It's my turn to do the Beauty Spotlight Team's Desert Island post and you're about to be subjected to my Lost fantasy. Of course, I have cast myself as Kate Austen (I have a very active imagination) and in order to maintain the interest of the two men in my life, I figured some of my favourite beautifiers might come in handy. Yes, I know they'd fallen from the sky, had no access to a bathroom and were running from a smoke monster but please don't try and tell me that Kate was going completely au naturel. I've seen those lashes!
So, if I was Kate, these are the makeup and beauty items I would have packed in my backpack (prior to the handcuffs) then carefully retrieve from the plane wreckage. When I wasn't suturing Jack's wounds or hiking through the rainforest of course.
NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser
This was my summer base and I think it would make an excellent desert island foundation. I deliberated over whether to take my BECCA Luminous Skin instead as it gives a sheerer coverage than the NARS but I find my skin gets upset if I wear the BECCA everyday (I suspect it's the sunscreen ingredients). The NARS tinted moisturiser also has an SPF of 30.
rms beauty 'Un' Cover Up Concealer
I spent rather a long time dithering over which concealer to take but I decided on the rms beauty concealer because it's creamy enough to use on the undereye area as well as blemishes. My old favourite RMK Super Basic Liquid Concealer would have been a good alternative too.
BECCA Turkish Rose or Hourglass Rouge Cheek Stain
I wanted to take a fairly natural looking blusher that would be easy to apply with my fingers. Turkish Rose immediately sprang to mind but after I had taken the pictures, I realised my Hourglass Aura Cheek Stain in Rouge might have been a better choice. The cheek stain has more of a translucent quality than Turkish Rose and is a little brighter, plus it's more likely to stay put in the heat and humidity.
Ilia Arabian Knights
Like the concealer, it was very hard to pick only one of my lipsticks. I have so many lovely sheer, moisturising lipsticks but I chose Arabian Knights because I felt it would keep my lips in the best condition and it's a nice bright berry shade. RBR Murmurings came a very close second.
Mascara
The Maybelline Falsies Flared isn't particularly a favourite, it's just what I'm currently using, but there's no way I'm going to be stranded without a tube of mascara. Max Factor Masterpiece or Hourglass Film Noir are my personal favourites.
MAC Teddy Eye Kohl
Although I do have a great number of brown pencils, Teddy is the one I'd choose to be stranded with. It looks great worn as a smudgy line, pairs well with Solstice Halcyon and it also makes a good base for a smoky eye.
Customised eyeshadow palette
Aren't you feeling better about me
de-facing all those pretty Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow pots now? This palette includes some of my most favourite eyeshadows ever, namely RBR Solstice Halycon, Delicate Hummingbird and Kjaer Weis Wisdom. I've also recently discovered that Gracious Arasari is an excellent colour for blending out dark colours at the crease. Unfortunately, sticking to only 12 items meant that I have been restricted to the small travel brush that sits in my palette. It's a good job I'm going for a no makeup look really...
Pencil Sharpener
It was a shame to lose one of my items on such a practical necessity but as I'm no good at whittling, I figured it had to come along.
Tweezers
I had to do some cheating
✝ to get this into my bag. The tweezers fought off stiff competition from brow pencils and brushes. Without tweezers, I fear the rogue hairs would gradually start to take over my face and I don't recall Kate ever looking like a Yeti.
Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm*
I felt it would be pointless taking along all this makeup without remembering to pack something to take it all off again. I find this balm takes absolutely everything off, including eye makeup with minimal effort which is pretty convenient if you're washing your face in a rainforest.
Flannel
We have another necessity taking up space that might have been filled with something else more exciting. However, if I pack the Emma Hardie, I need the flannel too.
Avene Antirougeurs Light Moisturiser SPF20
Like the mascara, the Avene Antirougeurs isn't necessarily a favourite product but it does contain an SPF. Plus, it would help to tame the telltale red cheeks once I started hitting the duty free bottles. Oh wait, maybe Kate didn't actually do that...
It was extremely difficult to stick to just 12 items, particularly when you realise that so many items require accessories to accompany them. Kate was a very resourceful girl though, so remaining in character, I can't promise I won't go back and rifle through other people's bags later to look for shampoo, razors and a couple of makeup brushes. Don't judge me!
✝ Cheating
I mentioned cheating and I thought I better explain myself as this was an integral part of my desert island preparation! Rather than use up one of my 12 items with my Shu Uemura brow pencil, I decided to dye my eyebrows. I can credit
Pixiwoo's Evangaline Lilly tutorial for planting the idea in my head. I've never dyed my brows before and I was nervous that it could be a disaster but I'm actually very pleased with the results. If I could have added a 13th item into my bag, I would have taken the kit with me to top up. I used the Eylure Dylash kit in Dark Brown for reference.
* I received the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm as a press sample.
