Make up & some of my favourite products

Men have it easy.  They look the same all the time & don't need a mass of beauty products to help make themselves look or feel (more!) beautiful!! However women (well the average one anyway, not the Hollywood film stars who I bet are glamorous the minute they wake up) for some reason wake up looking not so fresh faced & when you add M.E to the mix, well all I can say is I am so glad there is such a thing as make up!

I have always loved it & these days I don't have the energy or inclination to put it on all the time but it definitely makes me feel better in myself when I do. I am not afraid to experiment with colour either so have rather a lot of stuff! There is no such thing as too much make up is there ladies?

Spoonies (people with chronic illness, see previous post here) don't always have the budget to buy high end products but there are plenty of lower cost brands out there who do brilliant products. I have a few go-to products which are mostly low budget buys so will go through what I use for my typical make up routine.

I was using mineral stuff by a brand called Mii for ages & still have some of their stuff but more recently (over the last year or so) I have been using a foundation by elf cosmetics. It is called the HD Mattifying Cream Foundation here & you get a sponge applicator with it but I found that was giving too thick a coverage so I use a stipple brush. It is only £7.95 but elf often have offers on which is when I usually buy stuff so I rarely pay full price!

I have stipple brushes from both elf & makeup revolution who are another great budget brand & whose products are amazing. I like the way the foundation goes on with the stipple brushes & you can blend as much as you need without it looking too caked.

I usually put concealer under my eyes once I have applied the foundation & set it all with powder. I then use bronzer to give me a bit of colour as my face is pretty pale & blush always makes me look better too! I really like the elf cosmetics baked bronzer & baked blush. They last so long & I have had mine ages but they have hardly gone down at all. Both cost £3.95.

For everyday make up I usually use natural colours on my eyes but depending on my mood I will add some more vivid colours if I feel like it. The eyeshadow pallettes I am really liking at the moment are these Iconic ones from Makeup Revolution.

They are dupes for the Urban Decay naked ones but are a fraction of the price at £4. The pigmentation is really good on them but I didn't like the brush they came with so I use a separate eyeshadow brush or my fingers if I want to do it really quickly!

I also have an elf pallette which is also good & has some lovely colours in.

I do have a lot of other eye shadows too & if anyone likes mineral ones, the elf ones are very similar to the Bare Minerals ones but are only £3. I have some of each & really can't tell the difference, link here.

A recent discovery which I have to mention for anyone who likes big lashes is the Younique Fibre 3D lash mascara. I had heard of it & kept seeing people raving about it online but thought it was probably just another fad. However when I got some for Christmas it changed my life. Not really but it has certainly changed my opinion about other mascaras which I thought were good but aren't a patch on this one! It comes in a rather glam looking box which looks pretty enough on its own..

Inside you get 2 different tubes. One is the transplanting gel that you apply like normal mascara then while that is still wet you apply the natural fibres. You then seal with the transplanting gel again. And repeat as many times as you like depending on how big you want your lashes. I usually apply 2 coats but 3 gives extra oomph!

They feel totally natural too & nothing like false ones which really surprised me. I was using Benefit They're Real before, which I thought was brilliant, but the Younique one makes my lashes so much longer. I had it on the other week & my friend popped round for a cuppa. The first thing she asked me was if I had false lashes on! It costs £23 so it isn't the cheapest but it's around the same price as higher end mascaras & I think it is well worth it. I will 100% be buying another when this one looks like it's running out. My sister is selling it now too which means it's super easy for me to order it.

It doesn't take long to apply either which was something I was worried about initially & thought might put me off. The first few times I took a while getting used to doing it but now I do it really quickly. Like a pro!

The final thing I use & am not afraid to go bold with is lipstick! I have loads & when I had a sort out of my make up recently, it dawned on me just how bad my lipstick problem is. I never used to think it suited me so didn't wear it, but a few years ago I rediscovered my love for it. And appear to have gone a bit mad in the process.

Some of the cheaper brands I actually find are the best. One of my favourites is by Bourjois & is a deep berry colour. It is one that I won a while back & mentioned here in my Autumn Tag post. But I really can't talk about lipstick without bigging up the Makeup Revolution ones as they only cost £1 & are amazing. Yes I did say £1!! They have a wide range of colours including some really unusual ones. I have a couple of their bold reds & pinks as well as some nude coloured ones. Link here.

This one is called Crime & I usually just apply one coat, blot with a tissue then do the same again.  I have a lip brush which I use sometimes but I don't find it makes much difference. They are super pigmented & I find they last really well.

I don't apply a full face of make up every day as due to my energy being limited with the M.E it is a bit pointless as it wipes me out. Some days I just put a bit of bronzer on to disguise the ghost like appearance I have acquired over the years of being poorly! BB creams are good too as they are several products in 1 (moisturiser, concealer, foundation etc) & feel quite light on the skin but give quite a nice coverage. I use the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector one. I usually wear eyeliner under my eyes as I find it makes me look a bit more awake! I often scare myself if I pass a mirror when I am going au naturel so prefer a little bit of something rather than nothing at all.

I could talk & talk about make up all day but will stop now!! If anyone has any favourite products I'd love to hear about them in the comments.  Thanks for reading :)

Ali
ME Mummy A
xx