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.

2011's Favourite Products: Part 1 - Eyes

As 2011 is drawing to a close, I decided to do a series of posts about my favourite beauty products of the year. To be honest though, I do find it quite difficult to do posts like this, because a year is a pretty long period and I often find if I think of my favourites of a certain period, the latest favourites will most likely be included rather than the ones I was crazy about 6 months ago. But I will try to be as objective as possible. I'm not doing detailed reviews on everything since I have actually reviewed a lot of these products, so I will just link them back to the posts if they've already been reviewed.

First up are base products. My favourites are in no particular order: Barbara Daly (for Tesco) Even Smoother Eye Base, Mac Paint Pots and Rimmel Colour Mousse 8hr eyeshadows. Click on the links for the reviews. The only one of these three that I haven't reviewed yet are the Mac Paint Pots. I don't know why, I've just never got around to doing it. I actually own a lot of them, having bought 10 with the last 2 Mac collections and also the permanent ones, or older limited edition ones that I'd already owned. They can be used as primers as they don't crease at all or just on their own for a subtle (or in some cases not so subtle) colour. My only problem with them is that my older ones are beginning to dry out, even though I keep them upside down and sealed properly. They are the most expensive of the bunch at £13.50 for 5 g.

Keep reading to find out what other eye products made it into my favourites this year!

Finished! The November Edition

I managed to finish a lot of products this month, so I'm pretty pleased with that. Of course most of them are skincare products as usual, but I did finish two pieces of make up, so it's alright.

First up is the most expensive face cream I've ever owned, it's Guerlain Orchidee Imperiale Exceptional Complete Care Cream. This is a 50 ml size and it currently retails for £255. No, I've not gone mad, or maybe I have! I didn't pay nowhere near as much as this was actually a tester that I bought on eBay and the lid actually looks pretty worn, although don't know why because the cream inside was untouched. I've had this for quite a while, especially as I tended not to use it in the summer as it doesn't have any SPF. Also you really only need a tiny bit, so it does last forever. It's really lovely, but I don't know if it's 25 times better than my Nivea face cream that I've also finished. So I won't be repurchasing this for now, although I do actually have about 15 samples of it as well for travelling, so I'm okay for now anyway.  

See what other products I've finished after the jump!

FOTD: Make A Splash With Rimmel Colour Mousse!

Here's a quick and easy look I've created with Rimmel Colour Mousse in Splash. I used it as cream eyeshadow and just added a bit of highlighter, coloured eyeliner, mascara and voila! As this mousse eyeshadow is absolutely brilliant, it doesn't need a primer and still stays put, doesn't crease or fade all day. It's very easy to apply and I absolutely love this colour, it has a gorgeous gold sheen to it. Just to add, I don't think Rimmel Colour Mousses are waterproof, but I think they'd probably be okay with a bit of splashing.

To create this look I used the following products:

Eyes:
Rimmel Colour Mousse in 004 Splash
Mac White Gold pigment to highlight browbone
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Zero on lower lashline
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencil in Electric on lower waterline
Diorshow Black Out mascara in black
Mac Brow Set in Show Off

Cheeks:
Bobbi Brown Apricot Shimmer Brick

Lips:
Mac Thrills lipstick

Sorry, no idea what foundations and setting powder I used for this look, probably Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid and Mac MSF Natural. Anyway, let me know what you think of this look in the comments!


See more pictures after the jump!

Finished! The January edition

You might recall that I started this series last month when I managed to finish several beauty products (which doesn't happen very often, I'm telling you!) and to my surprise I'm back with another post of yet more finished products. I don't want to include basics like shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in this as I always go through those, will just stick to skincare, make up and fragrances.

First up are my beauty basics:

Mac Brow Set in Show Off is the only thing I use on my brows as I don't like brow pencils (too harsh) or powders (too obvious). This is a brown shade that just gives a bit more definition to my brows and holds them in place. I came across this product when Blonde, Brunette, Redhead collection came out in 2009 and I have loved it ever since! I actually think this was my original one, so it lasted me over a year, although I did move it to my downstairs cloakroom a while ago as it was running low (that's where I keep my emergency make up items for day when I have no time to apply my make up in my bedroom), so I guess I hadn't been using it so regularly lately ( have a new one in my bedroom). It never dried up though, just ran out. I love this stuff and have already repurchased it and will continue to do so. £11.50 from maccosmetics.co.uk.

Continue reading to see what other products I've finished last month!