Holy Grail Makeup

So these are my absolute “must haves” in makeup! Grab coffee and prepare to be here a while,haha. I’ve had a few people beg me for recommendations so here ya go! So many of these products I found through being addicted to subscription boxes!

First up I’ll start with palettes. I went from last year in Jan…having NONE to a month later having 10. I was new to makeup and when you are new you want EVERYTHING….AND you will buy EVERYTHING if you can. I curbed myself as best I could. I started to finally realize that most palettes are either neutral or colors. How many neutral palettes do I personally need? One or two…three at best if it’s really special. Everyone needs one neutral and one color palette for sure! So here are my favs!

The Too Faced Chocolate Bar…original

Yes it smells like chocolate and YES that makes me smile every time I use it. Sometimes I just open it,smell it and stare at it.

This palette is a dream. It has everything I am looking for…mattes,shimmers,neutrals and a pop of color that goes great with my green eyes. The colors blend SO well and usually I don’t even use a primer with this baby! The colors will still last all day!

Photo courtesy of The Beauty Bee shows each color and its name. My palette looks like a hot mess. I use it SO often. I will cry when I hit pan on Marzipan,Amaretto and Creme Brulee…and I’m almost there.

Arm swatch using UD Primer Potion in Eden. Spot that looks bare is Strawberry Bon Bon.

There is only one color that doesn’t knock the socks off and that’s Strawberry Bon Bon. It’s sort of a weird choice in this palette and sticks out. It’s like the palest pink and for me it takes some GREAT primer to make it show up at all….and I’m pretty pale. I use it to blend out other shades.

*DROOLS*

I told you…I am obsessed. I actually got mine through HSN. As a new customer you get $20 off your first order so I used that to order this palette! The deal of a lifetime!

  Next up….color! My absolute favorite is Urban Decay’s Spectrum! Yes I’ve seen the new one and it is not for me! This one though is perfection!

Photo courtesy of Makeup And Beauty Blog.

I think every color in here is my favorite color. I even love Backlash and have used it. I never would have seen myself in a hot pink. Even though all of these are shimmery or shifty I really dig that there is a neutral row as well. Burn is GORGEOUS.

Finger swatches also with UD Primer Potion In Eden

*DIES*

It’s a magical unicorn. For the most part all these colors blend out evenly. I def suggest a primer under these. It really brings out the color,any shift or sparkle. A glitter glue will help against fallout if you find you have an issue there. I haven’t had any issues though with this palette.

Another trick is my next Holy Grail product. E.L.F.’s Makeup Mist And Set Mist. An inexpensive alternative to Mac’s Fix Plus. The photo on the right shows a brush swatch of each color and then a brush swatch using the E.L.F. It brings out shift,color and any sparkle. It’s fabulous and a steal at $2.99!!

Next up…primers! I don’t use all of these at once,haha. I use various ones on and off but my heart has settled upon these depending on my need for the day or what my skin is doing!

Stila One Step Correct,E.L.F Glitter Glue,Becca Backlight Priming Filter,Too Faced Hangover Primer,Too faced Shadow Insurance,Smashbox Photo Finish Primer.

• Stila’s One Step Correct is brilliant. It corrects so many of my issues in one step. The dullness,patchy spots and any redness are GONE! Sometimes I put this on after moisturizer and just skip my foundation!

•  E.L.F. Glitter Glue…works just like Too Faced Glitter Glue for me but costs $2 vs $20.00 I wore cheapo brand Dollar Tree silver loose shimmer pigments when I cosplayed as Quicksilver. I used this Glitter Glue to apply it and went to a Halloween party. It didn’t budge the whole night. It’s amazing. If you work with glitter or like shimmery shadow then you need this.

• Too Faced Hangover. Honestly…on days I feel like poo and my skin looks haggard AF. You know those days….ladies. It has this yummy coconut smell that immediately makes me feel better. It’s like the comfort food of primers It makes my skin feel great and plumps it back out. No more dullness and makeup lasts all day!

• Becca’s Backlight Priming Filter for days when I don’t need much correcting except for dullness. It gives my skin a fabulous glow. It really does blur out any imperfections as well!

• Too Faced Shadow Insurance…is my new favorite primer. UD Primer Potion was ok but I found the Too Faced held up better on my skin. Colors stay vibrant and it brings out all the shift and shimmers!

• AND Smashbox Photo Finish. Lamely enough or fittingly enough…anytime I am doing a photo shoot….this is on my face! It’s texture is velvet. And your makeup is not going to budge! Hands down …perfection.

For brows I have one go to guy. It Cosmetics Brow Power. Natural color and coverage that is buildable and doesn’t move. It’s a firmer twist up stick which I appreciate. I break soft things.

I got this in an Ipsy bag in the sample size and have been using the brand ever since.

Mascaras are a tie. I have long lashes so most everything works for me. A few months back my Glossy Box had a sample of Benefit’s Roller Lash in it. I was shocked at how great it was. The wand actually grabbed my lashes and curled them upward. No clumping and no flaking with this brand. It’s fantastical!

Both rock!

For Highlighter I go with Colour Pop. I’m obsessed. I own probably 8 of them currently. I am dying for Yummy Cookies from the Hello Kitty set BUT I saw it only comes in a set. Darn it! My first purchase from them was this one in Monster! It’s a pinky/purplish shade,super pretty. These are inexpensive and have an interesting texture.

Too Faced makes the cutest Blushes. I want to collect them all but I restrain myself. I have more now than I could use in a lifetime 🙂

Basically 4 colors in one. The lightest one also makes a really pretty highlight.

The Luxie Large Angled Rose Gold Angled Face Brush is my most beloved brush 🙂 I got this in my first Glossybox and it has made blushing and any contouring I’ve experimented with a breeze.

For eyeliner I usually always go with a wing. I’ve been doing that since middle school so I don’t typically have to use anything fancy to achieve it. Gel,cream,pencil,liquid is all the same to me. I will say if you have a hard time getting a precise line then use Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner. It will fix that issue! The Skone I have pictured here is very similar to that. If I don’t use the Skone Tattooed Liner then I use this E.L.F cream eyeliner with the E.L.F liner brush. An inexpensive combo.

For my face Clinique is working very well for me. I love the coverage level in this one. My Real Techniques makeup sponge can sheer it out some on days when I need less. Hard Candy’s concealer takes care of any issue and I also used it to cover my tattoos for certain jobs I’ve had!

I prefer the Real Techniques sponge to the BB!

I don’t wear lipstick all that often. The ones I have are all from subscription boxes! I have two shades that I do love and wear on occasion. Hikai in Merlot and Mellow in Nude. Both work well with my skin tone and don’t dry out my lips.

**I will also say that the hot pink you see in the photos on this blog is NYX Lip Suede in Pink Lust and the red is LASplash Lipgloss in Red Carpet made special for Glossy Box**

Pretties The nude is quite pinky,it’s perfect for my lips.

AND to take all of this off I use Fresh Soy Conditioning Eye Makeup Remover. I rub it on my eyes and basically it takes it all off in one swipe or two. For my face I go with Skyn Iceland’s Glacial Cleansing Cloths. They get everything off my face! On days when I wear a full face of primers and mascaras and such…that is very much-needed. It’s ok to laugh at the middle picture

I haven’t found a setting powder that I’m crazy about. I’m open to suggestions! I just finished using Maybelline’s Fit Me and went back to my cheaper E.L.F because it seemed to work better! I don’t do contouring much or bronzing. It tends to just make me look orange..life of a pale girl 

So that’s my list! What are some of yours! Are some of them on this list? Anything amazing that might change my world that I should try?

Everyone have a great weekend!

~Moonkitty