Kikay Kit Starters

My first decent kikay kit was assembled with the help of my mom, and consisted of the neneng-nene basics like face powder, lip balm, and clear mascara. Sometimes I managed to steal something of hers with more color like fuchsia lipstick or red lipliner but she never allowed me to keep them for myself because she said red lips and black mascara was only for older ladies. But that was 10 years ago and now that I'm older I can wear all the bright colors I want on my face and pile all the volumising mascaras I want on my lashes! Mwahaha.

So a reader of mine sent in a question about what products she should start with in building her makeup kit, and the products must be affordable and versatile enough to cover all her makeup needs- from day looks to night looks.

Here are my recommendations, broken down into different categories:

Face:

1. Concealer

to cover imperfections and to fake 8 hours of sleep

Try:

 Maxfactor Panstik, Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Concealer

2. Liquid foundation/tinted moisturizer/bb cream

 to even out skin tone

Try: 

Cover Girl Trublend Foundation, Maybelline Aqua Gel Foundation, Etude House All Day Strong BB Cream, Face Shop Face It Power Perfection BB Cream

3. Compact powder

 a must in a tropical country like ours, especially for girls with oily skin

Try: 

Maybelline Pressed Powder, 4U2 Pressed Powder, Myra E Face Powder

4. Bronzer/blush

 You can purchase them separately, but there also products which come in duos

Try: 

Elf Bronzer/Blush duo, 4U2 Dream Girl Double Blush

Eyes

5. Eyeshadow primer

 Makes even the cheapest eyeshadows look more vibrant and long-lasting when used to prep the eyelids

Try: 

Etude House Proof 10 Eye Primer, ELF Eyeshadow Primer

6. Eyeshadows 

Start off with the more versatile neutral palettes (earth tones, blacks) because you can already get a lot of great looks from these. Choose those that have more of a matte or satin finish, because glitter overload doesn't look very pretty during daytime.

Try: 

Wet n Wild trio shadows, ELF, Maybelline, and Revlon quads 

7. Eyelash curler

 To open up your peepers and to prep lashes before putting on mascara

Try:

ELF Mechanical Eyelash Curler, Etude House Eyelash Curler

8. Mascara

 Preferably in black, to make eyes look dramatic

Try: 

Maybelline mascaras

9. Black Eyeliner

 Start with pencils or gel liners, since they are a lot easier to control than liquid liners. Use to define the eyes

Try: 

Maybelline Eye Studio eyeliner in Black, Etude House and 4U2 Dream girl eyeliners. Maybelline and Fanny Serrano gel eyeliners

10. Eyebrow Pencil/Brow Gel/Brow Powder

 this totally depends on your eyebrow type (thick/sparse) and preference (I actually use all three, depending on my mood for the day)

Try: 

Etude House Drawing Eyebrows (pencil/spoolie in one) Wet n Wild Ultimate Brow Kit (powder, wax, angled brush and small tweezers in one set) Etude House Color my Brows (brow gel) Nichido brow powder

Lips:

11. Lipbalm

 Which I totally forgot to include in the photo; but I'm sure you probably have this already. Always keep it handy in case of flaky lips emergencies

12. Lipsticks

 Start with the basics: a nude, a pink, and a red. Choose one that matches your skin tone

13. Lip Stain

An easy way to add a pop of color to your face for those days when you just don't feel like wearing lipstick

Hope this was helpful!
P.S. How did you start your kikay kit? What was the first makeup product you ever bought?
:)