CoffeeNOfilter with Denisha: Current Makeup Favorites

I'm currently working on a new post for this blog. In the meantime here's what I just finished for my other blog. Hope you enjoy!

I haven't made a blog post about makeup since 2012!!! I can't believe it because I love makeup and wear it almost everyday. I'm more of an eyes look than the whole foundation, contour, highlight and all that stuff. From time to time, I will do a full face minus the contour and highlight (haven't tried that out yet). I wanted to do an update from the last blog post and talk about what I'm loving right now. If you've read 'Eye Shadow Love' (one of my most popular posts), then you already know some of the basic rules when it comes to eye shadow.

Now I want to talk about some of my favorite makeup products in the past two years:

First off my favorite foundation is Urban Decay's Naked Skin Foundation!! I am in the process of trying out new foundations, but I love this foundation. It's a medium to full coverage foundation, which is great if you want to cover any imperfections. I love the range of colors this comes in as well (picture below). As an African American (dark skin) woman, it's usually hard to find foundations that will match me well. Usually they will either have me looking like a ghost, too orange or they just don't have the color. Especially drug store foundations. Most stores don't carry a huge range. I'm very excited to get my hands on Shea Moisture's Cosmetic Line (available at Target). I love their hair products (Review on 'CoffeeNofilter with Denisha' blog)!

PRIMERS

If there's anything you take from this post is that PRIMERS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND AND MAKEUP SAVIOR! I can't stress that enough! There's nothing better than having a great foundation, eye, or lip primer! Not only will your makeup last ALL DAY, you're makeup will look 10x better from the beginning of the day until you take it off. When I first started wearing makeup, I had no idea what primer was. When I was first introduced to Too Faced Shadow Insurance Primer (left). I love the formulation of this primer and it doesn't leave a white residue on my eyes like other primers I have tried. This retails for about $18-$20 so if you want something that is a dupe for this product I would go with Wet n' Wild's Take On The Day Shadow Primer (right). I was actually told about this product through a customer when I worked at Walgreens. When I have the money to splurge on Too Faced I will, but in the meantime this $6 product does the job.

BRUSHES

When I first began using makeup, I would either use my hands (priceless tool) or the little applicators that came with the packaging (not the best but..useful). Since then, I have been experimenting with different brands, and I'm still expanding my brush collection because I don't clean my brushes like I should! NOTE: CLEAN THEM EVERYDAY!! I'm not going to go into detail much about Every brush, just the ones I'm loving at the moment.

To the left: The Beauty Blender which is one of the most talked about applicators for foundation, highlight, cream blush, and just an all over great product. I love that with this product I get a flawless foundation look. After all it's important to BLEND BLEND BLEND that makeup!

To the left: As a YouTube beauty addict, I couldn't pass up this brush. And now I know why everyone on there raves about it so much. Real Techniques Expert Face Brush is the bees knees! Another great brush that does a fantastic job of buffing that foundation into the skin. Can be found at Ulta!

QOSMEDIX (below) is a great site if you want to get more bang for your buck when it comes to all things makeup tools. This is great for any makeup artist (beginner or expert), who wants to add to their kit. I found out about this site on YT and I haven't looked back since. Their brushes are high quality which I love and you can get a ton of product for little cost. Though there is a standard minimum order amount (not EXPENSIVE!), you can get things from cotton swabs to storage containers for traveling to your clients. They have pretty much everything you need. I just received my catalog in the mail and I'm in love with everything.

Bh Cosmetics has always been a great find since I've gotten more into makeup. Not only is this an affordable site to get makeup, but they always have great deals to get more band for your buck!!!

Bh Cosmetics brushes (to the left) is just a few of the selection that they have on their site. They have sets and singles if you want to create your own set!

EYE SHADOW

NYX Cosmetics is a great company that sells inexpensive makeup and their products are sold at various locations. The pictures below is just some of the products that have.

O_O whenever I see huge selections of NYX in a store.

These jumbo eye shadow sticks from NYX Cosmetics are great alone, or as a base for your eye shadow to stick to. This creates an even more vibrant color pay off for the look. Aren't these beautiful colors?!?

