Always In My Makeup Bag

03 • 10 • 2014

I’ve spent a lot of time detailing the products I use at home for my everyday makeup routine, but what about the products that live in my makeup bag on the go? Here is a rundown of my current makeup bag essentials:

***PLEASE support my business and download BeautyNow: a FREE iPhone app that is the best way to book beauty appointments!!

PRESSED POWDER: Clinique Perfectly Real Compact Makeup Powder in Shade 104 may be the most important item in my makeup bag, and I have been loyal to it since 2001.

While it is intended to be a powder foundation, I use it as a pressed powder for my nose and T-zone. I have turned countless friends on to this powder. One in particular asked, how does your makeup look so “smooth and finished?” Because of my Clinique powder!

Now, don’t expect to find this glorious pressed powder at your local Clinique counter. Lately I can only find it online, and I order them three at a time. I am seriously concerned that “online only” is a slippery slope to phase out/discontinuation. Clinique….DON’T DO IT!!!! Dear readers, please order this powder so we can collectively make it a “cult favorite” and maybe Clinique won’t discontinue it.

CONCEALER: YSL Touche Eclat gets all the press, but I think the real star is the YSL stick concealer (YSL Anti-Cernes Multi-Action Concealer). I have carried a YSL stick concealer in my purse for years, and use it to touch up the redness around my nose or cover up under eye circles if I have been out all day and then need to look presentable in the evening.  While I use tube or wand concealers to do my makeup in the morning, the stick is a much quicker fix for touch ups.

OIL BLOTTING SHEETS: I remember in 8th grade when those rose colored powder blotting papers became a fad, and all the cool girls went to the bathroom after lunch to dab their noses and apply Clinique Guava Stain lipstick.

Now I use the more plastic-y, non-powder Clean & Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets religiously. Since college my friends have been grossed out that I use these all the time. Sorry, everyone– I’m trying to be more conscious about not using them in public. But I NEVER leave home without these, and I get panicky if I run out and do not have a refill on hand.

HAND CREAM: I discovered Japanese brand YuBe Moisturizing Skin Cream in the (dangerous!) checkout line at Sephora. It even makes the skin on your hand LOOK different, like airbrushed and soft. YuBe has a menthol scent that disappears completely after one minute.

Here’s a trick: apply cream straight out of the tube onto the back of your hand, and then rub the backs of your hands together. This avoids wasting precious product on the palms of your hands where you are probably not as dry.

YuBe is pretty extravagant– $16 for a travel-size tube! But it really does moisturize well for these dry winter months. Perhaps investing in the larger $25 tub is a better deal.

I’m also liking L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream. A friend gave these out as party favors at her holiday coffee, tied with ribbons and displayed on a silver platter as guests departed. How chic is that?!?

16 NUDE LIPSTICKS: Just kidding, you really don’t need 16 lipsticks cluttering your makeup bag. But I have a lipstick PROBLEM, so I do! And that’s nothing compared to my collection at home (yes, that’s a gallon-size Ziploc full of lipsticks):

I do have a few all-time favorite lipsticks and glosses that have taken up permanent residence in my makeup bag. They are all natural nude/pink colors, but in different finishes.  What can I say, I’m in a rut.

Nars Lip Gloss in Super Orgasm: a shimmery peachy-pink nude. Of all the department store prestige brands, Nars makes my favorite lip glosses. Great color selection, glossiness, and staying power. FYI I prefer Nars’ original Lip Gloss to their Larger Than Life formulation. I also really like Chihuahua (a non-shimmery pink nude) and Stella (a shimmery, tawny berry color that looks great on brunettes). Here I am below in Super Orgasm (sorry for the terrible selfie angle):

Forever 21 Love & Beauty Creme Lipstick in Pink: Just found out this is sold out, but I found a close dupe: Givenchy Rouge Interdit Lipstick in Seductive Rose. Here is a comparison of the two colors (the Forever 21 on the left, Givenchy on the right):

Both lipsticks go on creamy and semi-opaque. Dab on the apples of your cheeks as a creme blush, and then use as a lit-from-within stain-y pink color on lips. It looks great to have your lips and cheeks in the same color family. Here I am with just Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation and the Forever 21 lipstick on cheeks and lips:

Laura Mercier Creme Smooth Lip Colour in Pink Plush: I’m guessing this was a seasonal collection color, because I cannot find the link to this shade anymore. Pink Plush is (was) a non-shimmery pink nude color that somehow really brightens up my face. I wasn’t super crazy about the texture of this lipstick anyway (it sort of exaggerates the lines/dryness in your lips), so check out Tom Ford Beauty Lip Color in Nude Vanille instead. I swatched Tom Ford Nude Vanille on my hand next to the Pink Plush, and the colors were very close. Fashion blogger Cupcakes and Cashmere raves about Nude Vanille, although I am hesitant to spend $50 on a lipstick…at least until Pink Plush runs out.  Here I am in Pink Plush:

I’m also still consistently using the awesome drugstore lipglosses I blogged about two months ago.

xoxo,

Kathleen

Tagged makeup bag essentials , makeup bag staples