What's In My Everyday Make-Up Bag?

As of recently, I've started carrying round with me an 'everyday make up bag'. If you're thinking to yourself, 'how comes only recently Nicole?' (although you're probably not) I'll briefly explain.

Throughout 2013, I got into a weird habit of not carrying round a normal sized make up bag with the essentials for my everyday use, instead, being the make-up crazed person I am, I carried around with me, my HUGE make-up kit that consists of around 6 foundations, 15 mascaras, 1947394732 lipsticks and so on. I thought at the time that to carry this kit around was clever as I had many different options of how to do my make-up day to day but instead I eventually realised that it got a bit ridiculous.To cut this long story short, when I was going on holiday at the end of July (I did a blog post about my Pafos holiday here) I realised my kit pretty much weighed the entire limit of my suitcase, so I had to change my stubborn ways and build myself up a teeeennyyy tinyyyy everyday essentials make up bag. This change has actually done me the world of good and now I can finally share with you my everyday make-up products - because I actually have some! Wahoooo!

Now here we go! Enjoy!

Firstly we shall start off with the make-up bag itself. This is a very well loved 'The Body Shop' zip-lined bag. I had this bag for donkeys years and should probably invest in a new one! But for now this bag is pretty spacious and does the trick! 

The first product I'm going to mention in my make-up kit is my 'Optrex Actimist 2in1 Tired+Uncomfortable eye spray'. Recently my eyes have been feeling very dry and uncomfrotable, I go to bed quite late every night, am up on my computer a lot and every now and again have early starts, so this spray is used when I feel my eyes need a little pick me up. If I'm completly honest, I haven't noticed much difference in the ways my eyes look or feel when I use this product so I think I may have to scan the market for something different. Do any of you have tired, uncomfortable eyes? If so do you use any products that you think help? Let me know if you do!

Optrex Eye Spray

Next up is my Rimmel London 'Fix and Perfect Pro Primer' in the shade 002. I have gone through around 3 of these bad boys! I like the way it feels so light on my skin and makes my make-up stay put throughout the day. The primer claims it smoothes, resurfaces, brightens, mattifies and protects the skin. I would say this is all true, but to be honest, I think it may be time I broke away from this primer and look elsewhere for something new. Again, any recommendations? Comment below!

Rimmel Fix & Perfect

We then move onto concealers, I currently have two in my kit, these being the Collection 'Lasting Perfection' concealer in 'Light' and the Rimmel 'Wake me up' in 030 'Classic Beige'. I usually put my concealer on before my foundation to get slight more coversage in the places I need it most, being under my eyes, around my nose and on my chin. The Collection concealer does a really good job at covering any problem areas or darkness as I feel it has more pinky tones in it which cancel out a lot of the blue under my eyes. I tend to use the Rimmel concealer over my foundation just to brighten my skin up a little, a little dab of this concealer goes a long way - trust me! On days where I feel I would like more coverage on my under eye circles (because I really have been cursed with awful dark bags) I use various other products to make them more bearable and make me look more awake! If you would like to see these other products then perhaps I can do a 'What's In My Make-Up Kit' blog? 

Collection Concealer

Rimmel Wake Me Up

Next in line is foundation. I'm currently using L'Oreal Infallible Long-lasting Perfecting foundation. When I came back from my previous holiday I was a great deal more tanned, so at the time, this colour suited my skin tone really well. I actually claim that this foundation is actually my 'holiday foundation' as its around 1 shade darker than all the other foundations I own. I took this product on holiday with me as it has SPF 15, so its perfect for holiday and just in general everyday use to be honest for protecting your skin. The coverage is medium to full if you want to build it up, which is what I tend to do. Soon I shall be moving back to either my Nars 'Sheer Glow' foundation or my Rimmel Wake Me Up because, alas, I'm not looking as tanned as I was a few months ago.... sigh. 

L'Oreal Foundation

Three different powders live in my make-up bag. Yes, three, but they all play an important role in my everyday make-up. These powders are the Rimmel 'Natural Bronzer' in 022, 'Sun Bronze', this bronzer is perfect for a really natural sun kissed glow which doesn't come out too orange or too muddy on the skin and over your foundation!

Rimmel Natural Bronzer

Rimmel Natural Bronzer


My final powder is my saviour....Rimmel 'Stay Matte'. I cannot rave about this powder enough, I've gone through about 6! The Stay Matte range is so cheap and cheerful and really does the job at keeping my oily areas at bay, it's also great to just keep around with you in your bag or kit when you just want to put a little something over your face and not have to worry about looking too cakey or too wishy washy. You can get the stay matte powders in various shades but I get mine in 001 'Transparent', this way you can put as much as you need on and not have to worry about your make up looking all patchy and trust me, as soon as you put this powder on your face, the oil is gone! It last a pretty long time to, I would say throughout the day I re-powder my face with this product around 2 times (and I really do get oily around my t-zone) and volia! Gone!

