I'm not an expert by any sense of the word regarding makeup. I'm not one of those people who have a billion different colors of eye shadow and blush and lip gloss and love to play around with colors and looks. I'm boring with my makeup. I found colors I like and I wear the exact same colors every.single.day. I honestly can't remember the last time I even changed up those colors. I just run back to Macy's and replace whatever I'm out of. Back in the day I sold Mary Kay and I honestly still use their skin care, but I've slowly replaced all of my Mary Kay makeup with MAC with the exception of my blush which is almost gone so that will soon be replaced.
I wear MAC foundation, powder, eye shadow / liner (I use black shadow with a brush for my lower eyeliner), and gel eyeliner. I use Cover Girl mascara. (I tried Benefits "They're Real" and loved the look but even with good makeup remover I had to SCRUB to get it off at night so that is only for special occasions.) And last but not least, I used to use Almay eye concealer.
Yes, I use every single one of these products every single day. You won't catch me outside of the house (other than a morning race...not that that has happened for a very long time) without all of these items on my face. I just don't feel complete without it. And I'm not a put-my-face-on-in-the-car-girl. I actually have all of my makeup lined up in my vanity drawer and I sit down with a lighted magnifying mirror. I can pretty much do this in my sleep by now since I have such a routine.
Sidenote: Adalyn loves to come "help" with my makeup. She can reach my drawers and will reach in and pull out makeup. Thankfully since it's in my bathroom, the door is shut unless I'm in there so she can't help herself without me knowing so I can regulate:) A few weeks ago she found a couple empty makeup bags and two of my MAC brushes under the sink that I don't use and she carries them around while I'm doing my makeup and already knows to brush them on her face. Then she's super serious about putting the brushes in the bags and zipping them up. Too cute! And it keeps her busy while I'm getting ready. Score!
Anyway, for the past few months I was really annoyed because I felt like my eye makeup was just sliding off my face. By lunch I could barely even see any top eyeliner left on my eyes. I couldn't figure it out. I knew that my gel eyeliner was old and needed to be replaced but I was so frustrated because I never felt "put together" a couple hours after doing my makeup and then I'd just look tired since my eye makeup was gone. I started thinking about transitioning my makeup from MAC to another brand but I didn't know which one.
Well, my Almay concealer container broke. Again. It was a squeezy tube and this was not the first tube that split down the side so the stuff would come out the side instead of coming out on the brush. I decided to go to Ulta to ask one of those girls what I could replace the Almay with. I wanted to upgrade to a better brand, one that wouldn't make me lose product because of the crappy container. So the girl sold me this "Amazing Cosmetics" concealer for $28 (but she assured me it would last a year). I got it home and used it the next day. I thought it looked like my eyes were a raccoon so I asked J his opinion as I was doing my makeup and he told me I needed to use my regular stuff to cover that crap up fast! So back to the store I went. (Thankful for being able to return used product!)
I got a makeup specialist to help me. I told her I'd love to buy a primer but also needed a concealer. And asked her about the Urban Decay brand I keep hearing around blogs. She said that Urban Decay was the best primer and it was tinted so I could use it like a concealer too since I didn't need a "heavy" concealer. She even took my current stuff off my face and put the UD on and used some powder to finish things off and I loved it. SOLD! Oh and it was $20. So yay me. I saved $8! The makeup girl asked what type of foundation and powder I used and I told her MAC. (They don't sell MAC there.) She whispered to me that MAC is the best for foundation and powder and she hasn't found anything to compare and then went on to say the pigments in their shadows are amazing. So I felt much more confident sticking with my MAC makeup knowing that she recommended it more than anything she could sell me!
I've now been using my Urban Decay for a week and YOU ALL! my eye makeup has stayed in place all day long. My gel eyeliner (and shadow eyeliner on the bottom) are still in place at 9pm when I take my makeup off to go to bed! It is amazing. And I'm happy with how it's concealing my sleep deprived circles around my eyes too. After the first day I was sold but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke before I came on here and recommended it. After using it a week, I'm completely sold! This stuff is amazing!! I pretty much don't know why I waited so long to get a solution! I feel it's my civic duty to let everyone I know when I find an awesome product. So there you go!
