For this week’s Nosy Beauty, I asked Johna, a copywriter for an ad agency, to share her makeup bag. She spends her non-work days writing, reading, and exploring the city. “I write mainly personal essays, but have recently been trying poetry, including spoken word,” she says.

BAG

“My makeup bag works more like a trusty toolbox than a kikay kit. In it are contact lens eyedrops, hand sanitizer, cologne in a Travalo atomiser, mint, floss, scrunchie…and only a handful of makeup for retouching.”

“This is as kikay as it gets inside. I have a Majolica Majorca Pressed Pore Cover, which is excellent as a finishing powder or to cover up shine. The lip products I never leave home without are a NARS Lipstick in Dolce Vita, Canmake Stay-on Balm Rouge in 04 and Clarins Colour Quench Lip Balm in 08—all of which are barely-there shades. I use Clarins for when I feel for a little gloss and shine, and Canmake to simply ‘accentuate’ my lips’ actual pigment, if that makes sense. When I want a bit more colour, I reach for NARS.

I also tote around whatever lipstick I decide to wear that day. Right now it’s Avon’s Ultra Moisture Rich Rose Lipstick in Rosabella Rose (M107), a gorgeous fuchsia red with a bit of shimmer.

I don’t usually carry around blush unless I’m meeting friends after work, or spending an entire day out. When I do, I take along a Marionnaud retractable brush along with whatever blush I put on in the morning—in this case, a Majolica Majorca Cheek Customize in RD255.”

The rest of my staples include:

BASE

Extra Virgin Minerals Liquid Foundation in 102 from The Body Shop: “This matches my skin tone well, though it tends to ‘melt’ away in the heat and excessive humidity of Hong Kong.”

“I’ve since decided to reset my base, and currently use MAC’s Studio Fix Foundation Powder in NC40 while looking for an alternative.”

EYES

“To fill my brows, I use brow powder called Flair from Sasa, which comes for cheap but does the job. (In this pan, the darker one of the two shades cracked and fell off.)

It might be clear by this point that I am a fan of Majolica Majorca. For mascara, I use their Lash King (although I prefer their Lash Enamel Glamour Volume On. I’ll get this again after consuming my current tube). I also use their Perfect Automatic Liner in GD802 when I want darker, more defined eyes. The K-Palette Lasting Eyeliner (brown), on the other hand, gives a subtler, more natural look.”

CHEEKS

“More Majolica! I also use their Cheek Customize blush in OR211, which is rather peach-toned compared to the other two that I use on most days: MAC’s Pro Longwear Blush in Rosy Outlook, a natural-looking pink pink, or NARS Orgasm. To highlight, I use bareMinerals’ READY Luminizer in The Shining Moment.”

EYESHADOW

“On the rare occasions that I don’t wake up in a hurry, I like to throw in a little eyeshadow to my regimen. I love how cream shadows double as a base, and depending on the look, I use Maybelline’s Color Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze, MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study or Bobbi Brown Cream Shadow in Shore.

For matte, neutral eyes, I use Revlon’s ColorStay 12 Hour Eye Shadow in In The Buff. For a bit of shimmer and colour, I love bareMinerals’ READY Eyeshadow 4.0 in The Rare Find. It’s very versatile, and the red and green shades pull a surprisingly more neutral appearance than you’d expect.”

LIPS

“This is where I go a little crazy. I love lipstick. And while I like to think of my makeup as functional, I discovered as I tried (and failed) to trim down this lipstick staple list that: every shade is functional!”

— NARS Lipstick in Niagara, a pretty coral pink that gives my lips a pop of colour without dulling out my skin
— NYX Lip Smacking Lipstick in Ceto for an elegant, shiny-copper pout
– Le Métier de Beauté Lip Crème in Purple Haze, a mauve-y pink that alternates as a nude shade
— Guerlain Rouge G L’Extrait in Avarice for occasions that call for an MLBB red with excellent coverage
— Shu Uemura Mon Shu Red which is a lighter red, and less bold
— Clinique Chubby Stick in Chunkiest Chilli, my default office-red lippie
— Tom Ford Lipstick in True Coral, a bold, orange-y red that is relatively easy to wear compared to other bold red colours
— Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Crush, whose red wine hue I find quite sophisticated-looking
— MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Glamourdaze, an MLBB plum shade

“Find out what works for you. After doing my fair share of impulsive buying and trying a little of every brand, I’ve found that the products I’ve come to love most are the ones that work well with my skin, are versatile and easy to use, and wear for a decent amount of time. Safe to say, I’m an out-to-find-my-HG! type of makeup person. :)”

I hope you all enjoyed that! Thanks to Johna for being a part of Nosy Beauty. 🙂 Stay tuned next week, as we uncover this next makeup bag: