Makeup Monday!

Oct 17, 2011 by Lauren

I’m finally back from Minneapolis and the big wedding weekend!  Many blogs ago, I promised to share my secrets for high quality, good value, long lasting makeup.  The collection of items I have today are tried and tested multiple times over, the last of which was this weekend at the wedding!  And, another shout out to shopathome.com…Sephora has 4% cash back right now and ULTA has 9% cash back.  That is an AWESOME deal!

(All photos courtesy of sephora.com)

 

#1. Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes Waterproof Mascara

This is the waterproof version of my all-time favorite mascara, Lights, Camera, Lashes (also by Tarte).  Unfortunately, the regular version tends to come off a little TOO easily when your eyes are watering often (allergy season, anyone?) or when you’re in the middle of the ugly cry, like I was, at this weekend’s wedding.  Enter the waterproof formula.  This stuff lasted all day, and I do mean ALL day…like 7 AM to 1 AM, ALLLLLLLLL DAY.  It’s also formulated to lengthen, curl and volumize your lashes.  This product definitely lives up to the hype.  It’s $19 at Sephora and ULTA.

 

#2.  Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin

This is an eyeshadow primer designed to help your eyeshadow stay on all night.  It comes in a clear shade that works with all colors of eyeshadow, Eden (a shimmery gold) and, my personal favorite, Sin (pictured above, a shimmery champagne).  You can wear it alone as eyeshadow or as a base for your other shadows.  Either way, it works.  I used it as a base and added the Lorac and Too Faced shadows (seen below), and it kept everything on, all night long, through sweating, dancing, crying, hugging, etc.  No ugly shadow smears on my cheekbones or forehead, not one sparkle out of place.  I use this product almost every day and it hasn’t failed me yet.  It’s also $19 at Sephora and ULTA.

 

#3. LORAC Private Affair Palette

 

This palette comes with a dual-ended brush, an eye primer AND 6 shades of eyeshadow in a cute patent leather case.  Gotta hand it to the ladies at LORAC, the shades in this palette are absolutely gorgeous.  Two little caveats though, if I’m being totally honest.  First, although the texture of these shadows is amazingly soft and lush, unlike anything I’ve seen before…it really wants to fall off your eyelids right onto your face.  You have to be pretty careful when applying them that you don’t get too much on your brush or it will end up all over you.  And second, although the shades are pretty, they’re also pret-ty sparkly.  Not like disco chunks of glitter, but there definitely is glitter in EVERY single one of these shades, whether it appears that way or not.  So these may not be every day shades for some of the more conservative makeup lovers out there.  Either way, they still stayed on all night, thanks to the UD primer potion I used as a base.   This palette is $38 at Sephora.

 

#4. Too Faced Smokey Eye Shadow Collection

One of my favorite things about these shadows is the packaging.  You can’t see it too well in the picture, but on the right side of the flip top, there is a little pull out section with three instruction cards for how to do various types of smokey eye looks with the colors in this collection.  It’s a great idea for people like me who love makeup but tend to be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to how you put everything together.  The best part is, they put the shadows that go together for each of the three looks right across from each other in the container, that way it’s even more idiot-proof!  The first row is for a daytime look, the second row is an evening look and the third row is a fashion look. (I was very curious how anyone could work silver, dark blue and violet into the same smokey eye look, but they made it work!  I even incorporated a bit of the violet into my look for this weekend’s wedding!)  It’s a total of NINE shadows for only $36 at Sephora and ULTA.

#5 Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush

Ok, I will be the first to admit that this looks and sounds a little crazy.  The picture makes the color look much darker than it really is.  This is a gel cheek stain, which means it goes on very sheer, and you have 100% control over how sheer you want to make it.  It can be darker, if you layer it, or lighter if you only do one application.  I apply it with my fingers for even more accuracy.  When applied, it looks like you’ve been out in the cold and your cheeks are flushed (hence the name “Flush”).  The second slightly nutty sounding part of this cheek stain is the price tag.  It’s $30 at Sephora and ULTA.  I understand that $30 seems like a lot of money for one blush, but I use either this shade or one other shade of their gel blush EVERY single day.  I’ve had both for over a year, and I’m not even close to running out.  It’s worth the investment to not have to purchase a $12 blush every 2-3 months, I’m telling you.  Plus, you don’t need a brush!  Even better?  Like all Tarte products, they are all natural, no preservatives or harmful chemicals, and plant-based.  Check out this shade or my other favorite, Tipsy (more of a light coral-pink, summery shade).

 

I’ll try to post some pictures from the wedding on my facebook page, so you can see a few of these products in action.