The Makeup Tag

Answering questions has to be one of my favorite things to do. Like, do you remember wayyy back in the day all the quizzes and random things you could add to the sides of your Facebook profile? Yeah, I did that way too often and for no better reason than for my love of answering questions. So you would think I would’ve already done The Makeup Tag in my three years of blogging, but nope. Apparently I didn’t even know it was a thing. But now that I do, here we go!

1.) Do you remember your first makeup item?
Not considering kiddie makeup, I believe my first “real” makeup item was clear mascara from Maybelline. I hated it because I didn’t see the point of it and begged my mom to let me use other things. Eventually I was allowed to wear Maybelline’s Dream Matte Mousse Foundation to cover the acne that was coming in. The texture of that stuff was pretty fun!

2.) Describe your perfect mascara. Have you found The One?
Something that provides both length and volume while holding a curl all day and not flaking. Not too much to ask, right?! Apparently so because I’ve only found two that have ever really impressed me. Benefit’s Roller Lash and L’oreal’s Lash Paradise...I don’t own either at the moment and can’t decide which to repurchase first!
3.) What coverage do you look for in a foundation?
I typically prefer medium coverage foundations. I don’t really see the point of low coverage because I’d rather just go bare-faced, but I also don’t have skin that requires full coverage anymore. My two current favorites are some that I’ve loved for years -- the Garnier BB Cream and Elf’s Acne Fighting Foundation.

4.) What’s your favorite high-end brand?
Choosing between brands is so hard because they all offer something different. I don’t have a wide range of high-end makeup in my collection, but I do enjoy most of the Pür Cosmetics products. I’m not sure if they’re technically considered high-end, however, I definitely wouldn’t put them in the drugstore range either.

5.) What’s your favorite drugstore brand?
I really wanna say Makeup Geek because they truly are my favorite, but they keep increasing their prices so I’m not sure if they’d technically be considered full-on drugstore anymore. I’ve always loved L’oreal’s range of products, although I have recently been impressed with Neutrogena and Pixi the most.

6.) What cosmetics brand do you want to try, but haven’t yet?
I’ve tried almost all of the drugstore brands that I can think of and at least one item from a lot of high-end brands, but I can’t remember testing anything from Anastasia Beverly Hills or Stila before. They both have some beautiful eyeshadow palettes that I would love to eventually try one day.

7.) Do you wear fake eyelashes?
Hahahaha, no! I’ve worn them less than a handful of times and I was only comfortable with it one of those times (when I didn’t apply them myself). I’ve never really gotten into wearing falsies because I’m concerned about the health of my natural lashes, so it’s not something I’ve put a lot of time into learning. I did it myself on my wedding day...it probably took about 10 minutes on each eye and I was constantly asking the girls in the room if I did it right. It’s such a frustrating process!
8.) Is there any makeup that you can’t leave the house without wearing?
Mascara and concealer. If I don’t wear anything else, I’ll at least dab a little concealer around my nose and eyes to cover discoloration. Then curling the lashes and adding a few coats of mascara is just a given. Enhancing your lashes wakes up the face like nothing else!

9.) What is your most cherished beauty product?
My Maybelline Baby Lips lip balm in the shade Cherry Me. That is a product that has stuck with me for so many years, I can’t even count. And it’s so underrated! On a daily basis, that it most likely what will always be on my lips because it’s so comfortable and matches with literally everything.

10.) How often do you buy makeup?
Not that often, actually. I used to be really bad about it when I first discovered the beauty community and started learning more, but now my collection has grown so much that I don’t find myself wanting much else anymore. Not to mention that now I have a lot of PR products that constantly need testing and my monthly Boxycharm gives me 5-6 new products every month also.

11.) Do you have a “beauty budget” or do you spend freely?
Since I don’t shop for makeup very often anymore, I just allow myself to spend freely. I never really did have a budget that I kept myself too and I probably went a little overboard when I was younger. Thankfully, that’s not much of an issue anymore.

12.) Do you use coupons, rewards cards, or sales when shopping for beauty products?
Yes! Makeup doesn’t always go on sale as often as I would like it to, so I don’t get as much savings as when I wait for clothing sales. I know Ulta always has different deals going on, but with as much as they mark their products up it’s not any better than just buying the same things at Target instead.

13.) What product do you buy the most of?
Eyeshadow. That’s always been my weakness! I tend to stick to the same face products that I know and love because it’s more difficult for me to find foundations, blushes, bronzers, etc that I trust. So I always keep those the same, which allows me to experiment more with eye products.
14.) Is there a brand that you really don’t like?
Besides Morphe and ColourPop, which I have been very vocal about not supporting, there are a few brands that bigger Youtubers have created recently that I will not be buying into. I don’t really wanna get into it very much because I’m sure it’ll be obvious to those who stay up-to-date in the beauty community. However, I will say that KL Polish and Makeup Geek are definitely not on that list. I love those two!

15.) Do you avoid certain ingredients in cosmetics?
I’ve you’ve ever been on my blog before, I’m sure you’ve probably heard me talking about talc once or twice. Talc is a filler ingredient that companies use (mainly in powder products) because it’s cheap and creates a bigger profit margin for them. However, talc is known for breaking people out...including me. That’s why I always have to keep my face products the same and why I love Pür Cosmetics and Makeup Geek so much.

16.) What is your favorite place to shop for makeup?
Target and Ulta. I know I just said that Ulta marks up their prices, and while that is totally true, there are a few circumstances where it is worth it. And sometimes there are products that I can only get at Ulta, like my favorite St. Moriz Fast Self Tanning Mousse. Otherwise, I get everything else that I can at Target because...duhh, who doesn’t love that store?!
17.) Do you like trying new products or sticking to a routine?
Umm, both. When it comes to my face makeup routine or skincare, it would have to be pretty amazing to make me switch things up. But I’m always up for trying new products...just in case, ya know?!

18.) What is your favorite bath and body brand?
I don’t think I really have one. I switch between all kinds of brands when it comes to bath and body products. Freeman’s c.Booth body lotion is the only lotion I’ll use. Lush has amazing bubble bars. I have to stick to my Dial antibacterial soap in the shower, and Tree Hut makes the best sugar scrub.   

19.) If you could only buy from one brand, which would you pick?
If Makeup Geek had a full range or products, I would definitely choose them. But since they don’t, I’ll have to pick Pür Cosmetics because they do have products for every part of the face and I know I wouldn’t have to worry about the ingredients ever breaking me out.

20.) What brand do you think has the best packaging?
I feel like a broken record at this point, but Makeup Geek wins this one too. A lot of brands have gorgeous, extravagant packaging and I understand that because it’s cute and all. But in reality, I want everything to match and Makeup Geek does a beautiful job of that. I love the metal color that Marlena chose and how luxurious they feel to hold.

However, I also have to give an honorable mention to Pixi products and Pür Cosmetics. Pixi has very sturdy packaging and I appreciate how uniform everything is within their line. And Pür Cosmetics has my favorite palette packaging because it’s always very sleek and simple.
That’s all the questions for this post! I hope you enjoyed!! I really had fun answering all of these and thinking about makeup in a different way than I normally do on a day-to-day basis. I will definitely be doing more of these in the future, so if you have any specific questions you’d like me to answer, please leave them for me in the comments section below!

~Christina~

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