My must-haves from The Skin Wardrobe? Good question!
It’s no secret that I have fallen, hook line and sinker, in love with The Skin Wardrobe, a Kiwi-owned business that imports Scandi Beauty.
To think this all started when The Skin Wardrobe Catherine got chatting to a mutual friend, Melissa at the school gates (thank for the intro Melissa!). Catherine subsequently reached out via Insta to say hi and ask if I’d like to try a blush brush! The rest is history. Fast forward, I own a substantial amount of the range (some gifted, some purchased myself). I reach for The Skin Wardrobe products on the daily.
Here’s my The Skin Wardrobe Must Haves…
Side note, I tried to pick my top 5 products, but couldn’t… So here are my top 11 instead.
MaketheMake Vitamin B Flawless Filter Foundation – Scrumdiddliumptious for normal, combo and oil skinned peeps, this medium to full coverage foundation applies with a matte finish. By God, it lasts all day.
How to apply? I reckon it’s best applied with the MaketheMake Sheer foundation brush (also a fave, keep reading) OR, a beauty blender.
Three tips: Take your time blending it in, this isn’t a foundation you can apply in 30 secs. Secondly, don’t judge how it looks straight off – this looks its best after a few mins: It settles magically into the skin. Thirdly, dry skin girls, drop some foundation onto the back of your hand and mix in one or two drops of facial oil – voila – perfection, you’ll get a lovey slightly dewy glow.
Another top tip, because I’m that excited about this foundation, on days when you just want a little bit of coverage, use a reduced amount of this foundation, add a drop of moisturizer, and mix: There’s your tinted moisturizer. You are welcome.
For colour reference, I’m the colour N3 in summer and when I use fake tan in winter. Otherwise, my no tan, winter colour, is 2.5.
Edit: September 2021: I still love this foundation – but I’m now wearing The Omega Stick Foundation on the daily – it’s heavenly.
MaketheMake Capric Face Palette (apricot)… Long story short, I can’t remember when I last used a different blush or highlighter. This is a multi-palette with three different shades and functions: Blurring or finishing powder, blush, and highlighter. For the blurring powder, use this after your foundation to set it in place. It has a slight glow to it – I love using this at night (I find that it doesn’t quite ‘lock’ my foundation in place for all-day wear, but she’s fab at night). The blush is divine. If you’ve watched my Insta in the last few months, it’s all I’ve worn. Note, I’ve tried the Berry palette, I much preferred the tone of the Apricot palette.
MaketheMake Capric Golden Bronzing Palette – I was gifted this, full disclaimer. It is stunning and rivals the Hourglass spendy (but gorg) bronzing palettes. I use the matt bronzer to contour and the one in the middle to bronze my cheekbones and on my forehead where I’d usually tan for a sun-kissed glow. This whole palette, incidentally, is stunning as an eyeshadow palette in its own right: Use the matt shade through your eye socket and blend the shit out of it. Then, run the glowy (middle) bronze colour all over your eyelid and pop some of the highlighter on the centre of your eyelid and on your brow bone. A bit of eyeliner, a lick of mascara, good to go!
Top tip: This palette will bring you back to life if you are hungover, so get it before Xmas and New Year. I have the shade deep, though I think I could equally have got the light one.
Lernberger Stafsing Toner Mist – This the second time I’ve purchased this bottle of glorious-ness. Oily skinned girls GET IN: I credit the niacinamide ingredient in helping me, finally, get on top of my oily skin! $60 well spent, which is a big claim, as this is at the upper end of what I like to spend on skincare.
This toner is so good, I bought a bottle for my teenage son to help get 14-year-old breakouts under control. I need to buy bottle number three shortly. Tip: You can also use this to set your makeup, or freshen-it up during the day.
MaketheMake Niacinamide Soft Focus Primer – Disclaimer, this isn’t the best at helping keep my foundation on (I’m an oily skin girl that’s always battled with makeup sliding off). What I do love about this, however, is that it both blurs the pores slightly (I’ve got big ones, so I’m a good test) and it adds glow – which is fantastic on makeup clients with dry skin.
MaketheMake Hyaluronic Light Diffusing Highlighter – Turns out this has won a shit-tonne of awards. I can see why. It’s got fine light-reflecting (pearl, apparently) pigments, which leave a natural glowy finish. Dry skinned girls: Mix this in with your foundation, sit back and watch the magic happen! I apply this at the end of my makeup along the top of my cheekbones and in the inner corner of my eye, using my index finger to pat it in and blend.
Oh, I do love me a cream highlighter and this is, particularly if you have aging skin, a delight: Cream products are less harsh (long story short, I could write a whole new blog post on that topic!).
This Hyaluronic Light Diffusing Highlighter is every bit as good as my other fave highlighter, MAC Hush Cream Colour Base. Now, all that said, I don’t use this as much as I used to, coz… Read above.
Maria Akerberg Dual Cosmetic Pencil Sharpener – Best sharpener I’ve ever used. Sorry MAC. It’s got two holes – one for big pencils, one for your regular sized skinny numbers. It’s got German precision blades. Flash. This would be an outstanding Christmas stocking filler for a beauty lover who thinks they’ve got all the Beauty Things. Also, it’s only ten buckers.
MaketheMake Brushes: I’ve raved about these before: The Sheer Foundation Brush, Bronzing Brush and Sheer Blush Brush. They are my most reached for brushes: As a makeup artist and makeup junkie – I own a lot of makeup brushes, so this is quite the endorsement!
Maria Akerberg Hand Cream Beautiful – OMG. I’m an old lady writing a blog post that includes hand cream. This is simply wonderful.
MaketheMake Squalane Melting Foundation – Quite probably the most random beauty product, but a stunner. This is a versatile, buildable foundation that comes in a powder, but then melts into a silky cream on your skin for a natural, luminous finish. I use this to set my foundation on days when I want super full coverage, like a night out. I love that you can use it as a foundation – OR as a powder. In all honesty, I haven’t quite worked out how it works: But I love it. I’m the shade N3 (same as my foundation).
MaketheMake Vitamin C Soft Compact Bronzer – This is a foolproof, stunning bronzer. If you are new to makeup and think your skin could do with a bit of waking up – get this one. It’s golden, but not Trumpy orange. The result is an ‘alive’ sunkissed finish. Not sparkly, it has more of a matte finish. I recommend this product to so many people. Why? Because it works for everyone. When I travel, I take this, I love the gigantic mirror: I can see my whole face. I apply this with the bronzing brush mentioned in number 6 above. You can also use a blush brush. I’m the colour SB2 as a point of reference.
I’d like to say “and that’s it”, but in all honesty, there are so many more products from The Skin Wardrobe that I think are must haves. So, this is just your starter list team! Sorry, not sorry. A notable mention, I think, is the Xlash Cosmetics eyelash serum. I’m three weeks in and think Magic Things are starting to happen, but I want to reserve judgment for six weeks: Which is usually when lash serum takes its full effect (Edit – September 2021, have patience with this, it takes a while, but it does happen).
Groan… I just realized I didn’t include the MaketheMake Concealer brush. Dammit, Janet.
See the problem with this range? It’s all epic! There are just so many The Skin Wardrobe Must-Haves. What are your must haves from The Skin Wardrobe? Let me know!
Lastly, don’t forget I have a discount code you can use for The Skin Wardrobe purchases – Lou5 will hook you up with 5% discount. It all counts, right?
PS Here’s a photo of me wearing: The Flawless Filter Foundation, Golden Bronzing Palette, Capri apricot palette, and… a whole heap of other products!
