Arriving in London with a makeup bag apparently packed by a drunk baboon forced me to get a little creative with my products. Honestly, I don’t know how I ended up with four bronzers and two foundations, but absolutely no brow stuff, no lipstick, and just one (pretty dark and punchy) eyeshadow.
But that’s what I do with what I have. It’s been a few weeks since “What did I pack?” event, but I’ve actually kept the same habit because I love it, and here’s the video to prove it. I wrote a description below with a link to the product.
Advertising information: No paid or sponsored content, media samples and affiliate links marked *.
So: with Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Liquid Foundation. For a full review of before and after photos, click here. I won’t repeat myself – it’s pretty much perfect for a long-wearing, mature face primer.
Then, I used Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow to contour and bronze myself, applying too much and then having to buff for about twelve minutes. It’s the equivalent of cooking a meal for a toddler: heat for two minutes, then cool for ten minutes. Walk forward, then almost back to the starting point.
Bronze & Glow is an excellent investment if you can pull it off. There are plenty of “cons,” but none that instantly impart such glamor to a contour and highlight duo.you can find it online at charlotte tilbury* – I use light-medium shades.
Pale blush – this one from Valentino (shade 9, here) and cute, but there’s no need to spend that much. Just paint it with something upbeat and pink!
Then there are the eyes. That’s how revolutionary it is. I use the same Tilbury Filmstar eyeshadow palette on the eyes—contouring, er, contouring, and a highlighter to gild the lids. It works great! It really helps subtly shape the eyes and the highlighter lifts and brightens the eye area. I am so impressed with this, I love that it makes all the tones on my face very even and well connected.
I then glued a Vieve Coffee Eye Stick* to the corner of my eye, then drag it up a little towards the end of my brow to give myself that customary “eye lift” effect. If you’ve never done this before, you’re in for a treat. There’s no need to put the product in the eye socket like I do, it’s a bit violent, but the Vieve Eye Wand is thick and soft and looks great on the outer corner of the eye. It’s very spreadable and blendable so I use a small amount, I don’t apply it on my upper lids but I use a small applicator brush to blend out small strips of product so it’s soft and hazy and I Smudged the rest into the lower and upper lash line, just on the outer edge of the eye.
If you’ve never seen me do my little pick-me-up trick, instead of explaining it in a thousand words, watch the video. It works just right – you just have to make sure to follow the curve of your lower lash line and it flicks in the right direction!
The mascara I’m using here is the faithful L’Oreal Retractable Lash Mascara, and I think it’s one of the best mascaras you can buy, no matter the price. I’m reviewing the one in the dark gold tube, which usually costs around £8 when you get it, almost always, and it has a fine, narrow comb that’s flexible and doesn’t mess. You can wiggle right down to the root of lashes, then pull to cover each lash and they look chic and separated. I rarely get the product on my lids (which happens with pretty much every other mascara), and I don’t get powdered or smudged.I buy this mascara often – usually from Amazon Prime, see here*, but you can buy it in Boots and Superdrug and it’s always in stock.
At the time of writing, L’Oreal Telescoping Mascara is on sale for £7.07*
I used hairspray and an eyebrow brush to get my brows in because I misplaced all my brow products (I sorted all my brow products into a little bag and lost them in an office avalanche pretty quickly), and I contour my lips the easy way (for a rare beauty eyeliner in Creative, see here*) Pat and apply lip balm.
That’s it. From a product standpoint, it’s a fairly streamlined routine: I wish I had a nice little photo of the product, but I don’t, and the Tilbury palette is almost done anyway, so it doesn’t look top-notch mirror. Finally, I’ll provide some additional links from some of the videos covering the skincare prep and the shirt I’m wearing. I said, what a cute shirt!
Olay Retinol Eye Cream is currently 60% off here*
Aveeno Calming Repair Serum is here*
Skin Rocks Moisturizer Launches here
I’m wearing a Francine floral shirt from Wyse London here
