I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that today is one of those muggy and gross standard Spring days considering the gorgeously warm days that we have had as of late but I wasn’t put off by the weather and went for this kind of spring-summer/warm-weather transitional makeup look with not much colour and intensity going on the face or eyes and a kind of but not really sheer healthy pop of colour on the lips. When I set out to put my makeup on early this morning, I was determined not to write this post but rather put up a round-up of some recent acquisitions of mine but after using them in combination with some older standard loves, I couldn’t resist putting up a daily face post first. So, I’m warning you that there will be a lengthier post on a number of the products used here in the next little while. In other words, many of these products will be elaborated on in upcoming posts this week, if you’re curious about them.

FACE: Rimmel Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation in 103 True Ivory ($7-9 CDN), MUFE 5 Camoflage Cream Palette in 1 ($45  CDN), Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light to Medium Bisque ($30 CDN), MAC Harmony Powder Blush ($25 CDN), Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Ethereal Glow ($41 CDN)

EYES: Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded ($9 CDN), Dior 5 Coleurs Quint in Grege ($61 CDN), L’Oreal Lineur Intense in Carbon Black ($9-10 CDN), L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess Mascara ($10-11 CDN), MAC Coquette eyeshadow ($12/18 CDN)

LIPS: Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment in Cherry ($26 CDN)

There are two products used – not including brushes because I’m lazy – that I do not appear to have photographed but only one I did so purposefully. Because I keep my daily brow shade of choice, MAC Coquette out of the photograph and I completely forgot to photograph my eyeshadow base, the Maybelline Color Tattoo in Barely Branded but I assure you it was used, nevertheless.

The foundation is definitely a new one for me and not one that I expected picking up but after receiving a sample of the Rimmel foundation in a close-enough shade, I found that I quite liked the formula despite it’s mattifying claims and fulfilled the desire I had in the last little while to try a heavier-coverage foundation that’s not quite so glowy. All I can say is that the shade range sucks for darker skins and it runs differently than the Wake Me Up in terms of undertones; I’m wearing shade 4/6 despite my paleness if that’s an indicator… And it’s not that matte and drying as I expected but for me that’s a good thing, however I was tempted to go for a spray of the oft-neglected Nyx Dewy Finish Makeup Setting Spray. But it has impressed me considerably. I whipped out the concealer palette for just one last reminder of last week’s chin-jawline breakout situation and went for the hyped but rightfully-so Bobbi Brown Corrector underneath my eyes. For adding shape and colour, I went with a new stand-by and an older one — the new Hourglass Ethereal Glow and good ol’ MAC Harmony to add some subtle-but-effective shape and rosy glow to the face in the most undetectable way.

The eyes were first primed as they always are but then I filled in my brows standardly – I’m not sure why I do my brows before the rest of my makeup but somehow it’s become part of the routine as such. Other than the base, I made use of all of the shades of my recently-acquired and fabulous Dior Grege Quint on the eyes: the pigmented ivory shimmery shade went on the inner corners to brighten, the lighter taupe sheeny shade went on the lids, the warm brown satin-matte shade went into the crease as the perfect transition colour, the sheeny grey was buffed out into the crease from the outer corners and the deep chocolate brown satin shade was applied into the outer corners and lightly underneath the lashline. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the versatility of these shadows and you know by their amazing formula that never causes fallout and lasts for ages; Grege might look boring – and I may have previously passed it as such – but it’s one of those high-quality staples, I reckon, that contains both matte/satin and shimmery shades that fit into the neutral family. The mascara and liquid liner were both from L’Oreal, an old favourite and a new favourite, and I’m sure many of you can guess which is which. P.S. If you haven’t been successful, it will be clearer when my monthly favourites post comes up in the near future. Obviously there was a subtle kitten flick involved but it works for me and I’ve learned how to do it with minimal effort so it’s a win-win situation.

Although it’s almost a toss up between the lip and the gorgeous shadows, I have to say that the lip was the main part of this otherwise subdued neutral makeup look. I went for the hardly-sheer Fresh Cherry Lip Treatment to add that hint of colour to the lips that doesn’t look overdone in the least.

What are your thoughts on this “daily face”? What have you been reaching for as of late?

Maggie, x.

 

P.S. The blotchiness on my neck/chest in parts may or may not be due to the unfortunate interplay between eczema patches and a self-tanner attempt – there will be more on this pronto. And the title is sort of an oxymoron but I hope you’ll know what I mean…