Once again Bh Cosmetics has to be mentioned due to the fact that you can get a range of eye shadow colors for a low price. The only down fall I have to say is that some of the shadows you have to pack on to get a color pay off more than others. But overall these palettes (below) help you create a ton of looks. Who doesn't love play in makeup when you're bored? *Raises hands*

Neutral Palettes are always great to way to take your look from day to night. Also great for beginners who are afraid of a ton of color. It helps to guide you into applying colors and getting a feel for different looks!

To the left: I have a few of these palettes and there's still colors I have yet to try. There's so many looks you can create with these colors. If you are like me and love some bright looks, definitely check these out!

Tarte Cosmetics has become a new favorite of mine after purchasing their 2014 holiday set (below). I currently use this palette for my everyday makeup looks. The shadows are like butter and glide on so effortlessly. I just can't get enough of this collection. From the lips to the mascara (mentioned below), they are doing great things at this company! I have to explore more with them!!!

MASCARA

ALL 3 OF THE PRODUCTS I'M ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT ARE GREAT MASCARAS! Starting where I just left off is Tarte Cosmetics 'Lights, Camera, Lashes' Mascara. This product does a wonderful job at lengthening your lashes making yo look like you have false lashes on. I gave my little sister one of these that came in the 2014 holiday collection (above), but she lost it. She cried over this product because it's that great! So that tells you something right there that this product is worth the hype!!

Next up is Maybelline Colossal Cat Eye Mascara (below)!!!!! VOLUME VOLUME VOLUME!!! This is went back to product. My little sister told me about this and she loved this so much, I had to give it a shot. I completely forgot I had this until I was doing my makeup yesterday. I really like how small the brush is because I can really work the product on my lashes. Also, I gave my lashes a few coats of this product and the happy dance was in full effect!

Lastly is my "use it til the last drop" mascara. Maybelline Rocket Mascara (waterproof formula) is that mascara that just hits the right spot. I've used this mascara for years. I just ran out so you already know I'm going to repurchase this again! It gives a great length to my lashes and the waterproof formula gets my lashes a better hold than the regular formula. Whenever I wear this I just feel complete; since I've been using it for so long!

LIPS

I wasn't always a fan of wearing much lip products until a few years back. I wasn't a lip gloss person because I always found them too shiny (like you just ate something greasy), and sticky! Now that I'm older, I'm experimenting more with different lip colors and formulations.

Carmex is always my go to lip product regardless if I'm wearing makeup or not. The formulation of this product is great for those winter months to keep your lips from cracking and looking a hot ass mess! It leaves a nice tingling sensation on my lips that lets me know it's working. It's inexpensive and usually has a deal at Walgreens, so you can stock up whenever you run out! Lastly, it gives a nice shine to your lips if you are wearing makeup and want a little shine!

To the left: Wet n' Wild's lipstick in 'Cherry Bomb' is a beautiful shade that compliments my beautiful completion. I like pairing this lip color with a simple wing look to give some edge to it.

To the left and right: Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in 'Shameless' is a beautiful purple shade. I always get asked when I'm wearing when I have this color on. The perfect pop of color that I wear all year round. It will never go out of style for me!!

NYX Cosmetics Butter Gloss in the shade 'Eclair' is the first nude color I have worn. As I mentioned before, I was never a fan of lip gloss. However, this is a perfect shade that compliments many complexions. I like the fact that I can use a little or a lot. Sometimes I will put this on top of my Carmex lip balm to add some color. Oh and the SMELL OF THIS IS AMAZING! It's a mixture between sugar cookies and butter scotch! And unlike the typical gloss, it's not sticky but feels like butter; hence butter gloss!

Below are just a couple looks I've took from my Facebook page. I love to take pictures of my looks up close so you can see the colors better. Also, my favorite feature are my eyes (thanks mommy)! My mom has beautiful eyes, and she was the first person I learned about makeup from. I would watch her get ready for work in the morning as she would apply her makeup! She is an eyeliner person, and I always think she looks like an Egyptian Queen when she wears it! Shout out to Umi for being my inspiration!