I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

thank you valerie/surm
i owe you one!

i should tell you guys that i am on a new routine of regular exfoliation with philosophy products and i think it's working pretty well! my skin looks brighter and less sun damagey.

Bought Nars lip lacquer in Eros colour - love it! My lips dry out w most lip stuff except lanolin - and top ingredient in this is lanolin - yaay pretty :)

Haven't been wearing foundation or blush or anything but la roche posay moisturizer and a bit of prescriptives camo cream (RIP - don't know what I'll do when this is finished up) and my skin is regaining so much clarity! phew. Also, rinsing face 10x w cold water after shower.

Yet still, want all this Nars makeup... so nice.

Just got a free sample of slightly shimmery white eyeshadow. How do I wear this?

I used to wear white eyeshadow on my eyelids as my only eye makeup (except for mascara, of course). It looked nice, but I decided I needed a more 'done' look as I got older.

depends how shimmery, but maybe as a highlighter on the brow bone, with a darker colour on the outer corner of the lid?

It's just standard eyeshadow shimmery, not like DISCO CRAZY or anything. I'll probably just put it all over the place tomorrow morning and see what happens.

Is it glittery shimmery or shiny shimmery?

Hold on let me look.

Shiny shimmery. More like a sheen than a shine, even.

It's this, in "Aspen Summit" - http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P241801&categoryId=S6300&shouldPaginate=true

I also got this eyeliner in "silver green," which I bet will end up making me look ill - http://sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P235502&categoryId=B70.

i HIGHLY recommend that kandee johnson youtube channel (roxy posted a vid on skin care from her) for makeup tips - i am going through a phase of girlyness and she has some really basic and excellent tips for applying makeup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgzzm220tCg

she can be a little annoying but it's worth it

otm she is highly annoying but her tips are almost always great. i use slightly sheeny white shadow as a highlighter

tbh she has basically revolutionized my entire hair/makeup regime. i have pretty much had a great-hair-day every day for the last couple of weeks, since i started implementing some of her tips.

one of the best makeup tips: when putting eyeliner along edge of lid, use pencil first then go back over with similar-coloured powder.

white non-glitter shimmer on brow bone and as highlighter along and above cheekbones

i went into a MAC store in LA on the weekend, and was totally shocked how bad all the store girls looked - i wouldn't let a single one of them near me with even a lipliner brush.

mac girls alwayyys look bad

i usually use a shimmery light color as my base because my skin is so pale i need something to perk up my lids a little. most neutral shades make me look dirty :(

White shimmer on inside corners of eye will wake & freshen you up, and also on the waterline inside the bottom lashes, if it will stay where it's put and not spew dust and shards of glitter onto your cornea.

omg yeah, no I'm not going to try to put eyeshadow on my water line. The thought makes me want to run to the nearest eyewash station, and I don't even know where that would be.

Pro tip: School chemistry labs.

omg yeah, no I'm not going to try to put eyeshadow on my water line. The thought makes me want to run to the nearest eyewash station, and I don't even know where that would be.

Good idea--it can cause eye infections.

I went with white eye shadow kind of all over my lids plus the aforementioned gold eyeliner. A surprising subtle combination!

SurprisingLY

Stupid iTelephone.

I'm gonna get my hair bleached later this week, I'm really excited to change it up. However my pale skin has a lot of reddish undertones and honestly pale hair is not a super look for me. (I am naturally darkish brown but I'm just bored of it) I'm thinking maybe a green eyeshadow would sort of help things? or distract a little? Also I am not sure what kind of blonde I will go for and am considering getting a little old lady purple/blue wash. Do you have any thoughts?

Is a very light shade of brown out of the question?

Also, I like deep dark black mascara, and I need it waterproof and smudgeproof (if at all possible) but all of the ones I've tried run after 8-9 hours. Any advice on a brand?

^^^ I need same advice. Bad Gal was my go-to for a long time, but it melts into my newly discovered under-eye concealer and makes me racoony. Need something that will stay put.

Teeny I also have the pale with reddish undertones and my nonpro tip is a blush that is peachy as opposed to pinky.

hm I have never worn blush, maybe I will try a bit in the store or something. I am 35 now and maybe need to rethink things wrt makeup, I dunno. Light brown eyeshadow looks fine on me (and I actually have some) but it is more conservative than my typical style. My most used eyeshadows are slate grey and hunter orange. Oh and I have some of that chanel liquid eyeshadow in bright silver, which is fun but it does start falling apart by the end of the day. I don't typically wear foundation/powder but maybe need to get some.

I have heard good things about blinc waterproof mascara but I don't have personal experience with it.

ugh and I totally need a lipstick too! Something cool-toned yet with a little brown in it, Laura Mercier used to have a shade called maple that was perfect but it is discontinued. I always want to go dramatic with lipstick too but I think it's ultimately not wise and I should keep the drama on the eyes and just use lipstick to even out tone. Anyone tried the chanel sort of lipstick/lipgloss hybrid, I forget what it's called?

