The Makeup Bag: February 12th, 2021

The Makeup bag used February 6th – 12th, 2021

Good morning my darlings it is time once again to review all of the products I used on my face this week. As usual we will start with primer.

This week I again used the Clarins Instant Smooth Perfecting Touch primer and I have to say the photos do not do it justice. It was like magical pore eraser in a pretty red glass jar. I love this primer and A part of me really wants to keep it in the makeup bag until it is empty and then just replace it, however, I have other primers in my collection that I need to use.

So this coming week I will return it to my dressing table and take out another primer. Actually because it reminds me so much of the Pore Professional Pearl Primer, I might take my last remaining sample of that out of the dressing table and use it so that I can get a comparison.

Bare face on the left, just primer on the right.

Plus I think the sample has been in my dressing table long enough. It is unopened but I know it won’t keep forever and as I am not planning on traveling anytime soon, keeping it for travel is sort of pointless.

For Foundation this week I went with the Laura Geller Quench ‘n Tint hydrating foundation. It is hydrating and it is a really good light to medium coverage foundation that feels like a moisturizer when you apply it. You can read my full review here, but the result is that I liked wearing it now but have reservations about summer wear.

If my skin were dryer I think I could get away with year round use, but I think in the summer it would be too hydrating for my skin.

Just primer on the left, primer and foundation on the right

It was also a light enough formula that I needed to use my concealer on my cheek scar and this week’s concealer was the Trestique Conceal, cover and correct crayon. Because of it’s shape and formula it worked well on my cheeks. It is too stiff to use under my eyes though as I feel it pulls at the skin a little too much. I love it for spot correcting though as it covers blemishes well and blends in with any foundation I have tried it with.

My bronzer this week was from elf. It has been a while since I used this bronzer and I forgot how pigmented it was. The first day this week I used this my skin went from winter pale to summer bronzed as I tried to blend it out instead of having an intense bronze on. I really like the elf formula because it is very blendable, but it is necessary to remember that it is also highly pigmented and needs a light hand when applying.

My bareMinerals blush I absolutely loved this week. You can read the full review here but in short, the color was fantastic, the bendability was wonderful, the soft focus look was excellent and I really liked the feel of the product on my fingertips. This is a blush that you apply with your fingers and I have to say I really enjoyed using it and once this sample is used up I will be purchasing the full sized version. So you will see this blush a lot as I work through it.

My highlighter was a sample sized pan from Wander Beauty. It is the Wanderess Glow in After Hours and I have to say it was a beautiful highlighter. It is a sort of silvery pink and blends really well into the skin. I like that I can make it bright or subtle depending on my blending The color as good and the formula worked well for me. It is a big pan and even though it is a sample size, I suspect it will last quite a while. For me highlighters tend to last a really long time since I use so little of them. I have always preferred my highlight in small doses and to provide a subtle glow rather than a blinding light. While I could do something blinding with this, I like that I can go for a soft glow instead.

I had two powders this week one pressed and one loose. The pressed powder was the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores pressed powder. It is a sample sized. It is also beginning to show pan. While I will be keeping this powder in my makeup bag until it runs out I suspect that will be another week at best as it is very thin indeed at the moment. Once it is gone however, I will be replacing it with something else. I enjoy using it, but I will not be purchasing a full size once the pan is empty. It is a fine product, but I have others I currently prefer.

My loose powder this week was the Kristofer Buckle Translucent setting powder. It is a very finely milled powder that sits well on the skin and doesn’t cause flash back from cameras. I really like using it. The only thing you have to watch out with this powder is the fact that since it is so finely milled, when you open the inner lid, you can sometimes get a small cloud of powder. It isn’t much, just a small puff that spots your hand, but it is something to be aware of. I just run my powder brush over my hand before dipping into the powder itself and there is no waste. Just be aware so that you don’t breathe it in and you will be fine. It is a lovely setting powder and I am really glad I picked it up.

