Speaking of gel eyeliner, I am completely obsessed with Tarte EmphasEyes aqua-gel liner. I can’t get enough of it. Goes on smoothly and blends beautifully, lasts for EVER. The only reason I don’t have it in every single colour is because I can’t afford it. But man. I’m a convert to gel eyeliner. Love it.
Thanks! Just ordered some, and the brush. In your previous “ask the makeup girl” thread, you’d recommended maybelline’s dream mouse foundation (or, at least, I think you did) and I recently got some of that and love it, so thank you for being so helpful.
Lip color–Maybelline Superstay Lipcolor is the best ever. Once it’s on, it doesn’t come off unless it comes in contact with grease. While this means a fast food lunch takes it off, seriously… it doesn’t come off on anything else. Not your husband, your lover, your white shirt, or those little wisps of hair that get blown against your lips then against your sunglasses. It’s awesome.
Eyeliner–CoverGirl Perfect Point Plus is the one that works best for me. You get the control of a solid eyeliner, but it goes on very easily. Most solid eyeliners require way too much pressure. ETA: gel eyeliner? I must try.
Mascara–CoverGirl, the one I have now isn’t quite right, but one of the ones that comes with a neon-colored silicone brush. It never clumps and never flakes. It’s awesome. I MUST pay attention to the name next time I get the right stuff.
I also use clear mascara to hold my eyebrows in place, and eye shadow, but I don’t have any loyalties in those directions.
I have never used foundation and wouldn’t know where to start. I like mascara and I like my eyelash curler (when I use it).
I came into this thread to mention this. This stuff is the shit. Smudgy eyeshadow became history after I started using it.
My problem is blush. No matter what I do, it always ends up looking clownish and doll-like whenever I try to put it on. I’m sort of wondering if this is because I’m not used to seeing my face with blush on it, or if I’m just not putting it on correctly. I have Cargo’s Beach Blush, but I mostly use it as eyeshadow (which works great).
Sometime I’m going to try a gel liner. i’ve never been able to get a good result from a pencil liner in all these many years - too hard, too waxy, too smeary, feels funny putting it on - so I never bothered (we won’t even talk about the liquid eyeliner). Though I can’t resist eyeshadows and have about a zillion in every color imaginable, some highly unsuitable for my coloring. A very fine pointed, moistened brush used as eyeliner works just great, and a lighter shade eyeshadow in the same color family, or even contrasting, finishes the job.
You might need to use a special brush. I got mine at Kohl’s; I call it a skunk brush because it has black hairs coming out of the handle and white hairs at the end of the brush which are softer than the black hairs. With this in mind, lightly scratch the surface of the powdered blush and pour a small amount on to the lid. Use the skunk brush to pick up a small amount and then lightly apply to your cheek area. Once I tried this technique, I stopped looking like a tin soldier and was finally able to try some of Bobbi Brown’s bright blushes (say that fast 3 times)! Hope this helps
That’s the duo-fiber brush I was talking about earlier. MAC has a couple; I fell in love with the style of brush after one of their makeup artists used this one to apply liquid foundation on me. Sonia Kashuk (via Target) has a cheaper one, as does Coastal Scents.
OK, I’m loving the L’Oreal Double Extend Mascara. Apparently the first coat is actually only a primer and doesn’t do anything other than make sure the mascara goes on smoothly (per a review at beautypedia.com), but it went on so smoothly, no clumps at all.
With this primer, I can pretty much use anything I want.
I haven’t been able to master the mineral powders. I don’t know if it’s operator error or just my skin, but those just never work for me.
I’m Caspar-white, and I love it. I put it on with a ginormous powder blush, rather than a blush brush, and it’s just glowy on me.
I really want to try The Multiple stick in it, too. Suddenly I’m all about the creams for blush lately.
I have similar problems with foundations (and similar sounding skin troubles). If I don’t start piling on the moisturiser while my face is still wet - even if I’ve done nothing but rinse with lukewarm water - it’s like a flakey Sahara. Face Dandruff. I has it.
I gave up on ever finding a foundation, so now I do this:
[ol]
[li]Moisturise. I like Lush’s Imperialis.[/li][li]Sunscreen.[/li][li]Smashbox PhotoFinish Primer[/li][/ol]
I wait about five minutes in between layers to give things time to soak in. I’m still not totally clear on how the primer works exactly, but it does seem to minimise pores and prevent my face from drying out by early afternoon.
My skin’s not that dry but it’s a lot drier than when I was younger.
I’ve pretty much given up on makeup because I can’t work out what should be used and in which order. Way back in the dark ages, when I first started using makeup, I’d wash my face and put on makeup. That was it. Moisturiser was considered unnecessary back then if you had oily skin (which I did, in my teens). As I got older, I started adding new things to the regime: cleanse, tone, moisturise. Then I figured I should probably start wearing sunscreen every day. Then I heard about primer. Sounds great but I have no idea in which order all these things are supposed to be applied. So I gave up on the whole idea.
I do remember reading once that sunscreen should be the very last thing applied which sort of confused me no end: how would you go about applying sunscreen over the top of powder?? 
Yeah, that one confuses me too.
I thought about it for a while, and then decided sunscreen would be most effective if it was the closest thing to my skin. Aside from the damage it would do to my makeup, putting sunscreen on last sounds like a good way to have it ‘shed’ faster than it normally would as the makeup/powder/whatever wears off during the day.
Primer should go on before any other cosmetics (because it’s like priming a wall for painting, see?), but after your normal cleaning and care routine. So if you wash-moisturise-tone, do all that before the primer. Foundation-blush-lipstick-etc., happens after the primer.
Seriously, this is the best mascara ever, and you don’t even need to use the primer side (unless you have short lashes that you want to lengthen). Let me put it this way: I’ve been using eyedrops all morning, maybe once every ten minutes (antihistimines are drying out my eyes), and my mascara has not smudged ONE BIT. This would be unheard-of performance with any other mascara I’ve tried (and I’ve dried dozens).
So, sunscreen before moisturiser? Really, it’s no wonder I’ve given up, is it? This is getting way too complicated.
I’m not sure that part really matters. You could mix the two in your hand and put them on together, as long as you’re sure that you’re putting on sufficient sunscreen in the process.
This is a good suggestion. Coconut oil is a miracle substance. When I studied to be a massage therapist, it was our favorite massage oil/lotion. It’s very compatible with human skin… soaks in, not greasy, naturally antiseptic, and it doesn’t go rancid. It’s solid, but melts at body temperature, so it immediately liquifies when you pick it up with your hands and spread it. It’s also good for you to ingest. (The so-called “tropical oils” were given a bum rap way back when, and I suspect the corn/soybean oil lobbies were behind it.)
Nars Stromboli, Foundation
Guerlain Loose Kohl in Noir, inner eyelids
MAC Kohl Pencil in Black, upper eyelid
Splurge Mascara: Yves St. Laurent Volume Effect, Regular Mascara: Benefit Bad Girl
Lips: a range. My favourite is a Guerlain kiss kiss lip gloss (in Cherry Fizz, I think)
Cheeks: Nars or Vasanti
Here’s me wearing all of the above: makeup overload!
Hey guys, sorry to bump but I had a question for ya.
So I finally got the Smashbox primer you’ve been raving about.
But I don’t know when to put it on.
Right now, I do Klaron (anti-blackhead lotion), Aveeno Positively Radiant spf15, and L’Oreal True Match liquid foundation.
So do I put Smashbox on after the Klaron or after the Aveeno or after the foundation?