My Makeup Essentials

For my first post, I wanted to share my makeup essentials. I think this can say a lot about the type of products and overall look someone gravitates towards in real life. Most days, I keep it simple, but I very rarely go no makeup...

First, I always always always moisturize. My favorite is the steadfast and true Olay Beauty Fluid. It has an spf built in and is lightweight enough to wear under makeup.
Next is eyes. I wear eyeshadow pretty much every day. On simple days (or running late!) I just dust a matte neutral all over the lid. But if I have more time, I'll add a shimmer. My favorite palette of the moment is the Sephora Pro Warm Palette. It retails for $68 and has 28 beautiful warm neutral shades. You cannot go wrong with this palette! I waited until the Sephora sale and got 20% off for being a VIB (look into this program!). Definitely worth the little splurge.

I also usually define my lashline with liner. The best black liquid liner I have tried, drugstore and high end is by far the Stila All Day liner. The felt tip is so thin and it's the blackest one. Also, it never dies! I've been surviving off this travel sized one for quite a while now.

As far as mascara is concerned, I'm obsessed (and have been for a while like everyone else) with the L'oreal Lash Paradise mascara. This stuff is absolutely amazing. Lifts, volumizes, no clumping. And it's under $10! I'm a fan of most L'oreal mascaras. 

Concealer is probably most important to me. I struggled for years with acne and scaring and have just recently started to get my skin back to normal. But I still need coverage in the undereye, T-zone, and nose areas. My favorite is the Rimmer Perfect Match. It's a squeezie tube with a brush tip which makes it super easy to apply in direct spots without using my fingers. It also has the perfect shade match for me (Fair/Light). The coverage is medium without looking cakey. Best of all, it's already super affordable but I always find coupons and deas on Cartwheel!

For contour and cheeks, I like something a little more toned down. I've never been a fan of bright pinks or overly rosy flushes. For those reasons, I also lean towards matte blushes and bronzers. My favorite high-end blushes are from Tarte. I love Exposed. However, I know these are pricey so I started looking for comparable drugstore ones. I found the brand Revolution at Ulta and I love their matte blush. For contour/bronzer, I recently picked up the Smashbox kit (also during the Sephora VIB sale). I know Casey Holmes loves this and collaborates with Smashbox all the time so I was sold! These are the perfect shades for my skin tone, not too dark but still ashy. 

Finally, lips. If I'm being honest, most days I just throw on some lip balm. But if I have a meeting or a presentation or something going on at work, I've found the perfect your-lips-but-better product for me. And it's $3. It's the ELF Matte Lip Color in Tea Rose. I also have the matching lip liner. Perfection. 

When it's all said and done, it doesn't look like I'm wearing a ton of makeup. I think that mostly goes because I rarely wear foundation. I try to keep it clean and simple, yet defined. 

💚 Sara

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