In this blog post I will be helping out some of you who are just looking to start using make-up or are quite new to using it and want a good starting make-up kit. Now I know when you first start using make-up you don't really want to be spending too much money on these products, at least I know I didn't. Which is why the majority of these products are from the high-street so they're very affordable and you can find them in the UK in places like Boots or Superdrug. Only one product is from a more high-end brand which is M.A.C and that's because I haven't really found a primer that I fell in love with from the high-street.
Here I will tell you step by step the make-up products that you should definitely try out when you're first starting out with make-up. I will talk about the benefits of using these products and what they do as well as suggesting application methods. Now remember this is a make-up kit for beginners and not more advanced people,so I won't be including things such as contour and highlight as many beginners will find this tricky to do.
Step 1: You have to make sure that you use a primer as primer is an important part of your look. It creates a base for your foundation, many people are likely to skip primer as they don't really want to spend money on a product that they don't think that they need. However, those people are wrong and here's why; firstly, primer can seal pores and although you may think that your pores are small and not really visible anyway, you'll find that with many liquid foundations no matter how small your pores are the foundation makes your pores look much more visible. Not only that but a major benefit of using a primer is it softens your skin and makes your skin feel like velvet, this allows your foundation to look more smooth and more even so altogether it makes your skin feel and look much better. One of my favourite benefits of using primer is the fact that it makes your make-up stay on longer, which of course is a bonus!
I think that the best way to apply primer is with your hand as it's easy to really massage the product in although I know many people do like to use a brush so just do what ever feels better for you.
The primer I use is the 'M.A.C Prep + Prime' and I definitely recommenced trying it if you get the chance.
Step 2: Step 2 is foundation and this is one of the, if not the most important steps of applying make-up and getting the look that you want. I think it is always a good idea to invest in a good foundation and spend extra time blending it and making sure everything is perfect as the foundation is the base for the rest of your make-up and if your base is looking bad then it is likely the rest of the make-up will not look the way you want it to. I suggest that when you first start off with make-up to use a very natural foundation as you want to get into the habit of applying it and using the method of application that works for you. This is because although foundation seems like an easy thing to apply it can sometimes be a bit difficult to blend a full coverage or quite a heavy foundation if you're not sure on how to do it right. Everyone's skin is different, for certain people foundation looks the best when applying with a foundation brush where as for others it may be easier to apply with a sponge you just have to find a way that works best for you. Which is why I recommend starting with a lightweight foundation so you can get used to it as they are easier to blend.
The foundation that I started off with is and still love to this day is the 'No7 Essentially Natural' foundation' It has a super delicate coverage but still covers any redness or blemishes and is really comfortable to wear so I really do recommend this one.
Step 3: The next step is concealer, concealer id designed to conceal any blemishes or redness and is mostly known for covering dark circles. Many people make the mistake of applying concealer before foundation and you have to remember not to do that. If you apply your concealer before foundation then you will remove most of it when you go to apply your foundation. However when you apply your foundation first then you see where you really need the concealer and you won't need that much at all. Another thing to remember is to not apply foundation under your eyes to cover your dark circles but use concealer instead. A lot of people apply foundation to their under eyes and then go onto applying concealer on top of that. Now the skin under your eyes is very delicate and you'll find that the more product you apply under your eyes the more it will crease so it's important to put as little product there as possible.
For your under eyes it is important to use a concealer that is one or two shades lighter than the shade of your foundation as this will give more illuminating and highlighting effect. However, if you want a concealer for any blemishes then use a concealer that is exactly your skin tone as using a lighter shade will just make blemishes more visible.
I think that the best way to apply concealer is either with a pointed sponge as this is the perfect shape to apply concealer to your under eyes or sometimes I like to apply concealer with my fingers as the warmth from my fingers helps to blend the concealer a lot more. However, if you do use a brush then you have to remember to apply the concealer with your fingers and then blend with the brush because applying concealer straight with the blush can just make any blemishes more visible.
A concealer that I used when I first started with make-up is the 'Collection lasting perfection' concealer and I know a lot of people love this concealer and I definitely understand why. I find that this concealer doesn't crease and it stays on throughout the day which is great. Unfortunately as you can see the writing has completely come off mine and I definitely need a new one.
Now I won't go into too much detail with the rest of the products but I felt like I had to into a lot of detail with the first three as I think they are really important steps to making your make-up look flawless.
