If you’re anything like me, you’re a huge beauty junkie—I read beauty articles like it’s my day job, and collect every product I can get my hands on. With an overflowing makeup case at school, and another collection back at home, some might say I have a serious problem. But all that sifting through products and reviews has resulted in a finely tailored arsenal of must haves—and today, I’m going to share that with you!
Face
As someone with super oily skin that is constantly breaking out, I tend to shy away from foundation for fear of suffocating my pores. Maybelline New York Dream Pure BB ($8.99) is the perfect compromise between providing coverage and letting my skin breathe. The salicylic acid fights breakouts and it’s light enough to feel like I’m not wearing anything on my face.
When it comes to covering a breakout or avoiding looking like a raccoon, MAC Cosmetics Select Cover Up ($19) is the best there is. It stays put from sun up until (way after) sun down. Applied with a brush, it blends seamlessly.
Tarte Smooth Operator Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder ($32) is a godsend. It’s the only thing I’ve found that doesn’t just stop my face from looking like an oil slick, and keeps it that way all day long.
I never used to wear blush, since I figured it would make me look like a circus clown. But Benefit Rocketeur ($28) and Rimmel Match Perfection Blush in Light/Medium ($7.98) have proved me wrong. The first is the most beautiful rose gold color that warms up fair skin tones like nothing else and the second looks exactly like my natural flush. Both are practically impossible to overload on.
Brows
One downside to having curly hair is having curly eyebrows. For those times in between waxing appointments when they’re getting unruly, I use Benefit Speed Brow ($18) to keep them tamed and locked in place all day.
Sometimes I have one of those days where I want to look like Lily Collins with her super fierce brows. For those days, I have Benefit Instant Brow Pencil ($20) and Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo in Caramel ($23) to fill in any bare patches and provide some extra oomph.
Eyes
Mascara is the one beauty product I can’t live without and Lancôme Hypnôse Mascara in Black ($27.50) is the best mascara I’ve ever used. It volumizes and lengthens to the point where people ask me if I’m wearing falsies. It’s practically transformative. I’m now a lifetime devotee.
After priming with Benefit Stay Don’t Stray ($26), my eye shadow and concealer don’t budge, no matter the weather. It’s so good that I can sleep with full on smoky eyes after going out and wake up the next morning with no creases and no pillow smudges. That’s magic.
I have an obsession with gold makeup and MAC Cosmetics Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Indianwood ($21) is a rich burnished gold color that makes me feel like a Greek goddess. It looks even better when applied with your fingers so it gets all smudgy.
When you buy an eye shadow palette, it’s almost a given that there will be a couple of shades that are unwearable. But the Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette ($54) is a rare exception with a mix of glamorous shades of pink and bronze that are almost too pretty to use. Almost. It may be one of my most prized possessions.
Maybelline New York Master Precise Ink Pen Eyeliner in Black ($7.99) is ideal for the liquid eyeliner-impaired because it’s practically goof proof. The easy-to-use pen doesn’t smudge and creates a perfectly even wing. I love it because it makes it easy to make the lines on each eye completely symmetrical.
For going out, I love NYX Liquid Crystal Liner in Crystal Gun Metal ($4.50), especially when applied to just the lower lash line. The blue-gray sparkle is unlike any other color and it makes my blue eyes pop.
Lips
For every day, I use either Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss in Summer Twilight ($12.99), a juicy berry that goes with any makeup I’m wearing, or Korres Lip Butter in Wild Rose ($12) which makes your lips so soft that you can’t stop touching them.
I love the look of super bright lipstick. My favorites are Kat Von D Studded Kiss Lipstick in Backstage Bambi ($21), Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Siren ($4.99), and MAKE UP FOR EVER Lipstick in Moulin Rouge ($20) which is awesome not only because it’s inspired by my favorite movie, but also because it’s a non-drying matte red that actually follows up on its promise of being long lasting.
Do you use any of these products, collegiettes? Let me know what you think!