Make-up Must Haves - What are yours?

Hello good people!
Hope all are enjoying this fall weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks back before you get you beauty sleep tonight (for those of you in the Eastern Standard Time Zone).

Although some of us have gained an hour, Penny feels like she has less time to 'put her face on' each day, and more to put on it. *sigh* Age is a beautiful thing...I just wish someone told Penny that she would have to work harder at making it look good. LOL!

In order to get rid of my purse-sized cosmetic bag, I have decided to customize and compartmentalize my cosmetics and tools. At any given time Penny is testing a product so it's hard to narrow things down to one brand, but Penny does have her favs. Penny wants to know...What are your make-up must haves? What can you not leave home without? (Read full story...)

I started to think about the various looks I like to have (i.e. work, weekend, day, night, party, etc). So what would my basic look consist of I thought? I decided Penny must always have: foundation powder - concealer - mascara - lipgloss.
Unfortunately because of my dark under eye circles I need concealer. And for concealer to blend naturally, I need foundation powder to set and blend it. To further enhance my look, I would then add eyeliner, eye shadow, blush, and brow powder to fill in my brows. 

Luckily for Penny one of her favorite make-up lines has also adopted this streamlined make-up philosophy. Bobbi Brown has introduced the Customize. Simplify. Organize system. This is a palette of make-up that you put together yourself with your favorite colors and Bobbi Brown products. The $10 mirrored pan palettes come with compartments of 3, 4, or 6, which you can fill with eye shadow, lipstick, blush and even foundation bought separately.  http://www.bobbibrowncosmetics.com/

Another ingenious creation is the retractable brush. Penny is happy to report that these brushes are not as hard to find as they used to be. Retractable (or travel) lip brushes have been around forever, but now you can find powder, blush and eyeliner brushes in more compact packaging. Even the popular "kabuki" brush now comes in a retractable style. I have purchased a few really good retractable brushes from Sephora, but also noticed some in Target, ULTA and even at the drugstore. Penny prefers 'retractable' brushes to smaller regular brushes because the retractable is covered and kept away from dust or any type of outside contamination once its in your bag. These brushes still need to be washed regularly to ward off bacteria, and to help them last longer. Good make-up tools can be expensive, but Penny considers them to be a worthwhile investment. http://www.sephora.com/

Be blessed. Be beautiful.
P