Girl, Get Some New Makeup: 4 Products To Replace First In Your Makeup Kit.

Trends change, life changes, preferences change, and makeup expires….

Have you been using that same foundation since 2020? It’s time to do some spring cleaning and rebuild your makeup kit. I’m saying it for me too girl. It’s time to dump the old products and get some new ones. 

We haven’t talked about this since 2020, and the products and trends have changed so much since then. Raise your hand if your kit is overflowing with products you barely use anymore.

I too have been victimized by impulse makeup purchases.

It’s easy to purchase products and never use them again and end up with a huge collection of expired makeup (that you’re still trying to use). But if you have these staple products in your kit, you will always be up to speed and have a more minimalistic and functional makeup kit for achieving a flawless and simple face. There are so many different products you can add to your makeup kit, but we will touch on the basic necessities first and build from there.

Also, if you didn’t know makeup or beauty products expired and wanted to know how to determine expiration dates, look for a jar on your container with a number and an “M”. This indicates how many months between the day you open the item and its expiration date.

Primer 

Primer is essential to having long-lasting makeup to get you through the day. If we’re trying to be budget-friendly, then all you truly need is one primer for your kit. Find one that hits all your desired points and stick to it. I’ve been slowly replacing products and rebuilding my makeup kit and I recently tried the Elf Power Grip primer and the grip on that primer is amazing. I feel like my makeup is suctioned to my face and the products I’m applying are truly “gripped.” I’ve tried my share of drugstore primers and I’ve linked them all here. Don’t forget that the best primer for your makeup is a good skincare routine. You can see some of my current favorite skincare products here.

Foundation

Since 2020 we’ve seen a shift from heavier foundations to light, tinted moisturizers to powder foundation and back to regular liquid foundation. There’s always a shift and always will be one. If I were to rebuild my makeup kit, I would start with a liquid foundation that has buildable coverage like the Maybelline Fit Me or Maybelline Super Stay foundations. These two provide good coverage and aren’t super heavy plus the range of shades to choose from provides a good amount of representation. This way you have full coverage on the days you need it and a lighter coverage on the days you don’t.

I would also get something with a lighter coverage like The Lip Bar 3-N-1 Tinted Skin Conditioner for those days where you don’t necessarily want full heavy coverage and you want a softer natural look. With those two foundations, I believe we’re off to a good start. Now we can tap into powder foundations too. I recently tried the Loreal Infallible Powder Foundation and the coverage and finish were amazing. It literally looked like I used liquid foundation. If powder foundation is your thing, here are a few more options.

Concealer

Now one can argue that all you need is concealer to do your entire face but that is truly a conversation for another day. Concealer is a staple step to achieving a full beat and the options to choose from are immense. My go-to for the past two years has been the Elf 16HR Camo Concealer because the coverage is bomb. I recently tried The Lip Bar’s Quick Conceal Caffeine Concealer and it definitely lives up to its name. It was the easiest concealer to blend out that I’ve used. So I would definitely list it as a beginner-friendly option.

I’d recommend having a minimum of two concealers, of varying shades that compliment your complexion. You never know what shade you may need and what concealer will pair best with your foundation. So having at least two you can choose from is a great start. If you are a contouring pro, then make that three so you can have a shade at least two shades darker for contouring. Check here for some other concealer options.

Eyeshadow

Now eyeshadow can get complicated but we can make it as simple as we need to. A good starting point for rebuilding your kit would be one eyeshadow palette that provides a good range of looks. I’ve had my share of eyeshadow palettes but they are all pretty much expired and I’ve been starting from scratch. I used to go for palettes that were large and had a large array of colors, but now I’m more into smaller palettes with specific color stories filled with complimentary shades. That way I already have an idea of what kind of looks I can use that palette for and won’t waste time purchasing palettes that won’t be useful.

My latest purchase was this small Colour Pop palette. It’s filled with nice warm complimentary colors and I know I can create quite a few looks using just this one palette. I also picked up this one from Beauty Bakerie and I have my eye on this other palette from Colour Pop. Y’all already know I stan Juvia’s Place palettes and I’m going to hate getting rid of mine that I have but I will definitely be purchasing more of their palettes.

I could go on and on about what items I would add to my makeup kit, but let’s just call this a part I. We covered the basic necessities to rebuilding your makeup kit in 2023. We covered the base (primer, foundation, concealer), and eyeshadow. I believe these are the main foundational pieces to a makeup kit. Other important products are of course brow products, mascara & eyelashes, blush, contour products, and of course lippies. Lippies can be a whole article on its own. I hope this helps you get back on track with your makeup kit. What else would you add?