I spend hours watching make-up tutorials on YouTube. It started when I began following Lisa Eldridge on Twitter a few years ago and she linked to a contouring video she’d made. Her voice and easy to follow instruction hooked me in and from then on I was engrossed, watching every video on a loop until I knew her tricks and tips. But no matter how many looks I learn, I never stray from my standard face – matte skin, bright lips, slick of black eyeliner, coupled with the same hairstyle. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it right?
Regardless of this commitment to the same daily face, I have drawers of products that I buy thinking I could maybe one day, just possibly, branch out. I buy eyeshadow quads of ice-cream spring colours, get home and click open the palette to almost recoil at the thought of slicking anything but the blackest black across my lids. It goes in the drawer, forgotten about along with the various coloured pencils, nude lipsticks and cream blushes that I thought I might just try.
After a recent clear out of three bags of unused goodies, I am determined to curb this habit. My beauty collection has been stripped back to basics, making it fairly easy to pick out the five I simply couldn’t live without. Most products I use are interchangeable (I don’t think I’ve ever bought the same mascara twice) but these five will live and die with me.
Origins Super Spot Remover Blemish Treatment Gel
I spent my teens and early twenties a spotty mess. While hormones played a key part in this, I’m pretty sure a shit (read ‘nonexistent’) skincare routine was to blame for a lot of it. Like most girls that age, I cleansed my face with a wipe and that was it. Grim now I think about it, but at the time it seemed enough.
Now I have a full routine that keeps my skin in fairly good nick, but I still have the odd breakout. This product was recommended to me by a colleague and I cannot believe I never found it sooner. Dab a tiny bit on the spot in the evening and by the morning the spot is visibly reduced, if not gone. It’s no good for large areas, but if you’re getting one or two big spots then this is nothing short of a miracle.
The ingredients that do this are salicylic acid, caffeine and red algae. I couldn’t give two hoots about the science though. As far as I’m concerned it’s made by angels who come down in the night and rub my skin better.
Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Gel Liner
This little pot of excellence survived sweaty, drunken dancing in the rain at Glastonbury – and if it can do that, it can certainly sustain a day in the office. It comes with a brush built into the lid, making it handy to transport and touch up on the go if you need to (which you won’t ever because it’s bloody awesome).
Mini Batiste
Anyone with a full fringe will share my love for mini dry shampoo bottles. Block fringes have a tendency to part, making me look like Ben from A1. That wasn’t a look I wanted in 1998, and it certainly isn’t what I’m going for now. A quick spritz of Batiste, a shake and a shimmy and it’s back to its rightful place.
Red lipstick
Red lipstick can transform a whole outfit. It pulls everything together, making you look instantly ‘done’. I know I can sling on jeans and a t-shirt, and with the addition of blood-red lips and leopard print pumps I look kick-ass. I feel incomplete without it. If I don’t wear it, I don’t feel quite like me.
I know it’s cheating to be so generic, but it is almost impossible for me to pick a specific one; I have upwards of 20 red lipsticks in various shades, textures and formulas. My other half doesn’t really understand my need to buy more. “But this is more pink / velvet / orange / hydrating than the one I’m wearing” is often repeated when we go shopping. I guess blokes just don’t get the subtle differences a slightly bluer tint can make. My current reds du jour are & Other Stories matte lipstick in Raschel Rouge and Max Factor Colour Elixir in Ruby Tuesday.
Kerastase Ciment Thermique
I wash and blowdry my hair everyday so heat styling can quickly take its toll. (Before you comment, no I’m not stripping out oils by washing it every day, yes I do know I could use dry shampoo – I just like clean swishy hair ok?) I originally read about this product on a beauty forum and so picked some up with my Boots points. I opened the box to discover the instructions had graphs. GRAPHS. In short, it explained that you only need to use the product every 4-5 washes, so a £18 hair product soon becomes a fairly affordable purchase. You smooth it onto wet hair and then style as normal. I don’t know the science bit, just that it’s heat activated and leaves my hair soft, strong and free from heat damage. My hair is both thin and fine (yeah, your jealous right?) and this doesn’t weigh it down or leave it greasy in any way. I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone who blow dries each day.
So there you have it. My Fabulous Five. I do have a bonus gadget – the Babyliss Big Hair – but I’ll save that for another post.
Everything But The Kitchen Sink 