Recent Lipstick Wrap Up – Swatches, Reviews and a Whole Lotta Lip Stuff

I was waiting to post this until some gorgeous friends returned from the US with a lipstick delivery for me – Mac’s Colour Rocker collection was going to fall into my hands, and we all knew it was inevitable. While I talk about those new arrivals, I figured it was also a great time to discuss some other brand new (and less brand new stuff): new additions to the excellent Sephora Cream Lip Stain collection, the Smashbox Always On liquid lipsticks and Winky Lux lipsticks that just launched at Mecca, Rimmel’s matte iterations of their Only One lipsticks and the Sugarpill liquid lipsticks that I’ve had since returning from the US and have so much to say about but have yet to form thoughts into some semblance of coherency.

Here are the swatches! There’s a certain colour palette evident in them that gives you a nice idea of what I’ve been gravitating towards recently.

L-R: MAC Yash, MAC Show and Teal, MAC Deep with Envy, Rimmel 750 Look Who’s Talking, Rimmel 500 Take the Stage, Winky Lux Mermaid — Sugarpill Trinket, Sugarpill Pumpkin Spice, Sephora 17 Dark Red, Sephora 29 Dark Forest, Smashbox Out Loud

Bullets, then liquids. With my hair newly dyed, a lot more green in it, I’ve been gravitating towards dark teal and emerald shades. I’ve also been going for no makeup more often on my days off, when I’ll tend to just do a red lip or a neutral tone. I was also on a quest for the perfect burnt orange, which I think I’ve found.

Bullet Lipsticks

Mac Yash (Permanent, top left) – Despite owning a frankly preposterous amount of lipsticks, it might shock you to know that I do not think that there are really…any real nudes in the bunch. There are a lot of brown-neutrals, which tend to be what I reach for in place of nudes, but they tend to be too strong and have too prominent tones on the odd occasion I want to play with a dark eye. I love the Mac matte formula, and looking at lots of swatches on lots of skintones, I decided that Yash was what I was looking for. It’s glorious, and just a notch past corpsey. I definitely won’t wear this on my palest and sickliest of days – the days where Crohn’s has ripped all of my life force out of me – but it’s something I feel like was actually missing from my extensive and ridiculous collection.

Mac Show and Teal (Limited edition, top right) – As far as teals go, I probably own more than one person should. There’s something lovely about this one – it teeters between a true teal and a sky blue. I didn’t have problems with opacity or adherence to my lips, but I did find it quite slippery for a Mac matte. This will be fairly high maintenance, because of that slip combined with the unforgiving colour. It’s the things we do for weirdness.

Mac Deep with Envy (Limited edition, middle left) – This colour makes me froth with glee. Just thinking about it excites me. It is definitely drier than Show and Teal or Yash, shows through a little more of the lip, takes a bit more layering…the payoff is that it lasts really nicely for such a wacky colour. With good lip prep, ensuring that my lips aren’t stained, it’s perfect. Just that colour, straddling the line between teal and forest green, almost with some blackness to it.

Rimmel The Only One Matte lipstick in 750 Look Who’s Talking (Permanent, middle right) – Speaking of the brown toned neutrals I tend to reach for instead of nudes, here’s one! I used my priceline voucher this quarter to try out this new branch of Rimmel lipsticks, but I wasn’t worried: the Kate Moss matte lipsticks are some of the best matte lipsticks at affordable pricing. These still have that typical Rimmel lipstick smell, but the formula is excellent – smooth and opaque, great lasting power, intensely comfortable. Not as matte as a Mac matte, but definitely something. I actually like these flat angled bullet shapes. Provided you’ve got fairly full lips, they allow for quite easy application.

Rimmel The Only One Matte lipstick in 500 Take the Stage (Permanent, bottom left) – I didn’t at all need another red lipstick. Particularly one like this, that is quite pink toned and shares a lot of DNA with lipsticks like Ruby Woo and all of its leagues of imitators. I absolutely have no need for this, but it is a completely practical lipstick for the everyday consumer, and I would definitely recommend this or one of the Maybelline Mattes as a nice staple that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Winky Lux Matte Lip Velour in Mermaid (Permanent, bottom right) – Let’s all stop and take a moment to acknowledge that this is absolutely not a matte lipstick. Lies and slander, Winky Lux. It is, however, a gorgeous colour. It’s Show and Teal and Deep with Envy had a baby in a cream finish. I’ll forever find justifications for different shades of teal. It’s dark but not gothic, and it’s kind of a nice change to have some dimension.