Actually it wasn’t a deliberate purchase. Kristofer Buckle has these Kits and as I adore the formula for their Cashmere slip Lipstick I wanted to try some of the other products on offer and ended up purchasing the kit so I could. It was a fantastic investment as I have used every item in the kit repeatedly, and some, like the mascara, I have already had to reorder. This powder is one of the things I will be reordering once it runs out. Currently they are having a sale on this powder (among other things on the site). Normally it is $24 but currently it is on sale for $18 and there is free shipping.

I skipped the eyeliner this week, but my brow pencil was from Il Makiage. It worked really well and has a fine enough point to it that it went exactly where I wanted it to go. I really enjoyed using it. The shade I used was in Truffles and it suited my eyebrow color perfectly. The product was soft enough so that I didn’t feel like I was scratching my brows with a pencil, but it was soft enough to leave product behind easily. It was one of the better brow pencils I’ve tried.

The simple two color eye look I wore most of the week

For my eyeshadow I reached for my trusty Ciate London. It was the nine pan The Trend Edit that I used this week. The link will take you to the full review if you are interested. This week I kept things pretty tame and went mostly with the brown shade Burnt on the lid and the shimmer baby towards the inner lid to lighten it up a bit.

I love the other colors in the palette, but quite frankly this was a simple easy look that took no thought on mornings when I was rushed. The colors don’t have a really wide range to them, but if you are looking for a good everyday palette you can wear to work and then use to brighten up the shine before heading to happy hour, this is a palette you might want to look into.

And at the moment Ciate is having a sale, The Love Sale, actually. Some of their items are up to 50% off. As I have quite the collection of Ciate London Products there are many I can recommend. They are good quality. And for those of you who love the Muppets, their Miss Piggy Collection is also on sale. There is a good possibility the Miss Piggy Mirror will soon be mine.

My mascara this week was brand new, not just to me, but in general. I had to run out to Target and as I hadn’t been out of the house in a while, I took my time. Thee on the end cap was the new Big Poppa mascara from Wet ‘n Wild. I know I have other mascaras that are waiting unopened and ready for their turn to be used, but I couldn’t resist. I think it is the fact that the mascara is wearing a crown. I couldn’t leave the crown waiting in the wings. While the crown is a nice decorative touch, I did find that the ridges of the crown actually let me grip the wand more comfortably and securely. So it is a functional design as well. The wand is straight, relatively short and bushy with an hourglass shape to it.

No mascara on the left and mascara on in the righthand photo

It made for a surprisingly effective application actually. I really liked the way my lashes looked. They were lifted and lengthened. It was quite dramatic actually. I liked that the mascara stayed on all day without flaking on me. It is actually a really good mascara. I was very impressed. I don’t know why I am so surprised because Wet ‘n Wild’s new releases lately have all been fantastic. At this point I have tried new releases of their tinted moisturizer, eyeshadow, lipstick and now the Big Poppa Mascara. All have been absolutely fantastic.

I can’t really say the same for the Jules Smith Beauty Lip gloss. It is glossy and I do like the color, but it is sticky and even after the color and shine have worn off, my lips felt strangely waxy. It was actually a strange feeling. It felt like a heavy, waxy lip balm, but when wiped off my lips felt a little dry instead of nourished. It was odd. Luckily, this is a sample size and there is very little in the sample after a week of use. I may keep it out to use up, because I really do like the tint of color, however formula trumps color and this is not a formula I will be purchasing in a full size.

I have to say the same thing about the Lise Watier Magnifix Setting Spray. I like the thought of the healthy setting spray and I like the scent, which made me initially like the spray. I also used it right after using a very paint smelling setting spray so i think it got bonus points for that. It is a very wet setting spray that often leaves spots in my powder. The more I use it, the less I actually like it. I just dislike having to touch up wet spots it leaves behind. It gets a little old. The bottle is halfway empty and I think I will use it up, but once it journeys to the empty bin it will not be repurchased.

