Licensed professional-type chiming in here - Dio, all of your advice is spot on!
The ONE thing I may differ with you on, and, I really just think this depends on training, and such, is the order of concealer/foundation, etc…
I was trained to apply foundation first, with concealer on TOP. The theory behind that is that if you put on the concealer FIRST, you are most likely rubbing it all over the place, and possibly completely OFF, when you apply the foundation on top of the concealer. I have tried it both ways, and PREFER the foundation first application. But neither one is right or wrong, just chiming in with an additional option for the Doperettes who feel like they concealer isn’t…concealing. Try applying it over the foundation and see if you get a better result. Set with powder. Done!
Oh, and MY makeup preferences are pretty similar to yours - the MACPro card DOES make it easy to become a MAC whore. I also love love love Too Faced. When I go out on freelancing jobs, I tote around my 2 NYX kits. For a “cheaper” brand, I sure do love it for all-occasion jobs. And it’s less of an investment when pieces need to be replaced. In the end, the NYX will run about the same as MAC (after the MACPro discount), but for some reason, I prefer the NYX for jobs.
Sigh. This is all your fault. Last night I went out and got my eyebrows waxed for the first time in ten years. (Couldn’t find threading locally.) They do look good, though.
You know, I think my preference here is definitely influenced by what I use. It’s rare that I actually use a formal foundation, instead I use Studio Fix powder that’s all in one. So, of course I do concealer, then my “foundation” since my foundation is in my powder.
I suppose when I do use separate products (Makeup Forever HD!), I do put the concealer over the foundation. Guess I hadn’t thought of that!
I’d imagine the NYX is good for jobs too, because if someone falls in love with a product, it’s something you can tell them how to get easily and cheaply, ya know? And it really is good stuff- I was surprised by their lipsticks, shadows, and glitters I got during their last $1 sale (that’s right, everyone! Once or twice a year, the NYX website has a close out sale where tons of products are $1). I still prefer my Mac lippies (they are slightly less waxy than the NYX ones), but the NYX is good stuff none the less.
Being a makeup artist must be so much fun! I always get nervous doing other people’s makeup- mostly because folks always say, “Oooh, do my makeup like yours!” The problem there, of course, is that I wear a shit ton of makeup on the regular, so it doesn’t look funny if I have a crazy smokey eye or something super bright, it just looks normal. On someone who never wears makeup, even if I do a stellar job, it just wont look right on them. Though, that’s usually where I end up adjusting what they are asking for without them knowing (when I did prom makeup, the girl said she wanted black and yellow eyes. . . I ended up doing a gold lid with just a touch of Chrome yellow in the center, then Knight Divine [dark gray] in the crease. That ended up looking much much better on her!).
You know, it really is the #1 way to immediately freshen your face. It’s astonishing what a huge huge huge difference cleaned brows can make in framing your face. I’ve seen people literally look 10 years younger after 5 minutes of wax! Crazy stuff.
Duly noted! I’ve never used the HIP stuff myself, mostly because I look at the price tag and walk away knowing I can get Mac for sometimes even cheaper!
Haha! I save all my MAC for my own face. Like I said, it’s cheaper to replace (the NYX) sometimes then replacing MAC once a month or whatnot.
In the interest of full-disclosure, in the state of FL you do not need a license to do makeup - and I think that goes for many other states as well. I am a licensed cosmetologist, sooooo, my main focus is hair. But doing makeup is a quick and easy way to supplement income! Depending on the event, ESPECIALLY this time of year in FL (it’s prom season - whee) I can pull in 100 bucks for an hour’s worth of work - especially if you travel to locations (gas, mileage, etc). Some of my colleagues have been known to pull in 600 dollars for a wedding just doing a bride and her MOH - in and out of the location in 2 - 3 hours, tops. nice work if you can get it!
So I guess what I am trying to say is that if you can get a foot in the door doing makeup somewhere, DO IT! Take some photo’s of some of your work and start a “portfolio,” although I find that my own face is my best marketing tool. I also get the “I want my makeup to look just like yours!” so I am my own best business card. It IS fun, and sometimes challenging, but for the most part you meet awesome people and you’re seen as some kind of super-hero-magician-genius at the end, which is nice, too…
I’m also currently teaching myself how to do airbrush makeup, which is super fun and super easy, AND a great money maker!
You’d think so, wouldn’t you? The boyfriend came home and I asked him if he noticed anything different. Cue stereotype! “Um, you cut your hair… again?” No. “Is that a new dress?” No. “Well, it’s a pretty dress…” Yes, that’s what you said when I wore it last week.
I finally told him what he was supposed to be looking for and he told me I should go get my money back because he couldn’t tell the difference.
If it makes you feel better, I’ve got a whole regimen of Lush stuff winging its way to my house as we speak. I’ve also been ogling palettes, despite the fact that I just got the Coastal Scents 78-color one because of the other makeup thread. Somebody stop me.
I have trouble with my lips. I spend all day drinking tea, so nothing stays on. I like MAC’s glosses and don’t mind reapplying them, and I’ve had okay luck with Benefit’s lip stain, but I’m not crazy about the color I have. Any recommendations for long-wearing stuff that doesn’t taste like lipstick?
And thanks again for starting this thread! I love makeup, but I’m a newbie at it.
/edit: Shoot. I just noticed that you don’t do the long-wear thing. Anyone else?
I wear contacts and swear by Stila’s Better Than Waterproof mascara. It is amazing stuff.
I find that using Cetaphil-type washes help me remove thick caked-on makeup with less trauma to my skin, and second the vote of using a primer of some sort to shield your skin from the awful that is pancake makeup.
