid liner, Real Techniques setting brush, Bare Minerals tapered brush and Hourglass Surreal Light palette from last year.

Twist of faith

Product List

Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation

Face of Australia Translucent Powder

Mac ‘Blunt’ (Contour)

Sigma ‘Ray of Sunshine’ (Highlight)

Mac ‘Harmony’ (Blush)

Eye makeup – Makeup Geek (Corrupt & Mocha), Sigma (Notre Dame, Eylsees & Eiffel) Australis black eyeliner, Maybelline Great Lash mascara

Lips – Australis black eyeliner, Lime Crime ‘Red Velvet’ Velvetine

Newest Products This Month

This month I bit the bullet and bought 2 products that I have been dying to try out! Makeup Geek eye shadows have been on my list ever since I saw Jaclyn Hill rave about them in her Youtube videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/Jaclynhill1) and also since I started following Samantha Ravndahl on Instagram (http://instagram.com/ssssamanthaa). Definitely check them both out if you haven’t already. They are both so amazzzzinnggg! I only got a few colours to try out Makeup Geek before I blew all my money on the collection but now that I have tried the eye shadows I don’t understand why I didn’t buy them all! They really are so incredibly pigmented and blend like a dream on the eyelid. I love that they are magnetic and that buying a Zpalette I could also put my MAC contour colours in with my eye shadows. Having a couple of magnetic Zpalettes in different sizes makes it so convenient to have in my travel kit to go to clients. I can just mix and match my colours that I need into a palette and go without carrying extra stuff. These eye shadows are at an incredible price as well at $5.99 a shadow who could say no!

From left to right: Bleached Blonde, Cinderella, Shimma Shimma, Glamorous, Pretentious, Vanilla Bean, Peach Smoothie, Beaches and Cream, Cocoa Bear, Latte, Corrupt MAC contour powders from left to right: Blunt & Harmony From left to right: Corrupt, Latte, Cocoa Bear, Beaches and Cream, Peach Smoothie, Vanilla Bean, Pretentious, Glamorous, Shimma Shimma, Cinderella, Bleached Blonde MAC left to right: Harmony & Blunt Three other products I bought this month is the Loreal Paris Infallible 24 Hour Foundation in 140 Golden Beige, Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC20 and Face of Australia Colour enamel in Studio 54. The second item I have been wanting to try for a long time is the Mac Pro Longwear concealer in NC 20 ($32 AUD). I have a few friends that swear by this product to hide blemishes and cover dark circles. I have also heard great things about this concealer from youtubers and other bloggers as well. This concealer to me doesn’t seem to cover my blemishes completely like I thought it would unfortunately. I noticed after two coats of applying the product over a blemish it would go cakey as well and make the area look worse then before I applied the concealer. I feel as though it worked under my eyes quite well, but in saying that, I moisturized and applied a eye cream before hand to make sure there was no creasing.  This product sets quite a bit on its own so that is why I think applying two coasts made it go cakey in places. I applied this product with a clean finger, beauty blender and concealer brush, but I may have to keep working at it to figure out the best way to use it.   I honestly think Loreal makes the best drugstore foundations, but in Australia to buy a Loreal foundation it almost costs the same amount as highend products. This foundation as well as the Lumi Magique and True Match are all roughly around $30 where as I can buy a Mac foundation for $20 more. In saying that I do love Loreal as a brand and I love their foundations but this Infallible foundation isn’t as great. It definitely needs a primer underneath as it sticks to dry areas on the face you didn’t even realize you had. I’ve tried using this product with a real techniques buffing brush, stippling brush, foundation brush and beauty blender, and felt that a beauty blender worked the best at applying this foundation evenly. I have combination/dry skin and the formula did not last even for 8 hours on my skin. So for a first impression I wasn’t impressed. I really like a few products from Face of Australia and often check out their products when I go into Priceline and Big W. I’m a huge fan of rose gold so this nail polish was a match made in heaven. I love that it dries quick so that I can apply a few coats without having to wait 30 minutes in between and I love that it is only $6.95! I will definitely purchase the other glitter nail polishes, I just think they are so pretty to wear on their own and to wear over plain colours as well.

ILY DESIGN

Hey Beauty Bloggers,

Today mum and I played around with two of her new designs for her clothing label ILY Design. Currently we only have an Instagram and Facebook page at the moment but hopefully we will expand to a website! It’s all very exciting between my makeup blog and my talented mums sewing capabilities, So I hope you all enjoy the clothing and I even threw some makeup shots in there too!

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Ilydesignbrisbane

Instagram – ilydesign

Jess xx

   

Makeup Tips and Tricks

• Want larger eyes? Opt for coloured eyeliner over black as it narrows the shape of your eyes. Try using a white eyeliner on your waterline, as it will also eliminate redness from your eyes. (Try MAC’s Eye Kohl in ‘Fascinating’ $32AUD)

• Want to tidy up your eyes after applying mascara or eyeliner but don’t want to take your foundation off? Grab a cotton bud and using a little bit of primer on the cotton tip, lightly clean up your eyes. Easy Peasy!

• Want natural looking eyebrows? Try using an eye shadow in a similar colour to your eyebrows instead of an eyebrow pencil. Always set your brows with a brow gel after shaping to keep them in place all day. (Try Benefit’s Speed Brow $32AUD or Australis Clear Mascara $10.95AUD )

• Don’t have concealer? Try using the foundation left over in the cap or the nozzle, as it’s thicker and can be used as extra coverage.

• Want to know how to get a natural looking flush of colour on your cheeks? Try using a lipstick on the apples of your cheeks and blend it out towards your temples. Dust translucent powder over your face to set the blush and foundation in place. (Try Revlon Lip Butter in ‘Strawberry Shortcake’ $21.95AUD)

 

• Want to stop your lipstick from bleeding? Put foundation on your lips and brush powder over the top before applying lipstick.

• Want to make your eye shadow colour brighter and stay in place longer? Put a white base on your eyelids before using eye shadow. (Try NYX jumbo pencil in ‘Milk’ $9.95AUD)

• Want defined cheekbones? Apply a bronzer underneath your cheekbones and a highlighter on top of your cheekbones. If you have breakouts on your cheeks, opt for a matte bronzer over a shimmery bronzer as shimmery products draw attention to blemishes. (Benefit Hoola Bronzer $51AUD or NYX Matte Bronzer $17.95AUD)