Step 4: Okay so the next step is powder, powder is what sets your foundation in place and keeps your make-up stay on for longer. As I have combination skin my skin can get quite oily so I like to use powder as it definitely stops my skin from looking shiny and a bit gross. Powder is easy to apply as you can just use a soft brush and apply it to your whole face.
The foundation that I use is the 'Rimmel London Stay Matte' Powder. I love this powder and it's definitely my favourite high-street powder even to this day and I used this when I started with make-up. It doesn't make any dry patches of my skin visible but yet controls shine for many hours so if you have combination skin like me then I recommend giving this a try and it's only £3.99 which is crazy!
Step 5: Now, step 5 is actually not compulsory for beginners as some may find this tricky as you may not be 100% sure how and where to apply these, however if you are willing to give these a try then I'll put these in here just in case.....it's BRONZER AND BLUSHER! I put that in capitals because I just really love bronzer and blushers! :)
Bronzer: Many people think that bronzing and contouring is the same thing but it's not. I think that bronzing is a bit easier to do than contouring which is why included it in this post for beginners. There are many differences between bronzing and contouring but the main one is that bronzing gives a sun-kissed kind of look on your skin while contouring defines your facial features such as the nose, cheek bones, the jaw bone and temples.
Bronzer is fairly easy to apply once you get the hang of it and you can just use a big brush and bronze literally wherever you feel like you need it. Obviously don't go too far with it to the point where you look orange but delicately apply small amounts and blend until you're completely happy with it.
A high-street bronzer that I love is the 'No7 Perfectly Bronzed Dual Bronzer'. I love this bronzer because the two colours really work well together and it has a little bit of shimmer in it which looks gorgeous on the skin.
Blusher: I love using blusher because it definitely gives my skin more colour and life, which sometimes I definitely need. Now I can't really explain to you all, how to apply blusher as it massively depends on the shape of your face so I would have to do a completely different post about that.
However two of my favourite blushers is the No7 blush in the colour 'Soft Damson' and 'Topshop Afternoon Tea'
The two of these blushes are very different to each other. The No7 one is a lot more natural and is easy to apply with a blush brush. However, the Topshop one is more of a cream blush and therefore some people find it can be a bit difficult to apply it. I suggest applying it with your fingers and blending with a brush. Also the Topshop one is definitely a lot more pigmented so it all depends on what you prefer.
Left to right: No7 Soft damson, 'Topshop - Head over Heels'
Step 6: Step 6 is eye-shadow. I don't think that when you first start with make-up you have to wear eye-shadow but if you are looking to try it then I will show you two of my favourite eye-shadow pallets from the high-street. Eye shadow would be difficult for me to explain the method of application through a blog post so I found a YouTube video by 'Thalita Makes' that could really help some of you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3BZI31cenM
So here are two of my favourite pallets from the high-street.
Collection- Eyes Uncovered
Sleek- Au Naturel
Step 7: This step includes both Mascara and Liquid Liner.
One of my favourite Mascaras is 'Rimmel- Scandal Eyes Lycra Flex and that's because it is super affordable and it really makes my lashes seem longer and it's such a good voluminous mascara. It;s not clumpy and although it is not waterproof it does manage to stay on and not smudge for a very long time.
Next, is liquid eye liner and my favourite is 'Rimmel-Glam Eyes professional liquid liner'. Liquid liner can be difficult to apply especially for beginners so this is a great one to start off with as it's really easy to use and because the applicator is so thin it is easy to get the shape that you want because it glides of really smoothly. An important thing to remember when applying eyeliner is to try and apply the eye liner as close to the lash line as possible. This is because if there is a gap between your lash line and where the liner is your eyes can look really closed up and small so applying it close the the lash line makes the eyes really pop and look bigger.
Step 8: Finally it's time for the lips! Now I'm not going to go into too much detail with lip products because this all depends on your preference though I will show you some of my favourite lipsticks and lip-glosses.
Lipstick: Some of my favourite lipsticks are the Revlon Lip Butters and of course the Rimmel Kate moss Lipsticks. The Rimmel Lip Butters are extremely moisturising and the Kate Moss lipsticks are very pigmented and there are so many shades to choose one so you will definitely find one that you like.
Lip-gloss: I really like using the No7 High Shine lipgloss and the Rimmel 'Oh my Gloss' lip-glosses. There's not much to say about lip-gloss so it looks like I'm done here :)
Wow that was a crazy long blog post, took me ages to type but it was worth it and I really enjoyed it :)
Thank you for reading this insanely long post but I hope it can help some people <3
