HELP ME

[singsingsing]

I hope that got your attention. I was going to post this on Facebook, but then I realized I didn't want to bother with all the hilarious jokes about women, makeup, me, or some combination of the three from men practicing their stand-up comedy routines in the comments. So.

I'm looking for recommendations for good quality but affordable makeup. I currently use Body Shop products, but I've had multiple bad experiences with the company so I'm looking for other recommendations.

My current makeup strategy is:

-dab some concealer under my eyes and on any spots and blend it with my fingers.

-use a makeup brush to put some powder that's about a shade too dark all over my face.

-apply a dark purple solid eyeliner which inevitably goes on too thick, which I then smudge a bit to try to, I don't know, make look like I meant to do that or something?

-optional: put some brown shimmery eye shadow on my eyelids.

-if I'm feeling especially ambitious I also add a little pale gold shimmery eye shadow to the inner corners of my eyes, and pretend to blend it.

-apply mascara. I blink and little spots of mascara get transferred above my eyes and I wipe them off.

-use the same brush I used to apply the face powder to apply some blush in what I think may be a shade of peach.

I don't really like doing my makeup. I don't have great fine motor control, so I can't do liquid eyeliner or anything like that. I would love for my makeup routine to last no more than 10 minutes total.

My main concern is to replace the face powder with a good sheer foundation or tinted moisturizer. I have a pale olive complexion contrasted by very dark hair and darkish eyes, so my main goal is to look less tired and anemic. I have sort of mildly dry skin but I'm also prone to mild breakouts. Does anyone have any advice? I could really use it!

[SamiKatz]

Have you looked into Pure Ananda?  Canadian company and their products are clean, with primarily organic ingredients, and mineral based.

I have quite a few of their eyeshadows and really like them.  

I think price wise they would be similar to Body Shop, but I actually haven't shopped there in awhile.

[louisa05]

This video is great for application tips. I started using a beauty blender after seeing it and changed a few things I do and I look more polished. You don't have to mess with contouring and all of that that she shows, but her advice for the rest is great. 

As for products, I think it is a lot of trial and error for most people. I would recommend asking for advice at a Sephora store. Put your budget out there at the outset, though, so they can recommend products in your price range. I use a Dior foundation that is pretty sheer (Dior Star), but it is $50 a bottle. I'm sure they can steer you toward stuff in the $30 range if you ask specifically. 

[librarianjojo]

I recommend Lisa Eldridge's YouTube channel - her advice on simple makeup looks and good products is unbeatable! I was a makeup simpleton until her channel entered my life.

[HurricaneBells]

I am just as bad but my team at work put me onto the best product i have ever used. Here is the US link (I am in Australia) https://www.lorealparisusa.com/products/makeup/face/bb-cream/magic-skin-beautifier-bb-cream.aspx?shade=deep#

I dust some matte bronzer over it and it looks the same if i was wearing primer, concealer, foundation and pressed powder.

Love that you wear purple eye shadow. I love a gal who aint afraid to shine!

[PennySycamore]

This just occurred to me today and it's taken me a while to post the thought.  Often you can get a better match with foundation shade at a department store cosmetics counter.  Maybe, though,  you don't want to have to always buy foundation from the cosmetics counter.  There is a solution.  Go the Lancome counter to get shade-matched.  You maybe can get a free 10 day supply of that shade.  Once you know that the number that works for you, you can get the same exact shade by number in either L'Oreal Tru Match or Maybeliine Fit Me.  L'Oreal and Maybelline are part of the Lancome empire.  I use Lancome 110 (Ivoire) and 110 (Porcelain)  in Maybelline Fit Me. It's the lightest cool shade.  You would wear something different, of course.  

[PennySycamore]

@singsingsing,  I missspoke a bit when I said that L'Oreal and Maybelline shade numbers were the same as Lancome.  That seems to be true for Maybelline (at least the Fit me foundations), but L'Oreal is different.  Their Tru Match foundation shades have a letter -C, N, or W- and a number.  I'm C1 in Tru Match.  The letters stand for Cool, Warm and Neutral.

