One of the quickest things I noticed about having purple hair, is that I really have to stay up on my makeup because people will be staring at me. You can’t be lazy when you have bright colored hair. If you put the effort and money into dying your hair a pretty and bold color, you have to put a little effort into your look to match. Running around with funky hair is not possible unless you’re using products like Xlash to keep your face looking fresh. As Jamie cut my hair I discussed highlighting and contouring with her, eyebrows, and other makeup techniques. When I left the salon I headed right to Target to splurge a little on some new makeup, and maybe a new night cream if I can find the right one, and over the last couple of months (and many trips to Ulta, Target, and other stores) I’ve discovered what products work, and which ones quickly have become my makeup favorites.

Current Makeup Favorites

1 | Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow

This has actually been a favorite of mine for quite some time now, as it was well matched to me by a girl at Sephora a few years ago. I’ve tried a few others since then, but I just keep coming back to this one. The whole point of “Oxygen WOW” is so that your skin can still breathe through the makeup, and it definitely does. This feels light, airy, and never like it’s caked on-which I really appreciate. Plus, this has sunscreen, so when I use it I don’t feel the need to have to apply my BB cream with sunscreen as well-it has it covered. I wear the Ivory color-yeah, I’m very white. lol

2 | e.l.f. Blending Sponge

Okay, I feel VERY behind on the whole beauty blender/makeup sponge trend and I was missing out. It’s my favorite makeup tool now. It goes on quite well using the sponge, and I’m no longer using my fingers or stressing about the way I’m brushing. Even though I was washing my hands before applying makeup every time, I still think my skin has improved since I stopped using my fingers.

I will ad, the e.l.f. Blending Sponge was my favorite for applying makeup, but it didn’t last long. It actually tore after about two weeks of use. I’m now using one I picked up cheap at T.J. Maxx from a brand called Bella Beauty. It’s a knockoff, and I don’t think it applies as well (it seems to pick makeup back up rather than lay down another layer) but it’s lasted a LOT longer.

3 | NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette

This was another one I picked up right away and I really like it, though I’ve totally used up the second little circle of highlight powder there and there are several colors I’m not touching at all because they’re too dark. I think I need a simpler palette.

4 | NYX Eybrow Cake Powder

When I was trying to figure out how to start doing my eyebrows, I sent Chelsea of Olive & Ivy a desperate Snapchat about my total cluelessness. She very quickly replied with tons of information on what products she loves and how to utilize them to make your brows look natural but bold. She recommended the NYX Micro Brow as a duplicate for the Anastasia Brow Wiz, but the store didn’t have it and I grabbed this instead and have ended up loving it-it’s a powder instead of a pencil. I’ve been using the Brunette palette.

5 | Maybeline Colossal Volume Express Mascara

Honestly, I picked this up because I was at the store and desperate for some new Mascara. The bottle of Benefit Roller Lash Mascara that I’d been using was getting old and clumpy, and I didn’t feel like I had the money to pick up a new bottle-I seriously love it though. So I grabbed a mascara that looked good and was inexpensive, and it turns out that this Colossal Volume mascara is quite lovely! So great for a drugstore mascara.

6 | NYX CC Cream in Green Light/Medium

I’d also seen a great post by Chelsea (can you tell she’s one of my main go-to makeup gurus?) about how to use color correction to help skin redness, and since I have quite the over-rosy complexion, I snagged a bottle of this green CC cream from NYX as a final item when I needed to buy 3 to get one free one weekend. It’s worked great, and I just apply it to the reddest parts of my face prior to applying my foundation.

7 | Dr. Jart+ Waterfuse Beauty Balm

I have tried a TON of BB creams and CC creams since learning about them a few years ago, but this is by far my all-time favorite that I keep coming back to. It’s refreshing, light, and it has just enough of a tint to it that on a lazy Summer day (or when I’m traveling or camping) I can apply it and not feel the need to do a full face of makeup. It makes my skin look and feel good, while protecting it with SPF 25.

8 | NYX HD Studio Translucent Finishing Powder

I’ve always used powdered foundation or mineral powder over my base as a way to keep shine at bay, but after learning how to do some highlight and contour and all that fun stuff, I quickly realized that these powders were then changing the color, and I didn’t like it. So I picked up this translucent finishing powder and it is AMAZING. It seals my makeup in without changing the color of everything I’ve done, feels light but dry, and I notice it does ten times better at minimizing shine well into the day.

9 | e.l.f. Powder Brush

This is the brush I’m using to apply my translucent finishing powder-e.l.f. has some surprisingly great products for so cheap.

10 | e.l.f. Contouring Brush

I’ve been using the contouring brush for my highlight and contouring, and I think it’s perfection.

11 | Covergirl Tru Naked Goldens Eye Shadow Palette

I’ve been on such a kick with gold eyelids lately, and this one is quite pretty. Very natural looking.

12 | Wet n Wild Au Naturel Palette in Bare Necessities

I’m really digging this palette, though I picked it up when I was in search of a new Wet n Wild Comfort Zone palette to replace the one I’d used up. I didn’t think I could find Comfort Zone, but I was super glad I just found it on Amazon. It’s my favorite eye shadow palette.

13 | e.l.f. Eye Shadow Brush

Been digging the e.l.f. Eye Shadow brush too! They have good brushes, and they’re only like $3 a pop.

14 | Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Get Ready

Oh man, I’ll admit to using a very old tube of this (but it’s still good-I hadn’t used it before) that I won at a Bare Minerals party at someone’s house a while back. It’s SUCH a beautiful color, and I need to keep stocked up on it. Also, if we’re talking lipsticks, I’m LOVING the NYX Butter Lipstick in Razzle for that hot pink bold look I’ve been rocking.

15 | Beautyblender Solid Beautycleanser

I ordered this (from Amazon) when I first started loving on the beauty blender sponges. It works so well, and I have been using it for my makeup brushes as well as the sponges. It keeps everything clean and it stores away neatly. Alternatively, I did see a video from Long Story Short with Megan and Wendy where they just use a regular bar of soap to clean their makeup sponge, so you could try that too.

16 | e.l.f. Complexion Brush

I’ve been using this to apply blush, and bronzer as needed.

17 | Julep Pore Minimizing Blush in Peach Bellini

I’ve had this since I was an active user of Julep, I’m not much anymore, but I still love this Blush!

My Makeup Favorites in My Daily Routine

So, I gave my Snapchat followers (follow me on Snapchat as mysocalledchaos) a quick peek into my daily routine. I really use these products every morning to pull off a natural look that’s very well put together, and I love it. Sometimes I add a little something different here and there, but this has become my standard look. I saved the snaps to share with you here.

Haha, I think I look adorable in glasses, but there’s always that moment where you’re like “Dang! My makeup is on point! Oh crap, now I have to put my glasses on and hide some of it. Boo.” Hahaha!

What are your makeup favorites?