Whats new in my kit! April 2015

 Hello everyone! So today i was sorting out my kit for some weddings at the weekend and it occurred to me that since my last "whats in my kit" post i have got quite a few new products. With a toddler and a baby i don't have time to go through my whole kit and see what i have now that i didn't have then. So... I though i would start a new mini series "whats new in my kit". Every month or every few months (depending on how good or bad I've been" I will go through new products i have picked up for my kit. They might not be new on the market but they'll be new to me :) I will do a mini review on each product but to keep this from being a 5,000 word essay they will be brief!

BASE

 From left to right:
Mac Pro Conceal palette- This is the light palette of the studio finish concealers. It has NC15, W10, NC20 and NW20 - and two Studio Finish Corrector shades in Pale Yellow and Pale Pink. I usually use prolongwear but i can sometimes have the issue of it flashing back an these have no flash back, good coverage and a lovely creamy texture.
Mac Prolongwear foundation- My makeup forever HD foundation just wasn't cutting it for oily skins so i thought id give these a bash. They keep the skin matte throughout the day and last 16 hours... perfect time for my brides! It a medium/full coverage without feeling as heavy as studio fix. I like ti so far. Shades are NW15, NC35 and NW40. You have to have combo, combo/oily and oily skin to use this... maybe normal too but not dry in the slightest as it settles funny.
Smashbox primer water: I was looking for something to spray before and after makeup to hydrate and set so this seemed perfect. It sets the makeup lovely and takes away to look of powder. I don't know how it is as a primer as i use a primer along with it as i cant risk it! Lovely smell, refreshing and makes skin glow. I have used a fair bit of it already- not sure its as bullet proof as UD all nighter but its very close.

Cheeks

Max factor cream puff blush: You need these! I have lavish mauve (first swatch from the left), Lovely pink (middle) and alluring rose. I will be going back for the others. They're pigmented, but not too bright, lovely, creamy consistency, add a lovely natural glow/flush to the skin and last quite a while too! at £8.99 they are only £1 cheaper than mac for me, but i might even prefer them!! Ive heard they are similar to the hourglass ambient lighting blushes... might need to try those.
Smashbox Cream contour kit: LOVE THIS, it looks so natural and is unbelievably creamy! They blend like a dream and the tones are just right. The left shade is a highlight (Doesn't highlight my skin as its just a more yellow version of my skin tone) middle is the cool toned contour and end shade is a bronzer.I will admit that because i am used to powder products i do sometimes forget to use these on clients until its too late... but ill keep trying to remember because especially under powder products they are beautiful.

Eyes

 Clinique "wear anywhere" palettes: I believe these are called wear anywhere greys and wear anywhere pinks. These are brand new and my first ever clinique shadows, I am very impressed. As a professional MUA and a general make up lover  i hate colours and silver but i was drawn to these palettes and i use them all the time! This seasons brides seem to be all about the greys and pinky/purple colours where as over the winter it was golds and browns. The swatches don't do them justice, they are pigmented, buttery smooth and blend like a dream... maybe in my next post ill do a look with one of them :) ill definitely be picking up more colours but they are a bit pricey at £32 for these little palette- I'm happy to pay it for the quality though!

wear anywhere greys (flash)

wear anywhere greys (no flash)

wear anywhere pink (flash)

wear anywhere pink (no flash)

Lips

Mac 24 well lip palette: Not all new lipsticks, I'm including this as it makes my life so much easier! Easier to carry, easier to mix colours, looks pretty and is so sleek. I HATED depotting my lipsticks though. I will never again wait till i have 23 to depot, as soon as i get a new one it will go in the palette and same myself the stress haha

Its unusal that i love everything i buy, so this has been a very good month! 'ready for all my summer brides. I immagine ill be restocking quite a bit next month too as i have up to 6 weddings a month till August!!!
Hope this was helpful for future clients and just people who want to see a little bit of what i carry!

