Makeup Multi-Taskers

My friend Candy inspired this post when she sent me a tweet saying that she'd used tinted lip balm as a blush and I just went "why have I never tried that before". I was sent into a spiral of new ideas of using my makeup and I discovered that almost anything cream based presents delightful opportunities to get creative with makeup. If you saw my post over the weekend about cream blushes then you'll know that enjoying makeup, and having fun with makeup, is something that's on my agenda this month. 

My makeup look above relied on using a whole bunch of products either "unconventionally" or using them as multi-tasking products by applying them in more than one way.

 I began by applying my new Monu Illuminating Primer* as a primer, but once I'd finished my makeup I also used it as a highlighter. It's an absolutely gorgeous, champagne-toned highlighter that wakes up skin like nothing I've tried in years! It reminds me of L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Primer which I used to love, but Monu's primer feels so much more luxurious and hydrating - a lot more like skincare than makeup. And yet it works really well as a highlighter too! You just have to be sure to not use too much, or if you do then you just have to blend, blend, blend. Alternatively, for a more natural look, you could also use a highlighting concealer as a highlighting product. I've tried using L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Concealer in Medium which offers a very natural way to add some radiance to your skin.

I popped on some of my Glo & Ray Mirage Mousse Eyeshadow in Caramel Candy* but I only used it as an eyeliner to give my eyes a bit of definition. It works surprisingly well like that, and the colour really makes my eyes stand out without any of the fuss of eyeshadow. 

On my lips I applied a healthy dose of my Illasmaqua Blush in Crush, which gave me a deep berry coloured lip. The Illamasqua cream blushes work really well on the lips as they have a thin, creamy consistency which means they're not too drying but they also don't slip. Inika's Rosehip Creme Colour* is another gorgeous multi-purpose product that looks gorgeous on both the cheeks and the lips. I'm not wearing it in my photo but it gives a lovely dose of terracotta that's an absolutely pleasure to wear. I'm going to be sharing my full review of this soon including some pictures of me wearing it on my cheeks and lips.

In my photo I'm actually wearing Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour in Apples* on my cheeks. I dotted a healthy amount onto my cheeks and then blended the product out with my stippling brush. It works well because these lip ointments have a very thick consistency with a sheer dose of colour. Although the finished result was a little bit stickier than normal the colour lasted well on my cheeks and gave a very natural looking flush. Alternatively, I've also tried using a bright lipstick as a blush. My pick was Bourjois' Rouge Edition Lipstick in Fuchsia Graffiti, it's a really bright pink with blue undertones and it sheers out when blended to give the most beautiful colour. If you've never tried this before then I'd definitely recommend it!