I want to share mine with you. I have experimented with many beauty products over the years and do not use one line, but bits and pieces from several different ones. My biggest complaint is when I find a product I love and it is discontinued. Wah... My sources are department stores, websites, online stores and Ebay. If you go the department store route, find an associate that you trust and stick with him or her.
For foundation, find a product that disappears into your skin. Blend, blend, blend is the key. I use my fingers, but a foundation brush or a sponge works well, too. I like a foundation that makes my skin look dewy, but not oily. I battled oily skin for many years and it is a fine line between dewy and oily for me. If necessary, I use Shisheido oil blotting tissues which absorb the surface oil, but leave the foundation in place.
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| a smudge of blush |
With blush, a product with pigment, but also that will blend with natural skin tone. No racing stripes please.
With eye cream or shadow, again pigment but blendability.
With eye pencils and liquid liners, a product that will define the eye and last the day. A trick that I use is to line the underneath of the upper eyelid. It adds depth to the eye and helps your lashes look lush.
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| mascara pigment for eyes |
Mascara and brow gel, no flaking please.
Then concealer. The older you are, the more to conceal. But again, it has to blend into the skin. No raccoon eyes.
My final face product is one I've used for a very long time, YSL Touche Éclat. Yes, it's expensive, but it's worth every penny. I have tried others and the results are not the same. I use it above the eyebrows, below the concealer and around the sides and base of the nose. It lightens and brightens.
Lips are always last and I change color often. But it's a three step process: lip liner, lipstick and lip gloss.
My current go-to combination is Chanel Nude lip pencil, Mac Can't Get Enough lipstick and Mac Oh Baby gloss. (Chanel has a new line of moisturizing lipsticks with pigment that I plan to explore.) With the three of them in place, I can chatter with students or customers for quite a while and still have lips.
Here's a list of the products I use:
Blush: Bobbi Brown cream blush, Bare Minerals Ready (powder)
Eye Cream: Laura Mercier Titanium (discontinued/current source is Ebay) but other colors are available. It does not crease in the crease (you understand) and lasts a long time.
Eye Pencil: Chanel or Lancome
Eye Liner: Dior Liquid liner (black), Bobbi Brown gel eyeliners (they stay all day)
Mascara: any of the Dior (I am using the electric blue right now!), Lancôme or Bobbi Brown Extreme Party (lasts through major meltdowns!)
Brow gel: I need one with color as it needs to cover some greys and also keep brows in place. I am currently using Dior brow gel in Brown. Others: Chanel (taupe), Lancôme
Concealer: Bobbi Brown concealer and powder
YSL Touche Éclat No. 1, no alternatives!
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| the ombre lip, great look, practice makes perfect |
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| love my lipstick pencils, lipsticks and glosses |
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| the elusive perfect finished look.... |