Here's a Try Match shade finder from Ulta:

L'Oreal foundation finder

[CancerBomb]

I personally like L'oreal, NYX, and Physician's Formula products. They're on the higher end of drug store prices, but are really good with skincare concerns. 

[Pretzel]

I like L'Oreal, too. If I want to splurge I go for L'Oreal instead of the drug store brand. I usually don't like spending a whole lot of money on one single product, and I think a lot of the drugstore products are just as good as the high end options. There's no need to spend $$ on one single product if you don't need it for daily skin care. 

@singsingsing Here's what I do on a busy day: 

I wash my face thoroughly with a skin cleaning solution, then pad my face with 100% natural rose water (helps me prevent break outs). I cover all red spots with my favorite (drugstore brand) concealer and use a brush to work it into my skin. I use a brush with slightly toned powder and pad my entire face with it. I apply a very neutral (to me) eyeshadow in light pink on my lids, use mascara, I then apply some powder blush on my cheekbones and the sides of my nose, apply lipstick or gloss and that's it. Sometimes I only use concealer, mascara, and lipstick. Sometimes I go out of the house only with a concealer in my bag and I use a break to tap some on red spots. I never skip the step of washing my face, applying rose water and a facial skin care product. Especially in the cold of winter, I think it is the most important thing. Make-up is no fun if your skin is flaky and stinging. Never forget to completely remove your make-up before going to bed and applying a skin care product over night. I have combination skin so I choose a natural product that addresses my skin issues at night, and I choose a light moisturizing product in the morning. I feel that over night my skin has time to absorb the ingredients and recover from the past day. 

I don't apply make-up at all on the days that I don't have anything important to do. A couple of days without make-up in between days with full facial make-up is a must for someone with my skin type. 

On days that are worth it I proceed like above, but before the concealer I apply a primer on my face. Then I apply a foundation, then the concealer on red spots, then I set it with a powder. I apply a base on my eye lids, apply my eye shadow of choice, apply eye liner, mascara, brush my eyebrows, apply blush, lipliner and lipstick. 

I hate bronzer, I don't like the highlighting business, and I don't like the various eyebrow products (I think it looks way too artificial). I am not a big fan of applying too much color on the lower eye lid or kohl. 

• The most important thing, if you ask me, is that you find the products that are perfect for your skin tone. It's much more important than buying a pricey product. Nothing looks as ridiculous as when the make-up doesn't match the wearer's skin tone.
• I think the goal is to look natural and to enhance the natural beauty. If make-up looks caked on, it's not doing its job. You are doing it right if it's making you feel confident and natural. 
• I recommend you get several brushes (they don't need to be expensive. I think a good drug store brand suffices for your purposes). Do not mix the blush and powder (or eyeshadows) with one and the same brush. There are also complete and inexpensive sets available on amazon. Clean them regularly with a mild (baby) shampoo and warm water. Let them dry completely.
• A beauty sponge blender works great for foundation and concealer. 
• Get a mascara with a brush that is small enough to fit under your eye lashes. Don't spend too much $$ on mascara. I used an Aldi store brand and until it was discontinued, it was the best mascara ever. IME if you blink and misapply mascara, the brush is too big or the shape not ideal for your lashes, or the mascara too old and/or dry. Try a different brush or different mascara. I use a Q-tip to remove the tiny black spots and re-apply some eye shadow. 
• Get a powder that's either translucent or very lightly toned (or in your case, brighter than your skin tone). Test any make-up product in the store before you buy it. Some products tend to darken on your face, and that is less than ideal. 
• If you're really into eye liner, try a combo of liquid and solid. I rarely use eye liner, but when I do I use the solid first, then correct/perfect the lines with liquid. The farther away from your nose, the thicker the line should get. The thumbnail on the video Louisa posted above shows perfectly how eyeliner should look like (left side) and how it's too thin (right side). 
• Prioritize: what is the most important thing for you? For me it's covering red spots and applying mascara. If I run out of time, that is what I do. You could time 10-15 minutes and see what you can get accomplished in that time.  And continue doing that in the morning. 

