I try not to be too over-the-top when it comes to saying "This [so-so] has changed my life and why you need to try this too!!!", because when I love something, I want to be truly honest about it, and what works for me may not be your ultimate holy grail-product. Still though, I can't help but express my love for products that have been a game-changer for me, beauty-wise. I always wonder how lost I would be without them! (Note: these are makeup-related, not skin or body care).
EYESHADOW PRIMER
Before getting my hands on my much-raved-about Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (Original), I brought tiny eyeshadow products and palettes with me to school and reapply every few hours with the teeny spongey brushes they came with. I was that clueless. I knew eyeshadow primer existed, but I couldn't justify spending $20 on the Urban Decay primer, even though the side-by-side photos of an eye-shadowed lid without primer AND with (the one without primer faded within hours, whereas the one with primer stayed put). Well, this baby is money well-spent. I buy larger palettes, and apply my eyeshadow with real brushes, and with this primer, my eyeshadow still stays on for the next 18+ hours. It's that amazing. I have a LORAC primer and other ones that I may have gotten from beauty subscription boxes, but I don't trust that they are as good as this.
TINTED MOISTURIZER/BB CREAM
Let's face it: summertime is coming, and it's too hot to be wearing your full-coverage foundation (unless you work in an air-conditioned building like I do). Or you're lazy or in a rush to go somewhere. You know how high-maintance foundation can be: you gotta do your skincare, wait a few minutes before your primer, and then let that sit for a few minutes, etc. That, my friends is why tinted moisturizers and BB creams exist. To give you enough coverage to slightly even out your skin tone but not completely. It's for those days where you want to embrace your little dots. It's so helpful that most of them have SPF too. My Neutrogena Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer has SPF 30, and I brought that with me to Hawaii last summer rather than my full-coverage foundations. I'm glad I did though, because it was humid as hell. There are some exceptions: I recently bought the IT Cosmetics CC Cream, and it has even MORE coverage than some of my higher-end foundations, yet it feels so lightweight that I forget I even wearing it (a review is coming soon).
HIGHLIGHT/CONTOUR
Okay, so this isn't exactly life-changing for most people...or I guess it could be because the highlight/contour is one of the defining trends of the 2010s, but to me it means so much more. When I got put back on a high dose of prednisone for my lupus in late 2013, my face puffed up big time. I felt so horrible about myself, and when you are on prednisone, you cannot do anything to stop the moon face or weight gain until your dosage goes lower. So I started watching videos on highlighting and contouring to at least learn to give off the illusion that my face wasn't all THAT poofy. The good news about prednisone is that the lower dose you go on, the more your face will go back to its normal state. I'm taking only 5 mg right now (compared to the 80 mg I was on in November 2013), so my face it's on its way to its normal state (I have naturally sunken in cheekbones), so I don't contour as much as I used to...I mean, I love to contour still! I just don't do it as much. My favorite contouring powder is The Balm Bahama Mama since it's matte and cool toned, and is dark enough for my skin tone. I love the extreme shimmer of BECCA Champagne Pop, though now I have been dying to try Opal.
COLOR CORRECTOR/CONCEALER
I don't wear concealer all that much for my face, but for my under eyes? Heck yeah that's where it's needed. But I have wasted so much time and money on concealers that weren't doing me any good. I kept wondering why the concealer under my eyes looked grey rather than brightened. It was only then when I realized I needed an orange-based color corrector, like the BECCA Backlight Colour Corrector (Peach) to cancel out the blue in the dark circles. And although everyone raves about the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, I felt like it didn't give me enough coverage for my dark circles, so now I use that for the dark spots around my face. Instead, I have been using IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer, which is much thicker and provides more coverage.
MAC FIX+ SPRAY
I don't know where I would be without this. I use this as a refresher when my makeup looks cakey or as a way to make my eyeshadows look foiled and wet. It feels so so refreshing too, especially during the summer!
TRANSLUCENT POWDER
I always worried that with translucent powder I would cake it on too much and that it would make my face look too matte (I have dry skin, I don't need a matte look on my face), and that it would show up in photos. But if you use the right technique and don't apply too much, it will make you (and your foundation) look flawless and natural. That is how I feel with the Translucent Setting Powder. When I apply my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, the setting powder decreases the appearance of my pores and dry spots.
What beauty products have changed your life for the better?
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