whats in your makeup bag?

so i've seen a few of these 'whats in your makeup bag?' and 'whats in your hand bag?' type blogs/vlogs over the past few months so decided to do a quick one myself! as a makeup artist, people probably assume i take great care in my skin care and makeup regime. the truth is... i try. i'm a student, i'm 20 years old and quite frankly, i'm a lazy sod. i don't wear a great deal of makeup in my every day life but i do have lots of products in my makeup bag that i use when i'm going for lunch, going to university or on a night out.

 above is my makeup bag for everyday use. it is from all saints, think it was around £50 which is extortionate but it was a gift, i promise!

a sneak peak into my messy makeup bag! 

 above we have pretty much everything i would ever need to use for a day or night basic makeup look. there are a few foundations in there, my favourite is chanel vitalumiere aqua which i wear in the shade '20 beige'. i always have vaseline to hand and for a day to day lip colour i usually stick with mac lipstick in 'creme de nude'. included here we have models own eyelash curlers, bobbi brown black ink gel liner, illamasqua satin primer, bourjois volumiser mascara, bourjois bronzer and highlighter, witch concealer, mac eyeshadow in 'tempting', revlon lipstick in '140 kiss me' and the list goes on! in day to day life i tend to stick with a tinted moisturiser, a bronzed cheek, lashings of mascara and a nude lip, however if i have more time to get ready i occasionally add a smoky eye or bold lip.

 now, dont get me wrong, fingers are one of the best tools when it comes to makeup application, but i do have 6 brushes i swear by. from left to right; real techniques samantha chapman buffing brush, screen face fine liner brush, mac 239 shadow brush, illamasqua powder brush, bobbi brown brow and lash brush, and finally the mac 266 angled brush.

...having said that, here is a small collection of some of my makeup brushes.

does anyone have any recommendations regarding makeup/tools i should be using day to day?! is there something i'm missing out on? :)

emma xo

HAUL!

hey dolls! just a quick one today. i went into town to return something to boots and ended up spending 45 minutes browsing various makeup counters, resulting in a hefty bill of cosmetics when i finally got to the till! in my defence i did need a new foundation after my HORRENDOUS experience with bourjois healthy mix (sob sob). i actually loved the product but ever since the second time i used it, the pump wouldn't let out any product, despite there being plenty in there. i would definitely buy it again for the quality of the product but i couldn't bring myself to buy it again just yet and face another 2 months of aimless pumping!


i ended up buying two foundations today, one which i have used in the past and always seem to go back to - revlon photo ready in the shade '004 nude'. the other was rimmel wake me up in '103 true ivory'. after reading many reviews about the latter product i decided i'd give it a whirl so a review about my experience will be up within a few weeks time! staying with skin perfecting, i also purchased the collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in the shade '2 light'. i was sceptical after hearing about this product, mainly because, in a naive moment, i didn't think collection 2000 would have much to offer. HOWEVER! i used this on a photo shoot recently and couldn't believe the coverage. it is creamy and light but covers almost any blemish/spot so i couldn't resist buying myself a tube, and at £4.19, you cant go wrong! 


another trusty product i always seem to go back to is the '070' eylure lashes. these lashes are perfect for a natural but glamorous look and can be worn day and night. i have worn these lashes on multiple occasions and can definitely recommend!


last but by no means least, LIPS! i bought two lip products today, one gloss and one 'butter'. the gloss is by barry m in the shade '11' which is a beautiful corally pink. i have used barry m lip glosses before and adored the texture as they're not too sticky, but this is a new shade for me so i'm eager to try this out! the second product i purchased is the almighty revlon lip butter. i got the shade '080 strawberry shortcake' and OMG i wore this on my lips this afternoon and my first impressions are very good! they smell gorgeous, the packaging is beautiful and the 'butter' is actually highly pigmented. i will be reviewing this product properly after a few weeks of use, but as a first impression, its looking positive! 

have you guys tried these products before? anything i should know?!

have a lovely weekend - lets hope the weather stays as nice as its been this week!

emma xo

agenda beauty!

a few months ago i was contacted by agenda beauty, a new makeup brand, to test and review some of their products. after looking through their catalogue, i chose 7 products that caught my eye and then agenda beauty sent me them in the post!

the first thing that stood out to me was the 'lipduet' shown below! half red and half gold, this product is so versatile. the colours can be used together to create a shimmery red, or used separately for more of a bold statement. this lipstick is wonderfully moisturising, doesn't dry out my lips and the colour stays pretty well all day!

above is a swatch chart of all the products i tested. from left to right; shimmer dust in gold dust, glittery glitz in ultra shock, eye colour in pink pint, eye colour in moon walk, cheek colour in trojan warrior, lip colour in seduction, lip duet in tropical (gold side, then red side).

my favourite product is the lip colour in seduction which is a beautiful, shimmery hot pink. hot pink sounds scary for most people but i assure you its very wearable and the colour stays on wonderfully. in addition, being the glitter obsessive that i am, the glittery glitz in ultra shock was also a contender for first place! used in moderation, this product is very wearable for nights out but is also fantastic for dramatic makeup shoots or fancy dress!

the eye colours i got in pink pint and moon walk are lovely pastel pressed powders that can be used for a more natural look. i personally dont like wearing heavy pinks on my eyes so the pink pint colour is perfect for a day look! moon walk would make a lovely base colour for a smokey eye or could be used alone as a shimmery grey shadow.

finally, the shimmer dust in gold dust and cheek colour in trojan warrior are beautiful and would suit almost all skin tones perfectly. the shimmer dust can be used as an eyeshadow but also as a highlighter on darker skin in very small amounts. it is highly pigmented, easy to blend and stays on well. make sure to apply a primer on your eyelids before using this as a shadow to avoid creasing. the trojan warrior cheek colour is a lovely warm brown, perfect for a subtle blush during the day or for heavier application at night. this product leaves a lovely finish to the skin and doesnt make your skin look too 'cakey'!

overall i was extremely impressed with the agenda beauty products and would highly recommend them, not only to makeup artists but to everyone. these products are very reasonably priced, ranging from about £7-£10 and come in multiple shades to accommodate everyone. this company do NOT test on animals and are designed for all skin types and not dependent on race or gender! couldnt ask for more really, could you?!

thanks for reading, i'm going to try to be a bit more active on my blog from now on and should be posting some photos of these products used on my skin within the next week so keep your eyes peeled :)

emma xo