Make up refresh advice!

[CherryBlossom321]

I've finally used up and eeked out every drop of old makeup. I have a max budget of £150. I use base/foundation, setting powder sometimes. Concealer , bronzer, highlighter, lip gloss/ lipstick. Lipliner sometimes. And mascara. I’d love your product recommendations to re stock my makeup bag as there’s so much choice out there and life has been stressful of late, so I’m out of the loop. I feel quite drawn to Elf and Nyx when I’m in Boots or Superdrug. Any ideas, please and thank you?

Primer like Maybelline 4 in 1 and tinted serum or bb cream as a base (erborian bb cream is good). I wouldn't bother with foundation.

I like Refy blusher and bronzer. And concealer! Refy's whole look is lovely and minimalist and the products are reasonably priced. And obviously their blur lip liner is brilliant. Makes your lips look super full but natural. I love their lip gloss too. Actually, you can get.everything from Refy!!! And the range is fairly streamlined so you don't get into a panic about choice.

Alternatively the mini By Terry hyaluronic powder. £20 and lasts for ages. The GOAT.

Mascara..what do you want your lashes to look like? I like long and I like brown and waterproof at the moment so the Number 7 extreme length mascara. Also the Lancome lash idole flutter mascara in black is good. Both have very thin wands so get all my sparse lashes.

My lashes are naturally a bit short and stumpy so I like a black lengthening one usually. I definitely haven’t found one I’m 100% happy with yet!

Erborian cc cream for a base, Lancôme mascara

lipstick i am yet to find the holy grail

W7 do a surprisingly good bronzer and I hear their powders are good too

The ELF Extender tubing mascara is good for staying on your lashes.

For base... what's your skin type? Do you like a full coverage or something lighter? Matte or dewy? Foundation is very personal, what works for one person might not work for you.

Mascara wise, I've used L'Oreal Telescopic for almost 20 years- tried lots of others in that time and nothing else comes close for lengthening in my opinion.

Elf camo liquid blushes and bronzers are good for the price point. Lots of people like the camo concealer as well (although it's too high coverage for me personally).

Rimmel lipliners are good, as are the L'Oreal colour riche ones.

Wait till around pay day hits and you’ll probably find that the high end makeup has a discount on Boots and John Lewis. Do you use SPF? I am using Ultra Violet tinted sun screen with bronzer on top which is working well for me at the moment.

This is very interesting. I am looking at buying this but some reviews said its really shiny? How have you found it?

Thank you. I think medium coverage, not too dewy. I’m 41 so definitely aging/ wrinkles forming.

I don’t always use an spf 🫣 Though I definitely should!

I would spend money on a really good foundation. take yourself to a department store and try a few brands. Foundation is the hardest to get right and a proper colour match with a professional, and a high quality brand is worth spending money on. I love Trinny. Lots of people rave about Charlotte Tilbury. The Bobbi Brown and Mac ones are generally good but if you have cooler skin tones, can be difficult to get right.

Maybelline mascaras are, in my opinion, among the best, even vs expensive ones. A beauty editor wrote an ode to Maybelline that made me swap about 10 years ago, and I've never looked back!

Elf is good and I'd go to them for the concealer and any powders etc you want to buy. Their bronzer and blushers are generalyl considered good but I prefer Revolution on the cheaper end personally. Might be my skin tone - works well for me. I also like their eye shadow pallettes.

Nyx pencils get good reviews.

Lipstick is the other area where I tend to spend money. My defaults are Mac lipsticks but I've bought lots of different high end brands over the years and liked them. Cheap ones are never quite right.

I think foundation after a certain age ages you unfortunately. Apart from Armani luminous silk and even then not in the daytime.

I have trouble with lots of foundations sinking in and making my skin look flaky. I recently discovered Milk Hydro Grip Gel tint and really like it. It goes on really nicely. Also like the l'oreal true match serum.

Unlike others, I didn't like the elf extender mascara. It was ok sometimes but other times the wand would pull out tonnes of mascara and it didn't allow me to brush it off using the tube. The best tubing mascara I have tried is the clinique lash power one.

My go to products are:

Charlotte Tilbury flawless filter as a base, with Laura Geller powder foundation on top.

I rarely use concealer but sometimes if I feel I need more coverage I use Nars concealer dotted in key places and then blended out with a beauty sponge.

For highlighter I really like the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick and I use that both on cheeks like a blush and as an eyeshadow sometimes.

The best mascara I've found is L'Oréal Paradise waterproof mascara.

Lipstick for staying power that doesn't come off I rate the Maybelline super stay ink crayons but I do find them drying so need to apply a lip balm over the top.

I wear gloss rarely but again my favourite is Maybelline lifter gloss. I'm pale with dark hair and blue eyes and the shade "Moon" is really nice on me.