Matte Liquid Lipsticks

Sugarpill Liquid Lip Color in Trinket (Permanent, top left just after initial application; top right after slight rubbing with finger to show gold glitter) – You’d think “Trinket is way too neutral for Sara” but you’d be wrong. I fell in love with this lipstick the moment I saw it on a gorgeous waitress in a seedy sports bar in Honolulu. We talked about it for fifteen solid minutes, she let me swatch it, and it was love. It’s mostly the way it transforms as it wears that bewitches me. It starts neutral-with-a-twist and gradually gets more and more golden, which is why I put two swatches there. It wears beautifully, but I do wish the colour to the base was a little stronger so that the colour didn’t lose itself to the micro glitter over time.

Sugarpill Liquid Lip Color in Pumpkin Spice (Limited edition, middle left) – I caved to all of the beautiful photos of this lipstick, despite knowing that gold is not really my colour. Sadly, this colour did what I dreaded it would do, and went on a bit sheerer than it looked like it would. It’s a lot more liquid than Trinket, and somehow the orange tones don’t transfer as much so it’s more neutral gold than pumpkin. Talking pumpkin, the pumpkin spice scent is heavy – if you’re sensitive on the lips, the cinnamon in this is definitely irritating on delicate sorts. With the metallic finish, it also wears away a lot faster than Trinket.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 17 Dark Red (Permanent, middle right) – It looks like the collection expansion that came to Australia is different to the shade expansion that the US got. It’s a bummer in that the more fun shades, other than the black, haven’t reached Australian shores, but on the bright side – different shades to explore that don’t seem to be around in the states. This dark red shade is not that dark, but it’s darker than 01 Always Red (the best red liquid lipstick about), which makes it perfect for me. Like the rest of the lipsticks in this formula, sans the few weird ones in the original collection, it’s opaque and comfortable and wears spectacularly and smells like cake. It’s become a new everyday colour for me.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in 29 Dark Forest (Permanent, bottom left) – Very much the liquid lipstick version of Deep with Envy, so my platonic ideal of a lipstick. Great formula, obviously takes a tiny bit more work because the colour is so bold, and wears away a little more quickly.

Smashbox Always On Liquid Lipstick in Out Loud (Permanent, bottom right) – I had heard such great things about this formula but the brown shade, True Grit, underwhelmed me and got a little flaky. With my recent gravitation towards anything burnt orange, I was excited that these finally hit Australian shelves and I got to put a Mecca voucher I had towards trying out what I’ve seen to be the standout shade from the range. Thankfully, this is incredibly comfortable – it feels like one of the Sephora brand ones on the lips. I’m not hugely into the giant triangle applicator, which makes it harder to get a clean application quickly. This wears wonderfully. It’s a great liquid lipstick.

Look, I know I have too much lipstick. You don’t have to tell me that.

 

Bite Sized Five – Things I bought abroad

Obviously, I bought a lot of things in the USA. I did elaborate on some of my thoughts on the products in that gargantuan post, but I’ve been using some of the products for longer and with greater frequency, and a lot of thoughts have really had a chance to form about some things. A couple of the products here have been in my daily rotation, and others are super buzz-worthy at the moment, so it felt like as good a time as any to bring back the Bite Sized Five.

Milk Makeup Tattoo Stamp (Star) – This feels like such an obvious novelty product that it must exist already (and a quick google tells me AliExpress has them in spades), but for someone who likes to do graphic liner and has arthritis induced unsteady wrists, I appreciate the ease of eyeliner stamps. I’ve expressed my feelings on Milk’s gimmicky deal and Cool Girl aspirations before, but I’ve drawn stars with liquid liner before, and it’s downright irritating. As to the formula of this, it’s great as a stamp, but I would hate it as a felt tip because it’s hell to remove. Getting this off takes bioderma, an oil and some more bioderma. It stains blue. It’s great for specific looks and special occasions, but wow.

Sunday Riley Good Genes – While I was in America, my skin was utter trash. I’m putting it down to travel and disruption to my usual routine, mostly. That said, my skin is now the literal best it has ever been. I have about one pimple going on and this has never happened. Is it the return to routine? Back to the BHA exfoliation? Probably. I’ve also started using Good Genes every night. That, and cleansing with a Foreo. The only actual changes. I don’t know whether this Sunday Riley product has anything to do with how fantastic my skin looks and feels right now, but I’m too hooked on my skin looking good to change anything. Feeling it. It doesn’t smell great, but it feels nice and it’s gentle and it doesn’t break me out.

