Shopping the stash! Wednesday make-up shake-up and FOTD

Hey ladies!

We're finally mid-week.. WA-HEY! I hope you enjoyed reading my recent FOTD featuring my MAC Pro Longwear Foundation...which I LOVE...btw!

OK so anyone who has read my make-up storage post will know that I own A LOT of make-up! (10 drawers in fact, and that's not including accessories, brushes, lashes etc!) I wouldn't say I have an addiction but I do like to look nice, and I like testing out different products in order to find my 'holy grail' make-up. Sadly, like they say about kissing plenty of frogs to find your prince, it takes a lot of bad make-up to find a real gem of a product! So anyway recently I felt inspired to 'shop my stash' today, a phrase I believe was coined by Laura, from buy now, blog later but I've also seen a similar posts on Lauren's blog (Gotta Love A Trier).

The concept of 'shopping your stash' is to find products at the back of your make-up drawer that have long been neglected in favour of newer/better/more expensive alternatives and see what you find! The point is to hopefully find products that you had forgotten you loved :-) so here's what I found!

FACE:

Base wise, I started with the Avon MagiX perfector that I bought when I was an Avon rep! It's a silicone formula (I think!) and it feels like velvet on your skin. Personally I prefer primers that really sink into your skin, rather than these type of primers (the 17 Photo Flawless Primer is similar) that I feel sit on your skin instead. No7's Stay Perfect foundation was COMPLETELY the wrong colour for my skin, I don't know how I got away with it for so long! The Avon MagiX concealer really surprised me, it's very similar to the YSL Touche Eclat which I also own - I may have to do a dupe post soon! Rimmel's Hide the Blemish was similar to Benefit Boi-ing which I normally use to conceal blemishes, but I found this to be pretty ineffective. The Avon True Colour Blush (it's called a blush but it's a bronzer!) is truly fab, perfect for adding a little matte bronze, I'd say it was a pretty close dupe for Benefit Hoola. The No7 cheek tint was OK but nothing special. The St Tropez Illuminator was fab! Using it on my temple, cheekbones etc, it left a lovely iridescent glow. ELF's Makeup Mist and Set was pretty poor, nowhere near as good as MAC's Fix+ and it left my face feeling pretty wet!

EYES:

I used the MAC Painterly Paint Pot as a base because I ALWAYS use Urban Decay Primer Potion. I'm actually very happy using MAC's Painterly Paint Pot, I just prefer the consistency of UDPP. The Rimmel liquid eyeliner was pants, can't believe I used this product for so long! Soap and Glory SUPERCAT is 100x better in every way possible. The No7 eyeliner was really awful as well, it hardly worked at all! Definitely sticking to my trusty Avon kajal stick for my waterline next time. Avon's Supershock mascara really surprised me, forgot how good it was! It's certainly a good dupe for Benefit's Bad Gal mascara! I can't seem to get the Shu Uemura eyelash curlers to work for me at all, I think it's cos my eyelashes are SO short! The Rimmel eyeshadow was OK but required a pretty heavy hand, and the No7 eyeshadow worked fine as a base colour but nothing special. I also used the Rimmel eyeshadow as an eyebrow colour which I think worked really well, definitely going to give that a go again!

LIPS:
I bought the NARS Mayflower lipstick last year as a treat for myself when I handed in my dissertation! (funding model for online news, FYI!) Tbh I shouldn't have bought this in the first place, I didn't need this AT ALL and it was pretty disappointing when I first used it.

This time around, I loved the colour (a very wearable raspberry pink) and the longevity was impressive as well. However I noticed more of a shimmer to the lipstick this time, which is really NOT a look I'm a fan of!

FOTD featuring above products:

FACE: Avon MagiX Face Perfector, Avon MagiX Illuminator (Light), Rimmel Hide The Blemish Concealer (Sand) applied using No7 Concealer Brush, No7 Stay Perfect Foundation (New Ivory) applied using MAC 190 Brush and buffed in using ELF Stippling Brush, Avon True Colour Blush (Earthen Rose) applied using unbranded bronzing brush, No7 Cheek Tint Blusher (Rose Silk), St Tropez Illuminator and set using ELF's Makeup Mist and Set.

EYES: MAC Paint Pot (Painterly), No7 Eyeshadow (Starry Lights) Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow (Smokey Quartz), Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eye-Liner (Brown), No7 Amazing Eyes Pencil (Brown) along lower waterline, Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers, Avon Supershock Mascara (Black). Rimmel Mono Eyeshadow (Smokey Quartz) on brows, set using ELF's Makeup Mist and Set and brushed through using an old Rimmel Lash Accelerator Mascara Wand.

LIPS: Carmex Original Lipbalm to prime and then NARS Mayflower Lipstick applied using the Body Shop Lip Brush.

OK so overall I had a bit of a mixed bunch! I learnt there were some products that I really should just throw out because I won't be using them again (No7 Stay Perfect foundation - wrong shade - and NARS Mayflower lipstick - not worth the price!) but on the other hand, I found some products that I really can't wait to use again! Avon's True Colour Blush, Supershock Mascara, MagiX concealer along with the St Tropez illuminator will definitely be some of those products!

I'd love to know, have you 'shopped your stash' before? Or shaken up your make-up look?

Leave a comment with your blog links! :-)

Love,

Sophia

xo