When did you last clear out YOUR Makeup bag?

Do you fall into the trap of keeping a whole pile of makeup and beauty products, stuff that you hardly even use? 

Well if you didn't know this already products do actually have a use by date and can go off that they could cause a bad reaction on your skin. So what is important here is to throw away old things that you do not use and only keep a staple collection of 'must-haves'. I have recently been asked for my 'must have' products for online beauty retailer 'Fragrance Direct' which I will share with you as soon as the campaign goes live. 

Anyway, it's easier said than done if you aren't entirely sure how to use the products that you have. So the other day I had a lovely lady Gemma in the studio with me who wanted a makeup lesson and a cull of her makeup products and this is what we did.

Firstly we went through each product and talked about how she used it and when. We threw away anything that was old and shattered. If a powdered product (eyeshadows, pressed powders) is crumbling or you only have a bit left just throw out and get a replacement. Any liquids, or creams that have not been used in over 9 months you probably need to throw away. These will smell funny if they are out of date anyway. Mascara should be used only for 3 months. Look out for my blog on when to discard products.

Mascaras and eyeliners that are pretty dried up need to go! 

Secondly I asked about Gemma's skincare routine. As the best thing you can do to assist yourself in the makeup department is have the best skin care routine possibly for you. This will help your products sit beautfully on your skin and last longer.

My advise to Gemma was to use her expensive creams more often. She has the Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream which is about £70 a pot and Gemma said it feels great on her skin but she only uses on special occasions. Every woman deserves some TLC and should make sure they great inside and out, if you've got it then use it! Or it may well end up going off. Just make sure you use a spatula or cotton bud to extract from pot as contact with fingertips can activate the ingredients and it will not stay fresh for as long.

After cleansing and moisturising Gemma's skin I noticed some small dry irritated on her sensitive skin so I suggested for Gemma to use her Charlotte Tilbury light foundation sparingly all over where the light hits then use a tiny bit of her foundation for a higher coverage on areas required.

I showed Gemma how to apply eye makeup for a bolder more dramatic look as she wanted to know how to apply it for nights out. The key here was to go slightly higher than her socket line and not line all the way around her eye but to try and graduate it to become lighter in the inner corners of her eyes. I hope Gemma left feeling more confident about where to put her eye shadow and liner for a smokier look.

Finally we covered how to contour using the contour and highlight sticks in her makeup bag, where to apply blush and bronzer as well as how to enhance her beautiful brows a little bit without going OTT. 

The finished results can be seen above. I think after this session Gemma is hopefully a lot more ready to practice with the selection of products she has without feeling overwhelmed or unsure of what to do with some things.

I also hope that she is using her expensive creams more often and using the gentler cleansing products to stop any dry patches.

If you are at all interested in a one 2 one makeup session or even just have any questions on how to do certain things/ techniques, do email me or comment below.

Big love, Jen xx