Mac Extra Dimension Skin Finish in Soft Frost – I love highlights that aren’t super glittery and have something a little different about them, and Soft Frost fits the bill pretty perfectly. It is ridiculously expensive – though fairly priced against the US, unlike a lot of MAC products – but it is giant, and it has that really lovely pink/blue shiftiness. I appreciate the lack of large physical glitters because when you have a shift like that, I don’t think you need all that extra highlighting of skin texture or flashiness. I also like that I can layer this over a cream product (which I’ll mention below) or even just build it vs. diffused application with my Smashbox fan brush to really decide how dramatic I want it to be. This was a splurge purchase, but it’s not one I regret.

Milk Makeup Holographic Highlighter – I don’t like cream cheek products. I knew this was a gimmick – that’s Milk’s whole thing. I know that “holographic” is a buzzword and I resent it and I hate that this was sold out everywhere and I had to snatch this up as the last thing on a display. I hate that it’s a product that works best over bare skin. And yet – on a bare skin day, slicking this on and looking vaguely alien? It’s all base, little shift, but it’s so very cool. I hate it, but I love it. Hard to get precision, and of course it will shift around anything you use beneath it, and it blends away to nothing if you properly blend at it, but when you just swipe it on and pat it with your fingers? Such a strong look. Dust some Soft Frost over the top and you too can be a fairy goddess.

Foreo Luna Play – Now it is absolutely not necessary to spend buckets of money on a device with which to wash your face. I am terrified of the Clarisonic, which looks genuinely painful to me (she of delicate, sensitive skin and easily broken capillaries), but I was intrigued by the Foreo and its more-than-passing-similarity to a vibrator. Indeed, it feels really nice to cleanse with, but it won’t foam anything up – it’s more like a soft exfoliation, which is great when manual exfoliation is too much for you a lot of the time. This one doesn’t recharge, which is irritating, because the size is super convenient and I appreciate how sanitary it is (a major turnoff with the Clarisonic, for me), so I doubt I’ll be rushing to repurchase it. That said, my skin is – as I mentioned – looking and feeling fantastic right now. I’d be hugely shocked if this happened to have anything to do with it, but if it did, it’s an investment I’d be willing to make. I cannot believe I’m washing my face with what is essentially a vibrator.

That’s five of them, but I’ll continue using stuff and talking about it. I’ve definitely got some feelings on some products I’ve been reaching for.

 

Recent Lipstick Wrap-Up

With the amount of lipsticks I acquire, pass on, etc, writing individual reviews on them seemed like a bit of an overwhelming concept. Rather than going back and talking about these lipsticks one by one, I thought I’d pull them all and compile a post where I go into the details of each of the new lip products I’ve added to my collection over the last month. I am excluding products received in subscriptions, because both the bullshit jelly lipstick and the not-my-colour Face of Australia lipstick have passed in and out of my collection in record time.

Most of the lipsticks I’ve picked up recently have been new releases to the Australian market (Mac, Urban Decay, Makeup Forever). One was a replacement (the Body Shop lip liner). The other three were 3am purchases while on endone in hospital (Pretty Zombie Cosmetics). Were those good decisions? How do they look? How do they fare on the lips? Those details and more and things I feel confident sharing now I’ve given them all a good go.

I’ve been on a bit of a traditional bullet lipstick kick. It has a lot to do with those being a lot of new launches, but also the ease of reapplication. I still reach for liquid lipsticks constantly, but bullets have been catching my interest. Swatches of those bullets:

From left to right, Urban Decay Vice Lipsticks in Conspiracy and Psycho, Mac Lipsticks in Bowl Me Over and Midnight Troll, Makeup Forever Artist Rouge Lipstick in M401

And the liner/liquids –

L-r: The Body Shop Lip Definer in Hot Date, Pretty Zombie Cosmetics Liquid Lipsticks in Transylvania, Jupiter and Broomstick

I’ve included my classic low quality lip swatches, and I’ll talk about each lipstick one by one. I’ve got plenty to say about most of them.

