these are a few of my favourite (makeup) things.

"be careful, you are not in wonderland.

i've heard the strange madness long growing in your soul. 

but you are fortunate in your ignorance, in your isolation.

you who have suffered, find where love hides.

give, share, lose - lest we die, unbloomed."

- kill your darlings

i am a makeup junkie. my obsession with makeup started quite recently (maybe 5 years back?) and i haven't looked back ever since. i like that i'm a jeans a t-shirt kind of girl but i wear makeup like a normal girl...if there is such a thing as a normal girl. 

of course as a makeup junkie there are hits and there are misses. i'm here to talk about the makeup hits, shit that i've bought and loved and find myself using a lot of the times. as a principle i never usually wear the same product consistently, i mean come on, makeup is all about the experimentation and the fun with colour and texture and stuff. but if there ever was a scenario where i had to choose one product from each of these makeup categories, these would be the things that i'd choose.

disclaimer moment though, i don't really wear makeup to attract people towards me. yes i feel more confident when i wear makeup, but only because it means that people are looking at me for me, and not cos i have a mahoosive pimple on my nose, or red patches around my mouth. it makes my face a blank canvas that i can decorate however i want. (trust me, i've worn unflattering looks before. red eyeshadow. emphasized my dark circles to make me look evil. it's fun.)

onwards!

face primer: youngblood mineral primer 

this primer's an old old purchase, probably...3 or 4 years ago? i remember that i was just getting into makeup then. i decided to go for an expensive primer then cos it would be overall kinder for my skin. i use very little mainly around my t-zone area because it tends to pill if i use too much. it makes my skin feel silky smooth as the main ingredient is dimethicone. i haven't really found a primer that i've truly fallen in love with but this one is decent and i don't get a reaction from the ingredients. 

honorable mention: laura mercier hydrating foundation primer

this baby helped me out back when my skin was super duper dry. it kind of calmed down the dry patches and reduced flakes (eugh) and it feels smooth and hydrating on the skin. this is good for people with dry skin, but if you have oily skin it won't do much for ya. so that means when i'm out in the sun this will make my face look a bit like an oil slick. 

foundation: make up forever face and body

of all the foundations that i've tried, this is probably still my favourite. it's a water-based foundation that can be used for the face and body (hence the name) and it has a light coverage but can be built up in layers. this means that if i want to just even out my skintone i can use one thin layer of this and be done with it, but if i want more coverage i just wait for a few minutes then add another layer until i've reached the desired effect. it sits slightly dewy on the skin, and it doesn't scream foundation. the texture is also coolly weird, it's like water with clumps of pigment in it lol. 

i fell in love with this foundation because it was a lifesaver for me when my skin was messed up. it didn't emphasize my red flaky patches of skin and i didn't get itchy from wearing it. (my skin was really bad at the time so of course i felt that going au naturel was not possible because people kept staring at me in pity or horror). with my current skin it works just as well, if this foundation were a person i would hug it.

powder: guerlain meteorites perles (in teint beige 2)

i haven't found a setting powder that i really liked yet, so i won't rave about any. instead i have a finishing powder. from what i understand the difference between the two is: setting powders set the makeup and prevents it from moving around the face, and finishing powders add luminosity to the face. what i have here is a finishing powder. it's the guerlain meteorites perles. it's amaze-balls. lol, geddit? balls?

i wrote about this powder when i first bought it sometime last year. i was in love with the packaging (and oddly the lavender scent is calming to me even though i don't really like lavender scents usually) but i had to play around with the product first. and play around i did, and now i love love love it. it's like photoshop in powder form. it blurs out imperfections on the skin and makes my skin look nice and dewy. i usually go over the top with it and apply it lightly all over the face and then i'll look super dewy and kind of oily, but if i use it on the high points of the face it looks so nice, i usually compliment my own skin when i wear it lol. this is expensive though, so one should save up for it and consider it a luxury buy.

blush: thebalm frat boy

i have a love for blush. i do. i'll be the first to admit it. it's one of the makeup items that i always look out for in stores even though i already have a shitload of it at home. because. thebalm's frat boy is special because i find myself reaching for it a lot. it's a simple peachy pink colour that is inobtrusive and pretty. it makes me look healthier and gives my face colour without it being obvious. it's also not too pigmented on my skintone so i don't need to be super light-handed with it. the packaging is also cute and lightweight and it travels well. 

