Troubleshooting

Over the past few months I've discovered a bunch of new products which have become daily staples. Rather than waiting ages to review them all, I figured I'd do my own take on a 'my top products' kind of thing, and show you all what I'm using, why I'm using it and what it does.

I'd like to note that every single item I mention here I bought with my own money. Of the companies listed here, Sassy Minerals and Aromaleigh have sent me free samples (although the Rocks! eyeshadows mentioned I bought myself) and both of those companies I'm a paying customer with, anyway. I don't even get anything for referral/affiliate links. Clear? Good.

The 1337 badge of honour.

1337 Things are my own holy-grail products. When I review a product, it scores out of 5. Generally speaking, products with 0-1 are utterly rubbish and do nothing at all, 2s tend to do something, just not what they were supposed to do, 3s do what I expect them to do, 4s do what I was hoping they'd do, and 5s do not only what they say they do, what I expected, what I hoped for, but also do something else I wasn't even thinking to hope for. 1337 Things are 5s, and that's a tall order.

You don't see this very often.

I certainly haven't tried every product in existence, however, and everyone is different. So don't rush out and buy things just because I love them so much I'm hoarding them in case of nuclear war.

Skincare

• Cleanser - Bliss Sleeping Peel Cleansing Cream I got this incredibly cheaply at the local TK Maxx, and it's my first Bliss product. Whilst I like it as a cleanser, and it's helped clean up my breakouts a bit, I'm not completely amazed. It works fine, but I haven't found my ultimate holy-grail cleanser yet, and I don't think it's worth the price-tag.
  
• Exfoliator - MAC Volcanic Ash Exfoliator It's the harshest/most thorough exfoliator I've found, and I like that. It definitely gets rid of all the dry skin, and leaves it feeling fresher, so it's the best exfoliator I've found so far. But it colours all my cloths black and might be too much for people with sensitive or broken skin. Best I've found so far, but I'm not completely blown-away by it, either. Worth a try, if you're looking.
  
• Toner - Lancome Tonique Douceur I love this stuff. I use a lot of toner, and this doesn't dry my skin out or leave it feeling sticky like nearly every other toner I've tried. It's a shame it's so expensive, because I go through it pretty quickly. Haven't found anything better yet, would love a cheaper alternative, but I love how it leaves my skin feeling.
• Make-Up Remover - Lancome Bi-Facil Again, expensive, but definitely does the job. Sweeps off even the toughest eye make-up without the need for tugging and pulling, although it leaves my skin feeling a little greasy, so you'd want to rinse off afterwards. I hear Clean & Clear do a great dupe of this which is around $5 or so, but it isn't sold in the UK. This is a 1337 Thing.
  
• Moisturiser - Clinique Moisture Surge I'm really liking this, but I have limited experience with expensive skincare products, so I'm not claiming it's a holy-grail type product. It's nice, very moisturising, light, and it doesn't leave my skin feeling heavy or greasy, but rather clean and silky. However, nor does it make my skin look better, and it doesn't have an SPF. So it's what I'm using, but at £30 a pop I don't know if I won't switch to something else once it's all gone.
  
• Troubleshooter - Guinot Créme Red Logic Holy-grail product this is. I'd give this endorsement as one of my 1337 Things. It's a green cream which goes on before moisturiser, day and night, and is a regular new step in my skincare routine now. Not only does it help eliminate redness because it's green, but it helps to reduce redness long-term if you use it often. I was a bit skeptical, considering it contains a lot of herbal/homeopathic ingredients that make my inner-cynic go "Hmm", but I really notice a difference using it, so it must contain something aside from the gratuitous herbs which actually does something.
  

Primers

• Face - Urban Decay Pore Perfecting Complexion Primer Potion God, that's a mouthful. There's raves on this and people who don't like it, so it's very much up to your skin-type. For me, this is 1337 Thing I can't get enough of. It blurs my pores a bit, gives me this great smooth, but not chalky canvas to work with, and most importantly it never fucks up my foundation like a lot of other primers do when I apply too much or don't wait in between. Every other primer I've ever used, I've messed up doing something wrong when I apply my foundation, and it's never happened with this. It's so hassle-free and seems to give me the same results I love every single time I use it.
  
• Lips - Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion When they came out with all their primers, I wondered if they were just milking the popularity of their eye primer. They aren't. Somehow, Urban Decay have cracked the formula for making awesome primers. This has some SPF, and it goes on weird. It feels like rubbing a wax crayon on my lips. But, if I use a cheaper, thinner lipstick like NYX over it, it suddenly hides all the imperfections in my lips and makes it go on much smoother, so I love it. I'd buy it again, if only to use with my many cheaper NYX lipsticks and get coverage from them like I get with thicker, smoother MAC lipsticks.
  
