I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

(xp)

u can use as much as you want quincie :)

I don't really use powder powder that much unless I'm shiny, but like powder blush, powder eyeshadow. . .

Like I totally admire cream eyeshadow but have no idea how you actually go about applying it.

cream blush would make me break out like WOAH

i use a little brush and put it in the eyeshadow, then put it on my eye, blend with finger if necc.
not hard. sometimes i wonder if i'm doing this all wrong, because i've never felt that applying makeup was in any way "difficult"
maybe i'm just bad at it and don't care?!

also come to think of it, that Tarte blush made me break out something fierce, but nars is fine

ok so i made a list of all your recommendations and marched into sephora, but i got freaked out and overwhelmed! the nars orgasm blush totally didn't work for me - it made the broken capillaries on my cheeks look worse (i think because i have freckles maybe, and not a nice even skin tone??). i minced around in there for a bit before giving up and going to the MAC counter at macy's. i let the girl plaster me with makeup and came out with blush, lipstick, lipliner, mascara, eyeliner, bronzer, lip plumping gloss and the studio fix foundation recommended by quincie.

kind of surprised by how cheap mac stuff is - it's really expensive in nz.

whoa! MAC haul!
i've never tried studio fix but am kinda afraid of it for some reason. i think b/c my skin is so sensitive to bacteria that even with powder i immediately replace the sponge thingy that comes with it with a new cotton pad thingy every couple of days.

anyway! my newest discovery: i was using makeup forever hd foundation, which i really liked in coverage but found too heavy in feeling, plus it was causing breakouts, i finally realized... my skin is super sensitive and dry yet prone to clogging up and breaking out in all sorts of fun and different ways (pimples, rashes, whatevs) even though it is, in essence, quite nice skin, when under control.... so yeah, i went in search of something new and ended up with Clinique Supermoisture foundation - it is pretty awesome. and easy to apply. and slightly shimmery but naturally so. very pleased with it, and my skin is clearing up like magic, even tho i am a total stress case these days.

i am starting to wonder if they changed the hd formula some how because i used to love it and now it feels like a film sliding around my face. i will get a trial of the clinique, though i am v hesitant to buy anything else until i get to new climate/humidity zone and figure out how my skin reacts.

why do i like make-up to smell? that is weird.

what about the way lip glosses and lipsticks taste?

Benefit, Stila, and Bourjois all taste good. Smashbox is nasssstee, and Urban Decay smells like vitamins.

I'm super happy w the Bare Escentuals Buxom lip gloss. It's a tingly lip-plumping kind, but my lips don't feel swollen or w/e as much as just tingly like using peppermint chapstick.

It's not too slimy, a little sticky but ymmv, nice gloss, good colors, good level of sparkle for me w/o looking like auto body paint.

And the taste is extremely minimal!

Fav color: "Amber"

true! i am a sucker for my reaction to make-up smell/taste far more than what it actually looks like on my face. of course, i prefer both to be fantastic.

today, i saw a hotel maid wearing blush with actual large pieces of glitter in it. it was nagl for sure. of course, it made me think of this thread and our desire for "subtle shimmer", which she clearly had not found.

I totally lazed out of going to a cosmetics counter on Friday -- I shopped for jeans at Macy's on Wed so that was my consumer/customer experience for the week (and then some). But Rrrrob, I will try the Clinique foundation, b/c I hate my old kind right now and my skin is peelingly dry on the surface and yet turns into an oil slick compl w giant infected whiteheads, overnight.

Also going on and off BC hormones at the mo which is not helping.

I was inadvertently glittery yesterday because the silver color on my primer tube was flaking off and getting on my hands and face.

Jus1in3 what color lippies did you get? I have lots of MAC lipstick!

oh shit, i have no idea on the names! i will check tonight at home.

so the MAC girl starts doing my face, and it's going pretty well till she gets to my lips. i'd told her i wanted a pretty soft colour, a shade or two darker than my natural lip colour, and a bit glossy. so she slaps on this peachy pink lip gloss, one of those ones that is REALLY wet looking... she turned away to grab something and i looked over to see my husband staring at me in horror, so i mouthed 'BLOW JOB LIPS'. seriously, i looked like a porn star with that mouth.

i ended up getting an actual lipstick, one with a bit of a sheen and more of a natural lip-pink colour. it's super light-weight, which i love since i usually hate wearing stuff on my lips. this one i can actually see myself getting some use out of.

i was pretty surprised that the MAC girl didn't know the old hairdryer-on-the-eyelash-curlers trick - do any of you do that when you're curling your lashes?

no!

lol at ur story

back in the old days, when i used to bother wearing makeup a bit more often, i used to run my eyelash curler under my hair dryer for about 10-15 secs before using it - works much better (same principle as a curling iron, i guess). i went and bought some eyelash curlers AND some complexion brushes (i was impressed by the idea of applying liquid foundation with a brush).

