My All-Time Favorite Makeup Products

My relationship with makeup has changed often throughout the years. I have lived through the “early YouTube” makeup tutorial phase, a minimal makeup phase, and a dramatic, “artistic” makeup phase. While I wouldn’t consider myself a makeup artist or expert in any sense, I have been feeling really confident in the way I do my makeup over the last year or so. I have found products that I return to time and time again, because they make me feel like the best version of myself. Isn’t that the point of makeup? To have fun and feel confident when you are done? Here are my all-time favorite makeup products, which I have purchased many and that never let me down.

If you are curious about what my all-time favorite skincare products, check out this post.

Face Makeup

I understand that face makeup can be a very touchy topic for some. As someone who has struggled with all types of acne for YEARS, I understand that many of us have insecurities that we want to cover up. I have absolutely taken the “cake face” route before, and slathered thick foundations onto my poor skin.

Now, I try my best to embrace my imperfections and wear lighter products. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I only have one face, and that constantly feeling the need to cover it up didn’t feel authentic to myself. I didn’t want to be kicking myself when I get older, wishing I hadn’t covered up my younger skin!

I typically reach for light coverage and natural finish complexion products, and I only add additional coverage with a thick concealer in very targeted areas. This approach keeps my skin looking natural and like I am barely wearing makeup at all! If you want to know more about how I achieve this look, check out my latest makeup routine video on my YouTube channel.

Cheek Products

It makes me sad to admit that I have not fully appreciated the power of good cheek products (contour, bronzer, blush, highlighter) until very recently. Now, I feel like I could never make a list of my all-time favorite makeup products without talking about them. For too long I always saw the eyes or the lips as the most important parts to focus on when creating a makeup look. But the cheek area is the largest part of the face! Now I can’t get enough of a bronzed, blushed, glowing complexion. It is very flattering look on all face shapes and skin tones.

Eyeshadow

Although I have strayed away from extremely colorful and detailed eyeshadow looks in recent years, I still have a lot of fun from time to time experimenting with it. Eyeshadow can totally transform a look, whether you apply a soft wash of color or have the whole rainbow on your lids. Even though I do not wear eyeshadow as much as I used to, I still have my favorites. These picks blend easily and won’t fade throughout the day.

Eyebrow Miracle Workers

I used to completely neglect my eyebrows, and then I would wonder why my makeup looks didn’t feel complete. I have tried everything, from powders to gels to wax products, but nothing ever seemed to give me the effect that I was looking for.

Now I should point out here, I have had my eyebrows microbladed. Here is a video all about my experience if you are interested. I realized that I could never quite shape my brows to the look I wanted them to have (thick, fluffy, mostly straight, and SYMMETRICAL hello!!) and I thought microblading would be the perfect solution for me. It turns out, I was right! I recommend microblading to anyone who is willing to listen. Now I have a template of my perfect brows tattooed on my face, and I laminate my brows at home every month (using this kit), and I haven’t had a bad brow day since!

Before I got my eyebrows laminated and microbladed, I swore by the Benefit eyebrow pencil and Anastasia Beverly Hills clear brow gel, shown above. Now that I don’t need to put as much effort into my eyebrows every day, I sweat by the Charlotte Tilbury tinted gel, also shown above.

Eyeliner and Mascara

I am blessed with long, curly, dark eyelashes, thank you genetics! However, I still absolutely am a mascara junkie. I only have a few requirements for a good mascara, but still I find it really hard to come by exactly what I am looking for! It needs to last through long days with no streaking or flaking. I like a brush that really defines my individual lashes opposed to clumping them together. I also prefer a dry formula to a more goopy, wet formula. And some additional lengthening is a huge plus! Here are my favorites.

Bullet Lipstick

Is it just me, or have classic, bullet shaped lipsticks become less popular lately? I am not sure if that is because of the liquid lipstick craze that took over a few years ago (thank you, Kylie Cosmetics lip kits) or because wearing a creamier lipstick is impossible to do under a face mask (thank you, pandemic). Regardless, I still love a good “old-fashioned” tube lipstick. I generally find them to be the perfect in-between of not being too drying like liquid lipstick, but also not being slick enough that it feels like my hair can get stuck in it.

Is that gross? I am just being honest here!

Liquid Lipstick

I am VERY picky when it comes to choosing a liquid lipstick that has my stamp of approval. Here’s the thing; I have very dry skin and lips that get very flakey, very easily. Please let me know in the comments that it isn’t just me! I love the concept of a liquid lipstick – in theory they are richly pigmented and stay on all day. The reality for me, however, is that they often start flaking a few hours into wearing them and I am left with sore, unhappy lips. But do not fret! The options above do not make my poor lips flake off of my face.

Lip Balms and Lipgloss

Ahhh, lip balm. Lip balms and lip glosses are some of my favorite makeup products. No list of my all-time favorite makeup products would be complete without them. I never find that glossy and balms irritate my lips (see above liquid lipstick rant) and they can be very sexy and flattering. The biggest downside of balms and glosses is without a doubt what I like to call the “goop” factor. (Not talking about you, Gweneth Paltrow.) No one likes the dreaded goopy feeling of your lips sticking together because of a product with a less-than-stellar formulation. My picks above are silky, easy to wear, they keep my lips hydrated, and they are oh-so-addicting to put on.