By Ria, Local Contributor – Finland

After being born and spending her childhood in America, Ria moved to the far reaches of Northern Europe to live in Finland with her parents. Exiled away from beauty brands most of us take for granted, she was forced to branch out and challenged to find new local favorites.

Now 27, her interest in beauty started originally as a hobby about five years ago, when she was looking for something new in her life. However, it soon turned into a full-blown obsession. She also attended makeup school to pursue her interest and has worked with beauty ever since. These days she spends most of her free time studying and writing, trying to finish her master’s thesis for university. She’s interested in the associations and values connected to makeup and is actually writing her thesis on YouTube makeup videos!

Make Up Store China Red Lipstick

From Finland: What’s in My Makeup Bag?

I thought it would be fitting to share myself through some of my favorite products! These are a few of the products you can almost always find in my make up bag and that I’ll buy again and again.  You can always learn a lot a about a person by the products they choose to spend their hard-earned money on, whether it’s shoes or lipstick! Hopefully, this will give Temptalia’s readers some insight into who I am as well as to the European cosmetics market I navigate.  Maybe it will even help someone find a new favorite!

• Illamasqua’s Cream Blushes (£16.50) became my staple this summer, and even though summer is over, I’m having a hard time letting go! Pinky coral Rude is my go-to shade, which can look natural or intense depending on your application.
• Isadora Jelly Kiss Lipstick (€13.00)  isn’t exactly cheap for a drugstore product (around , the consistency is
• worthy of a brand name! The glossy, sheer texture reminds my lips of Dior’s Addict lipsticks but at
• a third of the price. Unfortunately the color range is still quite limited, with only five shades
• available.
• Make Up Store China Red Lipstick (€19.00) is a my holy grail matte red lipstick!  It’s matte without being overly dry, like some matte lipsticks tend to be and it packs an awesome amount of pigment punch. Stays on forever as well!
• Isadora Forest Nail Polish (€13.50) is a new shade for fall and has been repeatedly featured on my nails. Forest is a darkened olive green with gorgeous gold shimmer. Swedish drugstore brand Isadora comes up with some of the most interesting seasonal nail colors on the local market every year.
• Essence Nail Polishes (€1.00) has Europe covered, because they are very affordable and often dupe much  more expensive brands.  One brand which is not very accessible in my part of the world, is Deborah Lippmann. Being a bit of a glitter fanatic, I still adore Lippmann’s interesting glitter nail polishes.  They make perfect dupes of Lippmann favorites like Across the Universe and Boom Boom Pow. The mini bottles are easy to travel with too and come at a fraction of the price for around one euro!

See more photos!

Make Up Store China Red Lipstick

Isadora Forest Nail Polish

Essence Nail Polishes

Illamasqua Rude Cream Blush

Isadora Jelly Kiss Lipstick