As most of you might already know, the makeup world has significantly grown since the outbreak of influencers on YouTube and Instagram. Influencers are people on social media platforms who have the means of spreading a wide spread idea about a product or brand. I discovered the likes of MannyMUA, Jeffree Star, NikkiTutorials, Jaclyn Hill, Laura Lee, and Kathleen Lights about a year ago and I haven't been the same since. And if you read that sentence in confusion on who the heck I'm talking about, well, click on the links attached to their names, and BINGE WATCH.
Makeup has changed my life and definitely for the better… except when my checking account is crying at the price of a new Urban Decay Vice lipstick. But for real, I watch 4+ hours of beauty influencers a day and I learn so much information that I can remember every Anastasia Beverly Hills lip gloss’s individual shade names rather than the four elements of the scientific method. But I mean, who needs to pass Psychology anyway?
Anyway, let's get to our must-have products starting from primer all the way through to setting spray:
1. Primer: Benefit's POREfessional face primer
Benefit Cosmetics The POREfessional Face Primer, $31 at sephora.com
You need this in your life. I say this for a number of reasons, one being the fact that it makes your pores INVISIBLE. No, I'm not joking. From personal experience, this primer is a superhero in it's own and should be appreciated and bought. The POREfessional is a primer that will dry down matte, but without clinging to dry patches on your face. It's also perfect for the no-makeup look because it has a low coverage tint to it so it's easily recommended for everyday use. And please, can we just appreciate the cute name!
2. Foundation: L'Oreal Pro Matte Foundation/L'Oreal Pro Glow Foundation
L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Glow Foundation, $12.99 at Ulta.com
L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation, $12.99 at Ulta.com
Ever wondered if there was a foundation that was full coverage enough to cover your imperfections but still look super natural and not cakey? The answer to your question is yes, yes there is. The Pro-Matte is PERFECT for girls (and boys!) with oily skin. The oils lingering in the shadows of your face will never reach the light with this foundation on. On the other end of the spectrum, guys and gals with dry or normal skin will absolutely adore the Pro-Glow foundation. It has a dewy finish with a 'lit from within' look and smooths your dry patches out like nothing you've seen before. I have to say though, the best thing about this foundation is the price! L'Oreal coming in clutch.
3. Concealer: Tarte's Double Duty Beauty Shape Tape Contour Concealer
Tarte Double Duty Beauty Shape Tape Contour Concealer, $24 at Ulta.com
YouTubers everywhere are raving about this new concealer from Tarte. Some are saying it's the best concealer formula on the market. It's very easy to apply with the dove-foot applicator, it's full coverage, crease resistant, brightening, creamy, and ideal for every skin type. There are concealers with $40-$50 price tags that aren't this pigmented and smoothing, which means that hopefully brands are going to step up their concealer game. But for now, you need this makeup essential to stay highlighted and concealed to perfection.
4. Setting Powder: Airspun Translucent Extra Coverage Loose Face Powder
Coty Airspun Translucent Extra Coverage Loose Face Powder, $8.99 at Walmart.com
Face powders are the plebs of a makeup collection, mostly because we just don't think of them as important. This is true to an extent, but it's important in the fact that it needs to set your foundation so that it doesn't move or transfer from your skin and it provides extra coverage to a low to medium coverage foundation. It's also important for baking the under eye area and the highlighted places of your face.This powder does all of that and more. And sure, you could opt for a high-end alternative such as the Laura Mercier Translucent Setting Powder, but honestly, I don't think it's worth it. The Airspun powder is where it's at when it comes to price and quality.
5. Brow Pencil/Pomade: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade and NYX Micro Brow Pencil
Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW™ Pomade, $18 at sephora.com
NYX Micro Brow Pencil, $10 at nyxcosmetics.com
Bold brows are trending and have been for the past two years. Therefore, a makeup collection isn't complete without at least one brow product. Personally, I use pencils, pomade, gel, and powder but for the sake of this article, I decided to just include a pomade and a pencil. So first off, it seems like everyone and their grandmas know about the Anastasia Dip brow. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. Truthfully, it's the best eyebrow product you could ever need. It's creamy, long-lasting, waterproof, and the pigmentation is unreal. It is also made by a very high-end brand with crazy bragging rights in the beauty world. Then, moving to the brow pencil. I, personally, have a love-hate relationship with this pencil because I run out of it so fast. I'm always too lazy to buy a new one so I actually have to put in effort to do something (wow, I sound pathetic), but I LOVE the product. This pencil will fill in your brows with such a natural finish and feel that if you're not into the fleeky Instagram brows, this pencil is definitely for you.
6. Eye Primer: MAC's Pro Longwear Paint Pot
MAC's Pro Longwear Paint Pot, $22 at maccosmetics.com
MAC is one of the classic, original brands of makeup that we can always count on. As it says in the name, it's very long wearing so your eye shadows will never crease on you. It's also super pigmented so it will hide all of the veins and discoloration on your eyelids so that you have a perfectly smooth canvas to work on. Make sure to set it with your setting powder though. Eye primer that doesn't get set with powder will make your eye shadows stick and they won't blend easily. And gurrrl, blending is KEY.
