I was inspired to do this post by my fellow make up artist Jessica Marie. She tagged me on Instagram. I figured I had too much to say to just do it there so I decided to make a post about it.
I have to admit that I go through phases with my make up so things do change but I also have staples that I never take out. My actual makeup bags change as well depending on what purse I’m carrying at the time. LOL! 
So what is all of this stuff? I’ll explain below.
2 Nars Blushes: Exhibit A for cheeks and Albatross for my cheek highlight
Yes, there are 3 face powders in my everyday makeup bag. LOL! They all serve different purposes though.
MAC Prep and Prime Skin helps to keep my makeup on longer, reduces oiliness and the appearance of my pores. I use this powder before and after I apply my makeup.
Cover Girl Queen Collection Matte Powder in Golden as my overall face powder. I preferred the previous formula over this new one because it provided more coverage but it’s still a nice powder and I prefer the finish on my oily skin more than MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural.
Cover Girl Queen Collection Bronzer in Ebony Bronze is what I use to contour my face.
Black Opal Foundation Stick in Heavenly Honey I can’t tell you enough how much I love these foundation sticks. Normally I use two this one, and Truly Topaz, which is my skin tone. However, the cap on my Truly Topaz doesn’t stay on well so I took it out of my bag. I use Heavenly Honey as a highlighting concealer. (under my brows and under my eyes to my cheeks).
Lancome Oscillating Mascara Primer: The absolute BEST primer I’ve ever used…also the most expensive. 
It makes ANY mascara work well.
Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes Mascara my favorite drug store mascara
NYX Blotting Sheets because I really believe I’m the oiliest person on Earth. I use these about 2-3x daily. On a good note, they work really well and I can go back to being matte with just two sheets.
MAC Shadestick in Gentle Lentil R.I.P. to the shadesticks. They’ve been discontinued and it’s such a pity. They were the most convenient way for me to do my eyes.
3 Eyeliners
MAC Pearlglide in Designer Purple (one of my all time favorite eyeliners). I sometimes use this all over my lid because it’a a beautiful glittery purple. Other times I’ll use it under my bottom lash line for a pop of color or to make a smokey eye.
NYX Black Eye Pencil just depends on the day. I don’t wear eyeliner in my waterline all of the time, sometimes I’ll want to so it’s in there. Every now and then I’ll use it to line the top of my lash line.
Elf Waterproof Eyeliner Pen I use this to line the top of my lash line when I want to use a liquid black.
Naked Pigment Sample My all-time favorite brow highlight. I usually keep a Vanilla Pigment Sample in my bag as well but I ran out. I’ll sometimes use Vanilla as my brow highlight or transition color above my crease. More often I use it as my cheek highlight. I have NARS Albatross in my bag now because I ran out of Vanilla.
Clinique Pencil Sharpener
Revlon Just Bitten Lip Balm Stain I alternate between this orange one and the pink one. These surprised me because they have a good amount of pigment to be a stain. I’ll do a full review in a later post.
Elf Lipstain in First Date. Going to have to get another one soon. These Elf lipstains are nice because they don’t dry out or crumble on your lips like a lot of other stains I’ve tried.
2 Lipsticks
MAC Ruby Woo my favorite red lipstick
MAC Vegas Volt a great coral color.
2 Lipliners
MAC Beet which is a pinkish red. I love this color I blend it various colors from nudes, corals, oranges, pinks, and reds. Sometimes I wear it alone or I’ll just dab some gloss in the middle of my lips.
Cabernet Sorry I don’t have a brand name. It came with my makeup kit I received when I took Ebony Mac’s makeup class last summer. It looks very similar to MAC Burgundy Lip Pencil or Clinique’s Bon Bon.
MAC Lipglass in Wonder Woman (limited edition that I regret not buying 2 of) It’s a gorgeous red with shimmer.
My brushes
Smashbox face and body brush that I’m no longer happy with because of the extensive shedding. For the 1st yr I had it, it was my favorite face brush. Prime example of how an expensive brush doesn’t always mean it’s a better brush. I still have my CVS Essence of Beauty brushes from 2003 and they work fine.
Crown Brush Angle Brush I use this for contouring my face. I love the fact that it’s pink. I got it from Hautelook during one of the Crown Brush sales.
Sonia Kashuk Pointed Foundation Brush used to blend concealer under my eyes
Coastal Scents Pink Flat Shader Brush primarily used to carve out my brow with concealer or apply naked as my brow highlight. I also use it to apply lid colors.
Now if you’ve been following me or if you’ve ever had a conversation about makeup with me you already know how much I adore Black Opal Foundation Sticks. They’re an absolute staple for my personal use as well as my professional kit. HOWEVER, I was not pleased at all with their Oil Blocking Powder. Click 
Here’s the look I created with these colors. Even though they’re pretty bold, I wanted a softer effect. Now, it’s very important for me to point out that I did NOT use a primer or base before applying the Black Opal eyeshadows. I wanted to see exactly how pigmented they were. I have to say I was very pleased with the results. I didn’t have to build up the color a whole lot either. Quite impressive for $5.
I decided to try them out with some other inexpensive products such as Elf, NYX, and Cover Girl Queen Collection to complete my look. Below is everything I used. Even my brushes were inexpensive. They’re a combo of Coastal Scents and Crown Brush. 
Now granted I did still incorporate some MAC, Clinique and NARS but overall my look was pretty cheap. 
So to answer the question “What Happens when you use inexpensive products?” My answer after using these would be that you get great results.
