me and my make up bag

new look, new layout...how to reintroduce oneself? a lot's happened in the last few months for me; a lot of upheaval and change, some of it good, some of it bad, but ultimately, it's all progression and that's not something to be feared. really, i know change is scary. when my italian grandma so much as painted her living room walls without telling me beforehand there was more than just a lip wobble. but the great thing about change is that it shows just how much you can handle and where your real strengths lie. but, back to basics i thought. i decided to show you my cosmetic DNA if you will; the everyday beauty products i swear by, and also, AA-style, come clean about my MAC habit. oh yeah, three letters, countless beauty counters and a serious dent in my bank balance. i am ADDICTED to MAC make up, and i know i'm not the only one. but, first things first, here's my go-to palette...

pretty much every day, i use MAC's prep + prime SPF 50 base (centre). living in london, i always worry about pollution and general nasties affecting my skin, so i use this to protect my face. i use chanel vitalumiere aqua (far left) which is suuuuper light, but i mix it with the body shop's radiant highlighter (top) to make it even thinner, as i don't like anything thick at all. it just lifts my skin. the chanel product is around £30, but i honestly never buy more than 2 or 3 a year. that's how long they last! if i haven't got much sleep, which is every day, i'll use benefit's erase paste (bottom left), with l'oreal telescopic mascara (right). finally, i've been wearing black eyeliner every day since i was 13 and i've tried every single one. i swear by MAC's technakohl liner pencil in graphblack. it doesn't budge, at all. i've recently started to wear lipstick; before, it always seemed too grown-up, too sophisticated, too much for everyday wear in general. when i came to university, a lot of girls on my course wore it to lectures, and something in me just clicked. i started experimenting, and i was hooked.

my favourite's are MAC's lady danger (really, really red) and vegas volt (coral peachy) and the lady gaga viva glam one for a more fun pop of colour. i picked up the armani one for £1 at the sunday times style sample sale and it's brilliant, too. i tend to give my lips a scrub first with lush's bubblegum lip scrub to make the lipstick sit smoothly and not crack.