Okay, in my ongoing quest to be able to pretend I’m a grown up, I have been thinking I might have to learn about this whole makeup thing.
I’m skill-less and clue less.
How do you know what colors to use? What products? Any one have good ideas for a clutzy beginner?
C’mon, help me be girlie here…
I guess you could go to a dept. store makeup/perfume counter where they give makeups. I think they’re free. Never tried.
You could befriend an Avon lady…
But I’m not much of a source on this topic. I’m 48 and can count on one hand the number of times I’ve used cosmetics.
I once had a book called umm, Color Me Beautiful I think, lesse quick google search shows , aha, http://www.colormebeautiful.com/books/ .
hope this helps.
I can’t really answer any of that without knowing your skin tones, type, age, etc.
Go to the mall and look for some one at a counter who is wearing make up you like. ask them.
There have been a few threads about this with good advice. I am not sure if they are still up due to the problems we had here. it’s worth a look though.
You can’t go wrong with mascara and lip gloss.
Try a mascara that curls your eyelashes (L’Oreal makes a good one). It makes a big difference – your eyes will instantly look bigger and brighter.
I have to agree. Although I don’t personally like the curling mascaras, but I do use an eyelash curler every day before I put on my mascara. I’m also a big fan of liquid eyeliner, but it can be tricky because you’re basically painting your eyelids with a tiny brush. But mascara is pretty easy, a good place to start.
The Usenet group that deals primarily with makeup-related topics is alt.fashion. If you hung out there for awhile, you’d probably learn a lot.
Personally I don’t use makeup, but I went through a phase when I was putting on a “full face” every day, so I learned quite a bit. Basically you should just try experimenting to see what works best for you.
About my only tip would be: don’t do that tacky thing where you line your lips with a dark color and use a pale lipstick. Ergh.
My mom was very nice to me when I was in high school and started to be interested in makeup by getting me a consultation with a Color Me Beautiful lady. I’m sure if you go to their website you can find somebody in your area. It was really helpful to me–she showed me what the right colors for me are and how to put on makeup and such. It costs a lot, I think about 50 dollars for an hour or so session (and their makeup is really expensive if you choose to buy it), but it will save you money in the long run because you won’t waste it on stuff that is completely the wrong color or stuff you don’t like (they let you try on makeup at these consultations, so if you don’t like using eyeliner, for example, then you find out before you buy it) However, if you do this, just buy the basics to get you started. Then later you can get similar (cheaper) stuff at drugstores, since then you’ll know what you want.
You could go get a makeover at the mall, but it will probably be a little scary–they tend to go real heavy on the makeup there, which will freak you out if you don’t regularly wear a lot of makeup. You could also try Avon or Mary Kay, they consult too, but it depends on your luck and area if you will get someone who is good at makeup or someone who is not so good.
Anyways, your mileage may vary, but you might wanna look into some of these people.
I went to a Clinique counter, but I think that’s considered something of a teenage makeup brand. Anyway, they were very nice and helped me pick out some stuff that matched my face well. Unfortunately, I am still fairly clueless about good colors for me so I haven’t bought any new makeup since I went there. So, bottom line: Clinique is very nice, and you should try to pay attention to what the nice makeup lady is saying because otherwise you will find yourself without a clue about what makeup is good for your coloring. Also, they expect you to make choices! About what color lipstick you want! :eek: I had no idea, so I just went with pink. Works well enough, for the record.
You’re young, so you probably don’t need foundation. If you have blemishes, you might want to get stick concealer (I like Neutrogena) - you just dot it over the spot and then tap it with your ring finger until it’s blended. It’s usually quite easy to figure out your color - most concealers come in light, medium, dark, and then corrective colors like green and red.