7. Eye shadow: Morphe's 350 Pro Eye Shadow Palette
Morphe's 35O Nature Glow Eyeshadow Palette, $22.99 at morphe.com
Out of all of the palette's that I could have chosen from, you're probably wondering, "Why in the heck did you choose this one?" Well, to answer that question, I chose this palette because of the incredible quality for the price.You get 35 pans of eye shadow in this palette for almost $23 bucks! That's less than $1 for each pan of eye shadow and that's crazy for the quality! Each and every color is super creamy, like butter, and the pigmentation is to DIE FOR. I actually own this palette and I use at least one color in it every day. It's half cool-toned and half warm-toned with a great mix of transition colors, pops of color, shimmers, and mattes. This is truly the definition of "more bang for your buck."
8. Liner: NYX Matte Liquid Liner and Marc Jacob's Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner
NYX Matte Liquid Liner, $7 at nyxcosmetics.com
Marc Jacob's Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner, $25 at sephora.com
I don't know about you, but I like my eyeliner to be super black and super matte. This is why I think that NYX's Matte Liner is the perfect liquid liner out there that won't bust your bank account. I mean, c'mon, it's $7! You could buy three of these for the price of a high end liquid liner... but that's none of my business. Anyway, onto liner for the waterline. I realize that the name Marc Jacobs in the name probably scares you and your wallet. Listen, this eyeliner is $25, but in it's defense, it's literally the best eyeliner I've ever tried on my waterline. It's creamy so it's easy to smudge and smoke it out on the lower lashline. Also, it's SO super pigmented to the fact that when I go to sleep at night, it is still just chilling in my waterline like I just put it on. Did I mention it's crazy pigmented? I did? Oh.
9. Kiko Milano's Extra Sculpt Volumizing Mascara
Kiko Milano's Extra Sculpt Volumizing Mascara, $14 at kikocosmetics.com
So I originally found out about this product from Kathleen Lights when I watched a video about mascaras on her channel. I had never heard about this mascara before in my life so I decided to try it. The first swipe of this and I fell instantly in love. It lengthens, volumizes, darkens, plumps, curls, and basically makes your lashes look like falsies. Don't believe me? See for yourself.
10. Liquid Lipstick: Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick
Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick, $20 at sephora.com
Trying to pick one liquid lipstick is like asking to pick between food or water to survive: it's almost impossible. But here I am, making it possible. The Anastasia Liquid Lips only rose above it's competition because of it's brand and it's packaging. Almost every liquid lipstick on the market right now is priced between $18 and $22 and most of them have highly similar formulas. This makes it hard to determine which brand's product is better than the other. So, I basically looked through all of them and decided that this liquid lipstick has the best formula, color selection, packaging, brand, and smell. Let's look at this lipstick on someone with totally unrealistic lips, shall we?
11. Bronzer: Benefit's Hoola Matte Bronzer
Benefit Hoola Matte Bronzer, $29 at sephora.com
I'm going to be completely honest here, I didn't think thisbronzer was worth the hype. That was until I bought the mini version of it, and proved myself wrong. In videos and in pictures, I couldn't really see why this bronzer was so great. But believe me when I say that it's so much more pigmented and creamy and perfect in person. To me, this bronzer is a 2-in-1 package. It's cool-toned so you could use it as a contour shade, but it's not too cool-toned so you can use it as a bronzer, too. I just can't stress how badly you need this. 10/10.
12. Blush: Milani Rose Powder Blush
Milani Rose Powder Blush, $7.99 at target.com
Blush is one of the most overlooked makeup item out there. Most people don't think they need it and they are so wrong. Blush is used to bring color to the face and make you look flushed and more lifelike. I'm not kidding when I say that sometimes blush can make or break a makeup look. That's why you need this blush in the color "Romantic Rose". It's the perfect neutral pink color but it's not over-pigmented or intense. Don't ruin your makeup and buy this everyday blush!
13. Highlighter: Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminators
Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminator, $28 at anastasiabeverlyhills.com
And now, for the absolute best part of any makeup look... highlight. I can't name one person who doesn't like to look glowy and radiant. That being said, let's move on to the product. There are so many highlighters on the market right now and it was just too hard to pick between all of them. My instincts told me to choose BECCA's Champagne Pop Pressed Highlighter but when it comes right down to it, it's just too damn expensive. The Anastasia Illuminators have the same "glowing from within" look and feel as the BECCA highlight, but for waaaay less money. A girls' gotta stay highlighted to the gods but not if it's going to break the bank. Stay smart, ladies.
14. Setting Spray: MAC's Prep & Prime Fix+
MAC's Prep & Prime Fix+, $23 at maccosmetics.com
Last but not least, let's talk about setting spray. MAC Fix+ is the best formulation of setting spray that has ever been created. Facts that back me up on this include the fact that you can spray this on any brush before you dip into eyeshadow or highlighter and the pigmentation will hit you so hard in the face that you won't know what happened. Well, what happened was that this liquid is multi-functional because it sets your makeup, increases pigmentation, and has certain ingredients that make your makeup look absolutely flawless. And guuurl, you want to look flawless, right?
