First up is the primers. Between each step of primers I let everything soak in until I touch my face and it doesn't feel wet or sticky (watching YouTube comes in handy here). The three steps to priming, for me, are an illuminising base, an all-over-face primer, then a pore filler for problematic areas. I like to use a pore filler last as I find the first two steps to a pretty good job of blurring my pores so I find I have to use less product in the third step.
For illuminising and brightening my complexion I love both the Australis Highlights in Gold, and Mac Strobe Cream. As you can see, the Australis is a gold highlight and the Mac is more of a white/silver colour, that when blended in just gives a lovely glow to the skin. You can use these either before foundation, mixed into the foundation, or the Australis one could even be used after foundation with a damp beauty blender on the high points of your cheek bones.
For the all-over face primers, I have been giving some serious love to my Innoxa Lift and Firm and the Smashbox Photo Finish primers in SPF20 (flesh toned one) and Colour Correcting Adjust (green one). I like to use the Innoxa one when my skin is feeling particularly dry as I find it really moisturising, the Smashbox SPF20 primer when I know I am going to be out in the sunlight for a while and want a bit of protection, and the Smashbox Colour Correcting one when my skin is a bit red that day. These all have different objectives in terms of what they want to achieve on your skin, and they all work really well on my skin and skin type (for reference is basically normal, slightly dry on some days).
Now to blur those pesky pores! I do this step after the first two because as I mentioned before, I find this way I don't use a lot of product which makes the tube last longer. On the left we have the new Australis Cya Later Pores and on the right is the famous Benefit Porefessional. As you can see by the funny little blobs on my hand they look pretty much the same, the only difference I can see if the Australis one is more yellow, and the Benefit more pink. Although when pushed into pore and blended you can't see any colour! I only just received the Australis one and want to use a bit longer, but for a first impression it is looking like quite a nice, and affordable, dupe to the Benefit Porefessional.
We are nearly finished, yay! For foundation lately I have been obsessed with the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25 hour Nude in 100 Ivory. This has done wonders for my skin and don't remember the last time in the past month I have used another foundation. As for the the little pot, that is a, now sadly used up, sample of Estee Lauder Double Wear. That stuff was also equally amazing, and is on my buy now list along with Nars Sheerglow which I also finished a sample of. I always use a damp beauty sponge to apply my foundation as I find that gives the most flawless finish without dislodging any of the hard priming work I just did! My favourite sponge at the moment is the yellow Chi Chi Cosmetics one, it has a flat end and a pointy end, similar to the Real Techniques sponge with the super long name.
As for concealer, these two should come as no surprise. The Maybelline Instant Age Rewind and Mac Prolong Wear are often spoke about in the beauty community. I don't have much to say here as concealer is pretty self explanatory and we all know how amazing these two products are. I use the pointy end of a beauty sponge to apply these in the classic triangle shape to give my face an instant face lift, and that is all.
To set the under eye area so it doesn't crease or budge during the day, I have loved the E.L.F High Definition Undereye Setting Powder. I have used this for a while now, but yesterday I received the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Book (swatches and review coming soon) and this morning, for the first time ever, I used their highly coveted 'Banana' powder for my under eyes...lets just say I understand the hype. I understand it big time. Something about the soft yellow balances my increasingly growing dark circles and camouflages them so well I can't describe it. A favourite for me already after one use and I don't know if I will use anything else under there ever again!
Last but not least is a setting powder for the rest of the face. I have clearly been giving a lot of love recently to my Rimmel Stay Matte powder in transparent (I hit pan *crying emoji*). I prefer a transparent or translucent setting powder over one that is pigmented as I feel at this point by base is pretty on point, and doesn't really need any more coverage, which is why I usually opt for this one or a loose translucent powder like the Face of Australia one. However, if I am using a lighter coverage foundation or BB cream I would go for something like the Hello Flawless powder from Benefit which has some pigment to it which does add extra coverage as well as setting all my hard work.
That is all for my favourite base products as of late. Coming soon will also be things like contouring and highlighting products and things like that, as I actually had a lot of fun writing this post! Just to re-iterate, this is just for a special occasion or night out, on a daily basis I usually pick one primer, a foundation, concealer and one powder. I may also do a day-to-day look at what I wear on my face, if anyone is interested?
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