I do this! Every day! Works so much better than sans dryer.

lol tbh i thought you meant blow-drying yr lashes so they curl up more. which i may or may not sometimes do...

rrrobyn!

i haven't used an eyelash curler in years. i just can't be bothered.

which is silly considering all the things i can be bothered to do.

i was rather embarrassed when the MAC girl asked me to curl my own lashes - but pleasantly surprised that i remembered how to do it and didn't stab myself in the eyeball with the thing.

I stopped doing this because I always managed to pinch the shit out of myself but when I used to do it I used the hairdryer trick too. :D

i had a few bad episodes where i somehow fucked it up really ~crimped~ my eyelashes, which is def NAGL

Oh yeah I've def done that. It's pretty bad.

i try to get my lashes straight as possible but im a curly haired person and spend my life straightening so its probably habit or something.

kate i havent tried airflash but intend on visiting mall this week so hopefully i can try it out

post before and after pics, sunny!

i got two foundation samples from a girl at sephora who looked so so scary. she had pink and yellow and black and maybe silver on her eyes. it was O_O. but she told me she doesn't get commission so i didn't feel bad that she spent 30 min trying stuff on me. then i went to mac to check out that stuff q recommends but the queens were too busy doting on some stupid cute girl who was like 'no really, it's ok, i don't have a lot of time, just looking' and i couldn't get anyone to help me so boo to them.

I saw a Hello Kitty eyelash curler in Target last night.

Ooooooooo.

lol tza

let me guess, was she blond?

no! she was one of those asians with a tan and very nice accessories/hair.

probably lives in belltown condo that mommy and daddy bought her

or did you mean sephora girl? i think she was brunette but i forget. v v pale skin so her crazy makeup looked even more ridic.

i use nothing that is in powder form fwiw

even my eyeshadow is liquid (chanel ombre d'eau)

quincie: my mac lippy is 'syrup'

omg i got my makeup done at this supposedly chi-chi salon in chicago and it was SCARY. i told her i wanted a natural look, not too heavy, natural colours etc and she put a ton of black eyeliner on me (why not dark brown, given my colouring??) and about 60 layers of concealer and foundation and powder, and this awful brown lipstick. i almost cried, it looked so terrible. but everyone back at the house insisted i needed it heavy for the photos, so... i guess we'll see. i changed out the stupid lipstick for my own, tho.

Where did you go?

mario tr1occi or something like that - i can't remember the spelling

my mum also got her makeup done, and her woman did a much a better job than mine

Never heard of it, but it was kind of a slim chance that I would have. I'm sure the pictures will be lovely!

(I've never had my hair or make up done for any kind of formal event and NOT immediately washed it out/taken it off. I finally learned my lesson and refused to submit to the hair stylist on my last go-round as a bride's maid, much to the consternation of the bride's mother (who had taken me aside at the rehearsal dinner to tell me to make sure I at least washed my hair (not because I looked like a dirtbag; just because she was a bitch on wheels)).)

i wish more people who did makeup for events like that remembered that makeup is supposed to make you look like a prettier version of you, not like another person. how hard is that to remember? maybe if you do people's makeup all day, it becomes exhausting to find out about each customer and what would be best for her? why is this endeavor almost always so disappointing?!?

I wear MAC's "Syrup" too. :D

xp i know!! my in-laws' guest bathroom has one of those mirrors with the lights around it, those ones that show up EVERY LITTLE THING on yr face, and when i looked at myself i could see the foundation about to slide off my face. gross.

so i tried testing this foundation today but the picture would not give me an accurate color eye. in my bathroom it looks to dark. in pic in natural white i look washed out. sigh. i think i will wait until next week and go shopping with sister and make her tell me what looks good :D

justine, did you not take the makeup you bought with you? you should have had her use that stuff.

not to be critical, i just meant i thought that was specifically why you bought it.

i wish i had! in fact, i wish i had just done my own! i bought that makeup for our engagement photo shoot and for our reception (which was the day after the ceremony). BUT i was so rushed the day of the engagement thing that i slapped it all on really fast anyway! which is why i'm glad i bought stuff that i will get a lot of use out of anyway. i really love the mac lipstick, actually.