When I first started wearing makeup in high school, I was a complete novice and, like most young girls, put on way too much. The difference between me and most young girls was that my mother thought it was hilarious that I left the house looking like a drag queen, and didn't make me take it off like my friends' mothers did. In fact, she still has a photo of me at age fourteen, looking like a hooker from the neck up, that she loves to bust out and show to everyone at family gatherings.
When I hit college, during the grunge years, I spent most of my time with a bare face. At most, I'd wear some grubby black eyeliner, mascara and brown lipstick.
After college, I started trying makeup for real. I fairly quickly mastered the basics - foundation, concealer, blush, lip gloss, mascara, eyeliner, shadow - and was even able to jazz up my eyes at nighttime. But there are still a few beauty products that scare the shizz out of me. And I need to conquer my fear!
1. Bronzer
Seriously, I've never been able to put this stuff on without looking ridonkulous - streaky and orange. I can't even put on the Bare Escentuals Warmth without looking like an Oompa Loompa, even though the chick at Sephora made me look fabulous. Hopefully my Benefit 10 (which, according to UPS.com, will be arriving today
) will be a subtle way to start.
2. Perfume
I've mentioned before that I worked in a perfume store during high school. I think that's why I've been so opposed to it ever since. I would love to find my own "signature scent" but every time I try a perfume, it just smells so perfumey and I can't get used to it.
3. Liquid Eyeliner
I wish I knew how to put this stuff on. I am such a spazz that I gave up on trying precision eyeliner long ago. Now I either use a wet brush in my shadow to line my eyes, or some kind of chubby, shimmery crayon which doesn't require as much precision. But every time I see someone wearing really sharp liquid eyeliner, I turn green with envy.
4. Nail Polish
See above re: spaz. I can't put this stuff on to save my life. My left hand comes out looking like a blind person painted it, and my right hand comes out looking like a blind person with tremors painted it. *le sigh* I can't even paint my toes without them getting all messed up!
5. Red Lipstick
Everyone tells me I have the coloring to pull this off. And I look good when I wear red clothing. So why can't I wear red lipstick without looking like a clown, or like a little girl who got into her mother's makeup? I've tried all different shades and I just can't get it right.
That's it, I suppose. Does anyone else have any cosmetic fears, or am I the only freakazoid here?
Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti
my first job was at a sephora, i worked with perfume, did makeup and had to wear black eyeliner and red lipstick everyday (back then it was our uniform). i went through this phase where i wouldn't' touch makeup at all, eventually, i got to a point where i would do my eyes and play around for dances and going out. now i'm at a point where if i get up early enough, i'll do my makeup.
weekends i'm all about the mascara, lipstick and
eyeliner though. it's fun to dress up.
the trick is to get a good lipliner for red lipstick, i'd go for a redish gloss first just to get used to the color.
::the platypus is proof that god has a sense of humor::
1I've never had any. I embraced cosmetics with a passion since the first time I opened an Avon catalog a long while ago
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* love is in the air *
2I'm with you on the liquid eye liner issue. I cannot put that stuff on to save my life.
I definitely did the too much make up thing in high school; although, THAT was my hey day for red(dish) lips (not so much anymore). Of course, I was in private school, so the venues we had to express our style were through makeup, hair style, jewelry, and shoes. I had a very minimalist look (long, stick straight hair) but with red lips. I THOUGHT I looked like Gwyeneth Paltrow in her just-after-Brad-Pitt phase, but now that I look back on it, I totally didn't. He he. I never did the grunge look. I had friends who did...just imagine pleated, plaid uniform skirts and oxford shirts with thermal underwear, Timberland hiking boots and flannel shirts worn as jackets. It was a total travesty.
As far as products that I'm scared of or can't master, I'd say black eyeliner, the whole "smokey eye" look, dark lipsticks, and at-home hair color. Oh, and as an aside, I CANNOT master The Hairdo...you know, long, touseled waves like Jessica Simpson, Carmen Electra, etc., etc. My hair just won't do that.
3I, too, struggle with the smoky eye and lipstick of any kind. I've learned that I'm a gloss kind of gal.
I used to wear liquid eyeliner ALL the time. The trick is, as I'm sure you've heard before, is it lay the tip of the brush flat against your eyelid and aim for your eyelashes. It takes practice, for sure.
An eyeliner that I just started using and love love love is from Mac, it's called FluidLine. http://www.maccosmetics.com/templates/products/sp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CATEG.... It's not fluid by any means -- it's more of a gel. But you apply it with a stiff brush and just a little tiny dab will be enough to apply to your eyelid. It's super easy and gives you more control as to how thin or thick you want the line to be.