Urban Decay Conspiracy is a described as a “plum bronze shimmer with a metallized finish” and I’d argue that not much of that plumminess comes through on the lips. The shimmer is a warmer copper but the brown beneath reads as neutral to me. I will say that it does swatch with the promised plum, but I’m glad I gave it a shot based on the Temptalia swatches – it’s gorgeous and brown on. As a metallized finish, I was glad that it didn’t feel gritty – the shimmer is smooth – but it’s not going to wear as long as a matte, and has an inherent slip to it. As such, it’s not one I find myself reaching for that often. It’s more of a statement lipstick with specific looks. It conveys a very specific aesthetic. Love, like, loathe? At the moment, I’d say I like this lipstick. It’s ok.

Urban Decay Psycho, my least favourite term for people with mental health problems or who act in any way that someone doesn’t approve of, is nonetheless a gorgeous lipstick and is described as a “bright rose with iridescent blue micro sparkle in a comfort matte formula“. I’d say it was closer to a magenta than a rose – surely there’s too much red to call this rose, but what do I know? The blue sparkle is surprisingly prominent, which was what made this lipstick stand out to me amongst the overwhelming launch. It has a good level of dimension on the lips, but from this distance has that same matte appearance that I enjoy, and it’s a cool balance. The comfort matte formula is nice and the wear time is decent. It doesn’t wear as well as some of the other lipsticks here (Bowl Me Over, M401), but it’s impressive for something with sparkle. My main issue is a little bit of grittiness on application, but it wasn’t perceptible on the lips. Love, like, loathe? Another one I’m not head over heels for. It’s a lipstick I like, and wear for the colour sometimes, but I don’t love it.

Mac Bowl Me Over is from the recent (ridiculous) It’s a Strike! collection, and is called a “deep burnt brown with a retro matte finish“. On other people I’ve seen, this reads red, but I’m true to the description and all about the brown with that little rusty redness beneath. It’s a retro matte, but it feels nicely creamy and still has the lasting power – it isn’t like a Ruby Woo retro matte that drags on the lips and feels like it’s going to crumble. As a retro matte, it will highlight any flakiness on the lips (and any staining – I some other lipstick staining going on), so make sure your lips are prepped. As ridiculous as the collection was – a bowling collaboration? really? – I’m pretty happy with this colour, and i completely understand why I felt so drawn to it. I have been wearing it a lot. It’s a happy medium between neutral and a little bit interesting. Sadly, it’s limited edition, but the colour feels dupeable if not in the same formula. I’m glad I didn’t have to pay $4 extra for fancy ridiculous bowling inspired packaging. Love, like, loathe? Love. I flat out love this lipstick. I hate myself for buying into the limited edition Mac hype machine, and this ridiculous collection, but this lipstick is amazing.

Mac Midnight Troll, a “rich blue in a matte finish“, comes in some of the tackiest packaging that has ever affronted my eyeballs and yet speaks directly to my soul. It appeals to some people’s nostalgia (I was never that big on troll dolls), but what really catches me is the fact that this is a rich blue lipstick in a neon orange tube. Do I hate the rubberized finish, a magnet for markings and dust? Absolutely. Did I begrudgingly hand over the full price? Of course. I had been ignoring Mac’s permanent navy offering, Matte Royal, on the grounds of its sub par formula and too-purple undertones, so this filled that gap of being exactly as blue as I wanted it to be. I, in spite of myself and full of grumblings at the cost, love the Mac matte formula, and this has decent wear time, opacity, and feels super comfortable on the lips, which are things that you don’t often see in the blue lipstick market – often it’s a trade off on some fronts. Some days I don’t feel like the full on, high maintenance avenue of a liquid lipstick, you know? I took this out of the packaging one night when I was chatting to two beautiful makeup artists and a silence fell. It’s stunning. Love, like, loathe? I’d say I really really like this. It’s borderline love. Not quite full-blown.

Makeup Forever Artist Rouge Lipstick in M401 is described on Temptalia as a “medium-dark red with neutral-to-cool undertones and a semi-matte finish” and while I agree with most of that, this is about as matte as as a bullet lipstick gets without feeling like Ruby Woo on the lips (aka crumbling and dry and making you want to cry). Mine is the Icona Pop edition, but I really just grabbed it because I was considering Urban Decay’s 714 as a matte red, and I wanted to try a different formula of bullet lipsticks because the Urban Decay ones had been all like and no love for me. I’m really glad I went for this one. It’s a pretty typical red, no two ways about it. Neutral cool is accurate, but I’d say medium-bright – it’s a very pin-up red. It’s very matte, wears well, and I love the pointed bullet because it makes application super easy. I would definitely consider getting more lipsticks in this formula, despite previously having no interest. Love, like, loathe? I really actually love this lipstick.