[Pink Muffin]

I would like to share something about makeup and me never wearing any 

This was about thirteen years ago and my niece was just starting to wear make up. She had spent the night at my place and was doing her make up routine and I mentioned something about me not wearing make up.
She looked me up and down and said very seriously

Well, at your age* you don´t need to look good 

So I´m sorry that I can´t help you. But maybe I should look at the tutorials you have linked to and learn me something

*I was about 45

[Maggie Mae]

I got a bunch of samples from IPSY which helped me decide what I did and didn't like. It also gave me brushes for days. 

I mostly wear only tinted moisturizer, mascara, maybe a power or a liquid foundation applied with a brush, and lipstick. Oh and eyebrows.  

[WiseGirl]

I recently started wearing makeup again because a colleague sells Mary Kay. To my surprise it is the first eye liner I've ever been able to use successfully.  It goes on easily and smudges nicely. I'm older so suddenly eyebrows are important. However, I could use recommendations on mascara.....

 

[Pretzel]

@WiseGirl I've heard lots of people recommend the Maybelline The Colossal mascara, and I've also heard it's supposed to be so good that professional make-up artists choose The Colossal over high end. I have tried it, I really like it but for my eye lashes it is not the best one yet. It would help me to know your location. Do you happen to live in the UK, Germany, central Europe? (In the video I linked to down below Erin recommends Mary Kay mascara)

@singsingsing Now I know this is kinda hilarious, but Erin Bates (Paine) did some tutorials a couple years ago and out of all the make-up tutorials, I find hers the most natural and most realistic. I find most make-up tutorials on YouTube overdone, only few are suited for a daily make-up routine. Erin's tutorial is easy, correct (as far as I can tell), and realistic for an every day look. Who has the time to spend an hour or more on their appearance every day?

The lighting and sound aren't very good in either video, but the content I find really helpful. I don't know if I should be proud of the fact that Erin taught me how to apply eye liner corectly. I like the way she does the eye shadow, too. I always thought if Erin was more into doing tutorials and videos, and maybe blogging, she could become a real icon in the world of (not only) young fundie girls, and at least some would learn how to put on make up properly. Back in the day I used to smudge all kinds of products and colors on my eye lid and looked like a clown in the carnival of Venice. 

Erin uses a BB cream as foundation, which I find interesting. I usually get dry and flaky skin from wearing real foundation too often during winter. Maybe I'll give a BB cream a try, too. 

 

[SuperSluth]

Quote

 

I use BareMinerals and have found it is best for avoiding break outs and getting a natural look.  I really love the Well Rested Face and Eye Brightener. They might have some good sales on gift boxes/kits where you can try multiple products after the holidays.

Recently started using a retinol moisturizer from Bae Body.

https://www.amazon.com/Baebody/b/ref=w_bl_hsx_s_be_web_15758567011?ie=UTF8&node=15758567011&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Baebody

[Million Children For Jesus]

For ease and speed, I would get a creamy yellow concealer, a 2-in-1 foundation powder, a creamy peach lipstick that can double as creamy blush, a cheap black eye pencil that can also do eyebrows, (if you have black eyebrows), and a good mascara. That's the fastest, fits-in-a-clutch make-up kit.

I have the same makeup routine, skin color, and skin condition as you have described. As far as actual brands and a full makeup kit, I like the following:

Primers:

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer - It has a very clean ingredient list, minimizes the look of pores, and helps hold makeup so it doesn't slide off on those oilier days 

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Primer - Clean ingredient list, and they're not kidding, this really does magically age rewind. I don't know how they do it, this stuff is amazing. It takes a second to dry and set, so if you get bored quickly, apply, then brush your teeth or some other task, and then begin your makeup. It doesn't really work if you rush things and try to apply foundation before letting the primer set all the way.

