Everyday Makeup Must Haves

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I share a lot of the beauty products I love, but never have really talked about my everyday makeup! I had a couple of people ask me what my daily routine is like, so I wanted to put together my favorites that I use every single day. I'm the kind of person who, unless I'm going somewhere really nice/fancy/exciting, I don't like to look like I'm wearing a lot of makeup. Especially in the summer and warmer months, nothing is worse than a heavy face full of product! On an everyday basis, I wear minimal makeup and love nothing more than a simple, clean look. Here's the perfect must haves for a simple (and fairly quick too!) makeup look:

Pre-Makeup:

Prepping your face for your makeup is so important for your skin, having a natural glow every day and helps your makeup last so much longer! I can always see a difference when I prep my face versus when I don't. My face makeup especially lasts longer - and no one wants a cake-y dull look come 5 PM! Here's my makeup prep (in order of use) on the daily:

Cleanse: it's no secret how much I love the Paula's Choice cleansing products (check out previous posts with my favorites from their lines here and here) and they're usually my go-tos, but I also really love this Sephora Collection cleansing oil and their cleansing water. I've been using both a lot lately after Sephora sent them over for me to try and I love the way they make my skin feel! I've never been into any kind of oils for my face (until lately) because I didn't think they'd benefit me. Boy was I wrong! The cleansing oil is great for cleansing and removing leftover makeup all at the same time. I have rather sensitive skin and it still works great and the best part - doesn't leave my face looking or feeling oily. #blessup

If you catch my monthly currently cravings' posts and saw my picks from April, you know how much I'm LOVING the Boscia detoxifying cleanser. I talked all about it in that post, but overall it's a great morning and night time cleanser and it works so well!

Tone: again, one of my go-to toners is from Paula's Choice but after trying a sample, I LOVE the way this pore purifying toner works! I have semi-combo skin, but not terribly dry or oily. If I get oily it's in my T-zone and this toner is 100% helping in removing any extra oil. It's just an added bonus that it smells SO good! If you need a new toner, I highly recommend this one. A little bit goes a long way and I use it every morning.

Moisturize: I will never stop talking about/have enough good things to say about the Clinique moisture surge moisturizer! I absolutely love it - I use it every day, I travel with it and I love how it makes my skin feel! I've used the dramatically different moisturizer from Clinique for a while and recently tried the moisture surge - it's 10x better than the 'dramatically different', and that one was so good! It's super refreshing and mixes perfectly with the Clinique BIY drops (more on those in a bit). You can read all about them here, and hear me gush about how much I love them/the moisture surge in this Instagram post!

Primer/Mist (optional): I say 'optional' because I don't always use a primer, especially if I'm going really light on my makeup that day, but it's always good to to make sure your skin glows all day and it sets your makeup onto your skin. I switch between the POREfessional face primer and the Smashbox Photo Finish primer. Both work wonders, both are worth every penny. I will say though, I find the Smashbox primer to be a little lighter on my skin. The POREfessionals primer is more balmy which is still great, but depending on the day (and my mood to be honest ;) I switch between the two.

If I'm traveling/in the mood for more of a light mist, my go-to is the Tarte Marine Boosting Mist. I talked all about it last summer as a part of my summer beauty must haves and almost a year later it's still in my daily routine! It smells so good, lasts a long time and boosts your complexion. Definitely one of those must have beauty buys!

Face Makeup:

This is usually where I like to keep my makeup really light. I don't like wearing a lot of face makeup, and I like looking as natural as possible with an understated glow. And yes, this is where I'll be gushing (once again) about the BIY drops, ha! ;)

Concealer: for close to a year my absolute favorite concealer has been the complete coverage concealer by Urban Decay. It works so well and the coverage is perfect without being too heavy. I guess they weren't kidding when they called it weightless! It lasts a while too so it's a great price. I recently tried a sample of the Clinique Beyond Perfecting 2-in-1 concealer and foundation though, and I loved it! I bought it (it's the same price as the Naked concealer - another great buy!) and I'm considering reviewing/comparing the two because they are very similar. I normally use the Clinique version when I don't have much redness/many blemishes to cover or when I'm feeling lazy, ha! It's a great 2-in-1 and most definitely complete coverage.

Foundation/Skin Tint: I gave a fair warning! The Clinique BIY drops. End of story! They work WONDERS, provide great coverage and since you get to mix them with your favorite moisturizer to mix, you have a perfectly customized and hydrating foundation. It's as light as a B.B/C.C cream with the coverage of a heavy foundation.

A couple other notable favorites of mine are the NARS Velvet Matte Skin Tint (check out my full review on it here!) and the Hourglass Illusion Hyaluronic Skin Tint. For a lighter B.B/C.C type of tint for the ultra hot (or ultra lazy, pick your poison! ;) days, this IT Cosmetics C.C cream is incredible!

Bronzer/Blush: the best bronzer and blush duo is the Elf bronzer and blush duo! It's $6(!!!) and it's the perfect dupe for the NARS duo! I love this - it's super pigmented yet looks very natural and lasts a long time.

Eye Makeup:

My eye makeup is really the only place that I like a bold look. Eye liner and mascara are in my every day beauty routine and I feel like I look like such a baby without eye makeup (anyone else?)!

Primer: while the Urban Decay eye primer potion that everyone has loved for years is definitely in my top favorites, after I got to try the Beauty Amplifier primer from the Sephora Collection, I quickly started to have a new favorite primer! Both work really well to keep your eye shadow/makeup in place all day long and neither are irritating - so important for anyone who wears contacts! *raises hand*

Eye liner: PSA - one of my favorite drug store beauty buys is my eye liner! I LOVE my Maybelline pencil liner and unless I found something ridiculously more incredible, you won't catch me spending more than $6 on my liner! I prefer pencil liner over liquid/pot liners, etc. I'm not sure why - maybe it's because it's what I've always used, but I find it easiest to use, re-apply and it looks fairly natural and doesn't smudge. Like I said, I wear liner every day (I usually do a super thin top liner, the corners of my upper waterline and on my lower water line) so having one I love is #1.

Mascara/lash musts: I go through mascara almost as much as water. Literally, I'm always trying new ones, rarely buy the same one twice and don't have *one* favorite. I've talked so much before about how I have such lash problems - getting my lashes to curl and stay curled puts me on a serious struggle bus! The best I've tried is the Max Factor Masterpiece Max mascara - it curls my lashes almost so much so that I don't need a lash curler! I recently tried the travel sized Benefit Cosmetics Curling/Lifting mascara to see if I'd like it and so far, so good! It works really well and isn't clumpy - one of my biggest makeup pet peeves!

Another must for my eyes on a daily basis is the Maybelline Clear Brow Gel. It's one of my 10 must have beauty products under $10 and makes my holy grail list time and time again. Lately it's really hard to find, so every time I head to Target I stock up on it because I'm so worried about it being discontinued! I see so many "brow/lash gels" in Sephora/Nordstrom, etc. that are designer brands and are SO expensive... It's just gel, and so not worth the extra money! This Maybelline gel is $4 and works really well. I've tried others and found they were sticky on my brows and whatnot - but the Maybelline dries great (and so quick!). It doubles as an awesome lash primer too!

I normally don't wear eye shadow on a daily basis but on the occasion that I do, the Naked Smokey palette is my go-to for everyday wear and dressed up occasions! I also really love this palette - the colors and pigmentation get an A+!

What are your daily makeup musts? I'm always looking for recommendations of new products to try!
XOXO -A