If you want some coverage on your skin, a good tip is to buy a liquid foundation (something oil-free is good) and mix a few drops with an SPF moisturizer. Use a foam wedgie to apply it lightly, and you’ll get an even skin tone but it won’t look like you have on a mask. I love Neutrogena Oil-Free Foundation and Oil of Olay moisturizer. Matching your skin color can be a pain in the ass, so it’s cheaper to buy those little $1 samples in some similar shades before you commit to a big bottle of foundation. But if you cut it with moisturizer, as long as you get within a few shades, you’re okay.
If you have naturally flawless skin, I’d try Revlon Skin Lights brand. You get it in tints - natural, blush, bronze, gold, and some new ones, I think - and it goes on very sheer but makes your skin luminous. I need something stronger, but my friend with perfect skin loves it.
Mascara is a godsend - I always wear mascara no matter what. L’Oreal Featherlash is my recommendation, because it adds length and isn’t at all goopy. Unless you’re blonde, I’d go with black or deep brown. Also, Revlon has this new High-Dimension brand that comes in black with highlights of another shade, like blue or green. It sounds weird, but it really highlights your eyes and makes them stand out, and the color isn’t even obvious. For a special occasion or a night out I love it.
Blush can be a pain in the ass. I’d suggest getting a cheek stain - I like Revlon’s China Doll, which comes in a little pot. It looks really dark but goes on lightly so you look as though you are flushing slightly. You just dab a dot on your cheek bone and smear it with your fingers
You can’t go wrong with lip gloss, tinted or clear. There are a bazillion different kinds out there; Naturalistics is my favorite.
Make-up remover is nicer than soap, but you can also just use Vaseline. I use it every night to remove my mascara. If you have sensitive skin, you might want to try Cover Girl Remover because I’ve heard it’s really delicate.
Those things - foundation, concealer, mascara, blush, and gloss - are the basics. I usually spend a little more on them, because I wear them every day and want quality. It might sound like a lot of make-up if you don’t wear any, but it only takes me five minutes in the morning to do all of that and I look very natural, just slightly enhanced. If you wear nothing else, mascara is your best friend and will brighten your eyes and make you look fabulous.
Once you get that stuff down, you can experiment with cheaper products. I think the brand Rimmel (which is sold at Wal-Mart) is amazing - it’s very cheap but good quality. Wet & Wild works well, but you can definitely tell that the quality is low. Anyway, if you want to try blue mascara or silver eyeliner or purple eyeshadow or red lipstick, you can buy these cheap brands and experiment. If you hate the color, you can toss it without much guilt. It’s a good idea to play around because you never know what might look really good on you. I’ve been pleasantly surprised many times. Most of all, remember to have fun.
I agree with Azure Eternity’s Clinique recommendation. They’ve always been very helpful and have never pressured me into buying anything when I’ve done one of their free make-overs. I don’t think Clinique is really a “teen brand,” as I’ve seen women of all ages shopping their, but they are more receptive to younger customers than a lot of other make-up counters.
I don’t use liquid foundation anymore because it’s too difficult to find a match for my pink-toned skin, and because it’s hard to blend. I use Bare Escentuals mineral makeup #3 which is a perfect match. It’s possible to use a very thin coat and build up only in areas that really need the extra coverage. Some people might think it’s too shiny, but I love the look and the light feeling. YMMV.
I’ll third the Clinique suggestion.
They have a lot of “natural” looking colors.
They are inexpensive compared to other department-store brands.
They will gladly teach you how to apply the makeup. (you might have to make an appointment)
In my experience, the salesladies have been very receptive to my needs/desires/preferences, and haven’t tried to push me into heavy-looking makeup. They also haven’t been pushy about getting me to buy items I don’t want.
I find that it is cheaper to just buy the right colors in the first place than to buy several cheaper items to get what I want. Since you can try the makeup on at the Clinique counter, you can see if it really works.
I’ve never heard Clinique called a teenage brand. Maybe because it is less expensive than, say, Estee Lauder? Maybe because the colors are more natural-looking, and won’t give you that over-made-up look?
I would also recommend the Clinique brand.
