FOTD

I went through the effort of building a FOTD post including taking numerous pictures and notes on how I felt about some of the products. In true Morgan fashion though, I forgot to follow through and post. I managed this very basic look using a couple a ton of products I have on hand at home. My intention was to only use a few of them. Things quickly went south.

Skincare
I didn't realize how much skincare I use in a day until I laid it all out on a table.

I'm bummed that I cannot find the Found Pore Care AHA pads (empty) online. I received them in a Walmart skincare beauty box but these pads are no longer available on Walmart's website and I do not like buying skincare or beauty products off of Amazon.

Dr. Lili Fan Probiotic Eye Repair cream (empty) was nice but it would grow quite warm if I accidentally applied too much to my eyes. I'm not sure how I feel about that warming sensation. At first I genuinely just did not appreciate it at all but after using the entire jar I can say my eyes feel odd if I don't have a hint of warming. It's honestly probably for the best though.

The Murad Acne Control cleanser is nothing to write home about. It's just a foaming gel cleanser. So far I don't see any improvement in my acne. In fact it might actually be a little worse.

Elizavecca Witch Piggy Hell-Pore EGF Special Ample serum: It is moisturizing and I love the packaging but it's too easy to apply too much. Applying too much leaves that tacky residue on my face that drives me bonkers.

I recently reviewed the Pure Organics Rosewater toner; my opinion of it hasn't changed so far. Super fragrant, no noticeable difference.

I feel like the Balance Me Congested Skin Serum isn't doing my face any favors. It's not aggravating my skin at all but it's awful at treating and reducing my acne. I feel like a pomegranate. Again, I'm not sure which product to blame for my face's current state.

I've had this Smashbox setting spray for entirely too long (I hate using setting sprays, honestly and would always prefer a powder) but I found a good use for it: I started using it to make my shadows more intense! If you see below I'd say it worked fairly well.

Base
My base makeup was appeared pretty minimal. I even tried my hand at contouring but I got scared so it looks like I bailed out at the zenith of my jump.

Smashbox Pore Minimizing primer doesn't do much for my skin. I'm still hyper aware of my pores when I use it. The texture typically just makes me look a bit ashy. It's comparable to Benefit's Porefessional primer.

Make Up For Ever Ultra HD foundation in the shade Y415 is a perfect match for me in the winter. I've been working on this for a very long time now. It provides a bit more coverage than I like: I prefer the Ultra HD Perfector Skin Tint in shade 8.

I used a Dirty Little Secret bronzer in Terracotta to "contour" my cheeks. I say "contour" because it looks like I only slightly muddied the hollows of my cheeks with no real target or direction.

I grabbed Wander Beauty Glotion  to highlight my nose, cupids bow (see: mustache), chin, and cheekbone area. It's a very mild highlighter/moisturizer that works well on top of cream and liquid foundations. It works great for my combo skin. I imagine it would work well on both dry and oily skin types if you're not looking for extreme glow.

I reached for my ancient Elizabeth Mott Show Me Your Cheeks blush in Peach Pink. I learned that it's possible to make this blush appear on my skin but I need the world's densest brush to do it. I'm really not a fan of the blush but it's the one product I've actually hit pan on so I'm trying to power through it. The shade doesn't anger me: it's a great shade if I went too heavy on either the eye or lip makeup. The pigmentation is just nonexistent.

Eyes
I actually went ham on the eye makeup, for once. I wanted to step out of my usual eye makeup look and actually get a little use out of my Colourpop shadows before they dried out and went the way of the dodo.

I used the Loreal Voluminous primer (reviewed here) and Benefit Rollerlash (reviewed here) on my lashes. Loreal made a serviceable liner and I've raved about Benefit Roller Lash numerous times in the past. Still currently my favorite mascara.

I primed my lids with Smashbox 24 Hour Photo Finish Shadow primer. I've had this thing for entirely too long and I already have a backup whenever I'm done sucking the dregs out of this tube.

I used  DLS shadow in Teaser for my transition shade. There is a ton of powder fallout so I have to tap gingerly to get product on my brush. I used Colourpop Super Shock Shadows in Porter and Stereo on my lids. Edit: Both appear to be discontinued at the time of writing. I absolutely love these colors and the formula. I regret buying them though because I don't use them frequently enough and even though they are $5 each it feels like a massive waste if they will dry out before I ever hit pan. 

I added a little bit of Jelly Pong Pong shadow duo in Electric. I only used the copper shade for my inner highlight. The formula is similar to Colourpop Super Shock Shadows. I find this product especially hard to apply with a brush, much like Porter and Stereo. I may have to try again using the Primer Water trick.

I reached for my old but underused Ciate London Fierce Flicks eyeliner. It's a felt tip and as such, more difficult to work with than I would hope but it is extremely black and relatively flexible for a felt tip pen: i.e. not the worst eyeliner of its type I've used. I used .Lise Watier waterproof eyeliner (reviewed here) for tightlining and Lancome Drama Liqui-Pencil eyeliner (reviewed here) for my lower waterline. I like them both.

Lips
For my lips I only used a lip balm and a gloss. I went easy on the lip products since my eyes were a bit overdone (for me at least) and I was headed off to work.
I don't have much love for the Bkr Water Balm. It's not horrible but it's just a bit too thick for me. I can't help but feel like it dries out my lips overnight with the tackiness. I prefer Lanolin (not vegan friendly) or the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask. 

Lastly I threw on my Sephora Collection Ultra Shine Lip Gel in Perfect Nude. The gloss is a bit sticky but very basic and everyday wearable. I find I never reach for this gloss though because I prefer deeper brown shades.

Overall I went with a mostly work-appropriate look. The eyes are a bit much but on camera they look less dramatic than they felt. The mustache keeps it a bit casual though, I feel. The highlight looks a bit crazy but that's mostly because these shots were taken at the end of a work day where I was operating off of about 4 to 5 hours of sleep and fueled by tons of jackassery throughout the day. Is it my favorite look? Absolutely not, but I just wanted to try something different from my basic red lip/nonexistent makeup combo.