I was chatting to a beauty obsessed friend recently who said to me “I would rather go out topless than go out without mascara.” Without thinking I immediately replied “I would rather go out topless than go out without foundation.” Now, in truth I may not feel quite that strongly and I’d probably prefer to keep the girls under wraps, but I definitely never leave the house without foundation. I have terrible skin, and I hate the thought of people seeing it undisguised.

Anyway, this got me thinking about my must-have makeup products. So here’s a challenge for you my pretties: if someone told you they were taking away all your makeup for a month, and you could only keep three things (with a free pass for any makeup brushes or applicators you may need) which three products would you choose?

After some very serious thought, here are mine:

Holika Holika Clearing BB Cream

Obviously I’d have to have a foundation to disguise my horrid skin, and this one does a good job of that, plus it has skin care benefits specifically targetted at acne prone skin like mine, and SPF30. A great multi-purpose product.

Lanolips SPF15 Lip Ointment With Colour in Dark Honey

A slick of glossy colour on your lips can take you from undone to pulled together in an instant, and this is a go with everything ‘my lips but better’ colour with SPF15 that does a fabulous job of moisturising your lips.

Lancome Hypnose Mascara in Black

No other product gives you instant va-va-voom in the way that a good mascara does, and this one is my pick. I don’t normally pay high-end prices for makeup, but no other mascara I’ve tried comes close to matching this for giving me drop dead gorgeous lashes.

So, those are my three must-haves, now it’s your turn.

All of these products are good enough to warrant their own review, which I will do in good time, but in the meantime you can purchase Holika Holika BB Cream from Bellogirl on Ebay, and Lanolips from Adore Beauty. And if you don’t know where to get Lancome from you need to get out more!