GRWM: 27th Birthday

On Sunday just gone I turned the grand old age of 27. Being a Sunday meant it was a very chilled day with a nice but very filling meal out and on the Monday me and mumma took a trip over to Basingstoke to do a little shopping both for ourselves and for Christmas. So I decided I'd share with you the look I went with for our little shopping expedition as I didn't wear any make up on my actual birthday.

Base wise I went with the base I've been wearing for the best part of the year. I start with a concotion of the Too Faced Hangover Primer and the Loreal Infallible Magic Essence Drops. This pairing works to soothe, hydrate and prep my skin for any foundation and concealer I apply over top. Plus they're really cooling on the skin so it feels like it helps to reduce any lingering puffiness my skin may have.

For foundation there is only one that I ever reach for now. The IT Cosmetics CC Cream has become my ride or die foundation this year. I'm still working my way through the travel sized tube I brought in May as a little goes a long way and the coverage and longevity are out of this world. I actually wore it twice over the summer for a good twevle hours plus and it did not budge. I dot this all over my face, taking care to apply a little more where my redness is more prominent and then I blend it all in with a damp beauty blender.

In the last six months I've religiously stuck to a group of products and haven't been tempted to buy any new releases that I've seen lately. My concealer is an old combo of the Maybelline The Eraser Eye and Revolution's Conceal and Define Concealer. The pair of these under my eyes works wonders to disguise the one too many Netflix binges I've had lately. Again blended out with a damp blender gives the best results and the high coverage in that particular area.

I have a little bit of a love/hate relationship with powder. At the moment we're firmly in the love catergory but it could change at any time. The powder that I'd never thought I'd love but can't do my make up without now is the Too Faced Born This Way Powder. I've found the trick to making this work, especially since my skin has turned a little drier in the Winter weather is to leave my foundation and concealer to sink in for a good ten minutes and then use a damp beauty blender to gently press the powder in my skin. It doesn't leave skin with that sort of powdery overlay that applying it with a brush can do and my make up always looks flawless for longer when I apply my powder this way.

Please how my brows look, they're in need of a wax but I'm also trying to regain some of their thickness that there was the beginning of the year. I do still fill them in though as the fronts are extremely patchy and on bad days look bald. I use the Barry M Eye Brow Wow Pencil in Medium-Dark to fill my brows in. There are some days when I'm more heavy handed than necessary but I'm kind of okay with that. As I don't wear bronzer, blush, highlight or eyeshadow I like to have a bolder brow that balances out a bold lip when or if I wear one. I also like the spoolie at the end of this pencil as it catches the little hairs that my other spoolies tend to miss. I am planning on getting them waxed soon as they're starting to make me self concious but there is a reason behind me letting them get a little bushier than normal.

As I said I don't do eye shadow, bad memories resurface from secondary school everytime I even think about attempting it. So I stick to a basic slick of mascara and then I'm done. However I have long yet awkward lashes that never want to keep a curl. So once I've spent a good five minutes curling my lashes I give them a coat of the Benefit They're Real Tinted Lash Primer to try and at least the curl for a while longer than usual. Then I go in with a generous coat of the Loreal Volume Million Lashes So Couture Mascara. I didn't like the mascara when I first got it, it was too wet and transferred too easily onto my eyelids but once it's dried out a little, it's perfection. I'm on my second tube which is saying something as I can be a bit of a hoe for new mascara releases.

I was planning on wearing lipstick out today but for some reason one corner of my lips have decided to start peeling and no amount of lip balm will solve it. So today I've been wearing mutltiple, generous coats of Carmex Lip Balm. This has to be the best lip balm for the Autumn/Winter time as it really works to keep lips hydrated without being too greasy or heavy on the lips.

Then to set it all in place and make sure it lasted our shopping expedition, I generously sprayed my face with the Too Faced Hangover Primer Water And Setting Spray. It smells divine, helps to settle any powdery look I have and keeps make up in place all day long. I've tried a lot of setting sprays in my time but none of them have impressed me as much as this one. Instead of giving my skin a matte almost flat look, this gives it a little bit of a glow but doesn't make me look sweaty which doesn't deterioate throughout the day.