bronzer: edward bess ultra luminous bronzer (in desert sun)

i love bronzer. fact. ok ok i love cheek products. i seriously do. i'm not really fussed about eyeshadows and lipsticks but colour on the cheeks get to me. and i love this bronzer by edward bess. it's packaged in a sleek black case, and the product feels more expensive than the price to me. desert sun is the darkest of 2 shades and i use this after contouring all over the face to make me look like a bronzed goddess (read: sunburnt?). the product smells like figs. fuckin' figs! wow. it's also not super pigmented so it can be built up but you'll look healthier with it on. i also use it on the eyes as a crease shade cos i'm lazy with my eyeshadows nowadays.  

contour: elf matte bronzer

this is the cheapest product of the lot and i love it dearly. in fact i prefer this to my thebalm bahama mama bronzer cos i think it suits me better. i use it to contour le cheeks and it's not too powdery and buildable. it's also super cheap and widely available online nowadays. the packaging isn't the best as the lid broke on me, but i fixed it with tape hah. not much to say about this, go and try it out since it's so affordable! 

highlight: thebalm mary-lou manizer

wow i really do enjoy usng thebalm products eh? this highlighter is considered as hg to many people, and it deserves all the good things thrown its way. it is a beyootiful champage colour which will suit many if not all skintones, it's potent so please use a light hand. i usually dab the product on with my fingers and blend it in. the result is some cray-cray looking cheekbones, and mine aren't even prominent so that's saying something! it's not subtle though, so those who like it barely visible probably won't like this as much.

eyeshadow palette: too faced pretty rebel

i'm kind of surprised with this one. i thought i'd for sure love my urban decay naked palettes (i have 1 and 3) but i find myself grabbing this one all the time. i'll be completely honest, i don't really like the quality of urban decay shadows. yes they are good quality and pigmented but i dunno, they're usually kind of glittery and obvious. this palette's eyeshadows are soft as butter, and most are very pigmented. this is unfortunately limited edition which sucks. my favourite shades are the four to the left (the bottom left one is to die for) and the crazy pink shade. i think i might have to steer away from urban decay eyeshadows from now on and try out more too faced (and tarte) stuff instead.

eye primer: mac paint pot (in indianwood)

if you've never tried paint pots before, you really should. not all paint pots are created equal though, this one is definitely one of the best ones mac has to offer. it's so bloody creamy and pretty and it looks natural yet amazing on the lids. i would repurchase this time and time again if i ever ever ran out, but that's impossible because i bought mine like 1000 years ago and there's still a lot left. if you like those maybelline colour tattoos then these are better. why? cos for me the maybelline ones, while pretty and affordable are hard to work with and apply patchy on the lids, indianwood would never do that, indianwood is flawless. 

lipbalm: nuxe reve de miel

reve de miel is like a carl's jr burger in the midst of mcdonalds burgers. it's hands down the best lipbalm i've ever owned, and i have many lipbalms. it's so moisturising and thick and it smells like honey (because it's one of the ingredients) and it heals those chapped lips in one night. ironically these haven't been working as well for me for the past few months and it has puzzled me greatly cos it was working fine before. i think medications are causing my severely dry lips so there's not much i can do topically to heal that, i just have to stop the meds and it'll hopefully heal over time. 

cons: glass jar packaging while cute is kind of heavy and bulky to carry around in bag and one has to use hands to apply balm unless one carried q-tips everywhere. 

mascara: maybelline the rocket volum' express

this mascara works best for my weird lashes. my lashes grow all over the place. they are not straight, they are wonky and  they do as they please. this mascara gives me good volume, and doesn't clump on my lashes. i don't get spidery lashes (which i am terrified of) and my eyes look not obvious but a bit more defined. wand is big as fart. when first opened the mascara tends to be a bit too wet, but it gets better as it dries out. this is one of 2 mascaras that i have ever repurchased (and i have a backup of these standing by). 

and there ye have it. i don't have some things in there like eyeliner, concealer and lipstick cos i don't think i've found ones that i have fallen in love with. i think i might do a list for skincare next, seeing as how i love making these random lists that nobody cares about lol.