Getting Back Into Make-Up: What I'm Using Right Now

I always feel weird writing the word "make-up" because it's one of those words that I can't decide for sure which form I want to go with - is it "make-up", "make up", or "makeup"? Which do you prefer? I suppose it doesn't really matter, but I get a bit antsy about being GRAMMATICALLY PERFECT, which means that due to the laws of the universe (that exist just to make fun of me) I will be sure to leave an incriminating typo somewhere in this post.

Anyway, I've been getting back into make-up (I've chosen the hyphenated form and I'm sticking to it) recently after having not worn or owned any for quite a while, and I'm really enjoying taking a chilled out and casual approach to it. I'm also enjoying covering up my spots, so y'know. I guess I'd been watching a lot of very sweet YouTube girls for a while and finding all their make-up talk pretty interesting. That was a big factor, but I'm honestly not too sure why I suddenly got all nostalgic about make-up around the tail end of last year. As a person who hasn't consistently worn make-up for long periods of time, I'm definitely pretty rusty with it, but it's a nice opportunity to practise and have fun with it, so let me show you all the things I've been trying out and enjoying.

1. Tony Moly Panda Lip/Cheek Duo

Like many people endlessly sucked in by cuteness, I cannot resist Tony Moly products, and I'm so entranced by this adorable panda which houses two lip colours or blushes, depending on how you want to use them. I'm all about versatility, so it pleases me that this is marketed as a dual product. I once used a dark red lipstick under my eyes to copy Alice Cooper's pointy cheek spears (uhh... that's what I like to call them). I wore that look to school and was immediately made to wash it off in the loos. I can't believe no one respected my creativity that day. So far I have mostly used this as a cream blush and it seems to blend in nicely and give a gentle but fresh colour.

2. Collection Primed & Ready Concealer

Somehow I have gone through my life without ever really using concealer. I've been a touch more spotty in the past few months (it's probably a demonic curse, I'd guess) so this is possibly the most useful thing I'm using at the moment (seriously, why do spots leave red marks on my face for approx. 100 years? WHY?!). It does its job very well, although I need to learn better how to correct sallowness and make sure I'm blending super well.

3. Collection Colour Lash Mascara

This mascara is really nice. I like the bigger/longer tube and the applicator is nice and easy to use (this might sound obvious, but previously I used a sort of weedy mascara that wasn't the best, so I'm very happy to have this one that goes on nice and solid and feels worthwhile).

4. Tony Moly Cat's Wink Powder Compact

I really only got this because I had it on a wishlist for its incredible cuteness, but now that I've actually used it I feel quite pleasantly surprised. It's a really useful powder that mattifies and lightens my base make-up and makes everything look that bit neater. It really makes a difference, and I love it.

5. Collection Eyeliner & Topshop Matte Lip Bullet

Eyeliner might be the make-up item I most fear, but I like this one a lot because it's extendable (no fiddling around with sharpeners and having the sharpener get all gunked up) and it's very solid and bold, so I use it as minimally as possible at the moment for some more natural looks. The Topshop Matte Lip Bullet is a simple, easy-to-apply lipstick and I like Topshop make-up's general design and quality a lot. I like to apply this in the centre of my lips and then blend it out a bit just because it's quite a bold lip otherwise and that's not something I want to go for too much of the time.

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So those are the main products I'm using at the moment. I would like to get to grips with bolder and more colourful make-up at some point, but I think I'll stick to practising the basics and seeing what I can do with relatively subtle options for now.