4I can do the smoky eye, because it requires a lot of blending and smudging and I'm okay at that kinds of stuff.
Maybe I'll try that eyeliner. DCBaxter, you should write a review of it and post it in this Beauty Product Junkies group.
And RCL, I hear you about The Hairdo. I'm having a ton of problems with my hair at the moment, basically because I need a cut but I'm not sure what to do with it. So in the meantime it keeps growing and growing and looking more and more shapeless and dead...
5My biggest fear is looking like a clown or getting bad skin because of wearing make-up. The only make-up I wear is mascara, eyeliner and lip balm. Hopefully I still look ok!
6no fear, why fear makeup ?
7yayi,
8I used to be scared of blush until fairly recently. Um...I still rarely wear dark colors on my lips. I'm a little scared of too much color on my eyes, although I am definitely going to try atox's purple and green tutorial one of these days...
As for painting your nails, Whip, practice practice practice! Practice with clear nailpolish for a while and you'll get the hang of it without looking like a spaz.
9Jen, I think you could definitely pull off big colorful eyes! I was scared of that too until very recently. I've been playing around with it lately and I'm loving it. And you have much more expertise than I do so yours will most likely look much better than mine.
What sucks is, I'm out of contact lenses and haven't had time to go to the eye doctor so I've been wearing my glasses the last month or so. All my fun eyeshadow is being hidden.
10I'm afraid to go outside of neutral colors.. My face is sensitive too, so it's scary everytime I try a new makeup. I never know how my skin will react.
11My fears include red lipstick and nail polish too. I did a whole post on the red lips thing a while ago, and I still haven't both a lipstick
I feel like a five year old playing with mommy's make-up when I try some!
About the bronzer! That USED to be one of my fears, but it isn't anymore since I bough my precious bronzing pearls. Now I love bronzer, because it gives me that...
12...GOLDEN SHINE!!!!
13I'm scared of accidentally getting a product that contains oil - I'm allergic. Also, liquid eyeliner, I need more practice. Other than that, no fear.
14Whiplash, the warmth is very tricky for BE. Even Hula by Benefits. To me, the trick is to really pat your kabuki brush after having it on. If you use the BE foundation, you can mix. I do that with mine.
*Sigh*
Liquid eyeliner. I can put that on so good...on anyone else. The same exact application on me just doesn't look good. I think I just dislike the product. However, I discovered Paula Dorf Transformor powder eyeshadow converter. I'm telling you, this stuff is the BEST. It opens up a world of options.
Red is a very hard color. One of the hardest parts though is trying on a red, and then another. YOu just won't get the true color after the first app. I don't know the color of your skin, but I have olive color, Mediterranean hue. Orangey red looks horrible. I stick with bricky reds. Prescriptives, Loreal, Revlon, Chanel, and Dior have some of the best reds I've ever seen. You can't wear much of anything else with red either. Just mascara and a very light blush.
Perfume, I like to mix mine. I got Curious from my boyfriend for Christmas and I really dislike it. But it is okay when I mix it with Sensi by GA. Depending on your age, your chemistry changes too. Try Aveda...they have some cool ones.
Nail Polish...I am into fishing and scuba diving...my nails look horrible!! BUT, I keep my toes done...almost always red. Classic color. You may not have a steady hand so I would recommend a pedi every two months and color change in between.
15I have none that i can think of........
16I don't do lipstick. I barely do gloss, mostly just chapstick or a clear shine gloss for me. Color on my lips just makes me feel like a hooker.
I don't do bronzer, either, because I am so fair and I just don't want to look fake or look like I'm trying to deny my natural skintone.
And I find it really difficult to do more than one color of eyeshadow. With the shape of my eyes I don't really see the point of doing more than one shade. (Although, I do highlight with HighBeam or MoonBeam in addition to eyeshadow).
As for nailpolish, I just don't wear it. For me it's not really a big deal, I have never looked down and gone, "ACK! My nails are NAKED!"
17Yeah, I've basically given up on nailpolish for my fingernails. Although I do like to keep my toes painted, not like I've shown my toes in the past four months.
I can't wait to try out my new Moonbeam tonight!!
18I think I actually prefer MoonBeam to HighBeam. Does that mean I have yellow undertones?
19Not sure... I still haven't figured out what kind of undertones I have. When I look at the inside of my wrist, it just looks like...wrist color.
