Overhauling my make up bag- HELP!!!

Lollipops23

Right, so the time has come for Lollipops23 to grow up in terms of make up! I wear it every day, and yet don't spend what I should on it, resulting in it not doing what it should...!

I'll list what I've been using of late, feel free to suggest decent replacements. I have combination skin- t-zone is prone to outbreaks, while my cheeks and jaw can get dry scaly patches.

Foundation
-Rimmel, lasting finish 25 hours.
Not bad, and stays put. But could do with slightly heavier coverage. I'm using a lot to get the level of coverage I want.

Concealer
-Rimmel, Hide the Blemish
Actually no complaints here, I can see why they sell one every 30seconds!
-Number 7 under-eye concealer. It's ok, and works just as well as YSL Touché Eclat

Powder
-Rimmel Stay Matte.
It's ok, but needs touching up a LOT.

Blusher
-Using 17 blusher at the min. I like something with a warm rosey tone, more pinky than earthy. Again, having to use quite a lot for the desired effect.

Eye Shadows
-Depending on what I'm doing, day to day it's normally 17 fawn-colours. If I'm off out, it could be either Birthday Suit or Skinny Jeans, both Benefit.

Mascara
-17, it's not actually that bad and it's quite easy to build the lashes depending on how dramatic a look you want.

Eye Pencil/Brow Liner
-Both Gos
The eyeliner is surprisingly good, although it has crap staying power. Gives a lovely result, but needs a lot of touching up. Brow pencil is fine.

So please, your suggestions are all welcome!

Eviledna

Foundation: Max Factor Color Adapt
Powder: Mac Studio Fix
Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Naked Palette, as you already wear fawn colours
Concealer: stick with the rimmel, or invest in Benefit, either boi-ing or the other one.
Blush: I like benefit's offerings, Coralista or Georgia.
Eyeliner: Urban Decay 24/7. By far the best.
Mascara: Max Factor Falsh lash effect is my fave.

My skin is a sensitive version of yours, and all of the above have not shown problems. I'd keep an eye on Catrice too, they have decent budget foundations and eyeshadows, and are my favourite nail varnish people.

Larianne

What skincare do you use??

Sounds to me like you need to change your foundation and powder.

You shouldn't have to cake on your foundation to get a decent coverage. Also, you should only need to top up your powder once.

There are so many foundations and powders its hard to say without seeing your skin or knowing your budget.

The blusher sounds crap. Definitely needs replacing. Maybelline's Dream Mousse's are excellent. And not that expensive.

You also need to switch eye-liner if it's not lasting on your eyes. The MAC powerpoint eyeliners, which are pencils, have good staying power. Or the fluidline gel liner range are excellent!

I'd recommend the Urban Decay Naked Palette also. So pretty.

E.T.

Sounds like you need to change your skincare if you're getting oily and dry patches. I use Clarins, but going to try Vichy next time I run out because it's a good bit cheaper. La Roche Posay is supposed to be very good too.

As Larianne said, you shouldn't have to put on loads of foundation for decent coverage - if you do, the one you're using isn't suitable for your skin type. I find Bare Minerals great for cover without having to use much, and it doesn't dry out my skin as a lot of liquid foundations do.

Touche eclat is a highlighter, even though people use it as a concealer. There's lots of better products for under eye darkness.

Blusher - I love Nars Orgasm, Benefit do great blushers too, and I've seen Maybelline's blushers recommended quite often by other posters.

There's a list of the top products voted on the beaut.ie site, it's a good way of seeing what works for other people (I think I read that they had 70,000+ people vote)
http://beaut.ie/awards/