Make up Wardrobe

Ah, make up. So many different formulas, brands, price points, gimmicks . . . It is so easy to get carried away, I find, and forget that what I am really after is "me, but better". When I see little girls with their make up free faces, naturally rosy cheeks and long, un-chemically altered eyelashes, I remember. This is what women want, right? I know there are times when more drama is what we are looking for, but some women seem to want drama all the time. It isn't necessary, in my opinion, and I think all of us need to remember when to quit.

I think I wear plenty of make up and I don't completely subscribe to the natural look. But I still want to look like myself and the media can sometimes make me insecure. Fake tans, fake eyelashes, fake hair color, fake brows - it can be easy to think you need more more more and that you have all these imperfections you need to correct. You DON'T.

Anyway, I didn't mean to sound "soap-box-y". I really meant to share what works for me and the products I have found success with.

I have been really happy with L'Oreal's True Match Foundation. I have used it both straight from the bottle and mixed with my moisturizer and it really is blendable and matchable with your skin tone. Plus, they have an extraordinarily wide color range and they make a distinction between warm, cool, and neutral skin undertones. Genius!

I currently use Max Factor Erace Concealer. I like it, as far as drugstore concealers go, but I would like to try Benefit's Erase Paste. Max Factor Erace covers my dark circles well and blends well, but it does have a tendency to crease on me after awhile.

I love love love this blush. I use Revlon's cream blush, which is not in every store, but worth a little searching, in my mind. There aren't many drugstore brands that make cream or gel blush and I will not go back to powder. Berry Flirtatious looks really bright in the store, but goes on just right for me.

A little secret of mine - After I do concealer, foundation, and blush, I take a fluffy face brush and brush cornstarch all over my face. Sound crazy? For me it's the perfect (and cheap! and natural!) translucent finishing powder. Keeps everything in place and helps absorb oil - of which I have a lot.

Next is eyes. I use L'Oreal's eyeshadow quad in Subtle Berries. Eye shadow is probably the hardest for me to choose. I try different ones all the time and they don't always look quite right. I like variations on a purple theme, but I don't want to look bruised. So far, I've been quite happy with this one.

For eyeliner, I am loving L'Oreal's High Intensity Pigments duo - Sculpted. I only use the dark shade with an angle brush on my upper lash line. It doesn't look too purple or too sparkly.
For my lower lash line, I line with Almay's black pearl liquid liner. Just about a third of the way in and then blend with a q-tip.

I've always used drugstore mascara unless I had a sample gift one from a department store. I used to be devoted to Max Factor 2000 Calorie but I now use L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black. I always choose volumizing rather than lengthening or curling mascaras. More impact for less product. And I always scrape off a bunch on the side of the tube before I apply it to avoid clumps.

Lips are another thing that give me trouble. I am hard to match. I really wanted that elusive lip color that could be applied without a mirror and without having to "dilute" it with gloss or balm. Frankly, I've kind of given up on that because I don't think it exists for me. For now, I am pretty pleased with something I picked up on a whim because it was so cheap and everything else was failing me. Wet n Wild Wild Shine Lip Lacquer. I chose the color "Risque" and I put it over chap stick or Mary Kay Extra Emollient Night Cream (my long-time favorite lip moisturizer). I can put it on without a mirror when it's going over balm, but I haven't been brave enough to try it bare lipped. Plus my lips are so dry that traditional lipsticks just don't feel good without some extra moisture. This color miraculously looks pretty natural without turning too orange or brown on me!

This all sounds like a lot of make up, but it really takes me only about 10-15 minutes from start to finish.

And what a difference it makes, right?
"Me But Better"