Everyday Makeup Essentials

I read so many blogs and watch so many makeup videos talking about girl’s ‘everyday makeup bags’ and I’m always a lil skeptical. How is it so neat and how do you use SO many things EVERYDAY? I switch and swap the contents of my face all the flipping time and so there are very few things that I use everyday. When I get new products to try out for work I still get excited and want to put them on my face immediately and so these are currently the things that have stuck. 

Hourglass Vanish Seamless Foundation Stick, £42 

I promise you, you will not regret forking out the money for this foundation. Yes, it’s bloody expensive (Like the equivalent of looking at Whistles prices when you’re used to H&M) but boy, is it worth it. The beauty is not only in it’s formula - which stays put and doesn’t shine on throughout the day -  it’s in the applicator. So. Handy. The chic twist-up stick means that it’s great to apply and retouch when you’re out and about and the triangular shape means it’s excellent at using as a concealer too (just be careful around the eyes as it’s a full coverage formula and therefore subject to creasing). Also this has a fab shade range for us Black girls. 

bareMinerals Lash Domination Volumizing Petit Precision Mascara, £19 

I don’t tend to do my full makeup on my commute - usually just my mascara. I don’t know how or why this came about but as soon as I get on the bus I’ll whip it out, carefully applying on the straight and usually bump free route to the train station. I love this particular mascara because the wand is so tiny that you can apply it right to the root of the lash and to the smallest hairs with minimal chance of mess. It gives excellent length, volume and separation with no clumping. 

M.A.C Lip Liner in Chestnut, £13 

Ahh the allure of the brown lip still pulls me right in and this is my favourite liner out there. In fact this old gal hadn’t ever finished a lip liner until this came along and changed the game. Even if I’m just popping on a regular lip balm I’ll still put this on to give my cupid’s bow extra definition - it just makes my lips the perfect nude-y brown. Just remember to fill in your entire lip and not just the outline otherwise you’ll be harking back to a trend in makeup we all just want to forget tbh.

Benefit Precisely My Brow Pencil, £18.50 

This newbie makes creating a solid brow shape unbelievably easy. It comes with a spooli on one end and the waxy pencil on the other. It’s amazing for filling in gaps with light feather-like strokes and doesn’t budge, I recently wore it in 37 degree heat in Vegas and still had on point brows come nightfall. Impressive. 

Maybelline New York Master Ink Matte Eyeliner, £4.99

I don’t think this will be everybody’s cup of tea but I love it. After reverting to eyeliner pens for a little bit and getting frustrated but how quickly they all dried up, I gave this a try. I love how wet and inky it is, it’s so smooth to apply and the tip is great for creating a cat eye. It’s going to work better for people that are seasoned in eyeliner application (I wear it everyday) as it’s easy to make a mistake with due to the wetness. 

Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow - Medium to Dark, £49

This used to be a “special occasions” product but I enjoyed the highlight so much I upgraded it to everyday status. Using a Real Techniques Bronzing Brush and a very light touch this gives a perma-sun-kissed glow. It’s been a consisted fixture in these parts for over a year now and it’s still going strong. God bless you, Charlotte. 

June Make-up Favourites

So normally I do these as a video (or I try to anyway!) but as I only have a handful of new faves this month, of which are mainly beauty-related I figured it could be nice to just do a lil' roundup.

Trilogy Hydrating Mist Toner - A lovely toner. I spritz this on after cleansing my face morning and evening and you can really feel it hydrate your skin. I would always look at toner as being a bit of an unnecessary step before I tried this and I'd always thought that the formulas for toner were too astringent for my combination skin. This however,  is lovely and gentle with a calming rose scent (real natural y'all).

W7 Ebony Blush - I've never tried anything by W7 before but I was in the market for a nice understated blush that I could wear with a bold lip - which was actually seriously hard to find - and stumbled across this gem. Excellent colour pay off, not too sparkly and long-lasting (tested in the sweaty summer sun).

Bioderma Sensibio Tolerance - My skin was freakin' out the other day, like properly freakin' so I needed something the perk it back up and gave this a whirl as it was sent into the office. The Sensibio range by Bioderma is formulated specifically for sensitive skin and this product aims to neutralise hypersensitivity. the dry patches on my face where getting rather flaky but my t-zone was even more oilier so I found myself needing to constantly powder - powder over dry patches = scaly mess. However this product has helped relieved the dry tightness and made my skin like new again. Whoop!

bareMinerals Pop of Passion Lip Oil-Balm in Plumberry Pop - Right now this is my go-to subtle bright lip. It feels like more of a tinted balm because it's so darn moisturising but the colour payoff is excellent and when it wears away it leaves a gorgeous tint to the lips. Literally can't rave about this formula enough. I may have to purchase the entire range...

NARS Eyeshadow Duo - The shades of these shadows are so not special but that is totally what I love about them, they are understated but add a gorgeous subtle shimmer to the eye - I've loved sweeping the lighter, peachier shade all over the lid and adding the darker shade to the outer corner and finishing the look with a sweep of eyeliner.

Antipodes Joyful Hand & Body Cream - This smells like actual heaven. It's so fragrant but beyond that the formula is so moisturising yet sinks in uber quickly. It's like a little spa for your hands.

beautyblender PRO - Makeup sponges have never been on my agenda - I'm much more of a brush girl, but I've always been intrigued by the beautyblender. The tutorials I've seen with them on YouTube always look super flawless so I thought 'why not give it a go?' And I'm literally so pleased I did - it makes your makeup look actually airbrushed but not in a super weird way like those apps - look at this pic, ok the expression isn't great but my skin looks good and it isn't even a little bit filtered whatsover - thanks beautyblender!

