I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

Thanks! I missed ilx. :-))

Serious answer for Nath: I have a feeling most people start with a couple of products - bit of concealer and some mascara maybe - and then build it from there (for me over the course of two decades). Pretty sure that if I’d gone straight from zero to my current 14-ish products I’d feel like I was wearing a mask.

It literally took me seven years to get flicky eyeliner right at a reasonable speed.

what's flicky eyeliner?

Cat eye type eyeliner. Flicks up at the outer corner of the eye.

God I so desperately want to be able to do the eyeliner. 😭

I am still trying to make eyeliner happen without pulling the side of my eye out. It's so hard to change up and just look straight ahead.

I don’t care about having milky white legs at the beach. I slather myself in SPF and haven’t been properly tan since I was a kid. I don’t actually like the way I look tan. I went was in the Bahamas last spring for a couple days and somehow forgot sunscreen. I for burned to a crisp and when it faded to tan I kept thinking my face was dirty.

I think Madchen’s right about learning makeup skills over time. I never actively tried to learn but have admired different MUA for years and I’ve just gotten better over time, I think.

Cat eye type eyeliner. Flicks up at the outer corner of the eye.

haha this is the only make up thing I actually know how to do well!

one of my coworkers has the most amazing winged eyeliner, it almost looks tattooed it is so perfect

i want to email her and say “hi what eyeliner do you use and also PLEASE TEACH ME YOUR WAYS”

Really into cream blush atm, I am trying to track down the perfect color

Bumping to mourn that Bourjois is being discontinued in the UK & Ireland! Used to love their eyeshadows, blushes and nail varnishes. Supposedly healthy mix is a good reasonably priced foundation but I’ve never got round to trying it...better move quick

I loved their eye shadows so much!

Wtf! Nooooooooo! Healthy mix is really good value as is the nail varnish - it used to be made in the same factory as Chanel vernis, don’t know if that’s still the case but very high quality for the price.

i am on a Dermablend thing lately

newly converted to their flawless control foundation.
2 drops on a makeup brush gives me full coverage & it feels like a dream. sorcery or something idk
v impressed

On the foundation/concealer front, i’m seriously loving Il Makiage lately. Matches my skin like a dream and doesn’t get caked up in nook n crannies.

Actually really want to try the Ogee contouring set but can’t quite bring myself to fork over the $$$ yet.

Wtf! Nooooooooo! Healthy mix is really good value as is the nail varnish - it used to be made in the same factory as Chanel vernis, don’t know if that’s still the case but very high quality for the price.

Yes, thankfully they saw sense and re-entered the UK market. Phew!

Lisa Eldridge’s lip glosses my favourite in a long while, gorgeous colour with zero stickiness. I have Go Lightly and Petal and they’re both perfect.

I don't believe a non-sticky lip gloss exists!

This thread used to rule

I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

^^ BTW I have now had several lash lifts and they work really well on me, except if either eye waters then it doesn't take quite as well.

I love a lash lift for like two weeks, and then my new lashes start growing in and shit looks wonky for a month.

The widely heralded Japanese mascara Heroine Make sucks, I'm going back to Mabelline Lash Sensational!

On the other hand--and I know this isn't the skin care thread (which also used to rule)--Japanese sunscreens are fucking amazing and American sunscreens are an embarrassment!

Yeah eyelash perms (LVL) are legit and I get mine tinted as well. I usually get a good six weeks out of one.

People have said this(re US sunscreens being bad) but honestly? One of my best sunscreens is a sheer Neutrogena stick (spf50) I got in the US. My usual one is Anthelios in stick format, also sheer. Really works well under makeup.

https://www.laroche-posay.co.uk/en_GB/anthelios-xl-spf-50-stick/LRP_032.html

I really rate Anthelios too - I use this one in place of my usual moisturiser in summer, and make-up goes on really nicely on top.

https://www.laroche-posay.co.uk/en_GB/anthelios-age-protect/LRP_021.html

Non exhaustive list of things I have used recently* and liked:

This tinted Cover Girl lip balm - I was in nyc recently and went to CVS to look at stuff as I always do because I love CVS a lot; their displays were missing a ton of stuff (what’s up with that btw?) but that was the last one of these on display and honestly I would have bought a second or a third. It’s a cool clear sheer dark red that’s kind of like the faintest wine stain. It doesn’t last ofc but you get what you pay for. I’ll go back next month and try for some other colours. 8/10.

Lisa Eldridge liquid eyeshadows in Bianca and Cressida (both now out of stock, booo?!). I think I got these with Liberty credit or something, I really like her lip glosses. Anyway the pigmentation is great and formula is smooth and buildable. Very easy to blend. Will buy in future. 10/10.

