It’s taken me a while but I finally feel like I’ve got my makeup essentials tied down.
In the past, if you’d have asked me to pack my makeup for a weekend away, I’d have come armed with three different shadow palettes, about ten lipsticks and two foundations. These days, I’m way more streamlined and know exactly what I need to take me from day to night. Which is handy as I’m going away this weekend and can only take 10kg with me, meaning I need to cut as many corners as possible.
This trip I’ve reached for the only primer worth knowing about, Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, which gives my skin an extra glow before applying a light covering of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua. I love this foundation. It’s light enough to glide over the face easily but can be built up to cover any imperfections. It’s dreamy. At the moment I’m using a mix of Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer to cover my humungous eye bags and then Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage to hide the blemishes.
Now let’s talk brows. Until very recently I did nothing with my brows apart from pluck them. It took Soap & Glory’s Archery Pencil and a swipe of Maybelline Brow Drama in Transparent to make me realise that however subtle your application, it does make a big difference to face, allowing me to wear less on my eyes.
Speaking of eyes, it’d be rude if I didn’t pack my nearly-empty Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer, Naked Palette and Naked 24/7 Glide on Double Ended Pencil in Darkside and Blackheart. To smudge it all together I’ve got two Real Techniques Shading Brushes. I always curl my lashes with my beloved Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers followed by two to three layers of Lancôme’s Hypnôse Drama Mascara. Eyes done.
To add some colour to my cheeks I pop a dab of Butter London’s Cheeky Cream Blush in Pistol Pink on and blend in with my fingers. No makeup bag would be complete without a bold red lip and my current favourite is Lancôme’s Rouge in Love Lipcolour in 170N. It’s bright, moisturising and long lasting. What more could you want?
All of this fits nicely into my beautiful new Biba makeup bag, which my godmother got me for my birthday. And that’s it. Everything I could possibly need for a weekend seeing the sites of Cork, eating my weight in delicious food, sampling Guinness and dancing up a storm at a charity gala with two ladies I haven’t seen in a long time.