What’s in my make up bag?

When I was a teenager I was absolutely obsessed with makeup. Seriously, I was born in the wrong generation, had I been born ten years later I would have been a YouTube, beauty vlogging, Zoella who, queen of beauty. I was constantly asking for new eyeshadows, new lipsticks, new blushers and my absolute favourite was MAC. I even had a professional MAC make up box for my birthday one year, it’s huge, like a tool kit.

 So why am I tell you this? Well, how things change. Now I rarely buy myself any make up, wouldn’t dream of spending a fortune on a fancy pants make up box (I still have all of the make up AND the box from my youth… I suspect the out of dateliness is obscene) even though now is probably the only time in my life I have ever been able to afford it. I think over time, priorities change for us all, of course they do, and even the most die hard of make up lovers probably end up swapping a MAC lipstick for a Smiggle lipstick eraser set for their tween or a new toy for the toddlers. Not only that, but time becomes a far more precious commodity and whereas I would spend 30-40mins on a morning getting ready to go to college, I probably spend 4-7mins getting ready now before heading out to the school run with one sock and a bun.

 I get asked A LOT on instagram what are my make up essentials and I rave, relentlessly, about my new lipstick obsessions so I thought I would give you a rundown of what is in my make up bag. None of it is fancy, so if you are a connoisseur, I’d probably skip away now…

 FYI, not a single thing is sponsored in this post, as a parent blogger I rarely work in the beauty/fashion realm of advertising, though I would love in the future to maybe work on a campaign that directs away from the 20 year old, perky breasted, not absolutely shattered and hasn’t been worn down by 483 “mummy mummy mummy’s” by 7am gal that I really struggle to relate to anymore. Lastly, because I know you will ask, my mermaid brushes came from Groupon and were a Christmas gift from Adam. I sent them to him in a not too subtle hint a couple of weeks before Xmas and they were £6.99 for a mahoosive set. Before that I used MAC brushes and I can confirm that those (which in total will have come to… £100-150 easily) are no better than the new ones.

 So, here you go:

 Face.

 I only use Estée Lauder Double Wear in Desert Nude. I was a bridesmaid for my friend’s wedding when I first had Edith, she was only 6 months old, so I was shattered and I needed something that would totally cover the exhaustion etched into my face and the bags that could have held a months worth of shopping under my eyes. Estée Lauder double wear really IS full coverage and I love the fact that it lasts from when I put it on until I scour it off at 10pm. It fades slightly but not anything like the Rimmel one I used to use. Which really was naff and reflected in the price. The double wear is the most expensive thing in my bag by the way – it’s £32.50.

I also use something that I received in my amazon advent calendar (best thing ever by the way, I loved it!) which is a Laura Gellar BAKED Balance N Brighten foundation in FAIR. I use it as a bit of a highlighter really, under my eyes, under the brow… just something to help hide the bags that could hold a week of shopping. I’ve tried a contouring kit and I just didn’t have a flipping clue what I was doing. Not a clue. So this is a happy medium!

 Eyes

I use a wunderbrow brush and a VERY old Elizabeth Arden eyebrow set. It’s so old that it’s actually broken and missing both lid and pencils. I have tried using liquid for my eyebrows but they just looked really thick and claggy. Not only that, but it took me double the time! The wunderbrow is what I would recommend, with any powder I suspect, because it’s the best brush ever!

For mascara I have used loads, but ironically my favourite is a really cheap one that I was gifted in a goody bag about a year ago. It is called Miss Sporty Fabulous Lash mascara and it’s awesome. It really gives length and it’s not claggy or sticky at all, which makes up easy to use. I also have a Maybelline leather look one for waterproof occasions and I love it, it’s inexpensive, lasts and doesn’t clump together.

For my eyeliner I use Rimmel Wonder Wings, I’ve not been using it long but for a cats eye look it’s epic. I don’t use it often, just once in a while and it gives me that little extra pep!

Under my eyes I use a MUA green and yellow colour corrector. Helps get rid of the bags, red patches from breakouts and makes me feel all ready for the day. It’s the only one I’ve tried, admittedly it doesn’t last as long as the double wear BUT the job it does seems to be enough. I have my eyes on a colour corrector set from Rimmel that I think looks good but whether it would be wasted on me with my technique of “dab, dab, blend”, I’m not sure.

Cheeks

I have a thing for Benefit high beam, I don’t have time to faff about contouring so I dab a bit of this on the top of my cheek and I’m good to go! I have used this (and Moon beam) for years and years!

I use MAC blushers left over from my teens – a testament to how well they last perhaps? I do have a really lovely creme one called Sweet William, but it’s awful for sliding off the face, blends great but as a self-diagnosed face rubber, it comes off and leaves me with patches of uncovered skin! I would love to try some other blushers though as blush is the one thing I would really like to get more of!

 Lips

My favourite part! I do still use lots of MAC lipsticks – favourite is Ruby Woo -, but despite having approximately 4 billion lip glosses and lip shines, I don’t use them. I hate getting hair on my lips and it being all sticky – it’s gross and I can’t be bothered with it now! My absolute favourite thing is Maybelline Super Stay matte ink. I thought I had every colour however writeing this post I’ve discovered that there are actually LOADS of new colours and I use one every day near enough so I consider it completely reasonable to buy one of every shade at £9.99. They go on, dry on (without drying your lips) and stay there until I scrub em off. Magic.

My favourite is pioneer, it’s such a lovely red and if you have that splash of red lippy on the eyes, I often think it detracts from the redness of eyes/bags/etc.

I’ve also developed a love for another Amazon beauty advent calendar gift that I received and that is the Maybelline Baby Lips tinted lip balm. It doesn’t last long at all, but over Xmas my lips have been really dry and sore with the change in weather, so I’ve been using this and it’s ROCKED. I’m using Pop Art Blueberry Boom 18 at the moment but I’m going to see if I can get my mittens on some more shades for the days I don’t want to wear Super Stay.

 There you have it!

 H x