My dermatologist also recommended it to me, over Mary Kay, Avon and other home-sold brands, and over drug-store brands. He said to stay away from the Mary Kay and Avon brands.
I had been using Cover Girl, but a girl I worked with at the time sold MK, and got me to try her stuff, but it made me break out. She told me it was okay that it made my break out, that was how I knew it was “working” to clear my skin of impurities, and that it would clear up soon. It didn’t, and I found myself at the dermatologist. He told me the MK salespeople are trained to tell people that, about their skin breaking out, but that if any makeup makes you break out, that means it’s bad for you.
He also said the MK stuff has a lot of extra crap in it like perfumes and dyes that people are allergic to and have bad reactions to.
Makeup should never make you break out. Just my experience.
I’ve never heard of it as a “teen” brand. It’s more expensive than Cover Girl or Revlon, but worth it.
I use the Clinique ‘Stay-True Make-Up’. I’ve never had a problem with it making me break out.
One more thing about Clinique–I was at the counter buying something, when I lamented that I didn’t really like the last lipstick that I had gotten from them. The saleslady offered to replace it with a different color. (fortunately I had it in my purse) So she gave me a brand new lipstick! That’s good service.
Actually, when I still was willing to look at Clinique, I found they never had shades that would look half decent on me at all (from foundation, to lipstick, to eyeshadow, to blush, etc. Nothing they made looked even close to ok. It was like “clown with bad eyesight” makeup.) Then, one day a Clinique counterperson was absolutely horrible, beyond merely just rude, to me and so I filed a complaint against her to that particular store & stopped looking for things at any Clinique counter anywhere.
So, I’d recommend against Clinique. Very strongly against them.
Bobbi Brown tends to have very good, subtle, neutral colors, and is a good price for a dept. store brand.
You know what colors to use the same way that you know what colors of clothes you should wear, you try them on, you look at yourself and you think “Wow, that looks great!” “Hmm… not bad” “um, ok” or “was I ill when I started shopping or is it this color?” Department stores are great for this - everyone has everything out. Go around and play with various colors from different places. Look at the people who are selling the products as they’ll tend to reflect the makeup’s style.
As for products, probably mascara, something on your lips (gloss or lipstick) and something on your cheeks is basic. You’re probably young enough not to wear foundation (& in fact, foundation shopping and applying can suck the life out of you - so I really wouldn’t recommend it to someone starting out, eventually you should learn how - all knowledge is good, but to begin with, no). The way you learn to apply it is through trial and error. At the counter, they can (and will if you ask) give you good tips, but you still need to spend time at home trying it on, looking at it, washing it off and trying it on a different way.
You can also get a makeover at the mall, but realize that just because that they are not always right or even close (I once left a counter looking like revenge of the purple planet & a clear line under the chin where the foundation ended and my real skin showed through - I ended up washing my face in the mall bathroom with that powdery mall soap just to remove that disaster).
Hmm…so I should find a professional, gotcha.
Osunds like fun actually, if I can do it without any of my friends noticing.
As for colors, I’m a blonde with blue eyes and really, really pale skin. Most make-up sessions are pretty disasterous because everything has always looked so fake/heavy/overdone.
So it a try and find out deal…cool.
Thanks for the product reccomendations and the push to go get some one professional to help out.
My coloring is similar, only I’m a redhead. You’ll have a problem with foundation looking orange-y on you. If you’re looking in a store, put some on, make sure you know what the color is called, then get out into natural light - the light at the counter can make it look better than it is.
The only success I’ve had with matching my skin tone was with Neutrogena (inexpensive) and MAC (not cheap but the salesladies are nice and work with you, despite the purple eyeshadow). Clinique didn’t have a shade fair enough for me. :rolleyes:
Also, have a light hand with the non-foundation stuff. We fair people need to go easy. An amount that would look good on my asian best friend makes me look like a raccoon.
Serendipity and Green Bean, pretty much all the girls at my high school use Clinique, so I assumed that it was something of a teenage brand. I guess not.