My ten holy grail beauty products. As in I can only have ten items for the rest of time.

BESIDES OIL, cause you know that would be on my list,

What would I pick?

1. EYEBROW WIZ. Because good eyebrows can make you look a gamillion times better. I like Anastasia's products the best--she's the queen of the brow--and I have both her brow powder and her pencil called Brow Wiz, which is awesome and has a spoolie on the end! I fill in my brows with the powder and then outline them lightly with the pencil.

The eyebrow WIZ. Note my excellent photography skillz and the backdrop that looks like upcycled barn door a la Etsy. 

2. CC CREAM WITH SPF (or tinted moisturizer). If you haven't jumped upon the alphabet craze in skin care yet, try it out (there's BB cream, CC cream; who knows, maybe next they'll have DD cream, HA!) Anyway I'll do a post on these somewhere down the line, but CC stands for "color correcting" and CC Cream is basically a tinted moisturizer with light to medium coverage. I like IT Cosmetics CC Cream--it has SPF 50 and snail secretions, cuz a girl's gotta have her snail slime. (Gross but true. Apparently it's good for your skin. Ugh I just don't think about it.) Laura Mercier makes a wonderful tinted moisturizer also that I lurve. There are a ton out there; one is right for your skin type. The ones I mentioned are good for drier skin. 

My friends. These even out my skin but don't make my skin all claustrophobic or cakey. The LM is a sample. 

3. MASCARA. Drugstore is good; I like L'Oreal False Fiber lashes. I have the wimpiest scrawniest lashes known to anyone. They are like daddy long legs' legs cut in eighths. I have a few mid-to-high priced mascaras and a bunch of drugstore and honestly, the L'Oreal False Fiber is the bomb. I'll do a mascara review soon with pictures and drawings. 

Swwwooooon. I have heard there's a Lacquer color that's really black and shiny. Good stuff this. And again: my photo's composition will land me a job with National Geo for sure.  

4. CONCEALER (for undereye circles). Lordy I've got some dark circles and a concealer is a must. I love Benefit's Erase Paste, which comes in a highly unsanitary pot, but I don't care. It comes with a spatula you can use but meh to that. Also good for those of you who prefer less bacteria in your undereye concealer: Nars Creamy Concealer, MAC Pro Longwear concealer, Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eye concealer/ brightener. You can get free (free!) samples of the MAC at counters (get color matched) and they last forever. I am all about samples. 

My wee pot o'germs. At least they are well concealed! 

5. EYELINER. Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner and an eyeliner brush. No contest. I love this stuff. I have over the years collected many of the colors and they are just the best eyeliners ever. 

These were purchased over a looong time (years--like ten!) and I've only ever thrown one away soooooooo......I know I need to toss the old ones but I like to hoard them. They are all different colors. They are all so pretty! 

6. GRAY HAIR MAGIC MARKER. I'm old and this year have suddenly sprouted gray hair which has become even more visible because I have darker hair now. I hate the pesky buggers and between hair appointments I use a magic marker called Touchback Instant Root Touch-Up which comes in a few colors. I paint it on and then let it dry; then I brush it through and ALAKAZAM! No more grays. 

See ya dumb grays. Don't let the door hit ya on the way out. 

7. LIPSTICK/LIPGLOSS. MAC lipsticks are my favorite brand ever. Ever ever ever. I have been stalking the Mac counter since I was a wee goth lass of 20 and wore nearly black lippie. I have many. I like their pinkish nude colors so much. Some good ones: Hue, Pink Plaid, Faux, Snob, Angel, Creme Cup. They also make good rosy colors to brighten up your face: Plumful, Capricious, and Syrup are good ones. (I have all of those but Syrup and Angel.) My favorite lip glosses are the NYX Butter glosses, available at Ulta and very affordable. And they smell like SUGAR COOKIE. Unfort they don't taste like sugar cookie or I'd be reapplying every forty seconds. 

Lipstick Stonehenge. From the lower left moving clockwise: oh bollocks I have no clue. Hmmmmmm the picture is upside down and I've put them all away. So you'll have to google image them for their full glory. The lighting is terrible anyway.

8. BLUSH. NARS makes amazing blushes. The colors Orgasm, Sin, and Gaiety are ones I've used and love. I also love Dior Rosy Glow. It's so pink and cheerful! Warning: NARS has naughty blush names. If you have kids hide yer NARS. 

I don't have a lot of blushes; maybe three more besides these. These are my favorite. The tiny Orgasm (haha!) I got for free. "Free" = Sephora points. 

9. EYESHADOW. Urban Decay Naked palettes are the best. I have the original; there are three (plus a cheaper Naked Basics palette). Number one is good for all skin tones, number two better for cool skin and three for warm (although quite honestly they are all good for everyone). Also amazing is the Lorac Pro Palette (I actually use mine more than the Naked as it has more matte colors). 

Can you spot the beauty addict lurking about? Look at those buttery colors. 

10. HAIR SMOOTHER. I need something to make my hair slippery because otherwise it knots into a snarled mess. I have tried a lot of products and right now I am loving Paul Mitchell Skinny Serum which helps smooth it out as well as Kerastase oil (I got a mini size of that to try it out since that brand is ridiculously expensive but also ridiculously amazing). 

(No picture because that one came out all fuzzy but here's another lippie pic!!!) Hurrah! 

*pets the screen* hello my sweeties 

Well my beauties that is it for now, my list of ten holy grail items (although I think I may have cheated a bit, this one goes to eleven). I am working on Part Two of my skin care post as well as some reviews (new Butter Glosses just came out!) but I have to go clean my kitchen now as it's a disaster. Sad face! 

What are your Holy Grail products??? 

Buttery smooches,

Karen xo