I have been coveting and lusting after MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle for absolutely ages now. Every time I find myself at a MAC counter, I’ve got the back of my hand covered in this beautiful baked powder but just didn’t think it worth the $32 price tag. And to be honest, highlighter is pretty intimidating to me. I don’t want to bring attention to my acne or scarring, nor do I want to come off oily. But this product is so beautiful so it *somehow* ended up coming home with me recently. I’m loving how it looks now that my skin has a bit of a tan, and it makes an amazing eyeshadow & body highlight, so I know it will be well loved! There is tons of product, so I know I will be using it for a long time! I’m so happy about this purchase and can’t wait to play around with it more!

Have you ever used this product? What are your thoughts?!

Typically the contents of my makeup bag are constantly changing, but over the past few months I’ve noticed myself carrying the same staple items. I keep these around for touching up my makeup after work, which usually means I’m going out for an impromptu dinner! I don’t always plan on heading out after a day at work, but I keep this collection of reliable, long lasting products on hand so that I can feel my best even if I’m going out last minute. Of course, for a last minute dinner decision I book a reservation using Open Table to be sure I get a seat wherever I want to go!

For my skin, I keep some of my favourite products at hand: Stila Stay All Day Foundation and Concealer is an amazing full coverage foundation & concealer that blends into the skin so smoothly and lasts amazingly well, so I know that if I need a boost of coverage, I can rely on this stuff! Plus it’s great that the colours match perfectly! MAC Studio Fix sets everything perfectly in place and keeps oil at bay if I need it. This has some great coverage too if I’m not feeling like wearing any liquid foundation.  Makeup Forever HD Powder is great for locking concealer into place without adding any more coverage. This stuff feels like silk on the skin and doesn’t look cakey ever! Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed to add some neutral colour to my cheeks. I can’t get over how much I love this colour for any makeup look! And to lock it all in place I love L’Oreal Infallible Makeup Extender Setting Spray!
I’m usually wearing at least a little mascara, but I do like to have my Shu Uemura lash curlers at hand and Essence Get Big Lashes Mascara. For an easy, one-step eyeshadow look, Maybelline Color Tattoo in Black Orchid, is perfect because it sets into place and doesn’t require any brushes or additional eye shadows!
I always have at least 5 lip products kicking around, but Maybelline Colour Whisper in Made it Mauve is my perfect everyday lip colour! I’ve nearly finished this one and will definitely be repurchasing!
What are your makeup bag essentials?!

Last March I wrote a post about the products I hit pan on. It’s taken me until now to accumulate enough items that are hitting pan to make a second round of this post! I never realized how long it really takes me to finish up my powder products, yet it always seems like an accomplishment to see the metal at the bottom of the powder. It usually means I really enjoy an item and get lots of use out of it when you are someone like me who likes to try new makeup frequently and has a collection of items that are on rotation. Here are the

Benefit Hoola Bronzer is an absolute staple for me. This is my second container of this product (which is a rare and wondrous thing) which is now nearly empty. I actually featured my first container of this in my last PAN post. I will continue to repurchase this product!

Stila In The Light Palette shades Kitten and Bliss have now both hit pan! I have owned and endlessly loved this palette for absolutely ages. Read my rave about it here, and likely will purchase kitten on it’s own OR more likely purchase the Stila Eyes Are The Window Palette in Soul. I’ve been swatching it and lusting after it for a while now! *heart eyes emoji*

MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC20 has become my go-to everyday base essential. It is great for setting concealer and foundation or alone for a little coverage and oil control. Still lots of product left, but I will for sure repurchase when the time comes.

MAC Wookwinked Eyeshadow is a beautiful shade for every and any day! I think I’ve ranted about this too much here and on twitter.

Purely Pro Eyeshadow in Luxury is my perfect brow powder. I use it every single day for my brows and occasionally use it in my crease for a little bit of definition to the eyes.

What products have you hit pan on recently?

I posted this picture on my instagram a few weeks back of this makeup look. When I did this look I instantly fell in love and I’ve been somewhat addicted to wearing it since as it’s interesting in a completely neutral, effortless kinda way. This is the kind of look that can be paired with any type of outfit and for any occasion. It has a bit of a grungy feeling without being costumey or intimidating. It is my favourite kind of makeup look so I wanted to document and share with you!

When doing a dark, matte diffused eye I find it pretty important to have flawless skin, which is why I used Covergirl Ready Set Gorgeous Foundation, a medium to full coverage foundation. This is one of my newest makeup purchases and I’ve fallen in love with it! I concealed under my eyes with Covergirl+Olay The De-Puffer Eye Concealer, which has been a favourite for a while now. Set that all in place using MAC Studio Fix, my everyday foundation/setting powder. It amps up the coverage but not cakey! I loaded up the blush using Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Exposed. I love how neutral and versatile this is!

For the eyes, I wasn’t too precise at all. I dipped my brush in the three matte brown shades of the Lorac Unzipped Gold Palette (Undeniable, Unwind and Unedited) and diffused the colour all over the lid and extended it quite far out toward the end of the brow. I also used a of this on the lower lash line. In the outer corner I added a little more of Unedited and then lined my upper and lower lash line slightly with Rimmel Scandaleyes Kajal in Brown, and smudged it out. And then went in with tons of Benefit They’re Real Mascara, because this creates long, clumpy lashes which is what I’m all about!

The real star of the show is this amazing lip colour which I had tons of compliments on – NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Stockholm. A beautiful pinky brown shade in the most gorgeous long lasting formula! I love this product and could not recommend it enough!

About every 6 months or so I tend to have a rummage through my small makeup collection and try to use items that I’ve neglected or get rid of them entirely. It can be difficult to decide what stays and what goes, but it’s a task that does need to be done or else I would be holding on to unused, expired products. I think this clear out was pretty substantial, so I thought I would show you a run down of the products and why they are getting the boot!

I’ve now had this Elf Contouring Blush & Brozer Duo for about a year and a half, and I think I’ve only reached for it 3 times. Each time I was pretty disappointed. I didn’t exactly have high hopes for this, but I’ve never found myself wanting to use it. I decided both of my Essence Highlight Powders were ready to go simply because they were both chalky and odd highlight shades. I tried using them as eye shadows, but have things that work better. I used to get a lot of use out of the Rimmel Match Perfection Blush but haven’t done so in quite some time as I’ve found blushes I like much better now that I am more confident wearing blush.
As for bases I decided it was time to get rid of Revlon Nearly Naked Foundation, Revlon Colorstay Whipped Foundation and Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Compact simply because I haven’t used either for about a year and have no interest in doing so again. I have continually tried to use The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream, but no longer think it is worth attempting to use up. It is too dark so I was using it to mix into light foundations. It does not contain any SPF like other BB creams do, and it tended to get very oily for me. 
The Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer has been a part of my collection for quite sometime. I still really enjoy it, but think it’s time to say goodbye and repurchase! And the same goes for the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer, which I have already replaced actually. I’ve also decided that even though I love my Clinique Even Better Concealer it must have long passed it’s expiry. Plus always putting my finger in the pot is starting to get gross. I nearly finished the pot however! And lastly I’ve had the Benefit Erase Paste for nearly 2 years now and I never truly fell in love with it so I decided it’s likely time for it to go!
What products have you thrown out recently? Why did you decide it was time for them to go?
I have 2 more posts in this series I was thinking about doing (lips and eyes). Would you be interested in seeing those too?