MAC Archives - Charlotta Eve

A cult makeup product is considered to be so good, it’s a classic. A cult classic. An awesome product. A product you can’t live without. Obviously cults are not a good thing, but when there are so many people raving about that one product and swearing by it… well, I guess you can think of it as a cult.

The good kind – the kind that shares great makeup product tips and helps you to improve your life. Through awesome makeup products.

Because at least my life changed when I found these products. Are you ready? Here are some cult products that are definitely worth the hype.

Cult makeup products – the best of the best

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Makeup

Estee Lauder’s Double Wear foundation is as good as they say. It’s probably the most long-lasting foundation I have tried. It also provides full-coverage, it leaves a beautiful semi-matte finish and it’s quite easy to blend. It’s one of those foundation that are great for an important day (such as a wedding!) or for photoshoots (perfect-looking skin guaranteed). The only downside to it is that if you’re prone to breakouts, it might break you out. Read my full review with before and after photos on it here.

*Estee Lauder’s Double Wear

Laura Mercier Translucent Powder

Laura Mercier’s loose powder is a great powder. You can find great powders with less money, but to be honest, there are no other downsides to this product except it’s price. The packaging is nice and luxurious. The powder doesn’t look that fine, but it is. It leaves the smoothest most beautiful finish on the skin. Whenever I’m wearing this powder, I just want to touch my face and feel the smoothness. It also keeps my skin nice and matte throughout the day.

Laura Mercier Transluscent Powder

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Urban Decay’s primer potion is a no-brainer to me. I am not letting go of this eyeshadow primer, ever. I trust it and I never do eyeshadow without it. Actually even when I’m not wearing any eyeshadow, I apply some of this on my lid. Just because it keeps my lids non-oily. Next time I’m going to try out their Eden version though, which provides more color and coverage. This original version is quite colorless.

*Urban Decay Primer Potion

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Soft & Gentle

MAC’s Soft & Gentle highlight is a warm peachy/golden highlighter, that suits neutral warm and olive skintones. It’s not too golden, but it’s also not too light. The shimmer it provides is very fine and looks beautiful on the skin. It’s also great as an inner corner highlight or as an eyeshadow! Sometimes I also apply it on top of my eyeshadow on my lid – and it works great like that as well.

*MAC Mineralize Skinfinish, Soft & Gentle

Benefit Hoola Bronzer

Benefit’s Hoola bronzer is a classic matte bronzer that I actually mainly use for contouring. Since I have some warmth on my skin, a warm bronzer looks more natural on my skin than some cool toned contour shade. I also sometimes bronze with this. It blends like a dream, it has great pigment, but it’s not too crazy and I actually also like the brush that comes with it. It’s surprisingly good! And it has a great shape for carving out those cheekbones.

*Benefit Hoola Bronzer

The beautyblender

Beautyblender is a classic and if you haven’t tried it yet, you need to. It makes applying foundations and any cream products so easy. It’s also great for any thick foundations since it kind of sheers them out. The downside to it is that it’s a bit pricey considering one sponge lasts only for about three months. I almost want to learn to live my life without this and start using my foundation brushes again (because it would be more ecological), but I just can’t seem to keep away from this amazing sponge.

P.S. Luckily there are some options for beautyblender that are almost just as good. In this post I shared my two favorite makeup sponges – the other is fourth the price of a beautyblender!

*the beautyblender

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick – Corail a porter 41

I bought my YSL Lipstick as a Christmas present for myself. So far it’s the most I’ve spent on a lipstick, but I think it’s worth it. The packaging is everything – it’s so luxurious and I love to see it on my makeup table or keep it with me in my purse. The consistency is the lipstick is very nice. It feels smooth and moisturizing on my lips. It’s not the most long lasting, which I don’t mind, because it wears off quite nicely and I love to reapply it. The scent was not my favorite at first – it’s this fruity melony scent (and I’m so used to vanilla I guess), but now I’ve learned to like it.

My shade is Corail a Porter, 41, which is this beautiful coral color. It’s quite pink on the lips, but with a touch of coral.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick*

What are some cult makeup products you love? Or is there something missing from this list? Let me know in the comments!

“How long does it take for you to do your makeup?” is a question I somehow get asked all the time. I didn’t even realize how frequently I answer to this question, until Risto pointed it out to me and said that I should do a post about it.

