summer to autumn: eyes

1. MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood

I've already confessed my love for this product here, but it really is the best. Nine times out of ten this is my eye shadow base of choice and it has never, ever, ever disappointed me.

2. Urban Decay NAKED Palette

When I first got this palette, I really didn't use it much as I would lean towards my army of NARS eye shadows most of the time, but over the last month or so, I've found myself reaching for this almost every day. My favourite shade of the moment has been Half-Baked, a shimmery gold, swept over the entire lid (on top of Indianwood). When I'm going for a more matte look , I'll dab Buck into the outer corner and edges, but when I feel like being extra shimmery, I'll use Smog instead. Transitioning into night adventures, I'll add an extra bit of Darkhorse along my upper and lower lash lines to intensify everything a bit. This palette is awesome: 12 buttery soft, extremely pigmented, every day neutral shades that take you from day to night.

3. Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Stick in Bad Girl Bronze

This is probably one of my favourite products of the moment: a fantastic bronze-y brown cream formula in the shape of a stick. It lasts excellently on my oily eyelids and the fact that it is a cream stick makes it easy to apply and smudge along the lash line as sort of an eyeliner replacement. I will be adding various shades to my collection in the near future.

4. Maybelline Volum'Express the Hypercurl

Like Indianwood, this product has been part of my make up routine for years; I have already professed my undying love for it here and here, and in the last month, it's made it back into my daily routine.

5. BrowMousse by Tweezerman

Nothing particularly amazing, this has been my brow groomer for the last few years (yes I still haven't gotten through this tube and it's been a very long time). It seems to work well enough at keeping my messy eyebrows in place for most of the day but it does sometimes leave a white cast on my dark hair.

loves of the summer so far: eyes & lips

1. MAC Paint Pot in Indianwood

One of the first makeup items I ever bought in my life, this has been in and out of my routine for years but remained one of my favourites. It is the perfect bronze-y shade, especially during the summer with a bit of a tan, and is somehow capable of withstanding the 75%+ humidity that exists in Hong Kong as well as the oil that seems to inevitably spread over my eyelids. Perfect for sprucing up your face on a day by the pool and any on any other average day as a base under both matte and shimmery powder eyeshadows.

2. NARS Eyeshadow in Cyprus

I love NARS packaging. I don't care if the matte black gets dirty over time. I will forever love the simplistically beautiful clamshell compacts, and it was the fact that the single eyeshadows are a dinky adorable mini-size that compelled me to buy this shade. I've found over the years that this is the perfect every-day eyeshadow for giving your face that bit of 'oomph' to wake you up and look ever so put together, when in reality, all you did was squash a fluffy brush into the product and haphazardly smear it across your eyelids whilst half-awake. It is pleasantly shimmery when layered under equally shimmery cream shadows, (for example the aforementioned MAC Paint Pot), yet not too over the top to remain neutral enough for those days when you want to look like you've not quite got anything on. 

3. Maybelline Full'n Soft

This mascara is runner-up to my favourite ever - Maybelline Volum'Express the HyperCurl. It is a close-contender and slowly becoming my preferred of the two as it leaves my eyelashes with the perfect amount of volume and length whilst managing to hold the curl for the entire day.

4. Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick in 300 Rose Blush

A whimsical purchase from New York which I liked at first but fell out of love with as I was preoccupied with my reds and plums during the cold and dreary winter. This has made it into my bag almost every day in place of my much-loved Clinique Chubby Stick in Chunky Cherry as I find it to be the perfect pinch of pink for my face during the summer months. It has a small amount of shimmer, doesn't lean too far pink, (in fact it probably leans closer to red), and has the loveliest smooth finish on the lips. I was also much surprised to find out that it has SPF 18 the other day when I was giving the label a glance to check the name of the colour and I'm also surprised to say that I've gone through about half the tube already since whipping it out earlier this month. Love.