The Body Shop Lip Definer in Hot Date is a pretty standard lip liner colour – a deep berry pink with red tones (much more pinky red than the lipstick of the same name from The Body Shop) – but it’s the formula that’s appealing. I’ve tried a hell of a lot of lipsticks, but I love how pigmented most of these are, and how creamy they are without being the kind that break easily or get used up really quickly. They’re comfortable enough to wear alone, but have enough light waxiness to really grip the lips and stay in place. I haven’t quite finished my first pencil in this colour, but it’s a tiny little stub that I keep in my locker at work. I will say that the quality is not consistent from colour to colour, but the only ones that have let me down are the very light nude (Golden Syrup) and, for some reason, the pink (but it looks great on everyone else???). The rest are gorgeous and I wear them all the time, on days off and work days alike. Beech is another particular favourite because it’s the perfect slightly grey neutral, and Coral Blush is the perfect red toned coral. Love, like, loathe? I hate when I sound like an advert, but these are a body shop product that will definitely remain a staple no matter where I work because I love them, especially at the price they are – $15.95 is really great.

Pretty Zombie Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Transylvania is described as “dark purple” but, much to my delight, it’s got plenty of blue to it. I know a lot of people in the indie community are not cool with PZC thanks to their cribbing off of My Pretty Zombie’s name in order to tap into the popularity. In the hierarchy of brand sins, it’s not great, but I’d rather they had my money over someone like Jeffree Star. Everyone is problematic. The formula is one I have reviewed in the past on my old blog and it is one of my absolute favourite liquid lipstick formulas. It isn’t smudge proof, but it is hugely long wearing and incredibly comfortable and non-drying. Most of them (with the exception of one) are truly opaque. Everything about the formula rings true here. With such a dark colour, some work is required to keep it neat, but it’s beautiful. Love, like, loathe? Love it so, so much.

Pretty Zombie Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Jupiter is a “dark teal-green” and it’s beautiful. That’s basically all I have to say. The formula is consistent. It was the first colour that called out to my endone-addled brain. I adore it. Love, like, loathe? Love with my whole heart.

Pretty Zombie Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Broomstick is the “dark brown”, and the only one of the three that I was slightly underwhelmed by. That’s purely because of how dark this dark brown is – it’s difficult to tell this is even a brown, because it borders so heavily on black. I was kind of hoping for something truer to the website swatch. That said, it’s still a nice colour and really good for when I don’t want the full intensity of a black – it’s softer. The formula is again consistent with the others. Love, like, loathe? I like this one, and I like it a lot, but I don’t love it like the others.

Recent lipsticks, wrapped up and reviewed. This should probably recur, but I am planning on going slow this month. November/December I will be in the US, and it is likely to be a bit of a wild time for shopping and caving to rampant consumerism.. Send strength.

Posts like these do make me consider my role in consumer culture, but lipsticks are a thing that make me happy, and I buy them for myself. I wear them and enjoy them, and they are almost always very well thought out purchases. Bar those last three. It’s still important to call into play the role that society’s demands on women play in shaping my identity, and shaping that idea that I wear makeup “for myself” – I want to feel good, and I feel good in lipstick, but what are the reasons for that? It’s more complex than a simple “because it looks nice”. It’s a bunch of reinforcement and culture immersion and messages in media and patriarchal pressures. Beauty can be seen as a trivial thing, but it sits at the intersection of a lot of issues of race (regarding trends, colours, marketing), gender (to ridiculous extents) and sexuality (don’t even get me started on the heterosexuality of makeup). I just think it’s important to be mindful.

 

 

Basics of Bases – My Ride or Die Base Products

There is absolutely no reason for a post about bases, other than the fact that I’m super enthusiastic about a couple of things. Half of the lead up to the post was just debating whether or not to make the title a song reference – I decided “Totally addicted to base-s” was a little too on the nose. This isn’t an in-depth review, although I might come back and talk more about these products again later at greater length, but I wanted to give an overview on the products that have been my staples. Whether it’s been a couple of months or a couple of years, they’ve all wormed their way into my heart and I’ve formed pretty solid opinions on all of the products featured.

