I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

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.

Excellent, I'll get in touch to organise an assault on Nordstrom when I'm back. First I have to get through 2 weeks of work in the UK equivalent of Scranton NJ as portrayed in The Office.

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.

It ran on me in four hours, sorry. (I was using Very Black or whatever it's called, however.)

Why does your mascara run? DO you have watery eyes? I have never had that problem (unless I was crying).

I mean, no offense, you don't have to answer if you don't want.

No, I don't cry or rub my eyes a lot, I just end up with raccoon eyes (or at least stains) after several hours. (Today, I went to work at eight and ended up with dark circles around three.) I have rather extreme needs though--11 or 12 hour workdays with 2 hours of commuting and possibly 1-2 hours of shopping afterwards.

my problem is always flaking. i get stupid black flecks all over. i can't find one that doesn't do this.

^^^yes!

my problem is always flaking. i get stupid black flecks all over. i can't find one that doesn't do this.

Fibers?

i tried that once, but it made a huge mess out of my sink!

I have no idea what you're referring to, sorry. I was referring to the fibers that are used as lengtheners. Maybe that's what's flaking away.

ohh i was thinking about that tube fiber mascara stuff.

Huh, I've never had Voluminous run even when I've been crying. I do get a little flaking with it but it's very minimal.

i like patina too! its like the non-sparkle version of that "midnight cowboy rides again" color that i like, most \o_O/ color name EVER. it has very fine sparkles in it and is very beautiful.

ohh i was thinking about that tube fiber mascara stuff.

That stuff is so bizarre and hideous.

i like patina too! its like the non-sparkle version of that "midnight cowboy rides again" color that i like, most \o_O/ color name EVER. it has very fine sparkles in it and is very beautiful.

― ilx get on my lvl (roxymuzak), Thursday, December 30, 2010 12:37 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

:D I also like MCRA (ugh the name though lol) but that's more a special occasion one whereas I were Patina a lot more often.

yeah i like patina for normal days and midnight cowboy i wear if im playing or going to something fancy

ohh i was thinking about that tube fiber mascara stuff.

Never heard of it.

I'm assuming Patina's greenish in color, going by the name?

no amount of makeup can cover an atrocious posting style

I'm going to ignore that.

quincie and other red-undertone folks, any recs on a lightweight foundation/tinted moisturizer? I used to use Prescriptives Real Rose and it was great but I hear they closed down their counters and are online-only. my hair turned out good btw! It is very light blonde.

I use MAC's studio fix powder foundation in I think NC35. It is very lightweight, not much coverage but enough to tone down the redness without it looking too makeup-y. And it doesn't oxidize and go orangey on me (which has been a problem with other foundation/TMs).

Cheers to blonde!

teeny re gold: i dont mean that glittery sparkley crap (no glitter is my fashion rule), just like a subtle sheen

also olay used to be called oil of ulan in australia. my mom was a devotee. as soon as i think about it i can still smell it 20+ years later.

also do you know how hard it is to find black eye shadow without glitter. HARD.