My Makeup Audit: December 2021
I am nearing the end of the first part of my makeup audit. When the new year starts I only have two more monthly arsenals to go and then I have audited all of my makeup. It feels great! In December I had mainly Meow Cosmetics shadows to choose from but also shadows/pigments by MakeupGeek, Illamasqua, Bare Minerals, MAC and H&M. The oldest items are from 2013-1014. In total there were 29 colour options for my eyelids to choose from.
In December I also participated in the tag #redlipsdecember on Instagram created by @luvanloud and I have been doing this as sort of a holiday tradition since 2018. This is also the first year that I did manage to wear a red lip every day all through the month. On makeup free days I just wore a red lip and nothing else. Mission accomplished!
The usual addition: As in previous months I’m supplementing the monthly arsenal, that consists of only shimmers/metallics, by using three palettes by Anastasia Beverly Hills as complements in the matte and inner corner highlight area. Those are the Modern Renaissance, Subculture and Prism palettes and swatches of those will be shown further down in the post for reference. I’ve decided to do this for the remainder of my first audit phase (the last month is February 2022).
Top row (quad) L-R: Venom – Moondust
Middle row (quad) L-R: Twilight – Rebel
Bottom row L-R: Soul Serendade – Joaillerie – Legendary Lure
The four pressed shadows in the little Nabla palette are by MakeupGeek (Venom, Moondust, Twilight, Rebel). I remember lusting after Moondust and Twilight before I got them. Back then they were more unique shadows than they are now. Then we have two Extra Dimension shadows by MAC (Soul Serenade and Legendary Lure) from the Alluring Aquatic collection that was released in 2014. Finally there is the lustrous gold by H&M Beauty (Joaillerie) that i think is the newest of the bunch.
Top row L-R: Ore – Berber
Bottom row L-R: Toasted Espresso – Ginger Sugar
THen we have two pigments by Illamasqua (Ore, Berber) and two loose shadows by Bare Minerals (Toasted Espresso, Ginger Sugar). The BM shadows were part of a larger set of shadows and have not been purchased individually.
Then we have nine shadows from the Fifty Shades of Meow collection by Meow Cosmetics. All Meow shadows are from 2013-1014.
Then finally we have nine shadows from five different collections by Meow. Four from Egyptian Treasures (Tutankhamun, Ra, Asp, Ancient), two from Pleasures (Chinese Takeout, Soft Porn), and one each from Stripped (Exposed), Aurora (Aurora Borealis) and Snowflakes (Sleet).
That was the entire monthly arsenal including the complements. Let’s move on to swatches and my opinions on these products after using them for a month.
Let’s start with the four from MakeupGeek. Venom and Rebel are keepers. They work well and look pretty and interesting on the eye. Moondust and Twilight however have not aged well. They are dusty and just look like nothing special on the eye. I do not know if they have aged badly or if the simply are not my jam anymore, but nonetheless they are not keepers. Both Soul Serenade and Legendary Lure (MAC) were positive surprises. The formula is still great and the shades look amazing on the eye. And last but not least we have the amazing Joaillerie (H&M Beauty). The swatch speaks for itself, it shines! So out of this lot I’m keeping five and getting rid of two.
Both Ore and Berber (Illamasqua) are beautiful and I really liked using them. Ore is an especially good colour on me. Toasted Espresso and Ginger Sugar (Bare Minerals) however were very lacklustre on the eye and I am not sad to let them go. So two out of four are out.
I thought the shadows from the Fifty Shades of Meow collection (Meow Cosmetics) would be a mixed bag of keepers and non keepers, but I was wrong. I’m keeping all but one. It just shows that I should never assume something by only looking at a swatch. These all looked great on the eye and the only one I did not wear is the one I’m letting go. It’s Riding Crop. I never felt like wearing it and I know it is because of the blue base. I usually hate when there is a strong blue base, because they are usually hard to blend without making a mess, and a blue based green is not my favourite type of shade to wear.
Out of the next lot of shadows from Meow we also have only one that I am not interested in keeping. Sleet is not very dimensional but just a straight up pale frosty blue and I have no use whatsoever for this. All of the others are gorgeous on the eye and am so glad that these still perform so well.
Those were all of the products from this month’s arsenal. Let’s finish this post with some looks from December including a lot of red lips.
December 4
Eyes: Tutankhamun – Eden – Saturn – Rowdy
Cheeks: Pink Opal (lipstick as blush, Linda Hallberg) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua)
Lips: Hot-Blooded (H&M Beauty)
December 5
Eyes: Legendary Lure – Vermeer – The New Noir (cream shadow as base, H&M Beauty)
Cheeks: Pink Opal (lipstick as blush, Linda Hallberg) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua)
Lips: Velvet Cinnabar (Lisa Eldridge) – Cinnabar (liner, Lisa Eldridge)
December 11
Eyes: Berber – Tempera – Red Ochre – Venetian Red – All Star – New Wave – Eros (liner, Chanel)
Cheeks: A mix of of Stereo Rose, Immortal Flower and At Dusk (blushes, MAC)
Lips: Rouge Audace (Chanel)
December 12
Eyes: Venom – Buon Fresco
Cheeks: Rapture (blush, Urban Decay)
Lips: Velvet Jazz (Lisa Eldridge) – Brick (liner, MAC)
December 16
Eyes: Joaillerie – Unity
Cheeks: Nude Blossom (blush, IsaDora) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua)
Lips: Velvet Ribbon (Lisa Eldridge) – Cherry (liner, MAC)
December 18
Eyes: Ore – Golden Ochre – Warm Taupe – Rowdy
Cheeks: A Little Lusty (blush, MAC) – Silhouette (contour, Illamasqua) – Lightscapades (highlight, MAC)
Lips: Rouge Audace (Chanel)
To conclude this month I only let go of six shadows and I’m a bit chocked. But at the same time I am also glad that I enjoy the makeup I have and still find them fun enough to keep despite not being new and extra alluring.
Besides the eye shadow audit I managed to wear 19 blushes, 1 contour, 4 highlighters, 11 lipsticks and 4 lip liners. After only wearing red lips for a month it felt great to have access to other colours when January started. A little deprivation worked wonders.
So now we only have two more months to go. I am really looking forward to being done and being able to start looking at what I have kept and how much overlap I have in colours. Maybe some more items will be let go, but who knows?! We shall see…
Thank you for reading!