The 5 Product Face

Now and again when I do not have much time on my hands, I like to adopt a quick and easy makeup routine that is not only convenient but also reliable. I thought I would share my 5 product face selection that are my go-to products if I am ever in a rush but also those products that I couldn’t live without which make such a difference to my face.

Firstly, base. This is one of the most crucial steps and probably the one that will take the most time to apply. I opted for Nars Sheer Glow, my still all-time favourite base. The great thing with this foundation is that it offers superb coverage so you can easily miss out on the concealer for this one which is why I have not included any. The satin finish makes my skin look and feel much healthier and it applies well and also lasts well too.

If you asked me about a year ago if I was a blush or bronzer gal, I would’ve said blush all day any day. However whilst blush is still one of my favourite products, bronzer comes first for me these days. I never really understood the need for bronzer but now I can’t go without my added warmth to my pale face! The Body Shop Honey Bronzer is another all-time favourite for me with the light shade working perfectly with my pale skin.

So with my base perfected, the next step is eyes and an area that I particularly like to pay the most attention to. Since I wear glasses and my eyes appear smaller, I always can’t go without mascara. For me, mascara is the one product that I rely on the most. I basically want the most out there lashes going and right now I am enjoying the Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant which adds enough length and volume to create impact.

Continuing on with the eye area, eyebrows are another important step in my routine. It is weird to think how I never did anything with my eyebrows a good couple of years ago but now I can’t have a face of makeup without those eyebrows on fleek (sorry). Eyebrows frame your face so much so it is so important to pay attention to them. I am currently enjoying using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade which seems intimidating at first but is actually a super easy to use and long wearing product! My pot has definitely seen better days though…

Last up is lips. One of my favourite parts of my makeup routine is switching up my lipstick and it really finishes off the look. Whilst for quickness and if I am just running some errands, I like to apply the Clarins Instant Lip Balm Perfector however I love a good lipstick particularly those mauve-y dusky rose shades that are my favourites. The likes of Mac Mehr is one of those shades I can always rely on and wear constantly.

What is your go-to 5 product face?

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Mac 90s Nude Lip Edit: Kylie Jenner Style

The whole Kylie Jenner, 90s nude lip trend might be one you are wishing to see the back off. If you are, I do apologise. I for one whilst am not a ‘fan’ of the Kardashian family, I do love the whole nude mauve lip thing. There is nothing wrong with a bit of a 90s throwback, right!? Anyway I’ve picked up quite a few nude shades from Mac in their lipsticks and liners and thought I would give you a little run down on my picks. A lot of the shades are quite similar to each other so I don’t recommend the need for all of them but hopefully if you are looking for a nude option then one of these might take your fancy!

MAC BRAVE (Satin Lipstick)

The lightest and most nude-ist of the bunch. As you can see I’ve had a lot of wear out of this one. This is a perfect everyday shade, perfect for going to work as it’s not too in your face. If you are not one for bold shades then this is a good shade to start with. If you do want to build it up, Soar lip liner underneath adds a little more oomph to it. The satin formula is one of my favourites from Mac, super creamy and comfortable to wear yet has a semi-matte finish on the lips. Some satin finishes are more long-wearing than others, this is a little on the shorter side for longevity but still not as bad as a more creamier lipsticks.

MAC FAUX (Satin Lipstick)

Essentially Brave but turned up a notch. This shade rocks up a little more deeper than Brave and is much more mauve-y and rosy in comparison. This is a perfect 90s nude shade and definitely one I recommend especially if you want a more creamier formula. Again this is in a satin finish with the same properties as Brave but I do find this a little more long wearing.

MAC VELVET TEDDY (Matte Lipstick)

Moving towards the browner tones. I couldn’t do this post without the cult favourite of them all, Velvet Teddy. This is probably the most popular from all the above due to all the KJ buzz. As you can see from the swatch below it is a lot more brown toned in comparison to the first two shades. Yet whilst I don’t really go for brown-y shades, this is still completely wearable as it does have rosy undertones to it so still is a really nice natural everyday shade. This shade comes in a matte finish so is more long wearing but still comfortable to wear since I haven’t found this drying at all on my lips.

MAC MEHR (Matte finish) 

Mehr is probably one of my favourite shades from the bunch. A gorgeous dusky rosy pink shade that is a little more bold than your everyday neutral but not too much. It feels creamy on the lips despite having a matte formula so is long wearing yet nice to wear. This shade also looks gorgeous over Mac Soar lipliner to deepen things a little more. A must have shade in my opinion!

