♥ What's In My Bag | Everyday Makeup Bag Edition

On a day to day basis, my life consists of either going to the gym and then to work, or going to work and then to the gym. I'm enjoying it at the minute, and it means for the most part I always have my makeup on hand and in a bag ready to take with me on my daily travels. I find taking a bag with set items in is a great way to use products consistently and get any old products used up once and for all. For a girl who hoards three of the same eyeliner, powder and tube after tube of mascara, this is a great habit I've pushed myself into. It's meant I have no other option but to use up the products I've been clinging onto. Keeping a set makeup bag has also meant I've been able to chuck in products that I haven't touched for quite a while and get them finally used up and out of my collection as a means to buy new items as and when I need them. Enough of the chatter, though, here are the bits I take along with me on an every day basis that give me the quick five minute face of makeup as and when I need it.


First up, moisturiser. I always have to have one on me and at the moment I'm trying to use up the last of my tiny No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream sample I bought in a kit way back in the January sales. It's perfect for my everyday makeup bag because of its minuscule size and it is such a rich moisturiser.

For every day foundation, I rarely go for a high end offering. Instead, I mix up these two contrasting formulas. I love the Maybelline Dream Flawless Nude Foundation because it's super lightweight and really natural looking on the skin, but for long days at work in a busy restaurant, I add in Rimmel's Lasting Finish Foundation to give me higher coverage and a longer lasting base. To conceal under my eyes and hide my blemishes, I've been using the NYX HD Concealer. It's a great concealer and it blends seamlessly under the eyes and around the nose without creasing. My only qualm with this is the shade. I picked up the concealer in 'Light' and it is so dark. Luckily, I can just about get away with it, but for brightening under the eyes it's useless so I've started adding in the Bourgois Radiance Reveal in Ivory for a really brightening under eye concealer.  For those days when I need extra coverage (they're pretty frequent, sadly) I have my Stila Perfecting Concealer. This is super light and super high coverage - the consistency is quite thick so I avoid putting it directly under my eyes due to creasing, but for everywhere else it's perfect at covering up stubborn imperfections. My setting powder is yet to change, and I stick to my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder in translucent to set everything into place. It's been my go-to powder for a few years now and I just can't part with it. Now that it's summer, I add a hint of colour with The Body Shop Honey Bronzer, in the shade 03. This bronzer is perfect for me because I'm someone who's quite scared of looking muddy or too dark and it's pale enough to still bronze me up, but it's also great on fair skin.

On my eyes, I'm all about adding a touch of something, even on a work day. I still can't do my eyes without using my trusty MAC Paintpot in Painterly as a neutral base. The eyeshadow I use on an everyday basis is the Naked Basics 2 palette from Urban Decay. I use The shade Stark all over the lid to cover up and veins, and Skimp in the inner corner and under the brows to highlight. Sometimes, I'll deepen my crease with a mixture of Frisk and Cover, too. I couldn't live without this palette and it's so compact and easy to use on the go. To go along with these in my makeup bag, I throw in my MAC 217. This was the first 'high end' makeup brush I'd ever bought, because Tanya Burr ranted and raved about it in every tutorial and I find it's perfect for everything. It helps to put down my base colour quickly, adds depth into the crease a dream and I even use it to smudge colour under the lash line. It's a great all rounder and it featured in my Five Favourite Brushes post, so it's something I can't live without on a day-to-day basis.

Mascara is something I switch up all the time but at the minute I'm trying to make the most of my Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme. I received this in a kit at Christmas, as I'd never usually purchase myself a 'high end' mascara, but this one works really well at creating long, curled lashes that stay looking good all day. It's a one coat wonder. The eyeliner that's always in my makeup is my Rimmel Glam Eyes liquid liner, but that comes as no surprise. It's the liner I find the easiest to work with and I'm not going to complain because it's so affordable!

An extra little step I always, always do is highlight. Since I bought MAC's Soft and Gentle I've not been able to put it down so I pop that on my brow bone and the top of my cheek bones just for a nice glow. This is definitely my favourite part about putting on my makeup on a daily basis, as I still shy away from using blush, it really does help to define and bring a lot of life back into the face.

Finally, lips. I never wear anything on my lips if I'm leaving the gym or going to work and running errands, but I do love keeping them conditioned with my absolute favourite Nivea Hydro Care Lip Balm. I  have so many tubes of this on the go and they're stashed everywhere - so I'm never without it.


I know it all seems like quite a lot of product - but these are the items in my make up bag that I take with me everywhere - so I know I can always put a face on should I need to. Three concealers is a little bit extreme, but it is my favourite makeup product and the different shades/coverages make all the difference, right? The best thing about sticking to the products in a makeup bag is definitely the restriction. It's a love / hate feeling. I'm coming to the end of so many products because I've given myself no other option and I can't bloody wait to get through my pile of foundations so that I can go and purchase the high end ones that have been on my wish list forever. I'll get there eventually!

Em x

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