Make-up Love by Anna K!

Although I love posting outfit pictures and fashion I love online or in shops, I am not a huge beauty person.  I did have a bit of a make-up splurge before my brother-in-law's wedding last year and promised to write about my purchases (although that never actually transpired, even though I took photos, I really should get round to that!) but I don't tend to be inspired by beauty posts myself so don't write them here (unless you count nails),  I've always preferred the fashion side of things.  Luckily, we have been sent a fabulous post by Anna K of Any Other Woman fame all about make-up.  It's even got me interested in reading about beauty and it's a little raunchy too!  ;)

So here is Anna's 'drivel' (one of my favourite kinds of post on AOW, they're all great writers and we love their (beautiful and HILARIOUS) drivel (big fat tears) posts (cuteness overload)!) about her makeup bag...

Hello!  I am shamelessly exploiting Roz and Bex and writing a guest post about MAKE UP.  On Any Other Woman, I avoid writing about makeup and beauty, because I always feel a bit of a fraud.  “It doesn’t matter what you look like, it’s WHO YOU ARE INSIDE (oh, here’s a great mascara)”.  But The Olive Dragonfly straddles that divide much better than we do over at AOW.  Here you can talk about feelings AND you can talk about how to look amazing, every single day.  Win. 

I love makeup.  I love everything about it.  It’s about self-expression, experimentation, and the way your spirits lift when you catch sight of your bright pink nails on a grey day.  This has been a love affair that’s lasted half my life.  So I thought I’d give you a peek into my makeup bag, to tell you which products stand the test of time.

Face

There is only one woman I turn to for my face.  No matter what the state of my skin, she has a product to rescue it.  Laura Mercier, I salute you.  I know it’s expensive, but if you’re going to spend your pennies on any makeup, then base is the way to go.

(She’s also French.  When you wear her products (you only need two), you will feel effortless, and French, and like you will suit navy three-quarter-length trousers, and like you are the epitome of chic). 

 

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Oil-Free.   Always wear this.  Always.  I would put primer on if the apocalypse was coming.  Develop a habit of slapping it on after your moisturiser.  It takes three seconds, it makes your skin glow, everything else sticks to it, your skin will look flawless all day through wind and rain and air-con.

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser.  This stuff is like crack, for skin.  It’s a MOISTURISER, and doesn’t look like it’s covering anything, but IT DOES.  IT REALLY, REALLY DOES.  “What kind of witchcraft is this?” you will ask yourself, as you look upon your radiant face in the mirror.  It’s the foundation equivalent of a really good sh*g.  If your skin is poor, try her Oil Free Supreme Foundation.  Its slightly heavier and again, is magic.  

Blusher.  I went for many years thinking blusher was for women who had too much time on their hands.  Once you get the right shade, there is no going back.  For me, that shade was Illamasqua’s cream blush in Dixie.  I now spend entire days looking like I’m having frisky, yet appropriate thoughts, and that I’ve just come back from a romp in the open air.  Mission accomplished. 

Eyes

I can forgo most eye makeup, but liquid eyeliner is a deal breaker.  I’d rather go naked than without.  It turns you from a mole into something appropriately sultry – a thin line for work, a flick-fest for going out.  I have used Rimmel Exaggerate since the dawn of time, and it has never, ever let me down.  It lasts ages, costs £5.95, I use it in brown as that’s a bit softer.  There’s no faffing around with a separate brush.  I could draw a straight line with this with a gun pointed to my temple.  It’s foolproof.

If your heart lies with pencil eyeliner, you need look no further than Illamasqua pencils and Urban Decay 24/7 pencils.  Neither will ever let you down and they’d last through a waterboarding session.       

Eyeshadow, there’s only one contender.  I’m currently using some beautiful Chanel quads and throughout the day I feel like saying to people “er, don’t disagree with me, I’m wearing Chanel, you haven’t got a hope”.  The packaging is beautiful, and the feeling of class is unrivalled.   But the eyeshadow that will last forever on your face, especially when teamed with primer, is Urban Decay.  The shade in question?  YDK.  In the pot it’s a sort of peachy-grey-ey-browny-goldy something, but anyone I have put this beautiful colour on suits it more than anything else by a country mile.  Whatever your eye colour, this shadow makes it sing.

Note, I’ve never found The One with mascara.  I’ve had flings – don’t get me wrong – dirty sessions with Max Factor False Lash Effect, meaningful conversations through the night with Clinique High Impact Mascara.        

Lips

I’m a lipstick hussy.  I like pinks for work, bright reds for going out.  The best red I’ve ever found is Illamasqua’s Box, which took four years to develop and suits any skin tone, and was the lipstick that made me start taking risks.  I don’t bother with lipliners, triple coating, or any of that jazz, it’s all too faffy.  Just straight on, straight up.  

I hate glosses, as my hair gets stuck to my lips and they smell like a sugar coma.  But for work, I love Clinique’s Chubby Sticks .  They are moisturising, you don’t need a mirror to apply them, the colour can be sheer or full depending on how much you put on, and the colour lasts 9-5 with one application needed after lunch.  You aren’t going to smear the colour by mistake and look like a rampant sex pest.  And hell, they’re FUN.  They are shaped like a massive pencil!  Which you put on your lips!  Which have names like “Fuller Fig”, “Voluptuous Violet” and “Pudgy Peony” (my favourite)!  Who doesn’t want that in their life? 

I'm SO going to try all of these products.  Incidentally, a lot of the make-up I splurged on was from Illamasqua which I was introduced to by Anna herself in Leeds at PenDo!  She slathered my lips in her hot pink lipstick and convinced me I have the confidence to wear it (and I now own my own!)

Thanks so much Anna K for this post and for being you with your love of boosting us all!