For that pop of colour on my cheeks, I use either one of two blushes. If I feel I want a dewy skined look for the day, I'll reach for my Max Factor 'Miracle Touch Creamy Blush' in the shade 14 'Soft Pink'. I apply this with gently with my fingers by dabbing it on the apples of my cheeks to achieve a really pretty, girly yet natural dewy glow. However, if I'm wanting to keep my skin nice and matte, which is most days, I'll use my trusty Revlon blush in 5107-02 'Blushing Berry'. Again this is a beautiful pinky, berry colour which comes out very sheer on the cheeks in comparison to the Max Factor creme blush which is very pigmented. A good thing about the Revlon blush is that it's pretty buildable if you wanted to get that little bit of extra colour, or you can even opt for a brighter shade! It all depends on what look your going for and what you feel comfortable wearing :) 

Next is eyes. These products change every now and again, I like to switch up my mascaras and eye lines, purely because I have way too many and feel guilty only using one. Currently in my make-up bag I have my Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama gel eyeliner in the shade 01 'Black'. This gel liner is amazing, seriously. For a drug store eyeliner, I purchased this over re-purchasing my Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner, which really did hold a special place in my heart. Not only is the Maybelline liner a fraction of the price, but it's pretty much a perfect dupe and I find it doesn't dry out as fast, which is always a bonus! I apply my liner with my Benefit hard angle brush, which will eventually be replaced by a MAC 266 when I next visit a MAC store. Another reason you should head to boots and pick up this liner is you recieve with the liner itself, a Maybelline liner brush, this is perfect for any girls starting out with gel liner, so don't worry if you haven't got any brushes just yet! They also come in a range of colours so instead of going with the classic black, you can instead opt for a more natural colour like brown, or, if you're really brave and adventurous, go for a colour like purple! All the shades are really pigmented and you wouldn't have to worry about not getting your moneys worth, especially if you compare the price and product to all the higher end retailers. 

Benefit 'Hard Angle' brush

Benefit 'Hard Angle' brush

For mascara I'm using Benefit's 'They're Real'. I'm loving this mascara right now as I'm enjoying the more laid back make-up look, which is very basic skin and just a couple of sweeps of mascara on the eyes, some lip product and thats it! Despite this mascara having mixed reviews, I really do think it makes my lashes look lengthy, fanned out and beautifully natural, maybe not so much full but thats where an added lash curler, top and bottom liner and maybe a coat of a volumizing and thickening mascara like Maybelline 'The Rocket' can come in to make your eyes look all that more dramatic :)

Last of all is lips, again, this changes depending on the look I'm going for but the two products in my bag now, are the Revlon 'Super Lustrous' in the shade 255 'Kiss Me Coral'. This lipgloss is amazing, the colour payoff is beautiful, the packaging is so high end and theres not much else I can say about this lipgloss only that its incredible and I really reccomend it! Especially in this shade! 

Revlon gloss in 'Kiss Me Coral'

'Kiss Me Coral'

'Kiss Me Coral'

I then have a lipstick which was a recent puchase from Bourjois. I don't remember the last time I brought something from Bourjois but their new 'Shine Edition' lipstick range is really something to go check out, after swatching every single colour in Boots and walking around staring at my hand for 15 minutes, I ended up purchasing the shade 23 which is a really pigmented pink which purple undertones. They're around £7-£8 which I feel is slightly on the pricey side but the colour pay off is worth it and the packaging is pretty nice to!

 

A few extra little bits I carry around with me are my brushes. For foundation, I use a Real Techniques buffing brush to buff the product all over and into my skin and neck to achieve that full flawless coverage.





For powder, I use another 'Real Techniques' brush which is the blush brush, yes, I know, not using the brush for its actual purpose, but honestly, this brush is so big I find it applies my Studio Fix or bronzer perfectly and evenly on my face!





Lastly for my blush/mattify powders, I use a Benefit angled brush, this brush fits snug onto the apples of my cheeks and can fit into all the little areas like around my nose and my chin which are the typical places I like to apply my Rimmel Stay Matte powder. 

Everyday brushes!

And there you have it. The contents of my everyday make-up bag! I really hope you enjoyed this blog post! Are there any products that I've mentioned that you have? Or now want to purchase after reading this? Please let me know in the comments below, it really means a lot!

Love,
Nicole
xxx