Bobbi Brown cream shadow stick in golden bronze - I got this free with a beauty advent calendar, not remotely my colour. Which is a shame cos the formula is the best I’ve tried in forever, glides on, doesn’t crease, all that good stuff. Would definitely buy a pale pink or something that I could blend. 10/10 for formula, 6/10 for colour.

Clinique longwear lipstick in Nude Pop. Anyone who has ever been dragged around the beauty section of a department store with me has probably heard me complain about the discontinuation of the original Tenderheart, a near-perfect pinkish nude colour with a little shine (but not glossy). It just looks perfect. They made a new Tenderheart but it’s more brown than pink and the formula seems different. However, I got a sample of Nude Pop in the same beauty advent calendar as previously mentioned and it brought back all the memories of original Tenderheart. Bought a full size one and it’s perfect even if it’s not exactly the same. 11/10, the extra one is because of the serendipitous sample.

Lisa Eldridge lip gloss in Go Lightly - another Liberty credit purchase (that was a fun day). I like that her site shows you how things will look on your skintone. A very nice pink, by itself or over something else. 9/10.

*recently means anything from today to three months ago

That's so funny re tenderheart. I also used to love it. I'm talking like 20 years ago but at one point it was my favorite neutral lipstick. The only other one that I've ever liked as much was a Bourjois one I got in France which has also been discontinued. I had completely forgotten about Tenderheart. Glad you found something similar. I have the LE lipgloss in Muse but rarely use it. Will have to find it and try it again.

People have likened that CG lipbalm to the tinted Niveas you can get here.

Victoria Beckham Satin Kajal Liner is extremely good. I got one for Christmas and now I want all the colours.

Yep. Best eyeliner I've ever used.

I think I agree!

I'm pissed that they increased the price. It might now be too much for me to purchase on the reg. I wear Cocoa almost every day but also have the Sea Grey and Navy Noir. My one complaint is that it disappears really quickly. I feel like every time I sharpen it I lose an inch.

They really are exceptionally good. I think most luxury makeup is overrated but those stupid eyeliners really are that good.

I feel like such a sucker for every kind of lip oil that’s released especially if they’re tinted because I just want to find one of those products that’s the perfect mix of hydrating with colour and they usually never really deliver on the first part.

ELF lip oils in Rose Envy & Red Delicious (awful names btw) - 9/10 for Rose Envy, 3/10 for Red Delicious

https://media.superdrug.com//medias/sys_master/prd-images/h99/h97/10390019997726/prd-ls3-837501_600x600/prd-ls3-837501-600x600.jpg

Rose Envy is a really nice pink that reminds me of this Stila lip colour they used to do in a kind of peony pink? It’s not red looking as per that swatch photo, more kind of an old rose? Very nice.

Red Delicious is a sheer red, but like, so sheer that I’m like, did they put a clear one in this package by mistake? The problem is with lip oils is that you’re not going to build it, it’s just kind of there? Anyway, what a waste of money. On second thoughts, going 2/10 for the name being especially terrible.

Burts Bees Hydrating Lip Oil with Sweet Almond Oil - 0/10

There’s a part in Kyoko Okazaki’s Pink that I always think of fondly:
https://i.postimg.cc/cJxqfRKL/IMG-6621.jpg

I woke up the morning after applying this and I was like, wait, did I forget or something? But I’d left the newly opened package by the bed so I hadn’t. Sandpaper city. Genuinely a waste of money.

^^^valuable info, ty

Honestly may favorite balm is bog standard chapstick or burt's bees OG

I need to retract my Heroine Make mascara bashing upthread.

Once my lash lift grew out of the wonky stage, and I could use a lash curler without bizarro results, I really like the mascara and would buy again!

I love a lash lift for like two weeks, and then my new lashes start growing in and shit looks wonky for a month.

There is only one lipstick thing that's ever looked good on my lips, it was in an m&s advent calendar and then the bastards stopped making it

I started using that CG lip balm a little bit ago when I ran out of the lipstick I was using and couldn't afford to buy any more--I had some already (I thought it was too bright and stopped using it) and started using it again. It looks good.

_I love a lash lift for like two weeks, and then my new lashes start growing in and shit looks wonky for a month._
This never really happened to me until this time, it did. I swear the new ones are growing back pointing down.

My best ever was my first one, I'm still chasing that high!

VB has free shipping atm and you lot are tempting me with the eyeliners...

i've been shellacking all sorts of Clinique black mascara on my lashes and honestly, i'm obsessed

i don't even comb it through literally just let it clump and define

Kinder - the only reason not to is because all other eyeliners will pale in comparison. Honestly.

^^^ this

I got the VB eyeliner and you were all right, it's perfect! went on so easily I was sure it was going to slide right off again, but nope.

The Soap & Glory Smoulder Kohl is one of the best "basic" ones imo so that's my everyday.

Oooh ok, I will try that one! Someone else recommended the Kiko ones so they're on my radar too.