The Best Cosmetics

I know how aggravating it can be to spend money on a beauty product and feel like it was a total waste. It's not uncommon for a girl to have to try several beauty products before she finds one that's worth a darn. Lucky for you, my money wasting helps me to tell you what's worth buying.

Foundation- Lancome's Teint Idole Ultra works great. It gives pretty good coverage, does not feel cakey, and lasts up to 14 hours. It goes on smooth too. If that foundation is a bit out of your price range you might want to try L'Oreal Paris Feel Naturale foundation.  It comes in liquid and compact forms.  Both are good.  Lancome is part of the L'Oreal company, so the Feel Naturale is sort of like a cheaper version of the Lancome. Remember that its best to apply your foundation with a cosmetic sponge or a clean foundation brush to help prevent skin breakouts.

Concealer- Lancome Photôgenic concealer is my favorite cosmetic product. It glides on the skin and will cover up pretty much any imperfection you can find. It's a small container but you don't need much at a time, so it should last a while.

Mascara- There a few mascaras I really like. One of them is Lancome Hypnôse. It's a custom volume formula that creates a lovely effect. Rimmel London has a great lengthening mascara that has a soft look to it called LYCRA Lash Extender. For an affordable eye-opening mascara, try Cover Girl waterproof Lash Exact. It really gave my eyes a refreshed look.

Eyeliner- I am yet to find an eyeliner I really love, but my favorite thus far is probably Cover Girl Outlast SmoothWear All-Day Eyeliner.

Powder- Lancome Photogenic loose powder in the translucent shade. It works on all skin tones and adjusts light to make your skin look better. Use a large face powder brush for the best application. Maybelline has a good brush that can be found in stores like Wal-Mart.

Face Illuminator- Revlon skinlights is a great face illumination powder. I don't think it can be found in stores anymore, but you can buy it online. It puts a sort of dewy glow on the face. I like to apply it with a fan brush across my cheeks and apply it under a the eyebrows. It lights the face up and has a nice effect in photographs.

Blush- L'Oreal True Match blush is a winner in my eyes. It goes on soft and comes in a variety of shades to work with your skin tone. If you want a sort of natural blushed look, like say if you cheeks had been pinched, Revlon has a good gel blush called Pinch Me. It has sheer coverage. I use the cheeky cherry shade. You only need a small dab on each cheek to blend in. It's difficult to find in stores, but it's advertised on the Revlon website, so I'm pretty sure you can at least find it on the web.

Bronzer- Physician's Formula has a great bronzer called Pearls of Perfection. If you have light skin like me, they even have it in a light bronzer shade that is perfect for fair skin. It does not come with an applicator, so use your own blush brush, fan brush, or face powder brush depending on how much bronzer you want to apply.

Eye Pencil- I have a Mary Kate and Ashley eye pencil/crayon. I really think any brand will work for this job. Every girl should have a white pearlescent eye makeup pencil to brighten up her eyes. What you do is put a small dot at the inner corners of your eyes and underneath your eyebrows in a thin line and blend in order to create an illuminating effect that makes the eyes look refreshed.

Eyeshadow- L'Oreal Paris eyeshadow quads are a good deal. The are not expensive, are packaged to where you can mix the colors up on you eyelids for a somewhat more dramatic look if you want to, and go onto the skin well without eyeshadow falling down your face.

Lip balm- Blistex Silk & Shine is great. It's got a decent taste and smell and makes the lips feel really smooth.

Lipgloss- Lancome's Juicy Tubes Smoothie is a pretty great gloss. It slides on well and delivers quite the shine. The gloss comes in a variety of shades. It's also a Glam editor's pick.

Lip color- I'm not a big fan of lipstick because the best lip color is created by blending colors. I'm pretty sure even Oprah's makeup artist says that. I preffer the lip color pallete. One good lip color pallette is Physicians Formula Plump Pallette Plumping lip color. It is not the best for plumping, to be honest with you, but it does come in a nice variety of colors and is packaged helpfully with a little lip brush.

Lip Plumper- Patricia Wexler's No injection limp plumper is great. You put it on and it starts to tingle after a while. Not too longer after, I will say thirty minutes tops, the lips are dramatically different in size. I used this stuff on my regular sized lips and topped it of with red lip color and I had near Angelina Jolie sized lips. It was sort of amazing. I got mine at Bath & Body Works. I think they sell a new formula of it now, so you might be better off looking for it on line. It comes in a red tube with a white cap.

Setting Spray- Model in a Bottle is great. I admit it smells a bit like bug spray at first, but that wears off. After your makeup is applied you hold the bottle a couple feet away from your face and give it a few sprays. Keep your eyes closed for around 20 seconds so they don't get hurt and this stuff really helps keep your makeup on. It's a lifesaver to keep eye shadow from smudging away quickly.