I need a little help.
I've never been much of a makeup wearer. Most days I'm only wearing mascara...I'm a big mascara fan. Every once in awhile I wear a little eye shadow or eye liner and sometimes blush if I'm feeling really crazy. Sometimes I dab a bit of concealer under my eyes. Sometimes I wear no makeup at all and shove my glasses on.
Anyways. Before wedding events I was thinking of buying some nice makeup. And by nice, I mean something that can't be bought at Meijer or a drug store.
So...this is where you all come in...
I have no clue where to start!
I know of good brands like Clinique or MAC or Bare Essentials...but I honestly have no clue what to buy or how to apply. Power or liquid? Brush or sponge? Which color of shadows go where? I'm literally clueless. Is it best to just let one of the makeup ladies behind the counter at Macy's show me?
Or should I just not worry about it and trust that my photographer Tami Paige will make me look beautiful regardless?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Something to keep in mind: I'm a minimalist. I'm a firm believe that in almost everything, and especially makeup, less is more. So I'd like just a few good things...not 10 different bottles and not anything that will take a ton of time.
Thanks. :)
11 comments:
Hmmm . . .I'm not a great one for make up advice because my make up philosophy would be similar to yours. : )
But that being said, because of that, I think you would really like bare essentials - because I think it has such a natural look. Even just their main blush, "warmth," is one of my main stays as a really natural touch of color on the cheeks. I'd go into one of their stores and have them find a look for you. I think their make up is really easy to just uses touches of for a natural day to day look but then add to it for more dramatic looks or touches. By the way, their brushes are totally worth the buy too.
You should ask Tami, she's great with make up. : ) And I actually think she uses bare essentials too but maybe I'm wrong on that tam?! : )
Either way, I trust she'll make you look great but I'm not thinking she'll have too hard of a job . . .
i'm in the same boat; i don't wear much makeup at all. but i would suggest MaryKay. i've gotten a few things from them, and they are a great brand. most of their stuff is very soft neutral colors.
i'm sure you will look beautiful no matter what you do! but good luck!
and ps...congrats on your engagement! i've been reading your blog for over a year now, but i don't think we even know each other! :)
The only makeup know-how I have is what I acquired from Robin, Mary Kay extraordinaire. Two application tips of hers I always follow: use your ring finger to apply eye makeup, both eye shadow and concealer. The ring finger will use the least pressure, which is best for your skin. And when you rub lotion or concealer or anything on your face with your fingertips, always use up-sweeping motions not down, so as to defy as much gravity as possible, avoiding more wrinkles.
I'm all for having 1) a concealer pen for dark under-eye circles, 2) a bronzing powder (the Body Shop's is the best), 3) mascara and a few fun eye shadows, and 4) great lip gloss. I never use blush because you can get all the glow and color from a good bronzer.
There you have it, my advice!
Oh man. Can't help you here. I'm a Jane, Covergirl, Mabeline type gal.
(Although I do own Mary Kay's eye shadow/blush and really like!)
Good luck! You'll look beautiful either way - this I know! :)
I personally think that eyeliner is the most important form of makeup to wear (especially for pictures). And it's worth the money to get something a little nicer. I like Clinique's quickliner because you twist it up and don't have to sharpen it, plus it's always moist and goes on dark but can still do a smoky look. Though with your coloring, you might want to go for a lighter color instead of black. I have dark chocolate, but they have all different shades of brown and some other interesting colors like plum and slate. I have Clinique's bronzer and application brush too and they're great. Very natural but give a more finished and healthy glow. And you don't need blush if you have bronzer. I agree that less is more. I think it would be fun to go into your store of choice (I've heard good things about Mac) and have someone make recommendations based on your coloring and face shape, but they'll probably go overboard.
So those are my bits of advice. Have fun!
I'm no makeup expert either, but I do own a few clinque and mary kay products. I think that mary kay's liquid concealer is great to dab under the eyes to brighten up the dark circles - and I've had the same little tube for like 3 yrs so it goes a long way.
I echo betsy's ring finger advice and ash's clinque eyeliner.. I just got a new stick of their quickliner in smoky brown that I really like b/c it's not too dark and almost looks like a little eye shadow. clinque also has good mascera and eye makeup remover (purple bottle) too.
