What beauty products or shades do you find truly multi-purpose? Share your favorites!
Liquid highlighters/illuminizers, because I mix them in with foundation, dab them on top of foundation for a more obvious look, and they work well for brightening the under eye area or all-over the lid.
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Loose shadows and pigments… easily make lip color, blush, eyeshadow, liner, colored mascara, nail polish, etc.
I’ve been using lipstick as cream blush after you talked about doing that.
And your series of pigment videos are epic. They should have a dragon in them.
I love cool toned bronzers.. they work well for contouring as well as eyeshadows! Also yes liquid highlighters are great for lighting up your complexion or just highlighting specific areas! For shades I think nothing beats a beautiful champagne/gold color! Mary Lou Manizer comes to mind 🙂
mary lou manizer for eyeshadow and highlight. most makeup brushes can do at least two tasks.
Clinique Eye Shadow Quad in Jenna’s Essentials– 4 shadows, a mirror, and 2 applicators, all for $28. The brown can be shadow or brow powder, if you like darker brows. Black can be shadow or used wet as liner. The light champagne beige can be a shadow, contour, or highlighter. And the white can be shadow or highlighter. Sleek, very portable kit, great price, and beats lugging around 10 lbs of makeup.
Pinks and corals. I use them both on my lips and on my cheeks.
Probably the Sephora jumbo pencils – I just love those. They work as long-lasting shadows, as liners and as truly amazing eyeshadow bases for other shades. Also, some of MAC’s Skin Finish powders – I have one that works both as a highlighter and a blush, depending on which part of the pan I use and/or how heavily or lightly I apply it.
Either theBalm Mary Lou-Manizer, because I use that as an eyeshadow and an illuminator (though not too often as it’s a bit of a grease fest look on me) and one of the Hourglass Ambient Light powders as an all over finishing/setting powder and built up as an illuminator. I don’t do too many unconventional things with products really.
Correctors- for me they can work as concealers, correctors and highlighters:) I can even skip foundation if I just have the right corrector!
The right bronzer can work well for bronzing, contouring and as a crease eye shadow. And vice versa, the right eye shadow can be used to contour. I’ve even used a cream shadow for that-MAC Paintpot in Quite Natural.
I really like Bobbi Brown’s Shimmer Bricks, because they look as pretty on the eyes as they do on the cheeks. Her Pot Rouge formula is really nice, too!
A cool, taupe contour color/eyeshadow works well for a lot of things, at least for me. I can use it on my eyebrows, for contouring and as an eyeshadow
TheBalm’s Cindy Lou-manizer. I use it for everything. It’s a lovely eyeshadow and a nice subtle blush as well as an illuminizer.
In my experience, the following have been wonderful time saving multitaskers:
1. Blush! 😀 With blush, you can add color to your cheeks, contour some, naturally as the sun would hit, and then squeeze the brush tighter and sweep it into the eye area! 😀 Total look done and flattering! But I am as white as white can be, so it works well, and I’m not sure how that would do on a gorgeous mahogany face.. Most likely, the same! 😀
2. Highlighters! Instantly tap under eyes, brighten it up, tap on middle of lid and inner corners, use on high planes of face to lift and glow, and it works as an eyeshadow as well, also on lips to add a bit of plumpness…
3. Clear Lip Gloss, gloss in general: great for lips, a touch of sheen to eyes, highlighting cheekbones, esp if dry in that high area, a dab on eyelids.. Fresh 😀 Smooths baby hairs! Seals moisture in lips & can rescue sides of nose in the winter, as well as a bit on the tip of nose for refinement! 😀
4. Mascara: Lashes, brows, sparse hair areas, or smoothing hair down, plus it can be smeared quickly for a liner effect when in a hurry! 😀
5. Lotions: Body/face, hair smoothing, condition, restyle, cuticle, dry patches fix! Quick for lip balm if balm not accessible! (Tap blush into it, then a little highlighter! Plump pout! 😀
6. Spray Mists! 😀 Refreshing, hydrating, good for hair and skin everywhere if dry, when traveling if nose gets dry from air, dab it up there! Add to fingers or brush to use on blush, highlighter, whatever, for more intensity, and it helps wake you up! 😀
Neutral color palettes, especially if they have both matte and shimmery shades: You can do anything with them. It’s so easy to sub a blush for an eyeshadow, and eyeshadow for a contour or highlighter, blush for lip color. Stila Dare to Bare is a current favorite. I get a lot of mileage of Naked Basics and Physician’s Formula Shimmer Strips, as well.
PINK and PEACH BLUSH is all I need !!!
1) on the apples of the cheeks
2) on the eyelid
3) on the lips mixed with lipbalm
I agree with highlighter and raise you a neutral peach shimmer free blush. Not too warm though. Works for cheeks, eyes, and an all over color corrector if needed and applied lightly.
I use a matte taupe eyeshadow as eyeshadow (duh), brow filler, eyeliner, and contour powder. Brown eyeliner can do all that as well.
I like a rose bronze mineral blush I have. I can use it as blush, eyeshadow and mix with a bit of gloss for my lips.
I agree with liquid luminizer – it can light up and brighten your face anywhere it needs it. Highlight, brighten undereyes, quick eyeshadow, add some oomph to cheeks if I don’t want to do blush, and is just a godsend for making me look bright and alive with all my mattifying products. This post has actually given me the push to buy a bottle! I’ve been experimenting with samples, but now I’ve got the push I need (Although all I ever need is a slight breeze to knock me in the direction of buying more makeup)!
Another one for me is bronzer. Since I have a medium-deep skintone, it’s so easy for me to use the same product to contour, generally add colour and life to my face/cheeks, and use as a natural-looking eyeshadow. Funnily enough, I don’t use bronzer a lot though except to contour anymore. Way too addicted with creating full makeup looks with all the different products I have!
For colours, I’d have to say a dark brown would be truly multipurpose for me. Fill in eyebrows, use as eyeshadow, use as liner, and very light-handedly contour and bronze.
MAC Cream Colour Base in Shell and also in Hush
Loose pigments especially MAC vanilla and neutral tones. So many uses, e/s, highlighter, lips, I even add it to body lotion for a subtle sheen.
Powder in general. Eye shadow can be used ad a blush and vice
versa. I’ve had issues with the formulations when I used lipsticks as blushes but powders I find to be quite versatile. I have pots of loose eyeshadow that I feel can get contaminated easily so I use them on the face.