And that my darlings was the good, the bad and the fabulous of this week’s makeup bag. Tune in next week to see what new products are lurking in the soon to be refilled bag.

The Makeup Bag: January 15th, 2021

The Makeup Bag used January 9th – 15th, 2021

Welcome my darlings once again to the weekly makeup bag. It was an interesting mix of products this week. Some are tried and true favorites while others were first time uses. The tarte Maracuja tinted Hydrator was a new use product. The link will take you to the full review. It was only a sample because I wanted to see how I felt about the product before committing to the full size. I absolutely loved the way it performed this week and have added the tinted tarte to my future purchases list.

As it was a moisturizer the tarte tinted moisturizer was, well, moisturizing. Unfortunately so was my primer. This week I had a new Studio Makeup Silk Hydration Face Primer in my bag to try. It is very hydrating. So much so that I really couldn’t wear it with my chosen foundation product this week without being far too overly hydrated. I had to call in my e.l.f. poreless putty primer instead. It is a tried and true and it was easy to press it into service again this week when I was overly hydrated.

I think that the Studio Makeup primer may be good under a foundation that is especially drying, but it was a bit too much hydration with an already hydrating skin tint. I may set it aside to try at a time when I do have a more drying foundation rather than pass judgment on it now.

The Julep Cushion complexion was added to my makeup bag as my concealer of the week and it did a great job as always. It covered and didn’t crease throughout the day. It is kind of fun that it is a cushion applicator though. I really don’t like the cushion applicators.

Concealer and yes I realize I am getting the superman curl on the center of my forehead, although not being a superhero, it doesn’t quite curl automatically.

There is no real reason I can point to but I just don’t care for them. However the formula of my two favorite concealers both have the sponge top applicators rather than wands. My two favorites are the Julep that I used this week and the Revolution Fast base concealer in case you were wondering. Both have those soft cushion tops. So clearly I don’t mind the applicator enough not to use the product. The Julep concealer is a really good formula so I use it. Pretty simple really.

My bronzer this week was an Anastasia Beverly Hills Bronzer that I picked up and then forgot I owned. I don’t actually recall using it before now even though I must have purchased it sometime before. I Think because it is a small dark compact and it was placed towards the back of the drawer it got lost in the shadows. So I am going to call it a new to me product. It is a highly pigmented bronzer and quite frankly may be a little dark for me at this time of year.

You may notice I appear a bit overly bronzed in these pictures. The day I took them I went a little too heavy handed with the bronzer. I actually liked the way the bronzer performed, however I think it may be more of a summertime use product for me. Even though it looks to be the same shade as many of my other bronzers, because it is so highly pigmented, it comes across darker on the skin.

As this is my only ABH Bronzer, I’m not sure if that is standard or not but I think I might pick up a shade lighter than what I want and see how that works out. As this one looks like the shade I want in the pan but is too dark, perhaps a shade too light will be just right. At least that is my current theory. I’ll have to see how it plays out in practice.

My blush this week was one of my recurring favorites. I used the Benefit Cosmetics Gold Rush Blush. On top of the highly pigmented bronzer it almost disappeared. However in general I really like this blush. It isn’t as sparkly now that the overspray is gone and it is just a nice blush with gold undertones that really suits my skin tones. I really like that it is buildable rather than highly pigmented. Buildable blushes keep me from inadvertently creating clown face. I can not be trusted with highly pigmented blushes. This buildable formula is one I reach for a lot, which is why it has a deepening divot in the center of the pan.

For highlighter this week I went with Ofra’s Blissful. I am a big fan of this one. It has the rose gold undertones that make the highlighter look pink on the fingertip, but blends in to a soft warmth on my skin. I prefer the warm glow to the bright spotlight. It is an Ofra Highlighter so it is quite pigmented but because of the tones it is easily blended into something more subtle. And in case you are wondering, yes I do apply my highlighter with my fingertips. I haven’t found a brush that applies the highlighter quite the way I like it. I should probably experiment more with brushes and highlighter but to be honest I generally don’t think of it until after I’ve used my finger to apply it.

