Wedding Makeup Holy Grails

Contour” Benefit “Hoola Quickie Contour Stick,” ABH “Contour Kit”

Bronzer: Benefit “Hoola,” Too Faced “Sweethearts Bronzer,” Marc Jacobs “O!Mega”

Blush: Nars “Orgasm” and “Sin,” Milani “Luminoso,” Hourglass “Ambient Lighting Blush” (every shade, these are STUNNING!)

Highlighter: Benefit “Watts Up stick,” Becca “Champagne Pop” (absolute favorite), Laura Gellar “Baked Gelato Illuminator in Gilded Honey”

Eyeshadow: Stila “kitten” (looks good on EVERYONE!), ABH “Modern Renaissance Palette,” Urban Decay “Naked Palette” (original), MAC “Embark” (perfect dark smokey-brown shade for outer “v”)

Eyeliner: NYC “High Def Liquid Liner,” Stila “Stay All Day Liquid” and “Smudge Stick -in Lionfish”

Lips: Too Faced “Melted Matte Long wear lipstick,” (lots of great shades), MAC “Velvet Teddy”, “Vegas Volt” and “Angel”

Lip liner: MAC “Whirl”, MUFE “Aqua Lip Waterproof -in 3C,” MODEL Co “Illusion” (perfect shade for everyone and awesome for making lips look fuller).

Gloss: MAC “Oyster Girl,” Stila “Lip Glaze- in Watermelon” Dr. Lipp (great for hydrating and a great gloss for over matte lipsticks and glosses)

So for a makeup newbie, what would you recommend to be "must haves" for ones new makeup collection? And which items are "okay" to compromise quality for more economical choices?

Amy, There are so many good drugstore products that you don't really have to compromise quality to save money! I personally rarely buy high end eyeliner and mascara since I go through them so quickly. A good foundation though, that is worth the splurge!

@amy my must-have splurge items are nars orgasm blush, stila stay-all-day liquid eyeliner, dr. jart BB cream, and bare minerals matte powder.

i usually purchase drugstore or sephora brand eyeshadow and mascara. i'm a huge fan of maybelline great lash mascara. i also buy drugstore bronzer for summer time.

@Amy - Drugstore lines have come a long way in the technologies and ingredients used that many really do rival higher-end products. In fact, many are owned by the same parent company and the only difference between price is the packaging!

I do love higher end eyeshadows such as Stila, Tarte, and MAC. The colors, intensity, and finish really show the quality. I would also say for concealer and setting powder I use higher end products and do see a difference for the better in those. For blush, one of my favorite lines are Physicians Formula and Milani as they have great textures and gorgeous colors. For mascara (just realizing I left it off the list) I LOVE Maybelline's Colossal and L'Oréal's Voluminous.

My daily face- mostly drugstore. I try high-end stuff all of the time, but these are the favorites I go back to.

Primer- Monistat anti-chafing gel. I know it sounds gross but I like it better than the smashbox photofinish or the Too-faced

Foundation- Covergirl 3 in 1 outlast

Concealer- Maybelline Instant Age rewind brightener ( light-medium coverage but super easy to blend and doesn't look cakey the way shape tape does on my face)

Brows- Anastasia brow wiz (see, not all drugstore) with essence eyebrow gel

cheeks- I've been loving my cargo waterproof blush recently

powder- Laura Mercier translucent (it's just the best)

eyelid primer- wet and wild fergie eyeshadow primer

eyeshadow- Coastal scents revealed 2 palette

eyeliner- physicians formula 2 in 1 lash boosting eyeliner

Mascara- Covergirl supersizer

lips- maybelline super stay mattte ink in lover

Whole look will last 10-14 hours at work.

Following for after the wedding and I have money to invest in my makeup box :-)

Sorry this probably won't be helpful but please be mindful of what companies are animal friendly. A lot of the above listed companies test on animals and it makes me sad.

www.crueltyfreekitty.com has a list of companies that don't test on animals.

Any tips for picking lipsticks? I have gotten a few over the last few weeks and I feel like they all look stupid on me. I don't want anything super dramatic. Seems like these matte lipsticks are all really dramatic even if I pick a shade fairly close to my natural lip color.

Duplicate post sorry

My favorite primer is Hourglass primer but it's very expensive, I bought it just to use for my wedding since I plan on doing my own makeup. I usually use Smashbox photo finish but I find it to be greasy. My favorite lipsticks are the balm's Meet Matt(e) Hughes, the balm also makes a great highlighter. I also love Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz and Urban Decay eye primer. For Contour, I always use Kat Von D.

@Hannah Maybe you could try The Balm's Meet Matt(e) Hughes in the shade Commited or Tarte's Tarteist lip paint in Birthday Suit. Both are matte, last long and are very subtle colors.

Following!

My daily makeup:

Foundation - NARS Skin Tint (has 30SPF)

Setting powder - Coty Airspun (at Walmart, and surprisingly awesome)

Contour - Too Faced Chocolate Soleil

Blush - Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in "paaarty" (part of the birthday gift from Sephora)

Eyebrows - ELF brow kit

Eye Primer - Urban Decay Primer Potion (original)

Eye shadow - Anastasia Beverly Hills "Modern Renaissance" palette

Eyeliner - Kat von D Tattoo Liner

Mascara - Too Faced "Better than Sex" or NYX "Pin-Up Tease"

I love Tarte's Tarteist Lip Paint and Too Faced's Melted line. NYX Lippie Lingerie is awesome too. Kat von D's Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks are my favorite by far, though.

ETA: I usually just use a moisturizer as a face primer, because I haven't been able to find one that works well for me.

Kevyn Aucoin has a make-up line? I have one of his coffee table books. I think his work is nothing short of amazing.

Also, OP, you didn't list mascara. What your favorite? I just bought Tarte's "Lights, Camera, Flashes", and it's good -- just not as good as their "Last Paint" mascara (my lifetimes favorite).

Bear with me, I'm still learning. But if I use primer and setting spray then my makeup shouldn't move or smudge on my dress/others clothing?