Clinique Angel Red manages to be red yet sheer and very wearable? Clinique Black Honey also? These are the only Clinique I own aside from Honey blush, but I repurchase all of them. MAC Dubonnet is a lippy color I think looks great everyone. . . for a cool-toned with brown red MAC Viva Glam I is bricky and <3, but not subtle (same with Dubonnet, but both very wearable imo).

I need a new eyeshadow palette: have done purple and brown--other ideas for a pale-skinned, hazel-eyed brunette?

teeny you need smashbox primer in green to eliminate the red undertones and i think you'll find gold eyeshadow and illuminator will be better than silver

yes I wore black honey in college and loved it, I should try again! thank you for the other recs. I do not wear gold though, it is one of my FASHION RULES even if it does not serve me well. Maybe actual shimmery gold would not be too bad though.

Used to love black honey but I feel like they changed it and it became browner than it used to be and now I can't wear it.

Teeny, I meant light brown hair color, not light brown eyeshadow.

Okay, so we're stuck in Philly for a couple of days without our luggage. Foreseeing some delay, a tossed concealed and lipstick in my carry on, but I need some blush and an eyebrow pencil, STAT. Drugstore recommendations?

Also, I didn't keep any moisturizer because I figured we'd be stuck in the airport overnight, tops, not hanging out in a hotel. Five minutes before Rite Aid closed, I ran in to grab some and in my rush (and looking at price over snything else, plus their selection is tiny) bought regular Oil of Olay and omg this shit STINKS.

My friend calls it Oil of Old Lady

I can't use that stuff because my mum always has. It was Oil of Ulay when it first entered my consciousness.

I think Maybelline do decent drugstore makeup though don't have any specifics to recommend.

I need someone to overhaul my makeup. Where is a good department store for 'guidance'? Are the Sephora ladies any good at advising? (any DC-specific advice from quincie particularly welcome...)

There's always MAC and Sephora, but tbh I have had better experiences at the Nordstrom cosmetic counters. . . largely because the lighting is better and I can wander around in a potential new lippy or whatever checking it out in different mirrors. MAC lighting sucks ass! And I've never had my makeup "done" at a Sephora--I feel like that is the kind of place where you just have to know what product you are looking for and go at it more or less alone.

I can wander around in a potential new lippy or whatever checking it out in different mirrors.
i love doing this! i recently went to sephora to buy some new fun eye makeup and i did that with some crazy purple eyeshadow.
love their store brand eyeshadow crayons btw -- $6 means you can experiment with some crazy colors too.

Thanks, Nordstrom it is when I get back to the US.

light brown hair is not an option! :D

I like sephora in general, they were the ones who pointed me to the laura mercier maple shade when I said "I want something that feels like clinique's black honey" and they were right on. Or when I went looking for hunter orange eyeshadow they were able to find the most vivid orange available very quickly (whenever I go in I am hauling a ticking time-bomb toddler so time is of the essence). Sometimes you will get a dud salesperson I suppose. I don't go in that often really, I swear!

My favorite product right now is this stila eyeliner/eyeshadow in one:
http://www.sephora.com/browse/product.jhtml?id=P20757
I have it in slate and can do a smoky eye in like 60 seconds with it.

i always feel like sephora girls are just retail employees w/ no real knowledge of makeup... i've had them make me look awful/cakey/icky.. i feel like i need a redo, too!

I feel like Sephora employees are sales people first, reliable sources of information somewhere farther down the list.

My sister is a cosmetologist & the first job she could get out of school was at Sephora. She told me she just said to customers whatever she thought they wanted to hear. Like if they asked about a foundation she'd say, "It's great, it's the one I'm wearing right now" (= lie but she does a great job on that so she sold a lot). I'm not saying they are all like that, but it was like a bragging point for my sister, lord knows why.

Yeah, I went to Sephora to try and get some actual advice about a product (actually it was the foundation that Clinique totally changed and I needed a replacement for, think I've moaned about it upthread) and they basically just read out what was on the packaging as if I couldn't read it myself and didn't actually know anything like what the difference was between two lines of makeup.

revlon colorstay eyeliner and covergirl dream blush are my drugstore standbys

also one day @ sephora in knoxville all the girls were in black lipstick like it was a hot trend

they all looked shit and always do

xpost Tehresa, let me know if you want to hit a dept store counter for a redo attempt once I'm back after 14th (and obv Quincie too if you're interested!)

Here are some fun things I got recently

Benefit highlighter called "Girl Meets Pink"
Mac eyeshadow in Patina which is my favorite ever color

ummmm

I think that's it.

Oh for mascara, and believe me I've tried tons from drugstore to top of the line, my old standby is Revlon Voluminous waterproof version in Black. It's $5 a pop and I've never found anything I like better.

I am totally up for hitting dept store counters for redos! I want to learn how to do my eyes in something other than plum or brown.