I swear by LUSH’s skincare line, especially their moisturizers and Black Angels scrub-- for my sensitive, breakout-prone skin, using that in combination with my foundation seems to keep my skin clear and happy with me. (BTW, I use Too Faced’s Magic Wand Illuminating Foundation in Paris Light Medium.) Diosa, if you run out of the volcanic ash scrub from MAC, give the Black Angels scrub a try; it only takes a tiny bit, works really well, and lasts forever.
You’ve seen what I do to my face, but if you had access to it, what would you do for fun with my makeup?
Too Faced FTMFW!!! I LOVE this stuff. The fact that it adjusts to your skintone is awesome, too - so you don’t really need to find the EXACT match. It’s pretty brainless. Too Faced is a great boutique brand. And since I know the sales rep and Orlando “artistic director” type, I get the heads up on the new stuff and get freebies all the time! I am slowly phasing out old makeup and replacing it with MAC and Too Faced.
By the way, the new Aqua Bunny bronzer and plumping lip glosses are to DIE for!!
I think I’ve gushed enough over this brand. But still…
Wait, why would that make a difference (if they have never worn makeup before)? Like, do you mean that only wearing a smoky eye when you aren’t wearing a lot of other make up (foundation, concealer, etc.) will look odd? Or that putting on a lot of make up on someone who’s never worn make up before for the first time will look strange on them?
Ok, so I haven’t managed to take new photos of myself this week, but these twophotos are from last Christmas and I’m pretty sure I’m not wearing makeup in either of them. (I’m the younger brunette in the first one).
I recently cleaned up my eyebrows a bit to define the shape a bit better and make my eyes look less like they’re hiding in caves under my forehead, and I now fill in the sparse bits every morning (I have a scar cutting through the left one that gives it an odd shape) and use a bit of Smashbox’s untinted brow tech wax on them.
Can you give me any other suggestions for something professional but interesting? I don’t really wear foundation, mostly because I really never got the hang of it, but I tend to redness around the nose.
It is true- people will pay through the nose to look good. If you’ve got the skills, it’s definitely a worthwhile endeavor, but I just don’t have the time to dedicate to it. I wish I did. For now, I’ll just doll up those who specifically ask- I like to think it ups my Mac karma!
And airbrush makeup is definitely the hot thing right now. Have you seen OCC’s new machine? It’s supposed to be great. Airbrushing is also awesome because you can do more serious contouring- definitely a great skill to acquire!
I don’t think that has much to do with the brows as much as it has to with boys. Once, I cut 10 inches off of my hair and my ex boyfriend took a week to figure out what was different.
Like I said earlier in the thread, even though I don’t use them (I like to switch my stuff up throughout the day AND I’m more of an eye than lip girl), my friends love the Mac Longwear line. Definitely try it out!
Try walking into the Mac Pro store, dropping $100 and walking out with the teeniest of tiniest bags. It fills you with shame, it does.
Hmmm, I will get a sample of the Lush scrub next week. Thank you for the tip! It just so happens that I’m almost out of my Volcanic Ash scrub, so your timing is splendiforous.
You, like all the Dopers who have posted in this thread, have bad ass skin- it’s that pretty, clean, porcelain white that I couldn’t have even if I put on SPF 100000. Though it does look like you brown up a bit. Either way, emphasis on clean, glowey skin always. So, a little primer- some days you might need a little of the green to combat redness (probably when you don’t have a tan), but most days you’d be fine with the clear. Then, I’d just pile a Mineralize Skin Finish on your cheeks, since they would just pop-- probably something with just a touch of pink amidst the highlights, like refined.
Depending on what you wanted to do, we could do a natural eye, but I think with your rockstar hair you would look amazing with a sexy smokey eye. Something with tons of sex and liner, like Kim Kardashian’s here. Her look there is achieved with browns instead of blacks for shadows, then tons of black liner and mascara. Depending on how vampy you wanted to be, you could either do a really sexy nude lip, like Kim does, or go balls to the wall and do a striking red lip. With that look, your eyes will look huge and sultry, your lips would be sexy, and your skin would just glow.
Ha, I haven’t ever tried anything from them. Hmmmm…
Well first, yes- it does look odd when people do heavy eye looks and don’t finish the rest of their face. I know that when I do my eyes first and I do them extremely heavy, it always looks off until I put a little bronzer on the rest of me.
But that’s not what I meant :). If you don’t wear much makeup on the day to day, even if I do the most perfect, amazing, sexy smokey eye in the world, you’re going to think you look funny with that much makeup on. You wont look like yourself. Think about it, this is the number one complaint you hear from average folks who go to the Mac counter-- “Oh GAWD! She painted me up like a drag queen!” Odds are, the makeup artist did a technically great job, the fact is though that they don’t know you or your style, so they did the text book look on you, not one fitting YOU.
Now, I may look at the smokey eye and think you look smoking (ha!), but my point is that you personally wont feel right in it. At least, this is what I’ve noticed with my friends. Makeup has to fit your personality, as most people don’t always want to play dress up.
I have a somewhat technical question about mascara - and hopefully a stupid question!
It’s been a long time since I bought some, because it had been a long time since I wore make-up. But last year, I started putting on make-up again, and quite like it. But I recently decided I needed new mascara (too much flaking and clumping).
I bought the L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara (it was on sale!). When I opened it this morning, it looked like there was nothing on the brush at all. I applied it to my eyelashes, and it did put a bit of black, but not much. It kind of looked like there was a sleeve lining the mascara container … am I supposed to pull that out?!
Ahh, to yourself. I thought you meant to other people which made me wonder…whoa, how could they tell? But yeah, that’s a good point. I think I felt a little surprised after my first make up consult at the MAC counter, but in a good way. But definitely, you’re right, it’s all about finding the style that you personally want since we all have our preferences and styles.