Swatches: Blissful Highlight top, Caramel Lip Middle and Infuse Lip bottom, both lips by BITE BEAUTY

I did pull two powders this week, one loose and one pressed. The loose powder was the Smashbox photo finish fresh setting powder and to be honest, I didn’t actually use it this week. It has a tint to the powder that is normally very nice, however with the extra dark bronzer this week, I ended up feeling like it was too much, so I just used the pressed powder on my face this week.

The pressed powder I used this week was a samples size of the Bye Bye Pores Pressed by It Cosmetics. It came in an Ipsy bag and this was my first time using it. I like that the pan size of the sample made it easy to get my brush into it. It is a nice powder. It worked well and it did help lighten up my aggressive bronzing a little bit. I can’t say that it gave me an airbrushed finish.

It worked like any other powder. To be honest it was okay but not likely to make my favorites list. The No 7 pressed powder is what I compare powders to and if I had to choose between them it would be an easy choice to go with the No. 7 Perfect light instead of the It Cosmetics. This is going to be one of those samples that I will use and then not replace once it is gone.

My eyeshadow palette this week was from Complex Culture. The link will take you to the full review. While it looks like a color scheme I would wholeheartedly embrace, I did not care for how it performed. It is beautiful, but it just didn’t work for me. In the photo below you can see some of the fall out. The glittery descent got worse as the day went on. I was not a fan.

The shadow fall out was a big issue, especially with the shimmers

My brow pencil this week was from Il Makiage. And yes I did use a brow pencil this week. This pencil is a little stiff and the color comes off a little cool toned for me. I’ll still use it, but it is not my favorite formula of brow pencil. It is actually one of the few Il Makiage products I don’t like. And when it runs out, I will not be replacing it.

So let’s talk eyeliner. I know recently I haven’t been wearing a lot of eyeliner. This week I had a fun one to play with though. It was the Stamp and Drag from Ciate London. (at the moment it is on sale actually. Ciate London is having a pretty big sale with loads of products 40% off it is well worth checking out.)

I have never been a really big winged eyeliner sort of person. I tend to do a little flick rather than an actual wing, when I bother at all. Part of that is my eye shape. I have slightly hooded lids and sometimes when I get crazy with the liner it is all you can see and it can make my eyes look too heavy.

This Ciate liner was fun to play with. I won’t lie, at first I made a mess with it. Let me explain. The stamp and drag eyeliner is a dual ended liner. One end is a pen style liner and the other is a stamp used to create a wing. Pretty straight forward. When you stamp the liner you need to make sure you put it in the right place, because it is staying where you put it. I’d suggest practicing. There were a couple of days where at least one of my eyes had a strange double winged look to it because I stamped wrongly and tried to correct. I suggest using the stamp first and then going in with the liner so you can use the liner to fudge the lines a little but if you have to. The liner itself is with picking up even if you don’t play with the stamp. Although the stamp is fun.

The key to this liner my darlings is practice The liner itself is easy to use, the stamp placement though. It takes practice. By the end of the week, I had it more or less down and I didn’t look as lopsided as I did earlier in the week. The formula of the liner is really good on both sides of the liner. It is very pigmented black and it stayed in place all day with no smudging or fading. Give it a second to dry and it isn’t going anywhere the rest of the day. I was very impressed with the liner and thought the stamp was fun once I got the hang of it.