20Me too, except for the blue of my veins underneath. I always think I'm more yellow until I compare myself to my hubby, then I think I'm more pink.
21I think my salon offers makeup lessons... I should sign up.
22Has anyone ever done that before? Gotten a makeup lesson, or gotten your colors done? Do tell, was it worth it?
23No I haven't, but I would like to! When I look at my wrist, I don't see gold/pink/yellow undertones either, just flesh colour!
24Also, I
painting my toe nails! Don't ask me why, I just do
25i think that blue veins mean neutral or cool undertones...not 100% sure though. i always look pinkish when i compare myself to hubby. he's portuguese and has a tan all year around.
::the platypus is proof that god has a sense of humor::
26I'm just very very fair, and I've given up tanning, so I'm going to go for the Naomi Watts-swears-by-sunscreen look.
27I don't really have a fear of make up, I'm just always scared of having a make up line.
Unless I'm totally misunderstanding the question.
28No, you're not misunderstanding. And it's not like I'm AFRAID of this makeup, I just don't know how to put it on. So, it's more like ignorance of how to apply it, and fear of looking stupid when I do.
29I guess I'd say I'm a little scared of liquid liner and cream shadows. Cream shadows always cake in my creases and I don't even put alot on.
30i think pale is fine. i'm a glow-in-the-dark shade myself. meloma = bad
::the platypus is proof that god has a sense of humor::
31Oooh, false eyelashes. I would LOVE to be able to expertly apply them on special occasions, but I've only ever even attempted it on Halloween, and they weren't great.
32I'm so-so with false eyelashes. I've gotten them right and I've gotten them horribly wrong. But when I got them right, I felt SO sexy! It's like a push up bra for the face!
33
Whip! Hahaha @ a push up bra for the face!
34Oooh, I've never even tried false eyelashes! That's a good one, SPM. I'm totally scared of those.
35It's true!
Automatic sexiness!
36Yeah, false eye lashes, add that to my list. I haven't tried them but, I do have some..I don't know why, probably for special occassions. It's the glue that scares me.
37Jen, is it the glue that scares you too?
38One Halloween, I had a Pimps & Ho's party and wore false eyelashes with rhinestones across the lashline. BOY, were they fun, although I'd never wear again unless it was with a costume.
39Ooh false eyelashes are scary. I'm nervous I will end up looking like "New York" from VH1.
40The MAC counter is a great place to teach you how to put fake lashes on. Most of the girls(and guys) that work therewear them on a daily basis. That is the only beauty product I've ever been scared of and I just had one of the girls at the counter show me and it became pretty easy after practicing a couple of times.
And speaking to undertones, there really is more like 3: cool(pink or red), nuetral and warm(yellow). Some are more cool or warm than others.
41RCL what kind of makeup you getting for your wedding?
42Try individual false lashes if you're not very good at putting on strips. They look more natural anyway, but they take longer to apply since you do them two hairs at a time.
I suck at liquid liner. Won't touch the stuff. I can do the same thing with a wet eyeshadow brush and have it come out a lot better than when I use that skinny little brush the liner comes with.
43You guys should try an angled eyeliner brush for wet eyeshadow and liquid eyeliner. It makes such a huge difference in the way it looks and it's so much easier.
44I don't think I have any um.. cosmetic fears? Hahaha
45umm
46Whiplash, I would go for the lessons if your salon has business in that area. My mom worked at a salon doing nails and sometimes I would help with the phone on weekends. I learned from the artists there that came in on the weekends. Also,my hair dresser who I used to go drink wine with at his house and his drag queen friends would come over and we played dress up. I learned more versatility during the days when I modeled in college. And then practice. I love make up but barely wear all the different colors. I am teaching my guy's daughters instead.
47I don't know BB just the whole idea.
48Let's see here Whippy...
I love using bronzer because you can subtley use it and really make your face defined. I posted a tutorial on it at the veeeeeeeeeeeeery beginning when I started this group.
I love perfume. I have two that I'm using now, and one more that I want to purchase here soon. My all time fave and sig scent will always be Britney's Fantasy.
Liquid eyeliner intrigued me like none other in middle school, so I practiced and practiced and wore it all the time in high-school and occasionally now. Jen and I are working on a liquid eyeliner tutorial. Coming very soon
I hate having naked nails. My fingers and toes are always glitzed up. Usually in red, unless I'm trying to be all "professional" or something
I don't like lipstick. Never have. I just don't like the way it feels on my lips. I prefer my glosses
49im with you on the bronzer..i just cant do it! what kind of eyeliner is that i really like hte packaging!
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