Lauren’s Makeup Bag

The next best mate in line for a chat on all things beauty is Lauren. We met in senior school at the grand ol’ age of 11 and we’ve always been bonded over our love of makeup (Lauren was a Lancôme Juicy Tubes gal back in the day). Now an Office Manager, she’s my one friend from back home that shares my passion for Space NK and the aisles of Boots, regularly messaging me over pictures of her latest CHANEL purchase. She’s also a bold lip babe, a liner lover and likes a good dose of blush (a là Mel). Here’s how the contents on her daily makeup bag shapes up…

“I don’t wear a huge amount of makeup on a day to day basis – I reckon I’ve got my routine down to a five minutes in the morning. I’d rather be catching up on sleep! What base I use to start things off depends on how good my skin is. If it’s good I reach for the NARS Pure Radiance Tinted Moisturiser in Groenland, but if things aren’t looking too great then I go for YSL’s Teint Touche Eclat Foundation. I use my fingers to apply both of these – I never bother with brushes. Then I move on to to concealer and again I’ve got two options. I’ve been using YSL’s Touche Eclat in 2 for years; I use this under my eyes and around the edges of my nose – it’s great for fixing any makeup mistakes. I also really like the Secret Camouflage by Laura Mercier. I use it for blemishes, but to make it a little more creamy for under the eyes I mix it with her Secret Finish. It changes the texture completely and makes it more malleable.

A new purchase that I picked up at the airport recently is CHANEL’s Les Bieges in B30. I use this all over after I’ve put on my foundation or tinted moisturiser to add to the glow. Then I add a bit of sculpting and warmth Bobbi Brown Bronzer and my Real Techniques Powder Brush. I love a bit of blush, though not as much as Mel and recently I’ve been using the Josie Maran Water Colour Cheek Gelee in Poppy Paradise that Anna picked up for me in New York. I literally put my finger in it, wipe it across my cheeks and I’m done. It’s soft, blowy and great. I also just picked up a CHANEL Cream Blusher, it’s the orangey shade and I can’t wait to play with it. For highlighting everyday I use Topshop Glow in Polished. I dip my finger straight in again and use it over my cheekbones and under my eyebrows. I’ve got a mini sample of the NARS Copacobana Highlighter that I carry around, but I’m actually going to pass this on to Mel – I’ve got a big one at home.

For my brows I use the Sleek Brow Kit in Light. I don’t use the waxy texture, I just use the powder and I lightly brush it through my brows with an Urban Decay Brush. I don’t wear eyeshadow eyeshadow everyday, but when I do I love my NARS And God Created the Woman Palette, though I do love Naked and Buck from the Urban Decay Naked Palette and I tend to apply then with my NARS 3 Brush. That’s a good combination if you don’t want to look too done and just do a little shadow and liner. Speaking of liner I use the Bourjois Record Liner Gel Waterproof Colour Intense in Black – this is what I’ve got on today. It’s cheap and cheerful and I use a MAC 210 Brush to get it really close to the lashes. Mascara-wise it’s all about the YSL Babydoll Mascara – this is now my all-time favourite mascara. (Note from Anna - may I just point out that Lauren has the most amazing naturally curly and full lashes EVER).  It’s taken me 10 years to find it, so I stocked-up on a duo-pack at Duty Free.

I always have the By Terry Baume de Rose in my bag – just to throw on throughout the day and I tend to carry around a few lipsticks with me too. Today it’s CHANEL’s Rouge Allure Lipstick in 99 Pirate and Clinique’s Chubby Stick in Curvy Candy. The CHANEL is my all-time favourite lipstick – I love bold lips – I don’t like anything that is too pillar box red and Pirate is a bit more darker, more oxblood. The Clinique is great to thrown on at your desk when you’re feeling like crap – it just brightens up your lips. Other bolds I love include MAC’s Lipstick in Impassioned and Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in 107 – love ’em both. The key to colourful lips is lip liner. I love MAC Lip Liner in Brick for when I’m wearing red; it especially looks good with CHANEL Pirate. I tend to draw all over the lip with the liner and then go over with the lipstick which makes it more long-lasting and then you get a really good shape. I try and eek out my cupids bow as much as I can. I always think you have to be minimal on the eye makeup if you’re going to do an out there lip so I usually pair mine with a thin line of eye liner, with a very tiny flick at the end – a kitten flick.”