• Lashes - Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion Seeing a theme yet? Seriously. Urban Decay, share your secret with the rest of the class. It's an eyelash primer like any other, except it has those little fibers in that cling to your lashes and make them look longer. And boy, do they ever. They're small enough to not irritate my incredibly-easy-to-irritate eyes, and it gives me the benefit of a fiber-mascara except, I can use it with any mascara. Score.
  
• Eyes - MAC Paint Pot in Painterly Didn't see that coming, did you? I'm a recent Paint Pot convert, I've loved UD's Primer Potion up until now, but I really like the slightly stickier base that the Painterly pot gives me, and the opaque colour blends nicely with my foundation and covers the veins in my eyelids. It's a difficult choice between them, but since I'm using sparklier shades lately with a lot of giltter, the Paint Pot wins out. 1337 Thing, thank you very much. If you haven't tried either, I recommend trying both and choosing for yourself, though, since it's pretty close-run and they're both great.
  

Brushes

• Foundation - MAC 191 and MAC 187. I learned this trick from a MAC MUA I saw last month and I'm astounded at how well it works. Previously, my liquid foundation just sat on my skin and didn't look so great. Now, I dab a little on in places I need it using the 191 brush, then grab the clean/dry 187 and buff it in in quick circles. Do it everywhere. Be amazed. For face brushes, I can't beat MAC. GOSH do a 187 dupe but it sheds like crazy. Both 1337 Things, just a shame they're pricey.
  
• Face Powder - The MAC 187 for lightly dusting finishing powders again, MAC 168 for blush (I have chubby cheeks. Yes, you know I do. Applying blush to the apples makes me look like a balloon, so I sweep it over the cheekbones with this beauty) and Silk Naturals Ultimate Kabuki (which can be found other places, too) for mineral powder foundation, because it's the softest, most dense, gorgeous little kabuki in the world. 1337 Things, all of them.
  
• Eyeshadow Application - GOSH Flat Eyeshadow brush, which is a dupe for MAC 239, except better. It's 1/3 of the price, it's less scratchy and it's easier to clean, but it does the job just as well and doesn't get stained into the bargain. Buy it, you'll love it. Buy ten. Totally 1337.
  
• Eyeshadow Blending -Revlon Contour Shadow brush, it's a lot like the MAC 217, but thinner and more tapered, which I like because I like being more precise. I'll happily call both 1337 Things, but I reach for the cheaper Revlon brush more.
  
• Eyeliner - MAC 208 Angled Brow Brush I'm actually using a cheaper angled brush, but it isn't all that great because the bristles are starting to stick out. Really, any eyeliner brush that doesn't shed and is this shape works perfectly with gel eyeliner. The wider it is, the shorter line you have to draw yourself, although that can make more precise work more difficult. Yeah, I've tried the bent Sonia Kashuk one, angled is better. If you've been using a round, thin eyeliner brush, try one of these (or even your brow brush) instead and then tell me how completely right I am and that you'll never, ever doubt me again.
• Eyebrows - Ecotools Angled Eyeliner Brush How weird is it that I do it that way around? I don't know. They're interchangable. Find an eyebrow/eyeliner brush this shape you like and buy two. Sorted. Ecotools brushes are really nice though, so check this out - soft, no shedding, and lovely smooth bamboo handles, plus pretty cheap.
  

Face Basics

• Foundation - Estée Lauder Double Wear I wear their lightest cool shade, "Shell". It's still a little bit on the dark side for me, so I tend to add a dollop of Illamasqua Rich Foundation in the absurdly pale 105. MAC don't make a foundation shade light enough for me (although I hate MAC foundation, so I wouldn't wear it if they did), and I've tried a lot of them. I love the Double Wear because it can survive a tornado (disaster-proof is what today's busy woman needs from her make-up; do you want to be re-applying in the middle of a twister? Didn't think so.) and has a nice matte finish with great coverage. The Illamasqua Rich Foundation formula is great too, and something very different from every other foundation out there, but 105 is insanely pale (if it's your shade, I don't know how you're alive or if you know what the sun is). Jessica told me it would be too pale, and I didn't listen, because I'm an alabaster idiot. It's the colour of milk. Still, it's great for lightening my Double Wear up a bit. 1337 Thing? I'm not sure, but it's definitely my favourite so far.

• Finishing Powder - I vary. I love Make Up For Ever HD Microfinish Powder (which is just pure silica which you can snag for $3 from Coastal Scents or TKB), Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish (yes, it contains diamonds) which is more complicated and gives a lovely soft-focus matte finish, and I've been using MAC Mineralised Natural Skinfinish in Light lately, too. They're all worth trying, but I don't have a clear favourite yet, more testing needed!
  