Kirsty xxx

What's in my kit?!

Hello everyone! So as some of you know, I am expecting my second baby and as a result I can no longer carry around my big suitcase full of products and I've had to massively downsize, so I thought, now is a good time to show you what's made the cut and it may help out potential clients :)

First, what do I use now? 

 I carry my kit around in a large black bag with a shoulder strap and a "zoe??" Bag from zoeva 

It's still not super light but with my amount of products, it won't be!

My brushes.

I'll split this into face and eyes

These are my most commonly used face brushes from foundation, concealer, powder, blush/contour and highlighting. Most of my brushes are from zoeva as I recently bought a huge kit. There are a mix of zoeva, real techniques, inglot, smashbox and bare minerals

Next are my most used eye brushes.  From left-right they are shading brushes, blending/crease brushes, pencil brushes then eyeliner and detail brushes. All from the ranges of brands listed above!

Now to the actual products. First let me explain properly what I do. I am a self employed freelance makeup artist, but I am also a contracted makeup artist for "flash photography studio". Instead of carrying two kits I just carry one and crossover the products. The majority of my high end products are used for my self employment work such as bridal parties and occasion makeup and the highstreet products are mainly for the studio. The highstreet products are still of great quality and there is nothing in my kit that I dislike! 

Primers and foundations.

The primers I use for both types of work and they are my favourite! I have no7 airbrush primer, no7 mattifying primer and the le maquillage makeup base-They all do different things. I then have my le maquillage (MAQ pro) wax foundation palette, makeup forever HD foundation, Bourjois healthy mix foundation and a maybelline fit me to mix into other foundations to deepen them up, but if I'm honest I hardly use it! 

I wanted to say that I used to use Mac foundations for quite a while, but I was just never happy with them. Some were too thick, too cakey, didn't photograph well etc etc... Apart from the face and body foundations! It's light/medium coverage, great for MOB and brides with good skin and its water resistant 

Not sure why benefit erase paste is in this pic?? But it's a very good peach toned concealer to correct under eye circles!

Concealer 

I really like the Mac prolongwear concealer and my light reflecting pens (aren't in this photo) for under the eyes, but to cover blemishes and redness I LOVE the collection lasting perfection 16hr wear concealers. They aren't drying, great colours and last all day and a bargain at £4.19!!

I also use the MAQ palette as a concealer as it's very pigmented. 

I have colour correction concealers that I don't use often, so haven't photographed them.

Powders

Have quite a few for different effects. They all do as they say- mattify, and set the makeup. The bare minerals mineral vale is lovely for people with open pores and the laura mercier under eye setting powder is amazing at stopping concealer creasing and brightening under the eye (also helps diminish the appearance of fine lines) if you can get your hands on it you have to try it! 

Blush/contour/bronzer/highlighter 

Pretty self explanatory what they are! The first product is a pink tones highlighter from bare minerals and the second is a rosy blush- perfect bridal colour :) 

Eyeshadows 

Most of you are probably most interested in my shadows haha. There the the urban decay naked 2&3, urban decay smoked palette, smashbox full exposure palette, my Mac palette (self chosen colours) and two inglot palettes, again I chose each individual colour and put it in the empty palette

Eye primers, bases and eyeliners 

Urban decay primer potion and my soft ochre paint pot if what I mainly use to prime the eyelids before shadow application. My mascara of choice is the max factor false lash elect waterproof and 90%of the eyeliners are the urban decay 27/7 glide on pencils. There is also a few Estée Lauder, Lancôme and Rimmel :)

Finally, lips! 

Now I hope you didn't expect me to go through these?! Let's just say it's a lot of different colours from a lot of different brands!

I hope this answered some of your questions and gave you a little look into my kit. Like I said this is extremely downsized for me and it is the products I use most often. The rest, for now, have been retired to my ikea Alex drawer once again!! 

Thanks for reading, kirsty xx