The Makeup Box

I’m going to try and keep this short and simple. If you want to find out what I use on my lips, check out the post just before this one!

—-

1. MAC Pink Opal Pigment

This is the most beautiful translucent dust with a super-fine pink sheen. It doesn’t actually look white going on, so I mix this with some pale pink mineral powder and silica, and wear this as a highlighter on my cheek bones, brown bones and the bridge of my nose pretty much every day. The pink sheen just looks like a beautiful glow when your contours hit the light.

—-

2. MAC Patina Eye Shadow (Frost)

Probably the only MAC shadow I’ve used up in the past few years. It’s a soft, low sheen bronze-taupe with a subtle copper-pink iridescence. The perfect wash because it’s slightly deeper than my skin tone and is faceted enough to look like you applied more than one shade, while not looking too metallic for work or casual days.

—-

3. Bourjois Volumizer Mascara

This is one of those customizable mascaras that I only use on the light setting, because the formula is so perfect for building up full, feathery lashes. This is the Great Lash I wanted Great Lash to be. No clumps, no flaking, no smudging for me.

Just gorgeous non-spidery “are these real?” sort of lashes.

—-

4. Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream

This heavy, sticky balm is not just good for chapped lips, scaly elbows and cracked heels. (Yes, it does get rid of flaky lips and cracked heels really well.)

Sometimes when my face is feeling particularly dry around the forehead and eye areas, I slather a thin layer of this on and in the morning, it looks fabulous.

I use this in the tube form because it’s lightweight and perfect for traveling and carrying around in my bag. 

Plus, the salicylic acid in the formula means that it does not clog pores or cause milia on my milia-prone eye area. Granted I really don’t like the smell of camphor, but it’s still a fantastic emergency aid when my skin needs help.

—-

5. Make Up For Ever Face and Body Foundation #20 (Ivory)

There is no perfect foundation in this world. But if anything comes close to perfection for me, it is this. 

I have never found anything that can give this level of coverage while it is so lightweight. And unlike MAC Face and Body, it sets to a semi-matte finish that looks like real skin, but more matte, and more perfect.

The only gripe I have is that it’s hard to find a matching shade by numbering (they have no clear order, and I can’t figure out why they do it that way), so you really need to try it in the store. #20 is as far as I know the lightest yellow-based shade, and I’m an NC25, so if you are very pale, you might not be able to find a good match in this range.

That, plus the fact that MUFE charges an arm and a leg for EVERYTHING.

—-

6. Mario Badescu Drying Lotion / Etude House AC Clinic Pink Powder Spot Treatment

These are pretty much identical in function, so I won’t say which is the most-reached for. It depends which one I have on hand, and trust me when I say I have backups for my backups of both versions, lying in storage.

This is my favorite for disinfecting and treating spots. It dries, de-swells, kills bacteria, and helps minimize the appearance of surfaced pimples quite quickly for me.

Nothing gets rid of new zits overnight, but this speeds up the process.

—-

7. Prada Candy EDP

Distinct, strong, and edgy with a sweet twist.

This is my absolute favorite fragrance of 2011. The moment I smelt it, I fell in love. It’s slightly off-kilter and not at all like the generic sweet scents on the market despite the name. I love the strong, ozonic hit of benzoin and how it freshens and adds muskiness to the caramel. 

One spritz or two lasts me the whole work day through both hot, humid weather (commuting), as well as cold, dry air conditioning.

Definitely not a dessert/gourmand fragrance in my opinion. 

I don’t much like the body products though. I bought my bottle in a gift set which came with free lotion and body wash and I found them too overly sweet and headache-inducing for me. I’ll just stick with the perfume.

—-

8. Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector #01

Absolutely my favorite lip treatment in the world. It smells amazingly delicious, and feels great on the lips.

It also doubles as a lip gloss in a pinch.

—-

9. Nivea Creme

Oldies are goodies. I’ve used up 2 tins of this in just a few months. I use this on my super-dry elbows, shins, and heels, but it also works for my face in a pinch.

There aren’t many ingredients in this, which makes it quite gentle and soothing. (It may not work for everybody on the face though. If your skin is very congested and oily, avoid this as it doesn’t work for everyone.

[Rumor has it Marilyn Monroe used this on her face, but there’s no way to verify how true it is. She was known to use Nivea lotion on her body, and cold cream or olive oil on her face, so there might have been a mixup.]

—-

10. MAC Well Dressed Blush

The softest, prettiest pink blush ever. This is the pink blush for Dummies because it’s SOOO hard to go wrong or over-apply with this.

It looks very pale, but it WILL show up on the cheeks when layered, and gives a gorgeous glowing pink tint. The gentle true-pink also looks great regardless of what colors you are wearing on the rest of the face.