Whether makeup is a completely foreign concept to you or you consider yourself pretty proficient, there's just somethings a girl needs to have in her makeup bag. Today's post is dedicated to anyone just starting out with makeup or are unsure of which products are absolute necessities to make up a flawless face. This edition is purely drugstore products because let's be honest not all of us can afford to drop $40+ on a foundation at Sephora or buy a $20 lipstick at MAC.
First of all, if you're looking into dabbling in makeup for the first time (no, playing in your mom's makeup doesn't count) then chances are, you're looking to fix one of the many skin problems that arise in preadolescence and that is acne, pimples, blemishes, discolouration, etc.
To fix these problems, I can tell you right now, avoid caking on the foundation. No amount of cake face is going to hide the blemishes, so put down the Covergirl bottle and sit down. The only way you're going to get rid of the pimples is to wash and moisturize that face. Since this won't help clear it up right away, I advise gravitating towards a BB Cream or tinted moisturizer to cure any redness on the face.
My recommendation: Dream Fresh BB Cream by Maybelline ($8 at Shoppers Drug Mart). If you're oily, or not a fan of Maybelline, the Covergirl Smoothers tinted moisturizer/BB Cream is a great alternative, so I've heard. If anyone's tried it, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
If you do want something more full coverage, the L'Oreal TruMatch foundations are awesome - only thing is. there's no pump, so you kind of have to work to get it out of the bottle.For concealer, if you feel you need it, the L'Oreal Lumi or Maybelline Dark circle eraser are great for dark circles or covering up any blemishes.
Next, I'm not sure how many tweens/teens start getting them brows done, but even if it's just cleaning up near that brow bone, don't forget the brows! They are everything when it comes to making a face. Since most people's brows tend to be lighter than their natural hair colour, I recommend purchasing a brow pencil a shade or two darker than your natural hair colour. I've got a brow pencil by Covergirl that seems to do the trick, and I think it's only $5-$6 at the drugstore. I've also recent;y picked up the Maybelline Define-a-Brow and it's a pretty good pencil, smooth, easy to put on, but kind of hard to crank out the tip because it's a retractable pencil as opposed to a regular pencil. What's your favourite drugstore brow pencil?
Beauty Tip: Make sure you buy two. Brows are lighter at the tip and darker at the tail, so to avoid looking like you drew those bad boys on with a sharpie, lightly fill in the tip with the lighter shade and then switch to the darker shade once you reach the arch. If it helps to define your brow shape, take the darker pencil and with feathery upwards strokes, line the lower portion of your brow from tip to tail.
Moving below the brow, once those have been cleanly filled in, we can focus on the eyes. Obviously, if you're going to school you're not going to go Glamazon and do a full on neutral smokey eye because most of us choose sleep over spending an extra 20 mins in the bathroom mirror perfecting our eye shadow. I have three products that I think are must haves, but, as with anything else, you can choose which ones you think are relevant to you.
The first product I want to mention is a cream eye shadow and it's been featured on my blog a few times already. It's the Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. I'm going on using this product for two years and no matter what eye shadow or palette I use, I always find myself falling in love with this bronze shade. It's quick and easy to apply (as long as you don't have long nails, then it gets a bit tricky). Literally only takes me two seconds to swipe and blend the product all over my eye lid for it to create an effortless "look I did try today" look.
Lastly for eyes, and I'm mentioning this last because like I said above, after a few coats (or five - I don't mind the slight clump that goes along with this many coats) I don't feel the need for eyeliner, but the Maybelline Masterprecise is a great liquid liner option. It's a fine felt tip liner that makes winged eyes very easy. That being said, I love the Stila Stay All Day liner because it's waterproof, and I have yet to find a truly waterproof drugstore eye liner. So if you can, I recommend Stila, but I'd say the Maybelline Masterprecise is a pretty good dupe for it.
Since this is a makeup bag must haves, a girl's gotta have that blush. I feel like in every category I'm mentioning Maybelline, but honestly, the products I've tried from them are both affordable and really look beautiful. That being said, the Master Hi-Light powders are awesome. I love the lightest(?) shade which is a bronze-y rose colour. This I use to either contour lightly with or use on the highest points of my cheeks and then use either a rose gold toned blush or a rose blush to blend towards the apples (but never actually on the apples because we don't want to drag our faces down). If you're looking for Milani's iconic, raved about baked blushes but are having a hard time finding it at your local drugstore, look for it Loblaws or Superstore. I took a trip down their makeup aisle a few weeks ago and stumbled upon a section for Milani Cosmetics and got more than a little excited. Rose D'Oro is my favourite shade!
Lastly, lippies! Whether you're a lipstick, gloss, or balm girl, I've got a recommendation for your makeup bag and it all starts with a good lipstick!
I think everyday lipstick colours are okay to splurge on because duh, you'll be wearing them all day, all the time. I think three basic colours are a must have in every girl's makeup bag. First, you need a nude colour. I love MAC Myth, but if you don't want to splurge on a MAC lipstick the Maybelline Buffs lipstick collection are amazing! Blushing Beige is my favourite shade from that line.
Next, every girl needs a rocking red. The Hourglass Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Icon lives up to it's name. It's an iconic red in my opinion and flatters everyone. It's a deep blue toned red as opposed to more orangey reds that are a little harder to pull off.
Finally, every girl needs an everyday pink shade. I recently picked up the new, limited edition Bite Beauty Deconstructed Rose lipstick line in Damask. It's a beautiful "your lips but better" shade. Bite lipsticks are all made from natural ingredients and the lipstick shade itself is akin to a MAC Creme Sheen lipstick, but can easily be layered if you want more colour pay off. L'Oreal Paris has a wonderful line of pinks to choose from and the formula is pretty amazing too.
If lipsticks aren't your thing, a lip balm is a must, and while the EOS lip balms are adorable, they are a little inconvenient to store, but easy to find in your purse. Don't forget to include your favourite lip balm in your makeup bag.
I hope this was semi-helpful for any makeup noobs out there. If not, feel free to let me know what your makeup bag must haves are whether they're drugstore or high end.
XOXO,
A. Bean
