Makeup Kit Must-Haves for the Busy Professional

In this age and time when a real woman is known not just by how she carries herself or treats her family but also by how she dresses, takes care of her skin and wears her makeup; it isn't a surprise anymore to be asked "Abeg, what type of foundation do you use? It looks so nice on your skin and isn't oily at all." Yes, oily, that's more often than not what people say, lol.

In the midst of the matte, stains, glowy, satin finish, shimmer gloss and all other categorizations used for makeup nowadays, we do admit that it is easy to get lost in all of it and end up being the loser or worse still...a masquerade.

Here's some help for all of us as we go through the absolute basics every personal makeup kit must-have - from tools, to skincare to actual makeup.

Here goes:

It's a given that you'll begin your makeup application with clean skin so we'll skip the cleansing process and go directly to moisturising

1. Moisturiser there are a lot of African women who believe that because of the humid weather, there is no need for them to moisturise their skin. Mention sunscreen to them and you are speaking gibberish. Moisturiser is a MUST! The skin on the face especially is the most exposed part of the body and thus needs as must protection and nutrition as one can manage. If you know for sure that you have oily skin, then, by all means, look out for an oil-free moisturiser, a mattifying moisturizer or a water-based moisturiser....preferably one with sunscreen in it.
2. Brushes no, I don't agree with people who say "I don't use brushes because I don't know how to use them". Once you take time to find out what each one does, you'll find your makeup application process is soooooo much easier and quicker too. Don't go all out on the 18 pieces or even worse, the 32 piece brush sets, all you need are 5 or 6 brushes. They are - Foundation brush, powder brush, blush brush, flat eyeshadow brush and a fluffy contour brush. Want to go a little further, add a lip brush & an angled brush to it and you are good to go.
3. Primer as much as you think a primer is a load of crap which you really don't need (Barbara, raise up your hand), it does help not just the application of foundation but also to trap the oils in the skin so they don't appear on the skin surface too soon and also help to lock in the moisture from the moisturiser so it doesn't evaporate. Get a great primer and it will last you a long time too. On those #nomakeup days, just slather on your moisturiser and primer, a sweep of powder and you are good to go.
4. Foundation exactly what it's called...foundation. This comes in different textures and different types of coverage. I absolutely love liquid foundations with dewy finishes but there are so many other textures and finishes you can choose from without compromising the look you are going for. So don't rush into buying the foundation in your sister's purse, go to a makeup store and try on different foundations until you find the one you want. Keep in mind that we are going for minimal products so you have to be sure that your foundation can provide a little extra coverage under your eyes and won't be tasking if you decide to use it to define your brows.
5. Powder can serve a dual purpose but we use it for 2 things mainly - to provide further coverage after foundation or to set the foundation. It's as easy as that. But you can also use it to create a highlight by packing a little more than usual and placing in the areas of the face you want to highlight. Do this immediately after foundation and brush off after eye makeup is done. You'll see the difference I promise.
6. Eyeshadow we need colour to create all those elaborate eye looks we see sometimes you know. Have a little diversity in your mini collection but by no means did I say go wild with it. 2 mattes, 2 shimmers, 2 jewel tones and a couple of nudes in different finishes.
7. Eye & Lip pencil pencils are great to have in a personal makeup kit as they more often than not perform dual duties eg. a black or really dark brown pencil can be used to slightly darken the brows, line the eyes and line the lips too. I usually go for a blue and green pencil alongside a basic black, brown and white in my personal collection. You can do this like me or decide which colour pencil you like the most.
8. Lipstick/Lip gloss depending on your preference, you can go with a lipstick only or go with just lipglosses. Pay attention to the finish, select your preferred and voila, your pout will be perfect.
9. Mascara serves only one purpose but really, seriously, we can't do without it. Well applied mascara takes your look from plain to va va voom and I ain't kidding at all. I would suggest getting a black one and a coloured one for those off days when you can't bear to touch eyeshadow but still want some oomph.

That's a list of personal makeup kit must-haves. You can add other things along the way like bronzers, blushes, lip stains, liquid liners, brow fillers etc. but the list above is guaranteed to take you from drab to fab in the shortest time.

For Pete's sake don't you know that having a vast collection of makeup can be confusing sometimes? *sigh* make it easy on yourself, just go for the basics.