As I grew up I outgrew the canopy bed dream but not the makeup vanity. When I moved into my house a few years ago I realized my master bedroom was made to have a makeup vanity. It was big enough to accommodate one and has a lot of natural light.
Well, guess what?! I finally got one. It’s not a traditional makeup vanity. It’s actually a desk that I purchased to use as one but it works perfectly.
In this post, I’m going to share where I got the desk, how I use it and what I have in it.
(This post includes some affiliate links. Should you click an affiliate link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
First, we have to talk about the makeup vanity. If you follow makeup or beauty bloggers you tend to see the same makeup vanity setup. Essentially they all use the same Ikea desk. I didn’t want to be the same as everyone else.
So I looked for something not only different but also something that would integrate into my bedroom decor, didn’t cost a lot, had some storage, looked pretty and elegant. That led me to browse Wayfair where I found the Josie Desk.
Here’s what gravitated me to the Josie Desk
- It comes in two colors - Graphite Gray and White
- The gold legs give it an elegant look
- It has clean modern lines which I love and fits with the rest of my bedroom furniture
- The size was a perfect fit for the space I had for it
- It also has two drawers for some makeup storage and plenty of space up top for my makeup brushes, sponges, and mirror
My first color choice was the white one but I could never purchase it because that color would always sell out when there was a sale. Eventually, I came to my senses and realized the Graphite Gray would be the better choice. It wouldn’t blend into my white walls and would work well with my gray and yellow comforter set.
It wasn’t hard to put the desk together and I was able to do it while watching an episode of Holmes Makes It Right on HGTV. Immediately after putting the desk together, I moved my makeup in. I do have to admit, it didn’t take long because I shockingly don’t have a lot of makeup. But here’s what I do have in my new makeup vanity.
Laura Geller Mattifying Spackle
Sadly I don’t think this particular Spackle is being made anymore. I’m not too worried about it though because I haven’t been feeling that I’m seeing benefits from wearing a primer like I did when I first started using one. I’m actually considering moving to not using a primer anymore. We’ll see.Smashbox Photo Finish Primer
I switch between this primer and the one from Laura Geller. I like this one the least. Moving on.Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear Foundation
I’ve got this foundation in two shades - 440 and 450. While I like the coverage, finish, and feel of this foundation I’m not a huge fan of the shades which you can read about here. I haven’t been able to find one that consistently works for me. Hence why I have two.Right now I’ve been using 450 and mixing it with the drugstore foundation below.
Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless Foundation
This foundation is the one that turned me back to liquid foundations. I had so many bad experiences with liquid foundations in the past that I turned to mineral powder foundations. Those mineral powder foundations served me well for several years but weren’t very accessible.I can’t exactly recall why I decided to try the Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless Foundation. It may be due to the many shades it had. The last time I wore a drugstore liquid foundation I had to “make it work.” That is a thing of the past. I currently have the shade 365 Nutmeg in my makeup vanity. Plus, this foundation is just matte enough that I don’t oil up within an hour or two.
Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Concealer
This is the only other Fenty product I own. While Fenty is a good brand it’s not cheap. I use this concealer to do some highlighting on my face. This is the first concealer I’ve used for a highlight (makeup late bloomer here) but it hasn’t blown me away.Don’t get me wrong, I like the coverage and I’ve had better luck with the concealer shades. 420 seems to work perfectly for me as a highlight. I think the reason I’m not blown away is the fact that I haven’t really tried many other concealers and don’t have much to compare it to.
Tarte Shape Tape Concealer
Since I need something to compare to the Fenty concealer I decided to try the Tarte. It didn’t help that Ulta had it on sale a few times as well. The shade I’ve been using is.It’s a lot more matte than the Fenty concealer which I kinda like. I don’t care for the fragrance which thankfully isn’t too strong and doesn’t last long after application.
The shade you could currently find in my makeup vanity is 53S Deep Sand.
Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder
It makes sense if I like Maybelline’s Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation I would also use the powder. I like that I can use this powder to help set my foundation and provide some barrier to my oily skin. I also like this powder because I can wear it by itself for a light makeup day.I currently have two shades 360 Mocha and 365 Nutmeg. The story behind this is Mocha is typically the darkest shade sold in the store. Darker shades can be purchased online. So I decided to try it.
Mocha works over my foundation but I found it doesn’t work by itself. That’s why I have the Nutmeg shade and it will be my go-to shade once I’ve finished Mocha. I was able to purchase the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder in Nutmeg from Ulta’s site.
L’Oreal Voluminous Curved Brush Mascara
There’s not much to say here. This is a decent mascara. I don’t think it does anything special to my lashes when comparing it to other mascara’s I’ve used.I don’t really have a go-to mascara. I just tend to buy what looks interesting and/or is on sale and may have a coupon. That’s what happened here. I went for one of the more budget-friendly L’Oreal mascaras.
When it comes to the shade I prefer my mascaras to be the deepest brown. For some reason, I don’t care too much for black mascaras on me. Hence why I bought this on in the shade black brown.
Related read: First Impressions: L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly Mascara
Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express Mascara
I bought this to be my travel mascara. Why I chose it was because I liked the color of the packaging, it’s supposed to be clump-free and add a lot of volume. I bought the shade Glam Brown.Black Radiance Artisan Color Baked Blush in Toasted Almond
Ever since I started wearing makeup I’ve had the hardest time finding a blush that didn’t look ashy, chalky, or like I smeared a crayon on my cheeks. So I was thankful when I learned about Black Radiance and saw they had makeup for all shades of black skin tones.Black Radiance Eye Appeal Shadow Palette in Berry Vibes
And speaking of Black Radiance I’ve also been using one of their eye shadow palettes. Of the three I saw in the store this one was the most attractive to me because of all of the pink and purple shades. There are mattes and some shimmers so it can be used for day and night looks.Black Radiance has come out with some other versions of this palette so I’m not sure if you can find Berry Vibes anywhere other than Black Radiance’s site.
Related read: Finally An Eye Shadow Palette For Darker Skin Tones
Wet n Wild Color Icon 10-Pan Eyeshadow Palette in Rosé In The Air
Because Black Radiance seems to be phasing out Berry Vibes I’m so glad I found the Wet n Wild Rosé In The Air palette. It’s a smaller version of Berry Vibes but much more vibrant and without the blues and purples. Ok, so not that similar.There’s not a lot of fall out and I love the inclusion of the two transition shades. There are a couple of other color combinations of the 10-Pan Palette that I’d like to try. Thankfully this is budget-friendly.
Maybelline Expert Wear Eyeshadow
I have two of these and once they’ve been used up I’ll have none. I really don’t like these eye shadows. I should have figured that would be the case because of the low price.The colors look much better in the pan than they do on my eyelids. Because of that, I use the Made for Mocha shadow only as eyeliner. I read an article somewhere about how eye shadow can give you a soft eyeliner look. I sometimes use the Cool Cocoa to add a hint of color and glimmer to my eyelids.
Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray
After watching so many get ready with me YouTube videos I succumbed and decided to try a makeup setting spray to try and help with my oily face situation.I bought the original and de-slick versions of the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray. Both worked well for a while and helped to hold back the shine that tends to form on my face so I would only have less throughout the day than I would before I started using them.
I found the original worked just as well for me as the de-slick so I switched exclusively to the original before the ultra matte version launched. Now I’m testing that one out.