MAC TWIG (Satin Lipstick)

I am going to try and refrain from raving too much about this one cause I love Twig so much! Probably my favourite Mac lipstick and probably even my favourite in general. Again from the picture above you can probably see the wear I’ve had out of it which is a lot! The shade is a gorgeous soft rosy brown-y colour which is super pigmented. The formula is satin again and this lipstick pretty much made me love satin finishes for being long wearing yet with such a creamy formula. I think this is such an underrated shade!

MAC WHIRL (Matte finish) 

A newer one in my collection, this is the deepest colour wise and is a dark rosy brown shade. This is a newer one in my collection and one I just had to have when I kept hearing about it. It is from the matte collection that Mac brought out last year and of course this shade being a lipstick version of the lipliner got people excited. Personally I struggle with this one. It is a lot more brown than I would usually go for, especially on my paler skin it doesn’t have enough pink in it to be overly wearable. It is still comfortable to wear and I do prefer to wear it a little more lightly. It does match up quite well with Whirl lipliner as you would expect but the combo is a little too dark for my liking but may appeal to others. If anyone has any tips for wearing this shade then let me know!

MAC WHIRL (Lip Liner) 

As I said above, essentially the lip pencil version of the lipstick. Again this is a deep rosy brown shade and works best with those with browner tones such as Whirl (obviously) and also Velvet Teddy if brown tones is more your thing!

MAC SOAR (Lip Liner) 

Probably my most used lip liner ever. This is a gorgeous mauve dusky pink shade and works as a great combo with the above lipsticks. The Mac lip pencils are super creamy to apply and by far my favourites. This shade is super wearable and adds a little more depth to shades. It also looks pretty on its own for a perfect mauve nude lip.

What is your favourite 90s nude lip?

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2015 Beauty Favourites: Eye & Lip Products

Now that you’ve seen my base and cheek favourites from the year of 2015, it is time to move on to the second and final half of my yearly beauty favourites. This time around I am talking about my favourite eye and lip products from 2015 and again a lot of these will be no surprise to you! So I am going to quit rambling and get on with it!

Eyeshadow

2015 was the year of eyeshadow for me. It was always the one product I neglected because I never really understood the difference it made and I never had much of an idea on how to apply it either. Although last year saw me finally pick up a few blending brushes and get blending to something that actually looked half decent. Now we have reached the end of 2015, I can’t even go without eyeshadow, it is my favourite thing to apply and I am truly obsessed with buying more eyeshadows.  After hearing so many rave reviews I just had to try out the By Terry Ombre Blackstars and I am so glad I did. These are just incredible. It took me a while to truly appreciate how good these are but they are seriously one of the best eyeshadow products I’ve ever used and the best eyeshadow sticks. I have the shades Misty Rock (which I spoke about here) and Bronze Moon which are two truly gorgeous and unique shades. The formula though makes these even more amazing, they are seriously creamy and glide on super smoothly and are super easy to blend. If that’s not enough, they last for ages too. So yeah, I quite like them!

In terms of palettes, 2015 was definitely the year I became a real life eyeshadow palette hoarder. I just love a good palette! Whilst there was a few I could have mentioned, there was two that really stole my heart this year and two I know will become long term favourites. First up, the Zoeva Cocoa Blend palette which I raved about here. This was such a surprise love for me as it was so super affordable yet such great quality. The colour range is just perfect and right up my street. I am still so impressed with this and it is definitely one that everyone needs to pick up.

The Urban Decay Naked palettes will always be mine and everyone else’s one true love. I am lucky enough to own all of them including the newbie Smoky palette although I truly fell for the second edition (review here) to the Naked lineup and I think I can call it my favourite of the four. The taupe shades are just so beautiful and are so versatile for everyday wear or an evening look. Of course the quality of Urban Decay eyeshadows are also just truly incredible!

Mascara and Brows

These next two products are probably quite obvious mentions if you are a regular reader of SBL. First up, my mascara pick has to be the Benefit They’re Real. I truly realised why this is such a cult product half way through the year after trying it out and then switching my choices up. I eventually came back to this and I just love it. It just adds oomph to my lashes and adds length and volume and paired with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers it is dream come true lashes!

