[All purchased by me, or given as gifts from friends]
Inspiration strikes at the strangest times and I scrambled for my notebook and pen yesterday as I jotted down categories that I felt a comprehensive review series could be based off of. None of these are original ideas, just categories that I can group parts of my makeup collection into that I think would be interesting to read. Briefly I think the areas I can cover over the next couple of weeks include the one you are reading, it's counterpart "Products not Worth the Hype", "Products I'm on the Fence About", "Cult Products", and "Under-hyped Products". Look forward to those and intermittent random posts as I feel inclined.
For the first category, I have two bases from different parts of the world raved about by girls spanning an even wider distance. Included are a couple makeup brushes that have gotten nonstop attention recently.
Skin 79 Gold Label Super BB Cream
This is one of those products that ignited the BB cream fever, for me at least. It was the first true BB cream I've ever purchased and is an all-around fantastic base. It looks natural, adapts to my skin tone, has light-medium coverage and blends out imperceptive-ly (just made that an adverb- GRAMMAR!)
Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in 52
It's the closest thing I've found to the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in terms of finish, meaning it's barely detectable with a light-medium coverage. It's hardly drugstore price in the U.S., but it's definitely worth checking out if you're not about to shell out for a very high end foundation but want similar results.
Real Techniques Buffing and Contour Brushes
Highly raved across the board by the blogging community, these synthetic hair brushes blend out products like a dream. The Buffing Brush is my go-to for most foundations (except the very thin) and the Contour Brush has a myriad of uses. Currently, I'm loving it for buffing powder around my T-zone area.
Maybelline Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze
As you saw a couple posts back, not all Color Tattoos are created equal. However, this shade is cream eyeshadow perfection. It's creamy, wears as well on me as a powder foundation and has enough pigmentation to be worn on it's own. I very rarely find cream eyeshadows interesting enough to wear on their own but I'd make an exception for this one.
Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow Palettes in Comfort Zone and Silent Treatment
These are soft, buttery pigmented shades that are easy to work with and come in a great selection of shades. I think this is a strangely difficult combination to find in a drugstore eyeshadow but this formula is really top-notch. For a fun variety of neutral and bright shades, check these out for $3-$5 each.
Real Techniques Base Shadow and Deluxe Crease Brushes
The eye counterparts to the last two face brushes I talked about, these brushes are an absolute must-have for me right now. I use the Base Shadow Brush to apply and blend color effortlessly. Something about the shape-how it's more tapered than the MAC 217 make me reach for this over my MAC brush every time. I can say that I'd take a backup of this brush over the MAC 217 right now (crazy I know). The Deluxe Crease Brush is an ideal brush for buffing into undereye concealer but I actually use it with a mineral foundation as a spot concealer and the combination is the best I have tried int terms of heavy-duty concealing.
Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me and Grape Vine
I had the original Baby Lips at one point after a successful Secret Santa gift exchange. The two that stood out to me in the end were these two, especially Cherry Me. I think the sheer red is a perfect shade for any skin tone. It's my go-to easy lip in the colder months. Grape Vine is just as the name implies, a grape-y shade that doesn't go too vampy. Both of these can be built up to a decent opacity so beware when applying these without a mirror. These are moisturizing and smooth just like others have said.
Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 01 Rose Shimmer
This was floating around the British blogosphere for a while and I was pretty impressed with the reviews. I picked one up and determined that this would become my handbag staple. A light, balmy gloss with only a hint of tint, this is very comfortable to wear and actually leaves my lips feeling more moisturized after it wears off.
An encore and an appearance of two products I couldn't put into their own category because there was only one of each!
Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original
Choose a scent that you like, spray into roots, go do makeup, brush out and voila- second day hair that looks presentable. This is a lifesaver for oily skin girls like me and this is one of the best I've tried so far. Very worth the hype.
Clarisonic Mia
You've heard enough about this I'm sure. Basically, my rationale for including this product is that it is the only thing that actually minimizes the appearance of pores for me. Blackheads are much less noticeable and there's pretty much no cleanser/treatment that has a similar result. I see this more as a treatment rather than a daily use product.
Hope you found that useful and stay tuned for more!
