To create the perfect make-up looks, even if it’s the barely there, glowing skin look, you need the right products.
Shopping for make-up can be overwhelming.
When you get to the cosmetic counters, you are faced with a wide variety of brands and products all claiming to be the best.
There’s nothing worse than spending hours looking for the perfect product and paying a fortune for it only to get home to discover it’s not at all what you were expecting.
To take the guesswork out of your shopping experience we approached top South African make-up artists to name their best make-up and beauty products.
Make-up artist, beauty blogger and influencer Foyin Ogunrombi is well known for her #7days7faces challenge. She has collaborated with Avon SA, Rimmel London SA, essence cosmetics SA and Mr Price.
Here’s Ogunrombi’s top 10 list of products:
1. Maybelline Superstay Active 30H Foundation: If you’re looking for a full coverage foundation that will work harder than you do, this is the way to go. Created as an update on the previously popular Superstay foundation, the 30Hr Active foundation is available in more shades, is incredibly long lasting and has a flawless full coverage.
2. Hermosa Flor White Lily Palette: Not only is Hermosa Flor a local brand, the White Lily palette is the perfect neutral palette for all skin tones. It provides warmth with a range of rich brown tones and is versatile enough to create soft and full glam eyeshadow looks. It’s beginner-friendly and compact enough to travel with.
3. MRP Scarlet Hill Contour & Glow Palette: The ultimate contour, bronzer and highlighter palette that comes in enough shade variants that it’s perfect for light and dark skin tones - but best of all is definitely the price.
4. Essence Hot Chocolate Liner: A three-in-one (but probably not at the same time) product that is perfect as an eyeliner, brow pencil and lip liner. Smack a clear lip gloss on top of this liner and you’ll have the most delicious brown lip gloss in an instant.
5. Swiitch Beauty Super Hero Spray: A refreshing and hydrating skin mist, this product also works as a setting spray that helps you melt your powder and liquid products together to give you a dewy skin finish as well.
6. Maybelline Lasting Fix Setting Spray: For long-lasting makeup with a matte finish, this spray is the one to go for. Perfect for hot summer days or all-day events, this spray has a fine mist that falls gently on your face and works hard to make sure your makeup lasts, even through any sweat and oil.
7. Revlon Colorstay Foundation: For anyone who needs a bit more coverage but doesn’t want a foundation that feels too heavy, this one is absolutely perfect. Its medium-to-buildable coverage makes it great for covering hyperpigmentation and acne scarring, while still being light enough to use everyday. Easily a great, affordable favourite.
8. Swiitch Beauty Liquid Luck Eyeliner: This liner has the finest felt tip and blackest ink, to make sure your wings are sharp enough to cut through the scores of your enemies.
9. Benefit Cosmetics Porefessional Primer: Benefit Cosmetics may be known for their brow products (which I highly recommend, the Precisely My Brow), but this primer is the perfect base for pore-blurring and long-lasting make-up. It creates a great base on which your foundation can sit smoothly and easily.
10. Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Palettes: These little eyeshadow palettes pack a punch - they are compact enough to fit in a clutch handbag, but their pigment? Incredible. The various colour ways also make sure you have a palette for every occasion.
International makeup artist Raine Tauber has created looks for local and international magazines as well as runway.
Here’s Tauber’s top 10 products:
1. Chanel Baume Essentiel in ‘Sculpting’: Most amazing glow, for a super natural glossed skin.
2. Bioderma tinted sunscreen - Just a bit of coverage and spf50, it also works well with other make-up.
3. Dream SQNS Glitters: The best glitter in the country, I’ve been using it for fashion week and editorial shoots for years.
4. M.A.C Clear Lipglass: This is the glossiest clear gloss in existence.
5. Chanel Rouge Coco Bloom Lipsticks: Hydration and longevity, an amazing amount of technology went into this formula.
7. Dior backstage highlighter palette: The perfect four shades of highlighter for all skin tones and the formula is very smooth.
8. Filorga Nude Flash powder: This powder smooths and mattifies, perfect for shoots or everyday and I love the smell.
10. By Angeli False Lashes: Local brand, super high quality and a very thin spine.