July 24, 2014

Graduation Makeup

As you may have seen on my Twitter and Instagram, I have now graduated from the University of York – I am officially a BA (Hons) graduate! Typically, I needed to arrive on campus at 7am which resulted in an incredibly early start. As a result, I carefully planned my makeup for the day and wanted to share it with you today:

Primer: Witch Skincare Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer
Foundation: Essence Pure Skin Anti-Spot Moisturising Make-Up in 01*
Concealers: Essence Pure Skin Anti-Spot Cover Stick in 01*, Essence Match2Cover Cream Concealer in 20* and Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer
Powder: Essence Pure Skin Anti-Spot Compact Powder in 01*
Eyes: Essence Big Bright Eyes*, MUA Undressed palette, Essence GEL waterproof eye pencil* and MAC Haute and Naughty Mascara (c/o Cohorted*)
Blush: Revlon Photoready in Pinched Joules Princess*
Lipstick: Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Frambourjois and Essence Longlasting Lipstick in 07 Natural Beauty*

First I applied my favourite Witch Primer to help keep my make-up in place all day. I had made sure that I packed a variety of concealers to cover up my tired eyes, including my current favourite Anti-Spot Cover Stick from Essence. I also added a touch of Essence’s Big Bright Eyes stick to the inside corners of my eyes and blended it in, which really brightens your eyes. I then applied my new Essence foundation with my Real Techniques Core Collection brushes. I’m aware that there’s a lot of Essence products in this look, and that’s thanks to a wonderful event I attended in Manchester which announced the launch of this European brand in the UK. There will be a more detailed post in the future about my favourite products, but in the mean time I will say that it’s a fantastically affordable brand which is also impressively good quality. They are now for sale throughout the UK in Wilkinsons stores and online. This Anti-Spot foundation is only £3.50 and it’s packed full of antibacterial properties to fight bad skin as well as cover imperfections, and my skin has been significantly better since I started using products from this Pure Skin range.

Once my base was ready, I moved onto the eyes. I lined my eyes with Essence GEL waterproof eyeliner, which is the best eyeliner I’ve tried. It glides on smoothly, stays on all day and is easy to create winged eyeliner with. I added some neutral eyeshadow from my MUA palette, then curled and applied my first ever MAC product, Haute and Naughty Mascara, thanks to Cohorted. I love the two brush options which ensures you can coat every single lash, without clumping. Finally I added a touch of blusher, some powder to remove any shine and a neutral lipstick (which I decided to wear on the day rather than the bright red Bourjois). Then I was ready to graduate!

What do you think of graduation makeup look? If you haven’t graduated yet, I hope it gives you some inspiration! Do you have any makeup tips for graduation day?