This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rowan chapter.

If you’ve ever read any of my articles before, you’d know that I love love love makeup and beauty products! If you haven’t, check out my articles about Fenty Beauty, Freeman face masks, and mascaras.

So a little background into my experience with makeup. When I was in 7th grade, I decided I wanted to wear ~makeup~. I thought I was so cool for wearing lip gloss that wasn’t vanilla cupcake flavored Lip Smackers and some clear mascara. Woo hoo, right? A year later, my friends were all into eyeliner, so naturally that meant I was too. Thirteen year old me was ALLLLLL about the colored eyeliners in funky metallic colors or way too much black eyeliner. Truly, it was horrifying and needed to be stopped.

Someone must have snapped me out of my wannabe punk phase, because by high school my makeup was pretty normal and natural, nothing out of the ordinary. I honestly didn’t start to try out new makeup until my senior year, when I began to express interest in eyeshadow. Over the past few years, I’ve gone through a lot of different products and have started to find what works really well, at least for me. I wanted to share my favorites, so check them out below!

Urban Decay Naked Palettes – $54 each at Sephora

I have received Naked palettes 1, 2, and 3 all as presents over the years. I really love them more than any other palettes I have tried. Naked 1 is a lot of warm earthy colors, Naked 2 is a lot of neutral colors, Naked 3 is all pinks, and Naked Smoky (which I don’t have) is dark and smoky colors. Naked 3 is reallllly beautiful, but I definitely don’t use it as often because I don’t wear things it would work with. Still a gorgeous range of colors. Naked 1 is great, and my only complaints are 1) its dark shade Creed is weirdly hard to blend and 2) the case doesn’t have the same design as the rest of them. Naked 1 is a velvet case that has magnets to help it close, but the others have hard cases that snap shut. Still love it. By far, my favorite is Naked 2: full of awesome neutral shades (some of which are from the Naked 1). It is my go-to and I love almost every shade in it. You can’t really go wrong with any of the palettes, which offer good variety of matte, shimmer, satin, and sparkles. They have great pigment and blend well. Overall, I can’t recommend the Naked palettes enough; they’re amazing!!!

Urban Decay Primer Potion in “Minor Sin” – $22 at Sephora

This is perfectly paired with the Naked palettes I mentioned above, or any other eyeshadow actually. UD offers a few finishes for their eyeshadow primer, but Minor Sin is my favorite. It has a slightly rose-gold shimmery finish, which really makes your shadows pop and sparkle. If you don’t want the sparkle, there are also the shades Original (sheer), Eden (matte), Caffeine (matte brown), Freebase (opaque matte white), Sin (pale nude shimmer), and Anti-Aging. With this product, a little bit goes a longgggg way…which means it lasts forever.

Kylie Cosmetics Liquid Mattes – $17 at Kylie Cosmetics

Although I personally am not a huge fan of the Kardashian clan, I do really love Kylie’s lipsticks. Last year, I got her birthday set with the lip minis, which came with 6 mini liquid mattes. I discovered that I loved her formula, which dries matte, but doesn’t make my lips feel dried out. I’ve heard rumors that her formula is the same as Colourpop’s; I do own a lot from Colourpop as well, but they tend to make my lips so dry that they hurt. I haven’t experienced that with Kylie’s. The only lipstick that I got from Kylie was her limited edition shade Leo, which was 1) so dark for my pale skin and 2) has a streaky, thin formula. But my favorites are definitely Candy K, Koko K, Mary Jo, Kirsten, and Dancer. Candy K and Koko K are great for everyday wear, Mary Jo and Kirsten are gorgeous red shades that I adore for a bold look, and Dancer is a metallic cranberry that is super fun. You can buy kits of most shades that come with a matching lip liner, but personally it isn’t worth it to me because of the next item.

Sephora Universal Lip Liner – $10 at Sephora

I think lip liner is super important for making sure your lipstick doesn’t bleed/feather. I am personally not someone who wants to spend a lot of money on it though, so I don’t want to have to buy a lip liner to match each shade of lipstick I own. I discovered this cheap one from Sephora that is “universal”. It’s clear, so it works with any shade, but it still prevents feathering. I’ve used this for years and have no complaints.

Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Foundation – $34 at Sephora

I decided to check out all the hype about this foundation a few months ago and have been using it ever since. It is a soft matte finish and comes in 40 shades, so it is a super versatile product! I really love it and how it makes my skin look glowy. My only complaints are that 1) you need to make sure your skin is moisturized well or else it can make dry patches stick out a little more (but that happens with most foundations, TBH) and 2) I think if I have too much moisturizer underneath that I look greasy. Sometimes I have to touch this up with some powder foundation to keep from looking oily, but honestly I love this product too much to give it up! If you want a more in depth review of this, check out my article on it.

Elizabeth Mott Queen of the Fill – $15 on Amazon

My eyebrows have decent structure on their own and I frequently just let them do their thing, but I also love to fill them in, especially when I’m going all out on my makeup. I personally don’t like how Anastasia Beverly Hills’ pomade looks on me because it’s too heavy; I prefer my eyebrows to still look natural and be able to see the hairs in them. That’s why I go for tinted gels. I discovered this product in an Ipsy bag a few years ago and now I can’t go back. It’s buildable coverage, so you can make them as natural or filled in as you desire with it. In my experience, it doesn’t smudge easily and lasts all day. I love it and get it in the medium dark shade. PS- it’s also cruelty free!

Lancôme HYPNÔSE DRAMA – $27.50 at Sephora

This is definitely my favorite mascara, one that I reviewed in my mascara article. I got it as a sample a while back from Sephora, and now I haven’t been able to stay away from it — despite the hefty price tag. It is definitely thick, but it’s great if you use a little wand to brush out any clumps. I think this makes my lashes look so full and long that they could pass for fake lashes, and I’ve had plenty of people think so too. I must note that there is a sort of strong smell to it when you open the tube that I can’t put my finger on, but it doesn’t bother me and I don’t notice it once I’m wearing it. I highly recommend this mascara because I am truly in love with it.

L’Oréal Paris Voluminous False Fiber Lashes – $5.59 at Target

I’ll keep this short and sweet since this is another mascara I reviewed in the article I mentioned above, but this mascara has been a go-to for years. It has false fibers in it, which helps to lengthen your lashes. I find that it comes off really nicely when you take it off, but it can get a little dry/flaky. I use it for light makeup days or as a base coat under other mascaras. Plus it’s affordable, which is a major bonus.

Freeman Beauty Charcoal and Black Sugar Mask – $3.27 at Walmart

I’ve been a long time user of Freeman Beauty masks, and I’ve reviewed them before since Her Campus sent us some samples in our Back to School Survival Kit during the fall semester! I have really sensitive skin, so I struggle with finding products that don’t irritate it. My favorite is definitely this charcoal and black sugar scrub; I apply it when I’m in the shower and wait a few minutes before rinsing it off. It gives a gentle exfoliation, but the oils provide moisture. I love love love it. My second favorite is the Dead Sea Minerals mask, which is promoted as a “stress relief” mask.

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream – $12 at Sephora

This is what I use for my moisturizer when I am doing makeup (I use Cetaphil moisturizer at night). I buy the small bottle so it fits in my makeup bag easily, but it still lasts a while. I love the slightly thicker consistency since it is a cream, and it provides better moisture without making you look greasy. Great on sensitive skin too!

LUSH Cosmetics Lip Scrub – $9.95 at LUSH

I got the limited edition scrub “The Kiss” last year for Valentine’s Day (shout out to my boyfriend, you rock), and I still haven’t run out of it! This one is my favorite because it is sweet/salty and leaves your lips with a faint pink tint. It is great for scrubbing away dead skin on your lips or rejuvenating them after wearing matte lipsticks. This one in particular has tiny little red hearts in it too, which I have no idea what they do…but they’re cute so I like it. I recommend LUSH lip scrubs soooo much, and they offer multiple flavors!

Well guys, that’s all I’ve got for today. Tune in for the next beauty review ;)

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