I don’t actually tend to wear a lot of makeup.
My skin ritual is pretty intense, especially with the blood of virgins being so hard to come by these days, but as far as daily cosmetic application goes, it pretty much begins and ends with me slapping on some lipgloss-type thing on my way to work.
Of course sometimes I get inspired by something on the catwalks or a new campaign and I adapt it for day, but for the most part any serious makeup application I do is for evening and generally doesn’t have to last more than four hours, which is why it doesn’t often occur to me to buy waterproof or “long-lasting” makeup.
Plus, and I don’t feel like I’m revealing the Ark of the Covenant here, but a lot of that 12 hour or supposedly waterproof stuff? Sucks.
The lip color is dry and flaky or it peels and is gross, the mascara is clumpy and impossible to remove without a wrecking permit and a half tub of Vaseline plus you blob it on your cheek anyway, and the eyeliner either peels or just doesn’t stay put.
BUT, what with the All Suffering All The Time theme we seem to have going at stately Chateau Gateau, it became clear that I needed at least a few products I could slap on my face and not think about for the rest of the day, even through massive crying jags. Thankfully I’ve found a handful of great products that not only can stand up to a tsunami of tears and ladylike dabbing of eyes, but also feel good on.
Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner
There are a lot of great gel eyeliners out there but generally Clinique’s Brush-On liner or MAC’s Fluidline are considered the gold standard by makeup artists. This is as good, if not better, than Clinique’s and on par with MAC, with the bonus of being longer lasting and more smudgeproof.
The application of this is a dream, creamy and featherlight with absolutely no drag so it’s perfect for beginners or folks whose hands aren’t steady enough to draw a classic line with a more traditional liquid liner. It comes with a surprisingly decent brush and I got a perfectly respectable line out of it, but obviously use a professional brush for even better results.
I did a thick 60’s winged line to get that classic cat-eyed look and it stayed on flawlessly and with minimal transfer (transfer is when your eyeliner leaves a half-moon on your upper lid from when you blink) through gales of tears, and when I woke up the next morning, having forgotten to wash my face, it would’ve needed only a slight touch up to be presentation ready. It also stays in place on the waterline and leaves a dark, intense line. 10/10
Maybelline The Falsies Waterproof Mascara
Having given myself a few months off of lash extensions to let my natural lashes grow (and I was getting slightly bored of the look and the way it limited my makeup choices) I’d relied on some freebie Sephora mascara. It’s nice enough but runs if you look at it funny.
Since Maybelline’s brand was launched when a young man saw his sister mixing Vaseline and coal dust to enhance her lashes it’s really not a surprise they’d have such a good collection of mascaras. It’s a wetter formula than I’m used to, and unlike most of the waterproof mascaras I’ve known, you don’t wait until the first coat is dry to build up product. I didn’t have any clumps and the payoff was satisfyingly intense, not so intense as they’d actually be confused with false lashes, but still pretty darn good.
It would definitely benefit from a lash curler beforehand and a good eyelash comb after –then it might look like a false lash treatment– but even just a regular application looked pretty great. It did take more than a few seconds to dry so it’s not one I’d put on in the car –not that you’d be doing that anyway– but the spoon-shaped brush worked like gangbusters on the lower lashes, where it built up product but didn’t create spikes or clumps. It smudged a little after about 8 hours of considerable tears and tissues, and in the morning they were a bit clumpy, but an eyelash comb and a little clean up under the eye would’ve made it as good as new. 8/10
Sally Hansen Prep & Perfect Lipcare
I don’t think it’ll surprise anyone when I say I’ve got a lot of mouth. I’ve got big lips with a dramatic cupid bow shape, so I have to be careful when it comes to what I put on my lips because when it goes wrong –peeling or balling or chewed off– it goes wrong in a big way. Also I’m a big baby and I hate hate hate the way most long-lasting lip products feel.
I picked this up a few days ago because it was 75% off (I hope this doesn’t mean they’re discontinuing it!) and I thought it couldn’t hurt to try. Basically it’s a sort of cream base your put on your lips before applying color. It’s supposed to even out the texture of your skin and lock in color, effectively making all lip color long-lasting. I didn’t really have high hopes.
I figured it was either going to be gross or ineffective or both. Surprisingly, it’s tremendous.
You apply a thin layer with a little doe foot wand and let it set for about 30 seconds. It doesn’t feel like you’ve put anything on, or maybe a very light coating of creme lipstick. Then just apply your normal lip color or gloss. That’s it. I’ve used it under a lipstain, a creme lipstick, a traditional light gloss and an intensely pigmented gloss and it’s worked brilliantly under all of them.
I wouldn’t go so far to say that it makes a gloss last twelve hours, but it significantly lengthened the lives of all the products, and when I ate and drank it faded more evenly instead of looking splotchy or chewed-off and leaving that horrible ring. I used it under a creme lipstick and topped it with a highly pigmented gloss and the look stayed put with zero feathering for well over 12 hours. 9/10
Makeup Forever Mist and Fix Spray
Not waterproof or long-lasting per se, but rather a fixative that lengthens the life of your makeup application. I think I’ve recommended this before and it does work wonderfully.
Just spritz it over your finished makeup, or once you’ve done your foundation and again after you’re finished. However, a while ago I started experimenting with using it as a solution, mixing it with powder shadows or pure pigment for a sort of wash of color either on its own or as a base for a deeper color application.
It’s pretty spendy and I’m not sure I’ll get through the entire big bottle any time soon, but there’s a small travel-size bottle available that would be worth every penny.
Makeup Forever Aqua Cream Eyeshadow
Oh this is great stuff. I’ve only used the eye products, but this stuff feels like nothing, doesn’t crease and doesn’t budge.
Plus you can layer it so if you just want a light wash of some neutral just to look polished but not painted, you can do that. But if you want to build up to an intense color, either using another layer of the product or a powder on top that’s easy too.
I really like the #12 soft copper when I’m either doing a statement lip and need something to balance my face without going full-on show girl or when I want to focus on a defined liner look as opposed to an all-over smokey eye.
It sets in about a minute so if you’re doing fancy blending, be quickish about it. I used this when I did my heavy black liner the other night and it stayed put all day. 10/10
