Product Breakdown | Bougainvillea Beauty Story

I decided to share a breakdown of the products I used for the Bourgainvillea beauty story makeup Story with Elma Mbadiwe (there are more beauty stories & breakdowns with Elma to come so make sure you don't go far)

It was a mix of new products I only recently got from BLK/OPL and Zaron, and old products like the shimmer brick from Bobbi Brown, Banana powder from Ben Nye and even the gold gel liner from MAC Cosmetics.

Uhm, let's dive straight into the breakdown of where I put what, how and why.

1. Zaron Healthy Glow Foundation in FZ05 & FZ25: I'm sure you are wondering why I used two shades right. You also assume I mixed them both too I guess. Far from the truth I'm sure. Yes, the 05 was too light and the 25 too dark but instead of mixing them, I applied them to the areas of her face that each one matched. The 05 I placed in the centre of her face and the 25 I placed at the outer perimeter of her face. I used a buffing brush for this so I could blend the edges of the 2 shades well.
2. Zaron Liquid Concealers in Light & Medium: These are new from the Zaron brand alongside the foundations and they are a bestseller if you ask me. They blend beautifully and are light weight too. Instead of baking, I apply loose powder to the concealer under the eyes and dust off immediately. For Elma, I applied them one after the other ie. I first applied the medium shade, blended with a beauty blender and then applied the light shade before blending finally still with a beauty blender. For this shoot, I baked the under-eye area though (after the makeup was done, I wished I hadn't baked though)
3. Ben Nye Banana Powder: Mehn, it has been forever since I used this powder but it was the only light shade loose powder I had at the moment so it had to suffice. As usual, I applied with a puff to the under-eye area to set the concealer and left it till I was done with her eye makeup. I also lightly applied this all over her face as a translucent setting powder.
4. Zaron Eyebrow Pencil: I'm sure this is a new product but I received in a pack of new products Zaron sent to me so I'll assume it is. Unfortunately, this pencil works better for me as a lip liner than a brow pencil. The colour doesn't really showup and I must admit I was frustrated. So I've ended up using it a lip liner for which it works really well.
5. MAC Cosmetics Copperthorn Fluidline: I applied this first over Elma's eyelids almost up to her browbone using a dense fluffy eyeshadow brush to blend it out.
6. YSL Couture Mono Eyeshadow in no13: A lovely, pigmented matte brown eyeshadow. You guys know how much I love my multi-purpose beauty products right? Well, I used this to contour her face just a little and as an eyeshadow over the copperthorn fluidline to have that lovely peek of gold behind the brown.
7. Zaron Black Lash Mascara: If the Zaron mascaras had a queen, this would be it. I'm yet to meet anyone who has anything but love for this mascara. Although Elma had false lashes on, I applied one coat over them and on her lower lashes to give them some volume & bring them to life.
8. Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick: I can't live without highlighter! (Yes, I'm exaggerating but you get my drift right?) I've had this product the longest of all the ones I used and it complemented the foundation really well. There are times the finish of the foundation/powder doesn't go well with a particular highlighter, this product goes well with almost all finishes and for shoots, I especially like the somewhat chunky but tiny granules it has. I like to swipe my brush across all the colours but on some rare occasions I select a particular shimmer shade.
9. Khuraira Nutty Pink Powder Blush: I prefer matte powder blush to shimmer any day. They are generally more manageable on the cheeks in my opinion. Best of all, they are easy to one down with a swipe of the foundation brush or even a blender. A very light hand of this to match the lips was what I used with a dome shaped blush brush. I used a dome shaped brush because I didn't have to sweep the product to the ear like a contour.
10. BLK/OPL Lipstick in Berry Wicked: I had high hopes for this lipstick when I first saw it in the tube. It is a rich, vamp purple, duotone shade which one can't just wait to wear. Alas, it is a sheer duotone lipstick which was so disappointing. Lesson: don't be deceived by what is in the tube.
11. BLK/OPL Lip Crayon in Torrid: Darker and more pigmented than the lipstick, I alternated this with the lipstick to create the ombre look on Elma's lips. Torrid crayon is a moisturising lip product which glides beautifully onto the lips. This particular shade is really opaque but from experience, I decline to say the same for all the other lip crayons from BLK/OPL, lol

Did I miss anything?

Yes I did.

Wondering where that lovely shade of purple on her lower lashline came from?

A couple of years ago I met Janice & Denise Tunnell on the world wide web, we fell in love with each other and they sent me a bunch of products from their makeup brand - Illusions Cosmetics. One of the eyeshadow palettes in their collection is called the Butterfly Palette. All the shades in this palette are super pigmented and show up bright and clear on dark skin I assure you. I took a dense flat eyeshadow brush and used the tip to pack the purple shade onto Elma's lower lashline. That's the pop pf purple on her lower lashline.

What do you think of this product breakdown post? Is this something you'd like to see more often when I shoot a beauty story? Do let me know in the comments or on social media - @barbara1923