Multipurpose Beauty Products That Do Double (or Triple!) Duty

You’ve found the perfect rosy brown, everyday lipstick — now you have to find blush and eyeshadow to go with it, right? Maybe not! Your favourite lipstick can also work as a cream blush on cheeks and eyes – dab it on and blend with your fingers to easily achieve an on-trend monochromatic look. Canadian brand NudeStix has mastered the ultra-versatile lip-and-cheek stick with their versatile beauty product.

NudeStix Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm in Pulse, $28.

Similarly, if you haven’t found your perfect lipstick just yet, check your cream blush stash. You can easily repurpose a cream blush as a lipstick and cream eyeshadow, especially if it’s in a stick format already.

Fenty Beauty By Rihanna Match Stix Shimmer Skinstick, $31.

Your favourite gold, champagne, and bronze cream eyeshadows work beautifully to highlight the skin. The creamy formula works well to boost dry skin’s luminosity, and gives a pretty, ethereal vibe when the same colour is used on the eyes.

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Brow pomade is already amazing for its versatility — you can achieve a trendy sculpted brow, a feathery natural brow, or anything in between. But it gets bonus points for the fact that it doubles as a cream eyeliner! Your results will depend on your brow shade. If you’re blonde, you might use a light taupe or brown to make your lash line look thicker, whereas brunettes might get a softened cat-eye with their dark brown.

Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Pomade, $24.

Your pressed powder products — blushes, bronzers, and eyeshadows – are just that: powder! This means that, as long as they’re eye-safe (check the ingredients and brand’s website for this), they can be used all over the face. Try using your bronzer as a transition shade in the crease of your eye to warm up an eyeshadow look. Champagne, gold, bronze, and light pink shimmery eyeshadows make fantastic highlighters as well.

No matter what product you use, you'll want to watch out for these mistakes when applying your blush.

Brow powder can be expensive for what’s essentially a taupe, brown, or black eyeshadow. Take a look in your eyeshadow collection for matte or satin colours similar to your natural brow shade. Look for shades with cooler undertones, like taupes, mid-tone grey-browns, and cool mahoganies, depending on your brow colour. Chances are one of your favourite crease colours could work as a brow powder, too!

Fenty Beauty’s summer collection taps into the fantasy highlighter trend. Killawatt Foils can be used on eyes, cheeks, and lips for an effortlessly ethereal effect. If you have pink, green, or purple holographic highlighters already in your collection, try them on your eyes and lips, too for a fun and trendy summer look.

Fenty Beauty Killawatt Foil Freestyle Highlighter Duo in Mimosa Sunrise/Sangria Sunset, $36 USD.

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Many of us already won’t leave the house without setting spray, and with good reason — it can extend makeup wear, keep skin matte for longer, and prevent makeup from fading. But setting sprays like the classic Urban Decay All-Nighter work even better to keep makeup in place when layered on as primer. After skincare but before foundation, spritz your face with your fave setting spray. Do your makeup as usual, then finish with another layer of setting spray, like a sandwich.

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray, $40.

You’ve got an unsung hero in your handbag: your favourite lip balm. Not only does it moisturize lips, but in a pinch, it can also moisturize dry cuticles, elbows, knees, ankles, and even flaky patches on your face. If your eyeliner is smudged, a little lip balm on a tissue will help you tidy it up. If you’ve got unruly brows and ran out of brow gel, run a dollop of lip balm through them to keep them in place. If your lip balm’s got shimmer, it makes a gorgeous, dewy highlight.

Rosebud Perfume Co. Rosebud Salve in a Tube, $9.

We all know the importance of eye cream: keeping the skin around the eyes moisturized helps treat and prevent wrinkles. The delicate skin around our eyes is very similar to the skin around our lips, which means that skin there is prone to creasing as it matures, too. Dabbing eye cream around the edges of your lips treats this sensitive area and eliminates the need for a specific lip cream.

One of the gentlest and most effective ways to exfoliate the skin is with an acid, like glycolic, salicylic or lactic acid. But acids also make pretty amazing deodorants – strange, but true. Here’s the science behind it: body odour isn’t caused by sweat, but by bacteria. Acid makes underarms too acidic for bacteria to grow, which in turn stops the odour. So go on and swipe your facial wipes under your arms — we won’t tell!

Stridex Daily Care Acne Pads with Salycilic Acid, $20.

In recent years, oils like argan oil, marula oil and rose hip seed oil have become more popular, and with good reason. They’re amazing at sealing in moisture, and can be used on the face and body as well as in hair to smooth those dry ends. They also have another, lesser-known use. If you’ve ever had your favourite pot of cream eyeshadow, eyeliner, or brow pomade dry out on you, you know how heartbreaking it can be. Mixing a few drops of argan or marula oil into the pot can give your favourite cream product a new lease on life.

If you have curly hair, you know that conditioner is indispensable for detangling, adding moisture, and taming dehydrated curls. But conditioner is not just for conditioning! You can skip drying shampoos and co-wash (literally “conditioner wash”) your hair instead for soft, shiny, lustrous locks. Just massage a generous amount into your scalp, rinse, and condition as usual. But, in a pinch, conditioner also makes a pretty decent shaving cream — since it's slippery and moisturizing — which makes it your shower’s real MVP.

Do you ever notice how easy to style your hair is a few days after washing, when it’s full of dry shampoo? Pro hair stylists swear that updos and other intricate styles work better on hair that hasn’t been freshly washed, as the natural oils and product buildup give hair some grit and structure. Texturizing sprays try to mimic this effect. If you’re out of texturizer or looking to stay on-budget, try using your dry shampoo as a texturizing spray even if your hair is freshly washed. Spray it on at the roots, flip your head upside down, massage in and brush forward for volume, and style as usual.

Ballerinas, brides, and busy gals everywhere will tell you that a good hairspray is an absolute essential. But they’re not just good for holding the hair on your head in place. If you’re out of brow gel or can’t find one that holds your brows in place, this trick might be for you. Spray a little hairspray on a clean spoolie, then run it through your brows to keep them under control all day long.

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