I love a good beauty product favourites post, so today I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and share with you my ride or die products, you know the ones, those products that you can literally grab last minute and rush out the door with, or pack with you if you know you'll need things you can rely on for travelling etc. You get my drift. These are the products that you could take to a desert island and be super happy about 'cause your makeup's still sexy, your highlight's still poppin' and life's not all that bad after all.

This tag was started by Jaclyn Hill (unofficially), and she is the beauty babe who inspired me to share my faves with you, so if you want to check our her YouTube where she shared all her ride or die's, the video is here. I love her. Thank me later.








Jumping right in:

Primer:

Now I don't quite know if you'd technically class this as a primer, but I had to choose Illamasqua's Hydra Veil. For all you dry skins gals out there, if you haven't yet tried this, please do. The Illamasqua website says that "Microalgae, Vitamin C and B3 work together to help maintain skins hydration levels, creating a healthy looking, balanced finish." I use one little scoop of product and rub it in to my entire face with my fingers; this helps hydrate and smooth my skin out and also leaves a slight tacky base ready for foundation to stick to. Winning. It's not cheap, but boy is it worth it.

Foundation:

Another well loved Illamasqua product is the Skin Base Foundation, which I have in shade 3.5. This is a great, medium to full coverage foundation, that claims to "smooth, soften and condition thanks to skin boosting Vitamin C and E", which again is fab for my dry skin, but it is suitable for most skin types! (This and the Hydra Veil is a match made in heaven). I like to use about a pea sized blob that I dot all over my face and then blend in with a beauty blender. Voila. There's also 26 shades to choose from; can't really ask for much more.

Concealer:

This was a pretty easy one for me, and although I've been kind of going back and forth between this one and the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, I had to choose my bby MAC Pro-Longwear. There are about a million reviews of this on YouTube and blogs, and I think just about everyone and their nan has tried it. (You go cool nans if you've actually tried this). I use the shade NW15, and I love the medium to full coverage this gives - I use it under my eyes to cover up my dark circles. Lol those bags are designer, boo.

Face powder:

I actually decided to go with a relatively new one for me, and it's the MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Pressed Finishing Powder. I've not tried any powders by MAC before, but I do like this one. It's really lightweight but sets my face nicely without leaving me with dry patches. I am on the hunt for a nice (not too expensive, please be nice to my purse) loose powder, so I can bake my face and contour. Because who doesn't want a contour that could cut a bitch?

Under eye setting powder:

This just had to be none other than the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit. I use a mix of the shades Vanilla and Banana under my eyes, and jeeeez I love it. Leaves my under eyes looking super smooth and matte without being cakey. Side note - I've not actually used any of the contour shades in the kit, which is kind of a shame, but I'm trying to make this purchase worthwhile by at least using these 2 shades often. You keep telling yourself that Soph...

Blush:

I actually don't have a massive blush collection *moment for gasps of shock I know*, but if there's 1 blush I know I can pair with any look it's MAC Melba. It's a matte "soft coral peach" shade, which just seems to pull my makeup look together. Like, you know that hallelujah moment when you look in the mirror and everything's come together and you're all blushed and pretty and gorgeous. Yeah, this does that. Magical stuff, I tell you.

Bronzer:

Another MAC product (I didn't realise how much MAC stuff would be in here lol), is my Matte Bronze Bronzing Powder. This is a nice true bronze shade - not too warm, not too cool, it's just right for bronzing up your face a bit (and pretending you're a sun kissed goddess as opposed to a lil pale girl). I apply this around my cheekbones, jaw line and hair line, and a little bit down my neck to balance it out, and it looks great.

Highlight:

Oh how I have been looking forward to talking about highlight. That skin-poppin-hater-blinding-cheekbone-loving-babin' highlight. There was only really 1 option for this category, and it is *drumroll* the Becca X Jaclyn Hill Champagne Pop Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector. And damn right, it is a perfect shimmering skin product. Sephora describes it as a "soft white gold with pinky peach undertones" and Cult Beauty says it's a "beautiful apricot gold" and momma is it gorgeous. It is super pigmented, blindingly glowy and it lasts all freakin' day. Oh, and it looks great on everyone. RIP me I have died and gone to highlight heaven.

Mascara:

Wow, after that lil... episode, it's time to move on to mascara. The only mascara I've been using for months is the Maybelline Lash Sensational and I don't think I've got a bad word to say about it. It's black as can be (obv I got the intense black one), isn't clumpy, and makes my lashes all long and fluttery and full. Lav it.