Actually, now that I think of it, I’m quite bad at answering that question. And usually Risto is quicker, when he says “As long as it’s possible. She uses all the time she has (for doing her makeup).”

And he’s not wrong. That answer is quite accurate. I do use as much time as I have to doing my makeup. To sum it up, I would say that I spend 1-2 hours doing my makeup daily.

My ideal makeup time: 1,5 hours

I would say that I can do my makeup in an hour, but it’s not ideal. I feel like I need a bit more time and that’s why the ideal time for me is 1,5 hours. There’s room for error, for sipping my coffee between blending and playing with colors. In an hour I wouldn’t necessarily try difficult looks. I would stick to my go-to products and go-to looks. But 1,5 hours? I can focus.

If I have somewhere to be, I make sure I have that much time in the morning. Even though I wouldn’t use it all for makeup, I would use the most. So to be perfectly accurate, the average time on those days is possibly somewhere around 70 to 80 minutes. The makeup you see in these photos took me about 70 minutes. But it included a lip color change, since I didn’t like the fist color I chose. See? It’s also about trial and error.

Two hours might sound excessive, but that is when I truly shine. Two hours is when I can do a difficult full-face glam look without stress. Whenever there is a party or I’m not in a hurry, I really really enjoy sitting at my makeup table and taking the time to do my makeup. No rush! Whenever there is a special occasion or a party, I make sure I have at least two hours to do my makeup. Now here’s possibly why Risto says I like to spend “all the time I have”. He knows that for parties, I start getting ready at 1 or 2 pm, when the party starts at 6. Okay, and I guess he’s seen me sitting at my makeup table daily… for hours.

Here are all the products I used to do this makeup. I’m currently testing a new foundation from IsaDora. It’s very thin and super matte. I wanted to wear something blue and gold, so I reached for my The Power of Makeup -palette since it was perfect for this look. I love that blue turquoise color with gold.

Primer, foundation, mascara, eyeliner & lip gloss are gifted. Links are adlinks.

Products

Jane Iredale Smooth Affair primer
IsaDora Active all day wear make-up, Fair & Light
Catrice Liquid Camouflage Concealer, Porcelain
Maybelline Masterfix Baking Powder
Laura Mercier Transluscent Powder
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
KikoMilano Baked Blush, Gypsy Pink
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish, Soft & Gentle

mad4eyebrow Brow Filler, Blond
Holika Holika Wonder Drawing Skinny Eyebrow, 02
Urban Decay Primer Potion
NYX Glitter primer
NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil, Milk
The Power of Makeup Palette (NikkiexTooFaced)
KICKS Graceful Length Mascara
Ardell Demi Wispies lashes
Pretty by Flormar Ultimate Dipliner, Black

TIGI luxe lipgloss, superstar

A two hour masterpiece

Whenever I’m doing a makeup tutorial, it also takes time. 1,5-2 hours. I need to be extra careful with my application and I need to take photos in between. Good photos, might I add. It’s a process! Which is why I’m happy you like those tutorials. There’s so much work that goes into them. Not to talk about what happens on the computer afterwards.

Now keep in mind, I love makeup. It’s like painting. It’s where I get to be creative and try new things. It’s where I get to look into the mirror, highlight those beautiful cheekbones and say to myself: you’re looking fine. It’s my place. I like to start my day from there. Get inspired.

Usually. Because another thing I want to note is that I don’t do my makeup every day. I would say there are anywhere between 2-4 days in a week when I don’t wear makeup at all. I work from home so if I don’t have anywhere to go, I might lack motivation to do my makeup. Which is also why I like to take my time when I do decide to wear makeup.

At this point I’m just defending myself, but I can do a half hour or one hour makeup looks on clients and have done lots of those. One hour is enough for an evening look or even for a wedding makeup. But somehow when it comes to my own face – well, I need my peace.

Last, but not least. I would like to learn to do quick makeup sessions. Like thirty minutes, maybe? But I’m one of those no-in-between girls. It’s either no makeup or full-glam. During summer I did do a bit of those quick makeup looks, but it’s a struggle, as weird as it sounds! I also like quick makeup looks and tips (I’ve lost all my credibility at this point…), so maybe I will start working on that. I’ll put a timer and do as much as I can in that time.

Now, I’m very much interested to hear your answers to this:

How long does it take for you to do your makeup?

(I honestly have no clue.)

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Cult products that are worth the hype