Yellow Concealer: 

Maybelline Cover Stick Concealer, yellow. It's cheap. It covers dark eye circles and redness on cheeks or chin. Medium okay ingredient list, not the best. It is a little bit thick, which is okay for oily to normal skin, but might be too thick for dry skin. I used to use a Mary Kay liquid yellow concealer that I liked a lot better, but got too lazy to order it. 

Non-yellow Concealer:

Almay Wake Up Concealer. It has a cleaner ingredient list than the Maybelline stick, but I prefer the yellow listed above because it works better for me. If you want an ivory concealer or a liquid instead of a stick, this is a good inexpensive option. 

Online Foundation:

Rejuva Minerals makes a mineral foundation, a cream foundation, and a pressed foundation, and all have very clean ingredient lists. Basically, the cleanest on the market.

You can't get faster to apply than a pressed foundation. It also covers break-outs nicely. For the most natural coverage, applying liquid foundation with a sponge and set with powder using a brush. For ease and speed, the pressed foundation can't get any easier. 

Drugstore Foundation:

The ingredient lists vary wildly depending on the shade, even for the same product lines. A few that don't cause me to break out, are easy to apply, have decently clean ingredient lists, and are inexpensive are: 

Maybelline Dream Velvet Soft Matte Hydrating Foundation (Natural Beige, Nude, or Sandy Beige)

Cover Girl Clean Sensitive Skin Liquid Foundation (Creamy Natural, Warm Beige)

Terrible ingredients, but wow does this stuff work... Maybelline Instant Age Rewind. This is just slightly outside of what I'd actually want to use based on the ingredients, but I love it. 

Powder:

e.l.f. Studio Translucent Mattifying Powder, Translucent. Cruelty free and vegan, very clean ingredients. Doesn't cause break outs and it's translucent so it always matches foundation, and sets foundation without needing a big expensive powder brush. Oh, and it's super cheap.

e.l.f. tone correcting powder - clean, inexpensive, tones down redness, especially good if you skip the yellow concealer step above

Wet n Wild CoverAll Pressed Powders, that stuff that 12 year olds buy, is some of the cleanest pressed powder you can find on the market. (12-year-olds wouldn't buy it if it gave them zits.) The Fair/Light and Medium/Tan both have clean ingredient lists and shouldn't cause break outs if regularly applied with a clean sponge. Bonus, it's cheap. Colors are not really a one size fits all, so that's the downside of this product. 

(All of the loose powders I have in my current possession have garbage ingredient lists, so I'm going to pretend I don't own these right now.)

[Million Children For Jesus]

Cate McNabb makes a cheek and lip tint that comes in a little pot and is marketed as being both cheek and lip color in one, but any creamy lipstick can do the exact same thing. It looks very pretty if you want a natural, monochromatic look. 

[Million Children For Jesus]

On December 9, 2017 at 3:34 PM, WiseGirl said:

I recently started wearing makeup again because a colleague sells Mary Kay. To my surprise it is the first eye liner I've ever been able to use successfully.  It goes on easily and smudges nicely. I'm older so suddenly eyebrows are important. However, I could use recommendations on mascara.....

 

There was thread drift once about eyeliner, and the Mary Kay eyeliner was mentioned numerous times. I used to use it, and I loved it. It is definitely a stand out.

I haven't really been using eyeliner recently, just out of laziness. I have $3 wet n wild kohl pencils and $3 e.l.f. kohl pencils, that I use as both liner and brow pencil, but not all that often. The wet n wild has a fairly clean ingredient list. Anything cleaner is going to be one of the pricier organic, or mineral focused brands. The e.l.f. is not as clean as wet n wild, but still better than other comparable products, and especially at that price point.