Eyeliner:

So I may have added this one in to the tag instead of lipgloss (as I'm not really a glossy kind of gal), as eyeliner is probably my favourite part of doing my makeup (other than eyebrows, which I'm also gonna add in - not soz). Now I used to absolutely swear by the Seventeen High Drama Intense Liquid Liner and talked about it to everyone (ah, the good old days, I loved it okay?) But since finding the L'Oreal Super Liner Superstar eyeliner, I literally have kept running and not looked back. Well, not literally running, I don't run...
The tip of the nib is pretty flexible, so it's easy to use, is super black and lasts all day (I have slept with this on and it's still looked perfect the next morning. I'm gross.) It's also suitable for sensitive eyes!

Brows:

I honestly don't see how this wasn't in the tag - my brows seriously take my makeup to the next level. Sounds cringy, but mate, if you saw me with a full face and no brows you'd probably either cringe or sob. I actually forgot to photograph this product with everyone else, but it's no shock that it is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade. I use the shade Chocolate and oh ma lord there is seriously nothing that compares. Beauty Bay says it's a "waterproof brow colour which sculpts and defines the brows" and I definitely agree - this stuff does n o t budge. I don't think I'll ever use anything other than this. I'll be 93 and rockin' sharp ass fleeky brows. Holla at your fleeky grandma.

Lipstick:

Although I can't actually remember the last time I wore something other than a liquid lipstick, there will always be a special place in my heart for lipsticks like MAC Mehr. Described as a "dirty blue pink", this is the perfect medium toned pink for me - I used to wear it to death and should definitely start carrying it round with me again as it's so easy to chuck on in a hurry and go. I love the matte formula as it lasts but isn't dry on my lips, and this shade goes with just about everything.

Liquid Lip:

My (relatively) newfound love in terms of makeup, I have become more than a little obsessed with liquid lipsticks. Definitely check out my posts on my Colourpop Haul and my Limecrime Collection to see a load of the shades that I own, but if it had to come down to only 1 shade, my friend Eloise knows that I cannot live without Limecrime Riot. El, I blame you. This matte "red-brown" shade is absolutely perfect and I will wear it until I can no longer lift my arms to apply lipstick. And then I will get someone else to put it on for me.

Lashes:

I'm not someone who wears false eyelashes on a daily basis, although they look stunning, more than anything I just can't be bothered. (Sorry). But on a night out, I love slapping on some falsies and making my eyes look sexy and smouldering and yummy. Lol how weird did that sound. My favourite lashes definitely have to be the Illamasqua no. 014 Captivate, they are everything you could want from lashes. They are super fluttery and criss-crossed, so they add loads of volume, and I actually swear by the latex-free glue that they come with. I think I own 3 pairs of these (the first pair I got was for my year 11 prom!)

Setting spray:

I've become a big fan of setting spray over the last few months - I used to use MAC's Fix+, but I just ended up preferring it for spraying on brushing to make my highlight a bit more wet-looking, or to make my eyeshadow's more foiled and pigmented. As a birthday treat to myself, I picked up the Urban Decay Chill Makeup Setting Spray and so far it is absolutely bomb. This is the "cooling and hydrating" version (they also do the all nighter spray and the de-slick spray) so it's great for my drier skin. It's supposed to "keep makeup from smudging or settling into fine lines" resulting in "makeup that LASTS and and a glowing, dewy, youthful complexion." This is great for keeping my makeup on and not letting products dry out my skin. An all round winner really.

Perfume:

Last but not least is perfume, and this was probably one of the easiest categories for me, as pretty much the only perfume I wear is Paco Rabbane Lady Million. I have been using this perfume for years now (my nan usually gets me a bottle every Christmas; love u nan) and it is the perfect feminine "fresh woody floral" scent. It has fragrance notes of Neroli, Lily of the Valley, Gardenia, Hyacinth, Patchouli and Honey, and I wish it wasn't so expensive so I could have a bottle in each of my bags to carry round with me wherever I go, as well as a bottle on my desk, a bottle in my bathroom and a bottle to keep in work with me. A girl can dream, right?

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I tag anyone who reads this to do the 'Ride or Die' tag as well!

xo, Sophie

Bloglovin' - Instagram - Twitter - Pinterest