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Highlighter/Blush Duos

I love them! I love duos because they’re easier to make work together, and if a brand has two or three duos, they can cater more specifically by depth or undertone so you don’t end up with a palette of six shades and only love half of them. The only time I’m not keen is when they’re in the same pan!

— Christine

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Full Coverage Foundation

I know that I tend to prefer more medium, buildable coverage than full coverage out of the gate! Full coverage can be unforgiving when it comes to shade matching, too, so you have to nail down your match well for it to look good.

— Christine

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Beauty Sponges

These days, I tend to use beautyblenders if I reach for a sponge, but I still reach and use brushes in most instances. I like using a beautyblender for final touches or to tamp down a bit of powderiness if I don’t want to use a setting spray/mist over everything. They’re such a pain to clean–I just feel like it takes so much water to do so–compared to brushes for me.

— Christine

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Sheer Lipstick

I prefer medium coverage or higher as I find sheer coverage often emphasizes the natural unevenness in my lip color and that they aren’t that long-wearing. Like I don’t mind if it doesn’t wear like iron, but I don’t want to feel like I need to reapply every couple of hours!

— Christine

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Pigmented Eyeshadows

I definitely prefer pretty high pigmentation in most instances, though I don’t mind semi-opaque and buildable matte eyeshadows. I think matte tends to work better when they can be built up, as they’re often more forgiving and easier to blend out. I like getting true-to-pan color as that makes it easier to figure out what to pair together!

— Christine

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Matte Foundation

I love how well it can photograph — matte foundations tend to make my skin look smoother and more poreless in photos, though I think some sheen is more flattering in person. Matte foundations can dry quickly and be more unforgiving on drier areas of the face, especially around my nose area!

— Christine

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Making Your Own Palette

It’s really fun to put together colors you love and will wear in an order that makes sense to you, but it can be daunting if you are starting from scratch or haven’t dialed-in on what you like best. It can be quite expensive buying singles to fill up a palette, too!

— Christine

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Gold Highlighters

Mostly love from me, though when they get too true yellow, they definitely work best on me when paired with particular colors of blush rather than alone. Some of the lighter golds and peachier golds I can wear alone without blush at all, which makes them more versatile for me. I do wish that brands would diverge a lil’ from their standard golds, since I think we could see some more contrasting shimmer/sheen.

— Christine

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Single Eyeshadows

I enjoy them, though I think that they can be cost-prohibitive for some (really in how you use your products) now that palettes are so prevalent. I still find I’ll reach for a pre-made palette with a really good color story over trying to put together something on my own. I think if I wasn’t blogging, it might be more 50/50, though, so it’s more a time/effort/energy constraint than I prefer one over the other. I wish more brands would maintain core shades and add-in seasonal offerings, maybe rotating every 6-9 months, and I wish we saw more cool-toned, duochrome, and accent kind of shades in single form.

— Christine

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Matte Blushes

I’m not a huge fan of them myself; I tend to prefer a lil’ shimmer, even if fine and barely-there, as I find it helps a lot in ensuring the blush is very blendable and easy to work with. Matte blushes can darken or turn patchy, which can be harder to blend out.

— Christine

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