What's in my best friends make up bag?

I am sure if you're a regular reader of my blog or follow me on twitter/instagram you will have seen me mention my best friend Danielle.  We met in Dubai almost 10 years ago when we both worked for the same company and although she is now back in London we whatsapp every day.

Danielle is the one person in the whole world I am silliest with.  I have had the most fun with Danielle-we have had numerous holidays together and we just laugh all the time.

She is also the most stylish person I have ever met-I love the way she dresses and puts outfits together, even her penchant for Victorias Secret tracksuits when she is at home.  And don't even get me started on her shoes......

She is great.  And it's times like this I almost wish I did Youtube because this would have been a hilarious video to film.

I recently spent a couple of days with Danielle in London and was desperate to peek inside her make up bag.  We're SO bad when we're together in terms of enabling each other-the trouble is her enabling me to buy a Givenchy Antigona handbag is a lot more expensive than me enabling her to buy a Nars lipgloss!  But I digress....her make up collection has definitely grown since I started blogging!

Here's what's in her make up bag and why it's made the cut.  And she says the word 'lush'-a lot!  And a lot of the answers to my questions 'why did you buy that?' resulted in the answer 'because you did'.

The bases

There are currently two foundations in her make up bag-the YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat and the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse.  Danielle has perfect skin and until recently didn't wear (didn't need to wear) foundation.  She is favouring the YSL foundation saying it's really light on the skin and doesn't feel like its clogging her pores.  She feels it smoothes out her skin tone and smells nice (first time I have ever heard that about a foundation...)  She applies it with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.

The Smashbox primer is a long time repurchase item, again Dani says its lush and that it feels light on her skin and smoothes out her complexion.

I bought Danielle the Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon eye pencil in Champagne Diamonds when they first launched and she loved it and has gone on to buy 3 more, most recently picking up Black Diamond.  Dani says 'I like it because it welds to your skin and it lasts all day and all night.  And for a week after'  She did concede its quite hard to remove which was pretty much what I said when I reviewed Champagne Diamonds here.

I recently woke up to a whatsapp message saying 'how do I apply cream blush?' meaning the Chanel creme blush in Inspiration must have been a recent purchase.  I have had one of these blushers and I told her to use a Real Techniques Stippling Brush or fingers.  Dani says the formula is foolproof to use and I have to agree.  This soft coral-y pink is beautiful on her skintone.

MAC Silver Ring is her go to 'evening out' shadow when she wants to switch from the fairly neutral eyeshadows she wears during the day to something more smoky.

The Dior shimmer powder in Rose Diamond is the product I most wish I owned!  Now sadly discontinued, Dani uses this as her summer blusher-mainly using the right side of the palette.  She says she isn't really a fan of the Dior packaging (say what?), saying it reminds her of her granny's make up compacts when Dani was a little girl and is old fashioned.

Her concealer of choice is the YSL Touche Eclat, here in gorgeous limited edition packaging.  She said it's her favourite thing ever for concealing under eye bags.

The Smashbox lid primer is something I have known Dani use for years-in fact she had FOUR back ups (although she gave me one).  She says it's something she repurchases over and over.

There were two mascaras in her make up bag-a sample of the Givenchy Noir Couture (woke up to a whatsapp one morning saying 'why does the mascara wand have bobbles on it?) and the Chanel Le Volume De Chanel which she says is 'just ok'.  She finds it congeals quite easily and its difficult to use on both the top and bottom lashes.

She told me her all time favourite mascara is the YSL Dramatic Effects mascara which she says she has used for about 15 years.  I definitely need to check it out!  Dani's been getting lash extensions for the past year as her lashes are very very blonde so the falsies give her loads of definition.

The Marc Jacobs 'The Lolita' palette was part of Dani's Xmas gift from me last Xmas and I couldn't believe how much she had used it!!  She says she really likes the formula apart from the middle colour which is very gritty and that assessment is a common criticism across bloggers who have reviewed this palette-including me.

The Urban Decay Naked 2 palette is a relatively new addition but she is finding it a bit too shimmery and 'a bit too jazzy for work'.  I need to convince her otherwise as this is one of my all time faves!

Some random items-a packet of the Models Own eyeshadow applicators which she loves because she says it makes packing eyeshadow onto the lid really easy, and because the applicators absorb a little of the shadow it stops the eyeshadow spraying everywhere.

She uses the mini Hourglass Kabuki to apply her blusher.  This is a seriously soft brush that I also own.

Dani says she bought the tweezers because they were pink.

Dani uses the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Mood Light as her setting powder.  As she has relatively dry skin that never gets shiny this just adds an overall soft glow.  She's almost at pan so it must be a hit!

Dani has the most lovely set of Chanel brushes-here is a selection of them laid out and they're something I definitely want to have a look at as they feel so nice!  She uses them for foundation, blusher and bronzer. 

The NARS lip gloss (old formula) doesn't get top marks unfortunately-Dani says its very very sticky (whilst making a pouting fish face at me) and she doesn't like the formula.  The Kiehls lip balm fairs better-she says its not sticky and makes her lips soft.  

The one thing I have been trying to get Dani to STOP doing is using face wipes!  She says she only uses them now to remove her eye make up but I think I have finally cracked her because yesterday she whatsapped me a picture of a Chanel eye makeup remover that she says is fabulous.

Her handbag staples are the Vaseline Pink Bubbly tin and the NARS Turkish Delight lip gloss.  She is constantly applying the vaseline because her office really dries her lips out so she likes to feel something quite 'wet' on her lips to keep them hydrated.

She also conceded that she doesn't own any lipsticks and can't remember the last time she wore one!!

The recent purchases......

 

Dani's most recent purchases are the NARS Soft Touch Eyeshadow Pencil in 'Iraklion' from the Adult Swim collection (I bought one too), the Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow powder and the Becca The One Perfecting Brush-am waiting with baited breath to hear her thoughts!  We also both bought a Nars contour palette and Dani has had a recent splurge on Chanel eyeshadows.

I love chatting all things everything with Dani, she is a huge part of my life even though she is 3500 miles away and I can't wait for all our next adventures