Beauty and Bentley

Today's post is part 2 of my Whats In My Kit series which I've realised is also a guide on how to build your own kit on a budget. This post is going to focus on blushers, bronzers, contours and highlights, I will show you what I have in my own kit, what I think you need and what I think you should spend/save money on.

When buying these types of products you want to pick a selection of colours that will suit all different skin tones and styles of make-up, I think it's important to not only pick shades you like personally but look for a variety of colours that everyone might like (having said that I would never buy something I thought looked bad just to have variety)

Palettes are a great way to get a selection of different shades and can often be more value for money than individuals, you can find palettes to suit every budget and they are great because they take up less space in your kit!

You should also consider what formulas you want to use....powder, liquid, cream?

These all have different pros and cons and over time you will develop your own preferences but I do think it's a good idea to have a small selection of everything to ensure your client gets what they want and you can achieve a look that suits them. I personally tend to use powders and am not a big fan of the heavy striped on contour (it looks fabulous in photographs but very harsh for real life) but I do have options available if a client requests it - you will read more about this in my breakdown of products.

Blush

I feel that blush is one of those products you can save money on, the high street brands have really come a long way recently and are putting out some really high-quality products. I would rather buy an inexpensive blush palette and keep my money for products like foundation or skincare where I think you see a bigger difference in quality when you spend more (that does not mean you can't get good quality foundations on a budget this is just my personal opinion and where I choose to spend more of my money) In my kit I do have some single blush pans from MAC that I've put into my own palette and although they are good and have lasted me a really long time I would probably pick something different in future like the Make-up Geek blush pans or a Morphe palette that's also really nice quality but less money. I like to use powder blush but I do have a cream blush palette from Sleek that is really nice. If you don't like creams/liquids and don't want to invest in these items you can use a lot of lip products on the cheeks, just be careful and test it out on the back of your hand first.

Blushes in my kit 

MAC - Tenderling, Mocha and Gingerly

Sleek Blush By 3 - CALIFORN.I.A

Nars - Orgasm

Bronze, Contour and Highlight

I've decided to group these together because the main product I want to talk about from my kit combines bronzer, contour and highlighter. The product I use regularly and would really recommend is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Kit Contour, this has everything you need....matte contour shades, matte highlight shades, a bronzer and a shimmer highlight! I actually really need to replace this as it's much loved and I've hit pan on every shade. Now you can also find cheaper alternatives that are very similar to this product but I love this so much I would spend the extra money on it....the alternative I would like to try is the Kat Von D Shade and Light palette. Okay so that is my number one pick for a palette that does it all but I do also have a selection of individual highlighters including The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer and MAC Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish, these are both quite iconic and I won't say much more other than I love them because over time I will probably give them a proper review (maybe a highlighter favourites post?). For contouring I also have the Illamasqua Gel Sculpt which is what I would use if a client wanted the full cream contour because this has a nice natural finish that is sheer so creates the illusion of a true shadow which I think looks better in real life than a heavy dark stripe painted on the face, if this is done really well i.e. the perfect colour and really really blended it can still be really beautiful but for me it's a lot of extra work for something that doesn't look very natural.
Bronze, Contour and Highlight in my kit
Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit
Nars - Laguna
Illamasqua Gel Sculpt - Silhouette
Chanel Soleil Tan Bronze
Make-up Revolution Highlighter Palette
The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer
MAC Mineralise Skinfinish - Soft and Gentle
Illamasqua Gleam - Aurora

So there you have it part 2 done and dusted if you want to read more about what I'm keeping in my makeup kit click here to read part 1.