My Make Up Staples

I thought it was time to show you what I mean when I say my staple products. Although sometimes I vary them a bit (eg. if I need waterproof mascara or a foundation with less coverage), but generally these are the products I reach for most often nowadays.

Guerlain Blanc de Perle foundation in 02 Beige Clair. Guerlain Divine Pressed Powder (this is an oldie!), Too Faced Shadow Insurance, Mac highlighting palette (homemade and no idea which shades it contains), Cargo Last Activator mascara in black and Mac Brow Set in Show Off,

So now you know what I mean when I say my staples.

Getting Out Of The Rut Days 3, 4 and 5

I know I've disappeared for a bit, but it doesn't mean I wasn't keeping up with the challenge. It just means I didn't have much time to post. The past 4 days though I have been slacking a bit, so no photos of that, but I did incorporate a few products in my make up that I'd not used for a while, mainly blushes and lipsglosses/lipsticks. Anyway, here are the photos of the days I did make an effort:

Products used (other than my staples): Mac Crushed Metallic Pigments in Moss Garden, Spruced and Silk Stocking, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Covet, Laura Geller Baked Blush in Bora Bora and Mac Lipgelee in Lush & Bright.

See 2 more looks after the jump!

Recent Nail Polish Purchases

Just wanted to show you a few of my recent nail polish purchases. First one is my Pshiiit Boutique Enchanted Polish order. Finally I'm the proud owner of Scintealliant, Pshiiit's exclusive shade that I kept missing out on and couldn't bear to pay $80+ for on nail polish selling sites.

I also placed a sizeable order with Darling Diva Polish last weekend when she released a few limited edition shades. I needed a few more for free shipping (over $75 internationally), so threw in a few older shaded. Carrie also kindly included a Pryzmatic PETC topcoat for free.

I also picked up a few polishes when browsing in the shops the other day. The new Leighton Denny shade (Loop the Loop) is from M&S, the Essence gel top coat is from Wilko and I got Blue Frost from H&M.

I'm really interested in trying the gel top coat out to see if it will help keep nail polish on me without chipping for more than 2 days. I usually do my nails every 2 days anyway, but it would be nice if my polish didn't chip much before I change it. I will let you know how it goes.

NOTD: Polish Me Silly Lator Gator

Polish Me Silly Lator Gator is a very complex shade. In the shade it mostly looks green, in the sun it's golden purple, and then you have blue and purple shift to it. There's also lots of glass flecks that make it look almost metallic. I did 3 coats for full coverage.

Getting Out Of The Rut Day 2

Here's another look I've done with products that had been sitting unloved in my make up drawers. Products used (other than my staples which I will do a separate post about) were Mac Surf Baby! Cheek Powder in My Paradise, Barry M Dazzle Dust no. 26, Mac pigment in Spiritualize, Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Vacancy and Mac Kissable Lipcolour in Exxxhibitionist.

 Here are the products I used:

I'm really enjoying this and will continue to post pictures. Hope you like them.

Getting Out Of The Rut Day 1

So today is the first day of me using some make up that's been sitting in my drawers unused. In this look I used (among my staples like foundation, powder, mascara and brow set gel which I have no need to mix up) Sephora Moonshadow Trio in Dusk Till Dawn, Urban Decay 24/7 eyepencil in Rockstar, Accessorize Merged Baked Blusher in Wowzer and Mac Dazzleglass Creme in If It's Pink.

Feel free to let me know what you think, but please go easy on me, I haven't done this in a long time.

So that's day one ticked. Onto day two, the adventure continues!

NOTD: Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo

And since I'm on fire this evening, here's my current mani, Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo. It's Wine O'clock Somewehere is a slightly dusky reddish purple holo, which really compliments Arlo, the glittery Zoya Pixie Dust polish. I also added some nail stickers that I got in Superdrug the other day.

Stuck in a Rut

I don't expect many people to read this post since this blog has been inactive for so long, so I guess I'm mostly just writing this to myself. But if you do read it, feel free to let me know in the comments.

So it's been a long time since I wrote much on here and even then it was mostly about nail polish. That's the only part of my beauty routine that I'm actually varying at all. I do a new mani at least 3 times a week and I've been buying soooo much nail polish, it's shameful. Make up, not so much, although I have bough the odd blush or lipstick, even foundation, I haven't really been keenly following the new releases. I guess it's partly because I have a massive stash already and most of the new releases look similar to what I already have, and I simply don't need any more. Not that I need more nail polish, but that's another matter. Anyway...

Despite owning a massive amount of make up, I have only been using a very small portion of it. Why? Mostly due to lack of time in the morning, partly due to how my make up is stored. So I tend to just use about 5 different blushes and maybe 10 different lipsticks, hardly get around to wearing eyeshadows, and things like highlighters - what's that? This evening I was looking for a couple of old Mac face products as I was reminded of the summer collection from 5 years ago by a blogger and in the process I decided to look through my 6 drawer chest that contains most of my Mac blushes, MSFs, lots of other blushes and a whole drawer full of again, mostly Mac lipglosses. I don't think I'd opened that drawer for a good year if not longer. This gave me an idea.

From now on, starting tomorrow, I'm going to try and use as much of my make up as possible. Instead of frantically trying to find something in the morning, giving up and settling for the same blush I use most days, I will pull out a few products the night before and actually plan my look in advance. I will also document what I wear on here (might not be photos of my face, maybe just the products for starters) as well as keep note of it on a spreadsheet (which I'm yet to put together). Why? Because I need to get out of the rut and realise just how many wonderful products I own and need to use. I will also aim to post pictures of my manis and nail polish purchases which I will also try to finally curb, but that's another matter.

So here we go, first step out of the beauty rut and onto a journey to rediscover my stash. Who's coming with me?