Made Up Monday

Instead of exploring with makeup today I went searching through my bookshelves for "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. I wasn't able to find it but I spent the day reading another book which made me look at marriage in a different light.

Something that I can comment on quickly though for the sake of tenacity and this blog is matching colors.

Everyone has his or her own personal style and with that in mind one can't really go wrong. If you have confidence in yourself and can wear the makeup/outfit and keep the confidence all day no matter how many weird stares you think you see directed at you, then wear it. If you think your confidence may not stand up in the crowds then I would avoid the outfit/makeup for now rather than be stuck wishing I could change.

At a Mary Kay event there were two young ladies who were trying on makeup together and the lighter skinned girl was picking most of the colors to try and the darker skinned girl, who was less experienced with makeup, tried all the colors her friend picked and wondered why they didn't look as good on her as they did on the lighter skinned girl.

I wanted to talk to her but I didn't want her consultant to think I was trying to take her client, which I shouldn't have thought because we're both professionals and I'm sure it wouldn't have been a big deal now that I think about it.

1. I should have said your lips are not too big (as she kept saying) they are full and beautiful (appreciate what you have).
2. I should have told her that all the bright colors her friend picked looked good on her friend because her friend's lips are smaller and drawing attention to them isn't a big deal. Your lips are fuller and so attracting attention to them by wearing bright colors will make them look bigger.
3. Browns and golds will look more natural for you, if you want a bold look then try outrageous colors on a darker scale to start out.

There's also the matter of undertones. Warm colors will complement a warm undertone. Cool colors will complement a cool undertone.

Then in the end these are all guidelines that can be tossed for personal preferences, for example

 I don't like the orange on one of these girls, but she obviously does or she wouldn't be wearing it.

Do you use similar guidelines or wear colors across the spectrum? 

Kabuki vs. Blender Sponge

Last weekend I went on a shopping safari looking for three new brushes. I went to about four different stores before I found them. One of these brushes was the kabuki brush. I was really excited to try the kabuki brush because I heard it can be used for foundation, primer, blush, liquid or powder and it seemed really useful as opposed to having a few separate brushes.

My friend said it looked like a shaving brush men use. I got the biggest, fluffiest one I could find and that was probably a mistake because I found it to be a little inconvenient. I guess there's a lesson there; keep the brushes proportionate to your face? There were smaller kabuki brushes but for some reason I really wanted the big one. Really the brush just has more bristles than the other types for better coverage I guess.

Can't get good coverage around the eye area with a fluffisized kabuki.

I put some liquid foundation on my hands and then dabbed the brush in it and brushed it on my face. I worked from the middle of my face upward and outward. It went on smoothly but I don't think it was really effective in blending. Eventually I switched to the stippling brush which blended really well.

The kabuki brush did better with the powder. It created a nice finish, however the airbrush blender sponge also does a good job and I feel that because I already owned the sponge that the kabuki was unnecessary. I may end up reserving it for finishing powder.

http://www.blankcanvascosmetics.com/products/airbrush-blender-sponge-pink-colour.html


I'm going to keep practicing with the kabuki and liquid foundation. I'm not sure about using it for blush and bronzer. If I had a smaller one, yes, but currently the one I have doesn't seem to be handy for strategic contouring and blushing. It'll end up not exactly where I want it.

Cleaning Meh Brushes

There comes a time in make up people's lives when...

THE BRUSHES MUST BE CLEANED 

(and other items)

and that's what I did today.

Get some alcohol

 this kind not the drinking kind although if you wanna drink and clean brushes I don't see why not

 I got baby shampoo because its gentle and it cleans. I forgot about Dr. Bronner's for a brief moment and went with this stuff.

This is a bowl for water.

 See the water and soap bubbles?

I let the brushes soak in the water for a few minutes and then rinsed them, but decided that wasn't the best way to go as rinsing them used a lot of water. 

Look at all the make up that came off the brushes! 

I put some soap in my hand dabbed each brush through the soap as if it were make up I was about to use. I gently lathered the brushes in an effort to NOT lose bristles. Then I rinsed them under a small trickle of water until the water was clear. 

After the cleansing it was time to disinfect them and that's where the alcohol came in.

30 second dips in the alcohol. I mixed in a little bit of water.

Squeeze excess off by squishing brush against the glass

wipe dry on paper towel

 Sometimes more make up would come off into the alcohol so I would change it. It kind of made me question my cleaning method. This happened with the brushes I used more often. Maybe next time I'll wash them twice.

These tools were interesting to clean 

 wasn't sure how to do that

I ended up dipping the brushes in the alcohol and the sponge was soaked in a water/alcohol mix.

you can't see the alcohol but its there.

I practically squished it to death to make sure the alcohol soaked all the way through. I also had to rinse it thoroughly to make sure the alcohol wasn't in it when the sponge dried. I've seen people clean brushes but haven't seen them clean sponges so I was worried about ruining it. It looks perfectly fine though.

 I also disinfected the brush covers

 They had more of a wading pool experience.

I rinsed them out with water one last time and then lay them out to dry.

Cleaning brushes is important because it takes off all make up that will build up on and hinder the performance of the brushes. It keeps germs from spreading from face to face. It minimizes facial oil and bacteria from getting into the make up-which should also be sprayed with alcohol; A LIGHT SPRITZ-I didn't get around to that today. If you don't clean the brushes the germs will just continue to multiply happily on the bristles.

Anime Expo Make Up

This year I went to the Anime Expo in Los Angeles. I went as my own version of poison ivy. There were so many makeup ideas for her on the internet but I finally decided on this one

step 1

step 1

step 2

step 2

I added a yellow gold under the tail of the eyebrow

step 3

Step 3 &4...I added the darker shade on the outer edge

5 and 6, which I think is add eyeliner and then smudge it. The steps don't look very different to me in the picture. I accidentally made it a bit more blue than green.

Eyebrows!!

7 and 8...which also look the same

Then I added an orange color on the bottom of my eye

because I felt like it