Clinique Superbalanced Makeup - I'd be fibbing if I said I needed more foundation. I have plenty and they all work perfectly, catering to my different needs but this enticed me in with it's frosted glass bottle and promise of balancing my skin and controlling oil. It provides medium coverage and feels light and breathable on the skin. I'm obsessed.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream

Ok, I’m going to put this out there – I’m not a fan of tinted moisturisers. I like to either wear a base or not. I normally tend to stick with a light base for everyday/working days then build it up to medium for night time vibes. When I’m chilling at home/ going to Sainsbury’s I don’t wear anything but mascara usually.

But when there’s a new product launch *insert heart eye emojis* I HAVE to try it. So when the latest drop from bareMinerals hit my desk, I had to give it a go. I was sent the shade Chesnut (the second darkest shade) to feature in the mag and luckily enough it was the perfect match for me.

The formula is lightweight with a soothing gel-like texture and does really well at evening out skintone leaving a natural finish. I used my fingers to blend it and it sunk in really quickly without leaving any tackiness on the surface - because of this, it is possible to use it and then pop foundation on top (I tried it and it didn’t feel heavy at all). This is me, facially naked bar this cream and a few swipes of mascara. It adds such a lovely glow to my skin with such little coverage – it reminds me of when you’ve just had a face massage and your face just gleams naturally.

If you’re on the look out for an über-hydrating (but not rich), super-light base, give this beauty a whirl.

bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream is available from April in 10 shades.

www.bareminerals.co.uk

Mac Studio Fix Fluid.

Mac Studio Fix Fluid - £19.50

I got a new foundation, well I got it about a month ago but I wanted to road test it for a while before I wrote about it.

The foundation in question is indeed Mac’s Studio fix fluid. The website says that it offers a medium-buildable coverage and a natural matte finish, I’d definitely agree with both. I love this foundation. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my bareminerals powder foundation, but I really wanted a good liquid foundation, so I had they option for either. I have a Bobbi Brown foundation stick, but I’m not a fan, the formula is too thick and heavy, I don’t love it at all.

I chose studio fix fluid over any of the other Mac foundations because it seemed to provide the finish I look for in a foundation, matte but not rigid and false looking, just easy-wearing.

The colour I was matched to is NW45, and is pretty perfect, it’s ever so slightly darker than my natural skin colour, but it’s more of a glowy kind of darker instead of an unnatural dark, so it kind of enhances my skin. Good times.

I don’t like full coverage, I like my coverage pretty light from day to day, ranging to medium if I’m going out or for occasions, so I know this foundation is going to last me a while because I don’t even use a full pump to achieve the look I want. I pump it on to the back of my hand, dot it around my face, and then buff it in with my Real Techniques buffing brush. Simples.

It doesn’t melt throughout the day either. I do use my Prime Time primer underneath it, to set it, and make sure my skin feels even, but I’m guessing that the fact that the foundation is oil-free, helps.

Overall, I’m really pleased with this foundation and look forward to mixing it with my face cream, as a tinted moisturiser as it gets warmer.

Have a lovely evening, 

Love Keeks xo

Face Base

Primer - bareMinerals - £19

Hey Darls!

Last weekend I repurchased my favourite foundation primer, which as you can see, is Prime Time by bareMinerals (Bare Escentuals). I fell in love with this primer mid last year at the same time I fell in love with the bareMinerals foundation as my lovely mother bought me the starter kit when she was in duty free and I’ve been hooked ever since.

While I’ve still got a bit of the foundation powder left, my primer finished a couple of weeks ago, and I’d been putting off repurchasing as it’s like £20 pounds for a 30ml bottle, which I find hard to justify (it’s like 75p per 1ml – yes I did the math). But I found putting the powder on without the primer, it didn’t set as well on my skin.

You only need the smallest amount, and the 30ml bottle comes with a pump, so you only need one pump of the good stuff. It comes out in a gel/serum like consistency and you apply it to your cleansed/moisturised face with your hands and wait for a minute to allow it to set in. Once it has, it literally makes your face feel like silk, the first time I used it; I kept stroking my face (I’m not even joking). It evens out the texture of your skin, and as a result makes your foundation powder apply more evenly and stay put longer. I honestly cannot recommend this product enough, in spite of the price tag.

I must say that I think this primer works best with powder/mineral foundation, but I have tried it with my L’Oreal True Match foundation once, and it did the job, but not as fantastically, probably because it was created as a part of a mineral make up collection.

Daily Moisturiser - Elizabeth Arden

The other face base product I wanted to share with you is this Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream ‘Intensive Daily Moisturiser”. I actually didn’t buy this; it came as the ‘free’ gift from a magazine subscription I got, but I was excited, as I love the regular 8-hour cream and I absolutely love this moisturiser. It smells exactly the same as the regular stuff but actually is a cream, not a weird-lard-consistency-non-cream like the regular stuff. I’ve only used it for a couple of days, so I can’t make a confident decision on it just yet, but I’m liking it so far and I’ll keep you guys informed.

This has been a rather long post, but I really wanted to share my opinions of these products with you, especially the primer!

Hope you’re having a gorgeous weekend!

Love Keeks xo