I apologize for the interruption in my regular posting schedule (erm that my posts have been lacking in frequency) but things have been crazy in the last few days and I’ve hardly mustered the energy to remove my makeup and wash my face when I’ve gotten home so posts weren’t really a possibility. I haven’t done one of these posts in a while so I thought I would share what I’m wearing, not that it’s groundbreakingly different or anything – but I did incorporate some cooler tones and I went for a darker shade on the lid that I’m used to.

FACE: Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + in 40, Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer in 125 Very Fair, Sonia Kashuk Undetectable Creme Bronzer in Warm Tan, Revlon Photoready Skin Lights in Pink Light, Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Natural Beauty,  MAC Coquette eyeshadow (brows) EYES: MAC Prolongwear Paint Pot in Layin’ Low, Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette (Strange, Nooner, Mugshot and Darkside), Annabelle Smoothliner in Brownie, L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess Mascara in Black LIPS: Maybelline ‘The Buffs’ Lipstick in Nude Lust

Lately I’ve tended to do my eye makeup before my face makeup because as much as I like the oh-so-popular palette in question, fallout seems to be inevitable. I’m loving my recently-acquired MAC Layin’ Low Paintpot because it primes in an instant and leaves a flattering warm brown tinge to the lids that can help to make other shades look a little more wearable – not that today’s shades need it though. The look is a little smokier on the lid than I typically go for but it was nice to break the habit – I put the silvery-taupe Mugshot over the lid. The much-loved pigmented Nooner was blended through the crease, the bizarrely ordinary Strange (misnomer) to highlight and brighten the inner corner and the unique grey Darkside to do what I always do, add definition in the outer corner of my large round eyes. I thought the whole smoky thing called for some smudgy liner so I went for Annabelle Brownie which is a fantastic deep chocolate liner that’s a steal and did the usual swipe or two and I shoved some of the impressive L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess on both sets of my lashes. I was too lazy to grab the palette it was in to photograph it, but obviously I filled in the brows with an angle brush and the magical (not exactly kidding) MAC Coquette. 

On the face, I’ve been feeling a more matte and fuller coverage theme, not because my skin is not acting its best (because it actually is behaving), but I’ve been feeling the more done-up (but not heavy-looking) skin. I grabbed my Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + which I have almost used up and if you’re curious this was my first Sephora purchase ever and this was my absolute favourite when I had more combination skin a few years back. I bought the shade in the summer when I have more colour and for some odd reason when I get darker, my yellow undertones become more apparent so I have to be quite careful with blending in this one not because it’s a bit dark, but rather it can look weirdly yellow in patches unless I blend it. Because I started off on this tangent, I figure I might as well continue with my thoughts on the foundation. It’s a velvety semi-matte finish that hardly highlights dry patches at all (impressive) and provides medium-buildable coverage that I have in fact been out in the rain for an hour in with my foundation still intact. I shouldn’t know this but this foundation lasts for about twenty hours without powder on me even when my skins a little on the oilier side (normal skin for you) and if applied in small amounts with some effort, it can look skinlike rather than mask-like. I felt like going for some cream bronzer to add some shape and added some glow back into my skin with the luminous Revlon Pink Light liquid highlighter on my cheekbones. Although the formula isn’t my favourite (but I will admit that its longevity is legendary), I’ve been loving the matte watermelon-pink Tarte Natural Beauty on my cheeks for that flushed look. For how scary it looks in the pan, it looks surprisingly natural on the cheeks…

Out of the Maybelline The Buffs collection, I had first had indifferent feelings towards Nude Lust, favouring the peachier-undertone of the paler nude but lately I’ve been enjoying this darker nude with beigier undertones. However, note that if you have ghastly looking lips like mine, applying too much can make you look dead and as much as I love the formula, they do highlight dry patches (I have them aplenty – questionable grammatical usage there for an english student…….) in case you were wondering. So before I write myself in to a coma and cause anyone reading this to die of boredom, I’ll stop going on and on. I’ve been enjoying this slightly smoky look lately with a nude lip – it seems appropriate for the weird season right now where it’s most definitely not spring but sometimes it actually can reach zero degrees on a good day.

What have you been wearing lately? Am I the only person it’s by no means spring for yet?

Maggie, x.