• Concealer - Bobbi Brown Corrector in Porcelain Bisque Love it. I've blogged and raved about it, it's a thick cream with great coverage, cool-pink based, pale enough for me and it can be used over powder without congealing and screwing it up. Long-time favourite and 1337 Thing.
  
• Blush - MAC Mineralized Blush in Love Rock for being the perfect cool-pink for my pale skin, although I'm also loving Purely Cosmetics Blushing (which is a NARS Orgasm dupe) which is, bizarrely, a warm shade I can wear, and MAC Well Dressed powder blush, too. No clear favourites yet, I'm keen on trying the Illamasqua blushes once I can get to them in person.
  

Eyes

Some of my favourite Aromaleigh Rocks! Sonic colours.

• Eyeshadow - Aromaleigh (particularly Rocks!), MAC Pigments, Sleek iDivine Palettes and some of the Sassy eye candy shimmers. It varies dramatically, colour to colour, but my top four greens all come from Aromaleigh (Estranged, Greenhell, Ozone and Trillium), Sassy are really impressing me with their sparkly complex shades lately, and MAC and Sleek are longtime favourites.
  
• Highlighter - MAC Shroom I finally tried it, and now I get why everyone goes on about it. Perfect highlight, just the right shade, just the right amount of shimmer, great for blending out other colours on paler girls and highlighting at the highest arch point on darker ones.
  
• Eyeliner - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil In Zero, because I fail horribly at liquid. It's my favourite pencil, and definitely my go-to 1337 Thing eyeliner. I'm a big fan of the MAC Fluidlines too, and often use those on my waterline even though I'm not supposed to.
  
• Mascara - Bourjois Liner Effect & Lancome Virtuose I mix mascaras. I always mix mascaras, because I've never found a mascara which does everything I want. You get mascaras which give you long, thin, spaced out lashes and no clumping, and you get mascaras which give you thick, volumised lashes and sometimes curl. What you don't get as macaras which do all of those things. You simply don't. So why not use one from each camp? Bourjois Liner Effect is my favourite length-and-separation mascara and looks wonderful on my lower-lashes. Lancome's Virtuose, while pricey, gives them great lift and curl after the fact, and added drama. Neither are 1337 Things, since they don't do it all.
  
• Eyebrows - Illamasqua Brow Cake in Thunder. I don't know if it's the most amazing brow powder in the world, as I've only ever used two (previously the MAC Brow Shader, which was too red). I like it, though, and Illamasqua's customer service is fantastic. I like that you get a huge amount of it for the price, and that the packaging has a little mirror inside the compact lid, too. Thunder is a great universal shade and if you're brunette and have no clue what to do with your eyebrows, check this out. I use it by spritzing a little MAC Fix+ (mostly so I have something to do with my Fix+) on my brush first. 1337 Thing? No, but I like it all the same.
  

Lips

• Treatment - Sleek Pout Polish It's almost perfect. It's almost 1337, it just isn't quite there. More colours, more opaque, no vanilla taste. Then it'll be there. Still, for the price, it's fantastic, although I haven't tried it next to MAC's Tendertones, it's a handy thing to have in my bag and I try not to leave without it. It's one of those lip products you enjoy putting on. I'm keen to try Sara Happ's Lip Slip, too.
  
• Lipstick - MAC Lipsticks Without a doubt. For colour, pigmentation, smooth application, MAC lipsticks can't be beat. Very 1337, I only wish they did more dramatic shades. Still, I know a MAC lipstick is going to be great quality. For unusual colours or something I won't wear as often, I'll go with a NYX Round Lipstick because they're so affordable, have great pigmentation (they're just thinner than MAC, thus won't cover imperfections like MAC lipsticks will) but I'll have to use them over primer, on exfoliated lips and usually under gloss. MAC lippies remove the hassle, but cost several times more.
  
• Lipgloss - Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss I love MAC Lipglasses too, because they give my lips a smoother, plumper look to them, but I can't beat Illamasqua's pigmentation. If you hate sticky glosses, you'll hate them, but I prefer them sticky. They go on thick, and they're not really glossy (which, again, I prefer) and the colour is incredible. The website lies, because they are sticky and they're not that shiny, but they are fantastic and I love them.

Tl;dr? Sorry for the walloftext. I'm having one of those moments when I realise just how much crap I put on my face. Of course, none of that up there is crap, but you know what I mean.

So that's everything that I'm using regularly right now, although there's a lot more I'm still testing and trying out. I'll do full, exhaustive reviews on everything I've marked up here as being a 1337 Thing (and sort my blog labels out one day, when I remember how to delete them), but it'll take me sometime to get around to it.

Feel free to ask questions about anything in particular, suggest stuff to me if you have a moisturiser you love or know a good dupe, in addition to the comments you guys usually leave (especially you, Grey, who hunts down my obscure references, none for you in this one!).