Eyes
PRIMER | SHADOW | GEL LINER | PENCIL LINER | MASCARA | BROWS
These product recommendations are listed here.
Lips
PRIMER | PENCIL | LIPSTICK | STAIN | LIPGLOSS
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| Recommended Lip Products |
Lip primer
It's a good idea to use a lip primer underneath your lipstick - put it on while you're doing your base, and then when you are ready to do your lipstick, either remove it or blot it away. It will make your lips nice and soft and ready for lipstick, which is especially important if you're wearing a strong lip colour, because you can't get away with chapped lips in this instance.
- MAC Prep + Prime Lip A brilliant lip primer, can be left on underneath your lipstick or blotted away prior to lipstick application
- Carmex Lip Balm Really cheap, (comes in many flavours!) and is great for conditioning the lips, however it's quite thick so I would recommend removing it before applying lip products
Lip pencil
A lip pencil can be used all over your lip to give a good base for your lipstick, help stop stronger colours from bleeding, help your lipstick last longer and wear better, help define your lips, especially if they're a little small or thin.
- Catrice Lip Designer Really cheap, really smooth, really pigmented, a good colour range. Not great for more mature skin
- Estée Lauder Automatic Lip Pencil In particular 21/Fig. Great nude shades. Long wearing
- Rimmel 1000 Kisses Stay-on Lip Liner Pencil Inexpensive, good colour range
- Illamasqua Medium Pencils A multitude of colours, usable as lip pencils, eye pencils, face pencils. Highly pigmented, long lasting
Lipsticks
There are lots of different types, ranges, formulations, finishes. You can spend a fortune on lipstick, but you really don't need to; if you apply it over a primer and liner, and blot and reapply one or two times, you'll get as much wear out of a cheaper lipstick as you will a more expensive one.
- Rimmel Lipsticks Especially the Moisture Renew range. Rimmel do consistently brilliant lipsticks, are really cheap and highly pigmented, last for ages and cover all the basic colours
- MAC Mattene Lipsticks I have a sneaking suspicion that these were Limited Edition. If so, my apologies for listing them. They are amazingly creamy long-wear matte lipsticks however
- Estée Lauder Pure Colour Lipsticks Creamy and pigmented, well-wearing
- NARS Rouge à Lèvres Pur Mat More brilliant matte lipsticks. A lot of matte lipsticks can leave your lips very dry after a few hours of wear, these don't
Lipgloss
Be careful where you use gloss. Some more gloopy glosses, if applied all over your lips, can migrate and make you can look like you're drooling out of the corners of your mouth after a while! Apply in the centre of the lower lip and they'll mostly work their way out gradually anyhow. Some of my favourite glosses are:
- MAC Lip Gelées I believe that these, as a range, have been discontinued, but MAC bring back specific shades (and introduce new ones) in LE collections periodically. They're worth looking out for - you get a lot in the tube, they don't get sticky or gloopy on your lips and the colours tend to be good (except for the very frosted shades)
- Dior Ultra-Gloss Many shades available, a close second to the MAC Lip Gelées. Some of the shades have a beautiful uber-high shine
- Bourjois Effet 3D Lipgloss Bourjois do a few ranges of lip glosses, most of them are beautiful - however they do need removal and re-application after a while to avoid gloopiness, and a lot of them have a scent/flavour
Lip Stains
Anything can be used as a lipstain; your favourite strong lipstick, applied, blotted away to nothing, reapplied and re-blotted; a lipliner used on its own and sheered-out with your fingers; a strongly-pigmented cream blusher, sheered and blotted away. You can buy specific purpose lipstains (they look like felt-tip markers) but they tend to be very very drying on the lips. You can also use:
- OCC Lip Tars Super-pigmented lip "paint" that dries down completely to a semi-matte finish, fades mainly uniformly so wears well and could be considered a stain. A huge range of colours, these are designed to be mixed to create new shades, however, these are prone to separation in the tube after some time, and can be a little drying. They are also only available online
- Sleek Pout Paint Cheaper alternative to Lip Tars, more or less the same idea but with significantly less shades. Less likely to split in the tube, but only available online in Ireland
Supporting Cast...
GLITTERS | FINISHING SPRAY | LASHES
These product recommendations are listed here.