The last minute girl's make-up bag
Always doing things at the last minute, including your make-up? Well, instead of carrying around a big heavy bag of make-up, whittle it down to these top choice products to take you from from bed to the boardroom and then to the bar in a jiffy...
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, £13.25
First of all, make sure that your face is squeaky clean, fresh, smooth and supple. This botanical cream glides on to skin and will take off traces of dirt and make-up without leaving your skin feeling tight afterwards. The hot cloth at the end feels like a mini spa treatment in your own bathroom too, but best of all? This whole treatment actually only takes about 3 minutes from start to finish.
Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, £29
Once you've cleansed and buffed your skin to perfection, give it a dose of this nourishing moisturiser/amazing primer. Although you'll feel like you really don't want to put any make-up on after using this, it’s a great office-to-party essential: there’s nothing better at giving your skin a quick booster after a long day at the computer. Plus, it'll leave your skin gorgeously enriched meaning your make-up will look better, too.
Benefit Stay Don't Stray, £20.50
Don't feel like you have to put up with eye make-up falling down your face throughout the day and evening, as there's a product to banish these beauty woes: Enter Stay Don't Stray by Benefit. A concealer-esque cream, a little goes a long way with this stuff. Make sure to apply after your primer or moisturiser and to cover the whole eye socket, including the delicate under eye area, then apply your eye make-up as you normally would. Au revoir, panda eyes!
Origins VitaZing, £28
This dreamy cream goes on white but will quickly develop to a warm glow on the skin, almost like faking an hour or so in the sun. Plus, it's got added SPF to make sure your skin is looked after all day long.
Eyeko Visual Eyes Liquid Eyeliner, £15
A quick lick across the upper eyelid with this will serve to open your peepers and make them look bigger and brighter. This felt-tip style pen from Eyeko is easy-peasy to use and will give you a bold, straight line with minimal mistakes!
Bobbi Brown Perfectly Defined Gel Eyeliner, £18
Glides on silky smooth and won't budge all evening. Plus, it comes in a range of dreamy colours to give you an instant smokey eye.
Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream - The Original, £26
The smell alone should make this a staple for your beauty bag but it'll also prove to be the most hard-working product you'll own. Not only is it gorgeously moisturising and friendly to sensitive skin but we can almost guarantee that you won't find anything glossier for your lips. It can highlight your cheeks if you dot a small amount around the cheekbones and eye sockets, whilst it also looks great as a dewy, natural eyeshadow with big, fluttery lashes.
RealTechniques Angled Foundation Brush, £9.99
Sounds like a faff? Using brushes to apply your make-up actually halves the time it takes to put your face on. Sure, it might look a bit fancy but it saves you getting everything over your fingers and there's no dreaded “shore lines” thanks to the fact brushes mean you will blend because you have to. Hello, perfect make-up.
NARS Matte Multiple in Siam, £30
You are probably already very familiar with the classic NARS Multiples but let us introduce you to the new Matte Multiples. If used wet, you can create a gorgeous sheer colour or build up a really intense hue on the lip and cheeks with the matte stick. We're using this all summer long so invest in one, stat!
Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush, £7.99
Cream or powder, one usually falls into two camps. For powder and a sheer range of colours you can't go wrong with an iridescent Little Round Pot from Bourjois to inject cheeks with an instant rosy hue.
bareMinerals READY Luminizer, £26
If blush feels like a little too much, this compact from bareMinerals is a favourite. Offering a warm sheen, we love it swept across the brow bone, too.
St. Tropez Self Tan Classic Face Lotion, £22
But if you don't want the faff of applying a tinted moisturiser or foundation all summer long, then start applying this face lotion by St. Tropez every evening to build a natural sun-kissed glow in just a matter of days.
Bobbi Brown Blotting Papers, £8.50
I don’t know many people that can live without this beauty secret weapon – blotting papers. If you suffer from an oily t-zone, these natty little numbers take off any excess shine meaning you don’t have to pile on more make-up to counteract it. We love the ones by Bobbi Brown which are handbag sized - and fabulous. The first time you buy, invest in Bobbi’s chic leather-look case (£17, pictured) so you’ll always have a mirror for your touch-up.
Benefit Gimme Brow, £17.50
The technology in this gel is really impressive, managing to mimic the look of the eyebrow hair thanks to a specially formulated fibre gel. What that means to you? A quick slick of this with the in-built brush will give you thick and natural brows in an instant. Move over, Cara Delevingne.
Lancôme Hypnôse Volumising Mascara, £22.50
As much as we'd love to have set aside the time (and patience) to put on falsies, a set of false strip lashes never make the cut in the last minute girl's beauty bag. So enter Hypnôse for doll-like fluttery lashes in just two slicks.
Perfect Eyelashes Eyelash Extensions
We've said it once and we'll say it again; lash extensions are the greatest. They are the lazy girl's go-to for making yourself look immediately "done" from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep. Yes you have to take the time to sit and get these applied for an hour or so but then six weeks of not needing to put on mascara (or anything else actually if you feel confident enough) and looking naturally gorgeous from the moment you wake up, ensue. In short; these little gems are a revelation.
From £90 for a full-set. www.perfecteyelashes.co.uk
Batiste Original Dry Shampoo, £2
There can’t be a bathroom (/office desk drawer) in the land that doesn’t have a can of this iconic dry shampoo knocking around. Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this extends the life of your hair in-between washes and even gives hair a bit of "grit" at the roots for newly-washed locks, making them easier to tease into a 'do.
Head Jog Teasing Brush 103, £2.95
Another quick fix to instantly glamourous hair (on the go)? Well, that ol' 80s favourite backbrushing, is nigh on unbeatable. Use the wooden end of this brush to section hair before pushing the hair about an inch from the head into the root to create a solid foundation that you can pep up through night. Easy-peasy!
MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick, £15
This is a classic and with just a quick slick, you're ready to go - be it to the party (or a meeting boo).
