My Current Go-To Makeup Products – June 2016

I’m not sure if you guys have noticed, but lately I tend to gravitate towards the same kind of makeup looks—bold brows, fresh and flawless skin, earth tones, and a nude or neutral lippie. This monotonous routine even led to my colleagues, Angel and Pbee, coming up with a challenge where we would all switch up our makeup looks—yesterday, Angel ditched the eyeliner and wore a bold, red lip while Pbee also strayed away from her usual cat eye and sported an out-of-character hot pink lipstick. For my challenge, since I don’t really do smokey eye plus I struggle with cat eye, I combined the two together and paired it with an ashy, gray matte lipstick.

The challenge inspired me to write about my current staples, because these are literally products that I keep using over and over, and have never failed me (I hope it stays that way) even if I have oily and sensitive skin. In case you’re interested to try them out, I also linked them to online shops where they’re available. Check them out below!

PRIMER

Benefit Cosmetic’s The Porefessional (Php 2,900) is the only primer I’ve ever used ever since I got into makeup. My mom bought me my first tube from the US a few years ago and ever since, I’ve never used anything else. I did try a few primers here and there (only to compare it with my OTP—One True Primer. Haha!), but when it comes to serious business, only The Porefessional can do the job. It’s great at mattifying my oily skin, plus it makes my pores appear smaller.

FOUNDATION

I discovered RCMA Makeup from DTC Makeup about a year ago because I was looking for a foundation palette to build my makeup portfolio. I was a little skeptic at first because I’ve never heard of the brand, but the owner of DTC herself only had positive words to say about it, so I decided to buy the Five-Part “Series Favorites” Palette (Php 1,450) in KO (this is closest to my skin tone). Upon reading more about RCMA, which actually stands for Research Council of Makeup Artists, all the more that I was convinced I invested in a really good product. True enough, it did not disappoint. Though it’s a cream foundation (I usually stay away from cream foundations because of my oily skin), this one blends like a dream and makes me look extra flawless, especially when used with a Beauty Blender.

A little goes a long way, too. I just scoop out a little bit with my spatula, spread it on my palette, and dip my damp Beauty Blender on the product before dabbing it on my skin.

CONCEALER (AND HIGHLIGHTER)

I wrote a separate review on NARS’ Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard (Php 1,550), which is hands down the best concealer you can use for under eyes. It also doubles as a highlighter for me—I use a little bit to highlight my nose, forehead, and chin.

SETTING POWDER

To set my base, I actually use two types of powders: Ofra Cosmetics’ Translucent Highlighting Luxury Powder (Php 850) to set the areas I concealed and highlighted with my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer, and L’Oreal Paris’ Mat Magique All-In-One Matte Transforming Powder in G2 Golden Ivory (Php 600), which I wrote about here. In terms of caking, it’s never really disappointed me except for this one time it was a humid day and I kept applying and re-applying with a powder brush so naturally, too much of the product combined with my sweat caused it to cake.

But I discovered a way to prevent this from happening, especially if you need to retouch. Just lightly wipe off your sweat with tissue, and then spray on Pixi’s Makeup Fixing Mist. After letting it sit for a few minutes, lightly wipe off the excess product until your face is dry, before doing a retouch!

BROWS

Clearly, my makeup kit is gifted in the brow department. I literally take all of these with me wherever I go, because I have moods where I want to use my Eye of Horus Ultimate Brow Define in Husk (Php 950) and Dual Brow Perfect in Husk (Php 990) together, but then there are also days where I prefer a softer look so I use L’Oreal Paris’ Brow Artist Designer Pro in Light Brown (Php 500) or K-Palette’s 1 Day Tattoo Lasting 2Way Eyebrow in Natural Brown (Php 950). I always set everything with Etude House’s Color My Brows in Natural Brown (I can’t find the shade on their online shop, but this is available in all Etude House retail stores for Php 375). For a more detailed overview on each product, you can check out my article on my top eyebrow products.

When it comes to brows, I tend to go for cooler tones than warm ones. Not that cooler tones are better, but I just feel like it suits me more!

EYES

I love working with these two palettes: POP Beauty’s Bright Up Your Life Palette in Naturally Bare (Php 1,230), and Pixi’s Mesmerizing Mineral Palette in Mineral Contour (Php 620).

The hues are just so pretty, and the pigmentation is rich so you only need to dab your brush once or twice before applying the product on your lids.

CHEEKS AND CONTOUR

Benefit Cosmetics’ Cheek and Lip Stain (Php 1,700) has been a staple in my kit for years. I think this is my third bottle already. Again, it was my mom who introduced it to me and ever since, I’ve loved using it on the apples of my cheeks. For contouring, I use Pixi’s Natural Contour Powder (Php 995), because aside from its universally-flattering shade and its cool tone, contour powders are much easier to work with compared to creams. You can check out my review here.

LASHES

For my lashes, I love using falsies to enhance what I already have. But when I’m lazy or in a hurry, I curl them using Shu Uemura’s Eyelash Curler (Php 1,200) and coat them with either Benefit’s They’re Real Lengthening Mascara (Php 1,400) or my favorite mascara of all time since I discovered it last year (review here), Pixi’s Lash Booster Mascara (Php 840), which isn’t in the photo because I forgot to get it in the office when I did this shoot. Hehe.

LIPS

If you read my blog often, you’ll know that my favorite brand of lipsticks is Ofra Cosmetics (review here), because you can never go wrong with their Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick (Php 850). My favorite shades at the moment are Laguna Beach, Charmed, and Pasadena.

So those are my go-to makeup products at the moment, and I really wanted to share it here because you guys might discover something that you’ll also like! Are there any products here that you’ve tried or are looking to try? Got any questions on the products I featured? Let me know in the comments!