When thinking of my own overflowing makeup bag, it’s not always easy to differentiate what the “essentials” are. That being said, there are definitely staples and fantastic brands that I would recommend every girl have on hand in her beauty repertoire.
Foundation
Foundation is vital, because it’s providing a base to all of your other makeup. The key to finding the perfect foundation for your skin tone is asking for help next time you’re at Sephora or any other makeup counter. Foundation is the kind of thing where you have to get the coloring just right, because if it’s even a little too light, you’re going to wash out your natural skin tone. And wearing foundation that’s darker than your skin just doesn’t seem to come out right.
My personal favorite for foundation is Chanel PERFECTION LUMIÈRE VELVET. The liquid foundation is easy to apply, and does not leave your skin feeling oily, as the formula is entirely oil free. This makes it the perfect, light consistency, making sure to feel smooth and not clog your pores, leaving your skin extra vulnerable to breakouts, as many heavier foundations can do.
Bronzer
Bronzer is really important all the way from when you want to give yourself a little contouring edge to the very practical need to wake your face up when you haven’t gotten enough sleep. Of course, there’s no need to channel Kim K and aggressively contour your face on a daily basis, but a little sweep of bronzer just under your cheekbones can go a long way. Not to mention, bronzer is amazing for going out at night or when you want your face to look particularly defined in pictures.
For foundation, personally, I don’t think that anything beats Marc Jacobs Beauty – O!Mega Bronzer – Perfect Tan. It comes in just one color that’s extremely versatile, as I’ve seen it used on a large variety of skin tones. Not to mention, the Marc Jacobs bronzer brush, The Bronze – Bronzer Brush #12, is fantastic!
Concealer
Concealer is vital. Sleepless nights are a part of college, and that means bags under your eyes. Similarly, stress is a part college, and that means breakouts. Concealer is your best friend after a late night of partying studying.
In my bag of mostly overpriced beauty products, one of my favorite drug store staples is my concealer. I use Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser. The sponge applicator and twist bottom make it really convenient and easy to use. It’s particularly wonderful for handling bags under your eyes.
Highlighter/illuminator
Highlighter is an awesome thing to be used in moderation. Over the summer, something called “strobing” became the new contour. Essentially what strobing is, aside from being something that JLo has been doing since the 90’s, is avoiding the heaviness of contouring, and instead, simply applying highlighter to the points of your face that would naturally touch light in order to achieve a more natural, dewy glow. However, what’s important to remember with highlighter is that if you use too much, you’re going to look shiny, and that’s not something that anyone wants – a little goes a long way.
For highlighter, I would definitely recommend Benefit Watt’s Up! If you’re a Sephora beauty member, I know they like to hand out samples of it like its candy. Again, this is another product where application is super easy because of the construction of the product.
Blush
Blush is awesome, because sometimes you just need that extra color to your cheeks to wake up your entire face and highlight the most important places. Blush is another product that you really have to tailor to your own skin tone, as well as take into account the rest of the make up that you’re using for the day.
That being said, I would definitely recommend all NARS blushes. They come in such a wide array of colors, all of which are really versatile and go on extremely well. Plus one of their most popular shades, the Orgasm blush, is a color that I’ve seen to be complimentary on so many different skin tones.
Mascara and an Eyelash Curler
Even if you have no time to do a significant amount of eye make up, mascara can go a long way to make you look more awake and put together. A really awesome mascara trick that I am a firm advocate of is heating it slightly before you put it on. Just hold a blow dryer to the container for a few seconds before you apply, and it will go on infinity smoother. For me, I tend to put one coat on, then use a curler on my lashes, and then apply another heavier coat. This curls your lashes nicely and makes them appear so much fully without letting them get too clumpy and spidery looking, because that is a look only Twiggy can pull off.
The lash curler that I would recommend is just the Sephora brand curler. I find that it’s really easy to use, and I’ve rarely had it pinch me, which is probably the worst experience. Side note – if you ever want to freak a boy out, use an eyelash curler in front of them. They don’t get it, and it scares the crap out of them.
For mascara, I use a L’oreal product. Mascara is a beauty products that you don’t need to splurge on, because even when you do spend a lot of money on mascara, you’re paying for the brush, because the formula is essentially the same across the board. That being said, L’oreal Hydrofuge Voluminous is a reliable mascara that comes at a refreshing $8.
Staple Black Eyeliner
For eyeliners, it’s really important to have a black gel liner and a black liquid liner, because you use these for completely different looks. A little bit of a gel liner can go a long way just to make your eyes stand out. But with a liquid liner, you can do awesome, but time consuming and sometimes frustrating things, like wing your liner. Winged eyeliner is so flattering and glamorous and definitely worth the time and frustration of making both sides even.
For a gel liner, I would definitely recommend Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon. It’s so smooth and easy to use. Plus the depth of the pigment is amazing.
For a liquid liner, I love stila’s Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner. Like it says, the liner lasts for a very long time, and the thin, marker-like tip is as easy to use as a liquid liner is going to get.
A Good ChapStick
The key to being able to wear bold colored lipstick, not to mention maintaining healthy looking and feeling lips is all in a good chapstick. The skin on your lips is really vulnerable to dryness, especially once the weather gets cooler. Chapped lips don’t look or feel good. For this reason, it’s really important to keep your lips moisturized at all times.
I absolutely love EOS Smooth Sphere lip balms. I hate to support Miley Cyrus product placement from her “We Can’t Stop” music video, but in my opinion, this lip balm is really the best. I always feel like my lips are perfectly moisturized for a while after applying it. Plus, I like that I can use it both over and under lipstick to keep my lips fully moisturized.
A Bold Lip Color
A pretty or fun shade of lipstick is something to always have on hand. I may be a daily lipstick person, but even if you aren’t, its always fun to wear a bold shade of lipstick on a special day or to just mix up your look. Lipstick is fun! Whether your shade of choice is a 90’s style burgundy, a glamorous red, or a more subdued mauve or pink, it’s so easy to feel polished and ready once you have your lipstick on.
As a personal advocate for lip stains, rather than lipsticks, stila stay all day liquid lipstick is definitely what I would recommend. The color keeps really well, and the shades vary from bright coral red to a dark berry tone, and everywhere in between. As far as a more traditional lipstick goes, nothing is more trusty and classic than Chanel or YSL. All of their lipsticks are fantastic – you really cannot go wrong.