Slash That Stash! Part 1 | Top 5 – Five to Survive

Today is all about makeup kit weight loss, sticking with stuff that works and what you need. Capsule kits are king this spring/summer because of all the holidays people will be taking and college girls are about to start school again this June. The makeup pouch, kit, sack…whatever… is what always ends up a burgeoning mess halfway out the door for girls who care (like myself) simply because we’re finicky and like trying different things. People are talking about paring down the kit but to make things easier for the variation among you I’m doing a 2-part series. First for today a bare minimum 5 products (excluding tools) for those who need to look done and don’t fuss as much and then a more trooper-esque 10 products next time for the hopelessly devoted. Bear in mind this is not as much about the branded products presented as it is essentially 5 general cosmetic items you will need to put a fresh, lightly done face on. This Part 1 post will also be segmented two ways. It will begin with the “5 to Survive” for makeup noobs (easy to use products with minimal tools) and then the 5 to survive for the part-time “pros” with more skill. Please note that these are recommendations and you can of course substitute different brands that offer the same sort of product. The mixes may or may not work for you but I’m free to present why I think they should work .

THE MAKEUP NOOB’S FIVE TO SURVIVE

So you need to primp and you don’t care as much as the rest of the female population ( And that’s okay, we are born in variants) but you need to keep staples on hand at all times to put a face on as needed. You may or may not be an athlete, social worker, a nurse, a spy (who sees you) or maybe a mother of 10 but whatever the case you do have more important pursuits than fussing with your face. You loathe needing skills to use different brushes other than a powder brush and the idea of using multiple eyeshadow and blending forever recycles itself…binned at the back of your mind. Maybe this lot is for you. I sacrificed eyeliner because mascara works for me at a bare minimum. If you can’t live without eyeliner add to the 5 and make it 6, no one’s stopping you hehe.

CLOCKWISE: 1.) A foundation or base product that can be built to conceal (Shiseido Perfect Refining foundation SPF 24), 2.) A lip and cheek product (Benefit ChaCha Tint), 3.) A volumizing waterproof mascara (L’Oreal False Lash Telescopic this is the non-waterproof , my WP one is already ugly to look at lol), 4.) A liquid brow pen (K-palette 1DayTattoo Eyebrow pen I cheated and used the eyeliner for the photo, but it looks the same), 5.) A mineral compact setting powder (MakeUp Factory Mineral Compact, you can also use MAC MSF Natural but that doesn’t have a mirror)

TOOLS FOR THE MAKEUP NOOB – See no worries, just the Shu Uemura lash curler and a retractable powder brush. My brush is an Ecotools one but you can locally get premium ones by Charm makeup brushes.

This Top 5 set I put together keeping in mind that people without the skill or any plan to add to what they can do with their hands should have convenient options. You can apply the foundation with your hands beginning at the center of your face. This Shiseido one I chose is as thin as a tinted moisturizer, comes in a dinky convenient dropper bottle and offers medium to full coverage so you can add more in certain areas to conceal more. While the foundation is still moist add the cheek tint, the one I chose by Benefit quickly stains which is why you have to massage it onto the apples of your cheeks immediately once applied. Fill in sparse areas of your brows with the brow pen and and perfect the tail. Proceed to powder the T-zone and chin with the Makeup Factory mineral compact. Lastly, curl your lashes and apply mascara thickly at the base of the roots and thinner at the tips. Read more to see the Five to Survive set I chose for part-time makeup pros.

For the next set say HELLO to the hopelessly devoted. We know a little bit more just because it’s our “thing”. Some of us don’t actually know how we suddenly got to knowing this much but there’s always room for slashing the kit when needing to travel light.

THE PART-TIME MAKEUP PRO’S FIVE TO SURVIVE

When it comes to beauty you know more than most, whether it’s because you took a class, pour over blogs and vlogs daily, or maybe because it’s your job…whatever the reason you basically know a lot more about cosmetics. You know things like makeup with next to none or no SPF looks better in photos and you can do your brows properly YOUR WAY with an angled brush and eyeshadow, you can also line them the same way. You know what the pantone color of the year is, most of the time anyway and like products that are easy to use but can still give you room to customize. The relevance of the word CREASE matters to you and you get goosebumps if someone hasn’t taken their base down their neck. These are my 5 picks for the part-time makeup pro.

CLOCKWISE: 1.) A mineral or matte setting powder (MakeUp Factory Mineral Compact #6 = NC35 in MAC), 2.) A neutral eyeshadow palette with light base colors and smoky colors that can be used on brows also (NARS And God Created the Woman palette), 3.) A foundation you can build for heavier coverage. (Koh Gen Do Moisture Foundation), 4.) A lipliner shade close to your lipcolor for defining and reshaping (Makeup Factory Lip Definer Pencil #80), 5.) A truly volumizing but not messy mascara (L’Oreal Telescopic Lash Mascara)