Another Benefit product came to the rescue in saving my brows. I picked up Benefit Gimme Brow (review here) during the year and it has just became my go-to for brows. It is so easy and convenient to simply swipe through your brows but it is still pretty buildable and really defines them. I’ve actually pretty much finished my tube of this which lasted so long (considering the size and cost is off putting!) so I will definitely be repurchasing this!

Lip Liner and Lipstick

Lip products will always be my one real love when it comes to beauty so I did have a little difficulty narrowing this down. 2015 was the year for lip liner and Mac’s liner options will always remain top for me. Their Soar lipliner became a staple in my collection and a cult product for many beauty enthusiasts. The gorgeous mauve plum-y nude shade is just the perfect undercoat to so many of my favourite lipsticks so is a no brainer really. The formula is great too and glides on smoothly to create a good base for lipstick.

Speaking of Mac, I will always have a love for a good Mac lipstick. I’ve enlarged my collection quite a bit over the year and grown a few favourites. I have a love for the mauve My lips but better kinda shades and Mac Mehr is the perfect fit. It is a little more intense than just a basic nude especially when combined with Soar but it is such a gorgeous and unique shade. The matte formula is also long wearing as you would expect but still comfortable without being drying. Another Mac fave was Mac Plumful which I picked up at the start of the Autumn season. This is my first in the Lustre finish but it is super comfortable and moisturising on the lips. The plum-y pink shade is also so gorgeous and different to anything I own.

Nars are one of my favourite makeup brands so it was no surprise I was going to love their matte lip pencils. I honestly think these are one of the best lip products around. They are so long lasting it is unreal but still feel comfortable to wear as well as coming in a collection of pretty shades. I have quite a few but I thought I would just mention two of my ultimate faves from the year. Whenever I need a red lip, I always go for Nars Cruella, probably my favourite ever red. It is quite a deep red but one you can rely on to stay put whilst you eat! The other shade was my Summer love, the unfortunately limited edition Iberico which is a gorgeous orange-y red. A shade that is totally unique to my collection and one I can’t wait to wear again come Summer time!

Last but not least, 2015 saw the discovery of Charlotte Tilbury. I finally took the plunge this year and picked up a couple of her gorgeously packaged products that soon developed into an addiction! I now have four of the Matte Revolution lipsticks and I can say they are truly worth the splurge! The matte formula is not what you would expect, they are seriously creamy and so comfortable to wear. As I said I have four shades from the line up but a couple of my faves are the truly gorgeous Lost Cherry; a beautiful bright coral red perfect for Summer (review here)and Miss Kensington; my perfect nude.

What was your favourite eye/lip products from 2015?

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Mac Mehr Lipstick

I can’t be the only one who has a designated wishlist set for Mac lipsticks, right!? With an extensive range of pretty much any shade you are looking for and great formulas there is never a time when I am not lusting after a newbie. A shade that I had high in my list for a while was Mac Mehr after seeing it sported by Lily Pebbles on many occasions. I was then very lucky indeed to be the winner of a Mac lipstick giveaway ran by the lovely Molly from The Rose Beauty Files and of course my choice of lipstick was a no-brainer, really…

I find the colour of Mehr pretty hard to describe. Mac describe it as being a Dirty blue pink. Whilst I tend to think it lies more on the brown-y near red side of things. I always tend to think of the colour as being a cranberry colour just that little more pink. I find it very similar in colour to my favourite Mac lipstick; Twig which is more of a brown toned lipstick and less pink. The shade also echos the 90s nude lip trend with Mac Brave and Mac Faux looking like close family members in the colour wheel.

Mac Mehr is of a matte finish lipstick so you can rely on it to stick that little bit longer than a more creamier formula. Being matte, Mac have quite a reputation of being quite drying on the lips but this shade particularly doesn’t seem to be too drying at all. It glides on well and is comfortable on the lips. It isn’t the most long lasting matte I’ve ever tried so it doesn’t actually feel much like a matte lipstick but don’t get my wrong it still does have a decent lasting power.

Teamed with Mac Soar lip-liner it is the perfect combination. The liner creates a good base underneath to help the colour stay a little longer. It is one of those shades that is good for everyday wear but also a good one teamed with a bold eye look for an evening out. With its similarities to Twig, I knew this one would grow to be a favourite. I now just need Faux, Brave and any other similar shade cause why not! Thanks again to Molly for letting me tick this one off my wishlist!

Update: I now may have picked up Mac Brave… it was totally calling my name, I just couldn’t say no…

Have you tried Mac Mehr?

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