My Daily Make Up Routine

I've been wearing make-up everyday since I started secondary school. It all started off with concealer to hide spots and mascara to enlarge my eyes, but as time went on it's spiraled into a big, hot sea of eyeliner pencils and blushers. In my opinion, I don't wear too much make-up, however I do know I wear quite a bit. The skill of makeup artistry is to create the illusion that you don't need make up, but also to emphasize the best areas of your face. 

I use these products more or less every day, maybe leaving some out on lazy days. None of them are expensive, and most of them are Essence- a brand I love love love. Everybody's skin is different, so just because it works for me, doesn't mean it will work you.

I start off with foundation. I use Essence's Soft and Natural shade 02 sand beige. I've raved about this in past blog posts and complained about how it was discontinued. However, I found a bottle of this in a nearby pharmacy, and was reunited with my to-die-for product. The secret of this is to blend it out really well, as it can leave streaks. It's got a medium-full coverage, so it's brill for concealing imperfections. I use my fingers to do this, however I will be investing in a good kabuki brush in the near future.

Even though my foundation is good for coverage, I tend to use a concealer on top to hide any bits it didn't catch. I use Essence's Coverstick shade matt sand for this, however it dries out the area under my eyes horrendously, so I tend to spare it there, even though that's where I've got horrific purple-blue bags and red dry patches. It works quite well with spots and covering up discoloured areas, and it is quite creamy so I simply blend it in with my fingers.

Eyes are next. I spend forever at my eyes- getting the shadows to blend properly and the eyeliner perfect. I line my bottom waterline with NYC kohl pencil in 004 Pure White and use Jet Black for my top waterline. Next, I take Essence's Quattro palette in 05 Be Mine and use the third shade for my crease, creating a cat shape as I blend. I take the white highlight colour and add it under my brow and my eyelid, to create depth and highlight.
Then, I move on to eyeliner. I use Essence's Smokey Eyes brush to do the trick, however it isn't that good for blending. I recently started using Essences Precision Ink- Leanne Woodfull's favourite eyeliner. I do a winged eye as it's so pretty, however I keep the wing small. Lastly, I brush on several coats of L'Oreal Million Lashes, a mascara that is great for separating out lashes and for giving a natural look.

I fill in my brows using Essence's Eyebrow Designer shade 02 Brown, a wonder product as it allows you to brush out your brows using the comb that comes attached to the cap. The pencil itself is unbelievably soft and blends really well.

Blusher is next, and I love Essence's Soft Blusher in shade 20 Babydoll. It's a light, softly pink colour that blushes slightly and highlights in one step. I apply this to my cheeks, sides of my forehead and sides under the jaw. Avon's Blusher brush has been doing the job for me since the summer, however it isn't that great at blending.

Lastly are the lips. Palmer's Original lip balm keeps my lips soft and hydrated, a product I did a review on as well. For a lip shade, I'm currently loving Kate Moss for Rimmel shade 05 lipstick- it's a deep pink that looks absolutely gorgeous and because it is really pigmented, lasts ages.


Gaby x