For any makeup lover, building a makeup kit is a thing of joy. You get to think of all the looks you could ever create and shop for every product you would need. You get to create a storage space for your kit, whether it’s shelves or a travel kit, and pack everything out into categories: foundations and concealers, eye products, lip makeup, accessories, and so on. The first time you open a newly re-stocked makeup kit, you feel like a kid on Christmas morning: there’s so much to look at and play with!
If you’re new to makeup or even a long-time makeup lover, you need to know what the building blocks of a good makeup kit are so that you can start from the ground up and make sure that you have everything you need before adding extra exciting things like glitter eyeshadow and false lashes. We’ve got the perfect checklist of all the starter items that you should have in your makeup kit- read on for the details!
Foundation Products
Even if you don’t wear foundation all the time, you should definitely have a few foundation products in your makeup kit.
First and foremost, you need a primer! These can be color corrective or solely to help keep your foundation in place for all-day wear. There are a lot of options when it comes to the kind of foundation you want to wear: you can choose a dewy light coverage foundation or BB cream if you prefer less intense coverage. There are full coverage foundations for those who prefer a smoother look, as well as powder foundations if you’re a fan of something quick. Liquid and powder contour products are also good to have on hand, even if contouring isn’t something that you do on an average day. A good concealer can not only help you cover up irritating sports but also help highlight parts of your face when you contour.
There are a few other face/foundation products that you should have available. There’s nothing like a flawless, non-sparkly highlighter to finish off a great look, liquid or powder, depending on your preference. Blush is also available in its sparkly and obvious variants or plain color and subtle options. Blush and bronzer are great ways to add a little color to your face even when you aren’t tanned! A translucent powder for setting also won’t go a miss; however, that matte look isn’t for everyone. A good solution, if you prefer your look dewy but still dont want it to slide off your face, is a good setting spray that you’ll spritz on before applying mascara and lashes.
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Eye Products
Eye makeup is where you can really begin to experiment and have a little fun with your looks. If you’re just learning to express your creativity through makeup, exciting colors and shapes on your eyes is the best place to start. We suggest you build eye makeup from neutrals: a palette of matte and shimmery browns and nudes is a good starting point. Eye makeup can be relatively cost-effective and offer a large selection of colors in one palette, so go wild! We do recommend getting a primer for eye makeup so that it stays in place all day long. A good pencil liner and a good black liquid liner will open up a whole lot of looks for you and are essential even if they aren’t used daily. Brow pencil and pomade, as well as a high-quality mascara, are what you need to add polish to any eye look.
Lip Products
There’s nothing like a rainbow of lip products to add a rainbow to any cloudy day! Lip gloss, lipstick, tinted lip balm, stain, liners…there are so many fun lip products out there to play with. Classic colors like a fire-engine red and a nude (according to your skin tone) are an excellent place to start, with liners to match. It’s also a good idea to have an essential, hydrating lip balm in your kit to keep your lips looking healthy and moisturized.
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Accessories
It’s all well and good to have a great selection of products, but if you don’t have the right brushes and accessories to apply them with, how will you use them? The basic brushes and accessories you will need are the following:
- Foundation brush, beauty blender, or both.
- Kabuki brush for blending powder products.
- Lip brush, if that’s how you like to apply your lipstick.
- Powder brush for setting powder.
- Spoolie (mascara brush) for brushing out clumped lashes or brows.
- Contour brushes for powder contour.
- Highlighter fan brush for powder highlighter.
- Eyeshadow crease, lid, and liner brushes.
- Lashes and lash glue.
Wrap Up
If you start off with a reasonable selection of these basics, your makeup kit will have an excellent foundation to grow from.