I would buy Mary Kay again if I were to start wearing "real" eyeliner again. They had two, a liquid one that made sharp cat eyes, and more of a liquid pen style one for regular use. I haven't checked the ingredients on either product. (I used to not care about ingredients. Sometimes, I still don't. It just depends on what is going on in life.)

I also really liked the Mary Kay soothing eye gel, but now I use Batty's Bath soothing eye gel, which I buy online. My eyes are very sensitive and I have thin skin on my eyelids and around my eyes. The gel products are well... soothing. I wouldn't mind trying the Mary Kay eye gel again.

In high school, when I was super obsessed with makeup, I swore by Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara. I bought it recently and it didn't have the same magic. Most of my make-up enthusiastic friends swear by Lancôme and Maybelline mascaras. I haven't tried Lancome. I buy Maybelline Great Lash and Volume Express, but they're just okay for me. I'm still looking for a mascara to love. I bought a cheap one once that was amazing, and then I threw it out thinking I would remember the brand, and now I can't remember. It might have been Rimmel. I'll admit I tried the Younique 3D Fiber lashes, and my lashes were amazing, but I'm too lazy to re-order. 

[cascarones]

My day to day is pretty much like yours, quick, fairly minimal, though I am curious about contouring. I really Love Rimmel mascaras, I’ve got the lash accelerator for day to day and one of the volume ones for when I feel like I want to look like I’m wearing big dramatic fake lashes. A tip to avoid getting it on your face is to switch eyes between coats over do one eye at a time (it allows some drying time). If I’m too lazy to put on eyeliner I press the mascara brush against the base of lashes give it a wiggle. It thickens the lash line, since I’m wearing glasses most of the time I’m skipping mascara.

For eyeliner I use powder (usually just regular eyeshadow) with a fine tipped brush that I dip in water. It doesn’t smudge as much and I feel like it gives me better control than eyeliner pencils (plus I don’t have to worry about them drying out or needing sharpening). I also just don’t like having to press harder on my eyeball with pencils. It works for me since I’m a weirdo and do all my eye makeup with the corresponding hand to that side of the face, so I’m a bit prone to messing up pencil liner with my right hand since I write left handed.

Currently I use deciem for liquid foundation, it’s quite nice if I use a primer (they have a great, reasonable skincare line that is really pure serums for just what you need). I can’t speak highly enough about their serums, they’ve really changed my skin and are cheaper than the drug store anti-aging stuff. I just ordered the BareMinerals Complexion Rescue try me set, it has their CC cream, powder and brush. For application I have a brush, but also have a micro vibration foundation sponge that allows you to use less product and blends airbrush like. Lancôme has a teint visionnare line where the foundation has the perfectly matched concealer in the lid of the top, which I’ll likely splurge on when winter is over and I’m out of the house more. 

I’m also a fan of NYX, they have a really nice rose gold highlighter cream that I’ll use on the tops of my cheekbones and a bit under my eyes to hide the dark circles. Their foundation powder is nice, but I’ve found their lip offerings to be very off putting.

For lips I like to do a long wear stain then just apply the Maybelline baby lips balm peachy colored chapstick as needed. 

I did Ipsy for a while, found a few products I love and enjoyed trying things out. I’m still using a blush bronzer set from them, but started getting repeats or colors that are trendy, but don’t work for me.

[singsingsing]

Thank you all so much. I've been reading all of your comments, and I'm sorry I haven't been able to respond to each one individually - I really appreciate all the advice and suggestions!

I tried out a BB cream, and WOW, my skin is NOT happy. So that won't be happening again. Now I'm looking at a tinted moisturizer, probably. 

I have started filling in my eyebrows just using an eye shadow that's a fairly close match to the colour of my hair, and that seems to make a big difference. I also find wearing lipstick makes a big difference, so I've started up with that as well. Concealer and foundation seem to be my biggest troubles!