I think using a little powder before blush or bronzer on your whole face is nice to even skin tone...
the only other tip I have is that most all of the makeup brands you'll find at a dept store offer free makeup bags w/ sample products inside a couple times/year if you spend so much $ (clingue's is spend $35), which is pretty easy to do if you just buy a couple things. it's nice b/c you can try a few new things, or just not have to buy that item, for example, clinque always has a little mascera tube and usually eye shadow, so I never buy eye shadow and the mascera lasts awhile too, but on the other hand you can get sample products you don't want (like dark lipstick :)) ... but if the makeup you really want isn't offering their promotion (I think you can look online for which products are having their promotion currently) then don't worry about it. and just to make it a little more complicated, the promotion varies by store, for instance, the free clinque make bag and product at macy's would be different than nordstrom's and offered a different month...
ok..that was way more than I thought I had to say about makeup!
OH. Emily. I almost got giddy reading this post. I always say, my three weaknesses are Macs, makeup, and music.
But I'd say, first off, you don't need makeup to look good for the pictures! You have such a great natural beauty, and it will translate great to pictures. I'm confident in that.
With that said, make-up can be so much fun...this is all in my opinion, of course. I think the key is to make sure you still feel like you look yourself. My go to is MAC for sure...their makeup has great pigment and lasts a long time. But I use a large variety of brands. My sister likes bare essentials...it hasn't worked well for me 'cause it tends to just sit on my skin and I don't like that, but it looks good on her.
Here's my three pieces of advice...
1. Buy good foundation or coverup (if you wear it) and face lotion. You can get away with inexpensive shadow, blush, but if you're going to wear foundation, I'd make sure it's good quality.
2. Be careful with bronzer...I think it's easy for bronzer to look orange or fakey...I actually RARELY wear it 'cause of that.
3. If you wear eyeliner, make sure you don't get liner that will smudge. I used to use Clinique, and although it was easy to apply, it would come off or smudge under my eyes by the end of the day. I have a eyeliner system that absolutely does not smudge and lasts the entire day...if you're interested, you can email me!
Wow, like I said, I love makeup...sorry for writing so much!
I got clinique stuff the day before my wedding, but used it a lot since and have really liked it. They have lip stick called "chubby sticks" that goes on really smooth--almost like a chapstick, but has really good color. I also got a good foundation and concealer from them. It was nice to have her help me figure out my coloring because I always feel like in Wal-mart I am guessing and end up with the wrong shade. Good luck! I always think you look great, makeup or no makeup, so you really can't go wrong! :)
First, there is no doubt you will be beautiful regardless!!
The only makeup product I use regularly that is not drugstore makeup is Clinique's Perfectly Real powder/foundation and I really like it. It is natural-looking I think...evens out my skin tone and gets rid of shine w/o looking too thick. I was frustrated with buying the wrong shade and having foundation too thick and this is what the lady at the Clinique counter suggested. It works for me though I bet MAC and MK, etc would have a similar product.
Two things for pictures-this may be something that needs to be demonstrated, but in the youtube world that should be easy to find-"contouring". Adding a very slight shadow under your cheek bone and blush or bronzer along the actually apple of the cheek makes a big difference. I normally don't take the time to do this because you need to be sure it's blended well and not really obvious...but for a photo shoot it's a nice touch. Also with eye liner, I'm sure you've seen the difference when the end of the eye liner doesn't just stop short and continues out from the eye "cat eye" look-without being too over the top, this makes the eyes brighter and more dramatic. As others have said, less is more...so blend blend blend and use a light hand
My sister Kait always does her make up in natural window light if she can and I've noticed her makeup is usually always blended and looks more natural than mine. I try to remember this, but usually end up in the warm fake light in our bathroom. As you may have many pictures taken in natural light, this may be worth considering.
Confidence is your best bet for looking good in pictures ;)
An
oh wow! i feel like i've learned so much through reading this!
haha i was looking for tami's comment, b/c that girl KNOWS what she is talking about when it comes to make up.
i wear bare essentials and really love it...it's pretty simple and looks really natural.
but as everyone else has said...i know you are going to be beautiful!!
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