Ashley McAfee

Daily Evolution of Make Up

My skin goes through strange ups and downs. Before my love affair with my Clarisonic Mia 2, my skin was a mess of dead skin and acne. I still get the flair ups (which you’ll see in a minute) but they’re few and far between from where I used to be! I thought this would be a great opportunity to show you my (current) daily evolution of make up from start to finish with miniature reviews of the products that I’ve used. Are you ready to see me AGAIN with no make up? Here we go…

Annnnd, here we are. No make up, clearly a hormonal break out speckling my skin like chicken pocks and a very unhappy me. This is the first time taking photos in this light, and I’m on the fence, but back to what you’re interested in.

Maybelline’s Baby Skin! I was skeptical about this primer because the only primer I’ve had success with has been highend performers. Still, the packaging is cute and it caught my eye as I picked up my Baby Lips Dr. Rescue lip balm. My final verdict? I am so happy I purchased it. My skin goes through phases where it likes to reject my foundation, making it patchy and cakey looking. I was able to get away with wearing NOTHING but concealer and Baby Skin to my 8 hour shift at work and received more compliments than with foundation. The packaging boasts that it can be worn as a primer or on its own and with “blur technology” it will minimize the visibility of pores. It does nothing for redness, but it did minimize my pores. It made my skin feel like a baby’s butt (although my skin did feel warm for the hour after application and I’m not sure why). It held up all night and I’m a big fan. It’s gel as opposed to cream (think MUFE HD Primer) and I love the way it felt.

Tarte’s Maracuja Creaseless Concealer was, at one point of time, my worst enemy. This stuff is THICK. Like Elmer’s Glue thick. One small pea section of this stuff is more than you need to cover your entire face. In fact, the amount shown on my hand above was actually too much. I wiped half of it away. I placed this under my eyes, around my nose, on my chin, and on the blemishes surrounding my chin/jaw. I use a concealer brush for under my eyes, but I more often than not like to warm up the concealer with clean fingertips. I almost always set it with powder, but even the times I don’t, I only see very slight creasing and it doesn’t go into my fine lines. It takes some getting used to, but I’m now on board.

Originally, I wanted this to be a Baby Skin only post so that I could show how great it is, but my chin and the blemishes there makes that impossible. I wanted something as light as possible, so I went with Revlon’s Nearly Naked foundation in 110, Ivory (the lightest shade, of course). I put about a nickel sized amount on my face and then blended it out with a damp beauty blender. I like this foundation a lot and find it comparable and cheaper to Urban Decay’s Naked Skin. I love Naked Skin, but I find that when I use it consistently, it breaks me out. I have to use it on and off, and this is a great alternative for a third of the price.

Well, that certainly looks better than before. We’re getting there!

I set my foundation and concealer with Rimmel’s Stay Matte in Translucent, applied a VERY light contour with Nars Laguna (where did that picture go….) and then applied Tarte’s Amazonia Clay 12-Hour Blush in Adored to the apples of my cheeks and finished with a swipe of Benefit’s Watts Up above my blush, down my nose, over my cupid’s bow, and to my chin.

Now, for the eyes! After applying Laura Geller’s Spackle in Champagne (there will be a blog post soon about this product!) to my eyes, I used the 2nd shade from the bottom (a champagne color) all over my lid. This is Urban Decay’s Shattered Face Case and was recently 50% off at Ulta as they Daily Beauty Steal. Then, I applied Mugshot (3rd from the bottom) and Darkside (2nd from the bottom) into my crease from Urban Decay Naked 3. Of all the Naked palettes, this is by far my favorite. Dust is the only color I’ve found to have fallout, while the rest blend very easily with other colors and stay all day (if you have a primer). Blend with a windshield wiper motion!

Just enough to add some definition to my eyes. By this time, the lighting was changing because I was taking so long. Oops!

To finish up the eyes, I applied a thin line of Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner in trooper on my eyes and did a small wing. I applied one coat of Clump Crusher, which is an amazing mascara that actually lives up to its name. You can apply multiple coats without it clumping several lashes together. Then, I applied a coat of Tarte’s Gifted mascara. This mascara is the first I’ve tried from Tarte, and I’m excited to try Lights, Camera, Lashes after hearing so much about it. This adds volumes and lengthens, and it’s not so wet that it makes those disgusting black marks on my undereyes.

For my lips, I chose L’Oreal Shine Caresse Gloss Stain in Endless Red. These are a more affordable dupe for the YSL Glossy Stains. L’Oreal and YSL are actually from the same company, so I’d be interested in seeing just how different the two are. From my experience with both, they wear practically the same. They go on nice and thin without feeling sticky on the lips. They dry to, as you can expect, a gloss finish and almost immediately stain your lips. I can drink and eat without the color going anywhere, which is great for the eight dollar price point.

That completes the look!

Have you used any of the products mentioned? Do you have any questions? Leave them here or send me recommendations for my next Daily Evolution of Makeup Post! While you’re here, don’t forget to follow my on Instagram at ~fairandfancyfree!



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