Because I used a black eyeliner this week I used my Milk Makeup gel liner. I have no idea what shade it is officially but it is a cream color, softer than a straight white liner and I used it in my water line. I find it helps keep my eyes from looking heavy when I have darker makeup on the lids when I line the water line in a lighter color like this. I put it to good use this week and as always I remembered how much I really like the gel formula of the Milk Makeup liners. They are long lasting , glide on easily and stay in place. It is a really good formula that doesn’t tug at the skin of the eye like a lot of pencil liners can do. I need to look into getting more shades of this actually. I just have so many black eyeliners that it doesn’t always occur to me to go eyeliner shopping (even if I am not buying black eyeliner)

For mascara this week I used the last of my Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir mascara. It is a sample size and alas it has given me it’s all. The Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir is one of my top five mascaras, possibly even number one actually. I love the formula which doesn’t flake or peel and I love the fat fluffy wand. This is not the first tube of this mascara I have taken down and it won’t be the last. However it is now empty and must make the journey to the empties bin. This is not goodbye, merely a parting until we meet again. Because oh yes my darlings, this Marc Jacobs mascara will definitely be repurchased.

No mascara on the left, Mascara applied in the picture on the right

For my lips this week I used a Bodyography lip liner. It isn’t my favorite formula as it is somewhat stiff and tends to dry the lips. However the shade Rosewood was perfect with my two Bite Beauty liquefied lips. To help with the Bodyography I hold it in my hand for a minute of so to let my body heat warm the product up. Once warm it glides on a lot more smoothly. It is a pencil though so it is always going to be a little stiff. If you take a breather to warm it up though it works so much better.

I used two Bite Beauty Liquid lipsticks this week. One was the lighter shade Caramel and the other was the darker shade Infuse. Both are from the Amuse Bouche line. The rosewood pencil shade works well outlining the lips for Infuse and under the Caramel shade I used it all over the lips to darken the lippie a bit more. It is just a bit too light a shade for me. It is an excellent formula though.

I originally planned to break the lipsticks out in their own post as I did with huda Beauty, but when I went to look up details on the Bite Beauty website, I couldn’t find them. I really hope the Amuse Bouche line has not been discontinued, but I fear it might. At the moment the only place I could find the liquified lips was at Sephora (I’m not in any way affiliated with Sephora but the link will take you to their sales page) and they are listed at 75% off. Which does mean that you can pick up the remaining colores relatively inexpensively if you are interested. I love both the liquefied version and the more traditional lipstick formula from the line. I sent an e-mail to Bite Beauty’s customer service to find out more information, but have yet to hear back. I’ll let you know when I hear back, At the moment I am hoping they have not been discontinued as I really enjoy the formula.

What I ended up with (prior to fixing my hair)

And finally we land on the setting spray. I had plans to switch out my setting spray this week but found myself reaching for the Pore Professional Super Setter once again despite my intentions. It is currently my strongest setting spray and with the eyeshadow palette’s tendency to migrate I wanted as much staying power as I could get. Plus I just absolutely love the mister on this. It is a pump but it comes out like a light aerosol. It is just a fantastic product I really enjoy using.

And so that my darlings was this week’s makeup bag. We had some highs and some lows. I tested new to me products and trotted out old favorites. And I have to admit, I had a boatload of fun playing with the Ciate Stamp and Drag. It is a great product, but it was also just fun to play around with. But now the makeup bag must be emptied and items either returned to the dressing table or to the empties bin. And a new bag must be assembled for the upcoming week. Next week I have absolutely no meetings scheduled so it will just be me at my computer for the day. I’m not sure if I should go low makeup casual or pull out my brightest glittery eyeshadows to play with. Maybe I’ll pull a mix so I can decide each day whether I want to be low key or super glam. Either way it should be interesting.

As many of you may be aware, Monday is Martin Luther King Day and while it should be celebrated all on it’s own, MLK Day also brings sales. I already mentioned the Ciate London sale (which is technically a winter sale rather than an MLK one) where you can get 40% off a ton of products. But

Look Fantastic is also having a 25% off Sitewide + Up to Extra 10% with the Code EXTRA from now until January 19th, Plus there is up to 70% off clearance items.

Grande Cosmetics is also having a MLK Day 20% Off Sitewide With Code: TAKE20 that you might want to check out as well. I’ll post more throughout the day, but those are three sales that you might want to take a look into if you are stocking up or just looking for something new.