A Few Recent Product Rediscoveries

This post was actually inspired by the lovely Larie of Eye Heart It, who recently wrote a series of Beauty Week at a Glance posts. In an attempt to kick my ass into gear and get me using some of the products which normally don't get a lot of love, I thought I'd have a go at a similar experiment myself where I choose a few products from the unloved make up drawer each week and try to incorporate some of them into my daily routine.

I tend to be quite boring with my make up during the week, particularly when I don't have a lot of time, and stick with the same bunch of products most days, so I thought choosing them in advance and setting myself little make up goals might push me to use some of the products I normally don't. So, here are this week's choices.....

Chantecaille's Ecstasy blush, Clinique Black Honey Lipstick & Gloss duo, Benefit's Benetint and Posietint, and NARS Happy Days Velvet Gloss Lip Pencil.

Chantecaille's Ecstasy and NARS Happy Days are both products I purchased a couple of years ago. I was in love with both shades for a while, but they somehow found their way into the unloved drawer. I think Ecstasy may have been stashed away because it's such a bright shade and looks a bit scary in the pan, and Happy Days was kind of forgotten about when I went through a lipstick phase and wasn't overly keen on glossy lip products. 

I actually found the two shades worked quite well together and managed to use them both on the same day this week. I paired them with the warm, taupe-y shade from the NARS Bohemian Gold duo, a bit of bronzer and a metallic, golden brown Dior liner and was quite surprised at how much I liked the look. The whole thing looked quite summery, so I'll keep it in mind and probably give it another go when the weather warms up. 

Like Happy Days, Black Honey was also stashed away when I went through my lipstick phase and preferred more pigmented shades. It's also another one of those colours that looks a bit scary in the tube, but actually becomes more of a subtle, sheer berry shade once it's applied and works quite well with a variety of different colours. I managed to wear both the lipstick and gloss this week and paired the colour with Chanel's Rose Ecrin blush, Becca's Romanticism Eye Tint and Surah from Becca's Enigma palette to create a fairly natural look.

Benetint and Posietint are again both products I've had for a while. I love the idea of multi tasking/use products, but I find neither really work for me as cheek shades. Both are pretty colours, but I find the quick drying liquids difficult to apply and blend evenly on the top of foundation, which I almost always wear. I have given Posietint another go as a blush colour this week but really couldn't get an even application, so I've used both as lip colours. Used alone I find them quite drying, so I used them underneath balm, which creates a pretty, fairly long-lasting tint/stain. Benetint was paired with R&R Diffused and Rose Ecrin to create another pretty natural and quick and easy look . 

I suppose my selection of products was fairly small really, but I'm still quite happy that I managed to wear all of them at least once over the past week. I think the whole idea of going through what you have and picking products in advance is an excellent one and is definitely something I'll continue to do. Not remembering what I actually have is a big part of the not using things problem for me, especially when I'm in a rush and don't have time to rummage through drawers, so I'm considering some new storage solutions, too, which I think might help.