My Makeup Audit: October
In the beginning of the month I selected my Monthly Arsenal and posted it to Instagram. I had picked a selection of eyeshadows, blushes and other face products to evaluate in the first month of my makeup audit. When choosing I picked items that I rarely use and I felt that these would be perfect to evaluate first, since surely I would have few warm fuzzy feelings for them, dislike them even, and have a great run of discarding these unloved items. Alas, I was wrong. So wrong.
For eyes I had singled out a wide variety of shades and finishes in order to have a lot of options to play with. The arsenal included five of my numerous Sleek Makeup palettes complemented with a set of six duochrome toppers in the shape of the Aurora Glow Kit by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I love using duochrome shades both as effect toppers and as inner corner highlights. A good duochrome makes my heart beat faster. The eye palettes I chose contained shades I was drawn to this time of year including some brights for more punchy looks. For the cheeks I chose one contour, two highlighters and eight blushes of varying finishes. This is how the month went down..
Let’s start with the Glow Kit. I am very drawn to this palette but I did not use it as much as I thought I would. I mainly used Eclipse, Helia and Lyra as inner corner highlights and Spectra was used as a topper on one occasion. I like these shades well enough to let them get another shot in Round 2 (where similar items will be compared) but I suspect I have some similar shades from other brands. Both Eclipe and Lyra have glitter in them and that is not my favourite thing. Also, these shadows smell a bit weird, but I think they have been doing that all along. Something to think about….
Another palette I’m drawn to, the Ultra Matts V.2. The dark, moody and mainly muted colours are alluring. This specific palette was an important source of matte shadows this month and I used it a lot. I was expecting to dislike many of the shades but no, the mattes performed very well and were a pleasure to use. If the palette had included a taupe as well it would have been even more useful. The shades are quite unique and since they performed well I have to give it a Round 2. Most used shades were Flesh, Paper Bag, Villan, Dune and Maple.
A New Day was another frequently used palette and the shade Carpe Diem was a solid favourite used for many looks as a crease colour. Happy, Let It Go and Don’t Worry were also staples. The other shades were a little lacklustre and this palette is a contender to depot. But before engaging in that hassle I need to compare the nice shades to what I have that is similar. So a Round 2 is in order to seal its fate.
Del Mar is such a pretty palette with its muted, dusty pastels and that bright yellow. I find the colour scheme very appealing and inspiring. I especially loved using Ushuaia, Puro and Siesta. Zoola and Ibiza Rocks were fun to use as well. I regret not using the greens but I never felt like it for work. The shades I did not enjoy was Loco, Pearl and San Antonio. Another palette that will make it to Round 2.
Another one I had low hopes for but enjoyed more than I thought I would, Supernova. I have not used the blue shades and most likely never will. The green (Aurora) is an interesting shade and the day I wore it I was very pleased with the combination. Umbra, Corona and Meteor are stunning shades and they will surely be depotted unless they have too many competitors in Round 2. This is a palette that I am sure I will depot if I decide to keep any of the shades.
I’m conflicted about Rio Rio. This palette as a whole does not entice me. I enjoyed some of the shades, like Ipanema, Tropics and Legron. But some shades I dislike and the composition of the palette does not work for me. I use the shades as singles and combined them with other palettes. As with the other palettes I suspect I already have multiple similar shades. But this palette will not be kept in it’s entirety, that’s for sure.
Face products are a lot of fun to use, especially blush. In this category we have the first item to be discarded in the audit. The Blush by 3 palette in Lemonade by Sleek Makeup. The cream shade (Macaroon) had gone off and when I wore the other two shades (Icing sugar & Pink mint) I disliked them on me. They looked off, and I think heavy shimmery blushes might not be my jam.
The Face Form palette (also by Sleek) did get quite a lot of wear time this month despite the fact that it contained a shimmer blush. I loved the highlighter and the contour shade, not being my optimal shade for the cheeks, worked as a lovely crease shadow. The shimmery blush was not a favourite but it did it’s job.
My other highlighter, the soft pink Play It Proper (MAC) was also a big surprise. I thought it would be an easy cull, but no. It provided an unique sheen and I loved using it for work. This product is old, from the Chen Man Love & Water collection from 2012. I bought it when my collection was smaller and that specific MAC collection was alluring. I have not used it much but after this month I think it deserves a new life, a life where it is appreciated and used. But since it has been used so little over time I have to put it through Round 2 in order to keep it.
Most used on the blush front this month are the muted matte shades from MAC, Buff and Pink Cult. They are nice staple shades that look good with most looks. I also used the more vibrant shades East (matte by Make Up Store) and Supernova (shimmer by MAC) a few times. I enjoyed them all, surprise surprise, and another lot for Round 2. And that was it, those were all the items from my Makeup Arsenal October.
In the beginning of the month I had a main plan to post my daily makeup looks to Instagram. That plan evaporated since I almost always deemed the pics of poor quality. There is not much light in Sweden right now and I have been trying to sneak in some quick photos mainly in bathrooms (during the week) and in natural light whenever possible, but it’s been hard. For November I will try to be less judgmental of the quality of the photos and post more frequently.
Despite that I’ve had a lot of fun this month playing with makeup…and here are a few more looks in varying light.
To sum up this month of my makeup audit; It is no secret that I have a hard time letting things go. I attach to things emotionally and on top of this I fear that if I let an item go I will regret it later. When I sat down to evaluate this month’s audit candidates I realized I basically could not let anything go, not straight away anyway. I’m sure I do not adore all of these items but I think I need more “evidence” in order to let them go.
So please bear with me in this process, a process I think will evolve over time. As you have noticed all items in this audit will be sent to Round 2 except one. One! Round 2 is clearly vital in this process, for me, and when items with similar purpose will be pitted against each other it will hopefully become clear to me how much I have and what needs to go. Let’s see….
Thank you for reading! (If anyone made it this far, I applaud you!)
Sofia