I share *a lot* of products with you through this site and I can totally see how overwhelming it may be to sort through what could work best for you! I absolutely love the hunt for the best of the best, and I also enjoy using a variety of beauty products, but I can appreciate that some of you would just like to be told the 5-8 makeup essentials for an easy, daily look so I’m doing that for you today.

So, we’ll start with the basics. I’m focusing on just providing a product recommendation in each category for you, so don’t feel locked into the exact products pictured if you’ve tried them and they don’t work for you.

A good basic makeup kit includes foundation, concealer, eyebrow product, blush, bronzer, mascara, eyeliner, and eyeshadow.

I love a medium coverage foundation for versatility. You can wear a thin layer for just a bit of coverage, or wear two layers if you need something a bit more full coverage. It seems to work better when I “thin” out medium coverage foundations with a moisturizer as opposed to trying to do that trick with a full coverage foundation.

A creamy, easy-to-blend concealer is essential for brightening under the eyes or covering blemishes.

A skinny brow pencil is the easiest tool to work with if you’re new or apprehensive about filling in or shaping your brows with products.

I love cream eyeshadow and Au Natural is one of the easiest shades to wear.

Blush and bronzer add life and color to the face. A good rule of thumb is if you apply foundation, you *must* apply blush and/or bronzer to add dimension back into your face.

Brown eyeliner and a nice volumizing mascara round out this “basics” kit!