I’m a pimple-prone girl with bumpy mystery skin. In the summer, I get slick and sweaty, but right now I am normal to dry. I’ve got a lot of texture and redness and little bits of scarring and of course, the spots, so it’s pretty rare that I’ll leave the house without a concealer. I feel more comfortable, and more like myself. If I’m going out or feeling more energised, I’ll wear a foundation and powder, regardless of what I layer on top or beneath – that’s why these three categories were the ones that felt like the real essentials to me.

Concealers

Maybelline Superstay Better Skin Concealer (This photo is of the Medium shade, which I use if I am miraculously tan; generally I use the Light) – Maybelline get a lot of praise for their FitMe concealer, and for that weird one with the sponge applicator, but those ones have never done it for me. I like my concealer full coverage, and though this is the lightest of the three, it is still more than enough to make any breakouts look better. If you’re oily it will definitely need setting, but I like the liquid consistency for how easily it blends out and how little I need to use. Cheap and cheerful, wish there were more shades.

IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer (Medium) – I was wary of this concealer, because most of its devotees tend to be quite dry skinned, but thankfully this was a match made in heaven. The coverage is out of this world and it is rich and creamy, perfect for the under-eye area (but also usable with the excess around the face). It needs setting, non-negotiable, but you also only need to use the tiniest bit imaginable to get your skin looking flawless.

Mac Prolongwear Concealer (NC20) – I, like everyone else who has tried this concealer, loathe the packaging. The pump is ridiculous and will inevitably pump out more product than you need, because you need hardly anything to get good coverage. It also sets nicely, far less transfer prone than the IT cosmetics offering, so it’s actually good for the face and the under eyes (I tend not to mess with my under eyes unless I’ve had a really rough night). It’s always the coverage that does it for me, and how much product you get – there’s loads in here, and it packs a punch.

Foundations

Rimmel Matte BB Cream (Light) – It’s rare that I’ll go for lighter coverage base, and this is another one that you don’t hear a lot about online or in the beauty community. The reason I love it is because I love having the ease of a BB cream without the greasy,  gross, glowy finish most alphabet creams will give you. I know a lot of people love that, but it just highlights the textural issues with my skin, and I end up feeling gross. This one isn’t the longest wearing, but paired with some good concealer, I’ve got a super easy lightweight base that evens me out without feeling heavy or dull or flat. It definitely runs dark – when I am the lightest shade of the three available, there are some issues there at both ends of the scale.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation (Light Medium Neutral) – I’m about halfway through my second tube of this foundation, and while I no longer reach for it every single day – I’m more often satisfied with something softer – I still harbour my love for it. For textured skin, there’s something magical about the mousse formula in the way it smooths over the surface without highlighting the places where lumps and bumps lurk. I love the coverage it gives – medium to full, and definitely buildable – and how easy it is for me to make my skin look close to flawless with this foundation.

The Body Shop Fresh Nude Foundation (024 Hawaiian Macadamia) – When this foundation first launched, I was not a fan. I wasn’t used to seeing my skin without full coverage, and I didn’t like letting my skin be itself. As I’ve been wearing it every day to work for the past three months, I’ve developed a passionate love affair with it. This has become my most worn day-to-day, day off foundation. It’s light-medium coverage, nicely buildable, but what’s important to me is how nicely it wears. I can wear it for a twelve hour day, and as it wears down I’ll see a glow to my skin, but there isn’t patchiness or clinging. Instead, even oily gross me, just soft and fresh looking, and the coverage stays there, even if a few more things peek through than at the start of the day. It’s not the coverage I thought I wanted, but for something for everyday, it’s lovely.

Powder

The Body Shop All In One Face Base (05) – Basically, when I want something not totally matte, I go for either this or the Australis Fresh and Flawless powder (except the colour options in that are not great). I like the compact, because of ease of reapplication, and I like the natural finish, and it’s basically just simple and easy and done. I haven’t been going for matte finishing powder as often, because I find that it’s the biggest contributor to clinging around my dry patches/spots, so I’ve been reaching for this way more often to set.

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder (Sandstorm but I own most of them and see minimal difference) – If I am, perchance, feeling like I want to be matte, I am a cliche and go for the classic Stay Matte powder. I haven’t bought this is a long time, because I don’t reach for it like I used to – matte just isn’t as flattering as it used to be. The packaging is also, for what it’s worth, atrocious – this is the only one I have owned without a cracked lid. It’s still good stuff, and it’s cheap, and it does what it says it will do. I need to reapply it fairly frequently, but I know what to expect.

And now I have totally addicted to base stuck in my head. Great.