Let's talk make-up!
I started getting into makeup about six months ago and I've become a bit obsessed. I've been trying to nail a natural, glowy everyday look which I mostly have down.
I managed to work out what my undertone is - always thought I had cool undertones but it turns out I'm neutral tending towards warm. I think this was one of the trickiest things to get to grips with, especially as it's one of the first things you need to figure out if you want to find a good foundation match. I tried lots of the recommendations online and spent an inordinate amount of time staring at blue and green marker lines on my arms trying to work out which ones more closely resembled the colour of my veins (the fact that I couldn't tell should have been a clue I was neutral). In the end I took a photo of my face and put it into Photoshop and used the colour picker to see the CMYK balance of my skin tone.
My approach to my makeup base has been to follow Lisa Eldridge's technique for covering acne/ redness etc. It basically involves using a base layer of tinted moisturizer before applying concealer where needed (I generally use a primer beforehand as well). I'd like to try some colour correctors to better conceal redness and the circles under my eyes but e.l.f has completely sold out of the colours I need and I'm waiting for them to come back in stock.
I really like Jecca Blac's glow drops for adding some glow/ highlights to my face. It's the only product of theirs I've tried but I would recommend them as a brand if you're just getting started with makeup. They're vegan, cruelty free and gender free/ trans inclusive, and they offer free consultations if you buy a product with them so you can learn how to properly apply it.
Another product I use all the time is the Body Shop's freestyle multitasking crayon in the colour 'staple'. It's one of the first things I bought and I think it's great as a starter product because it has so many uses - it's lip-liner, blush and eyeshadow all in one. It's good for travel as well for the same reason.
The other thing I do most days is tightline my eyes. I tend to follow this technique which works well for me and gives my eyes a bit more definition without being over the top. My eyelashes are quite dark and long anyway so I tend not to use mascara on a daily basis.
If anyone has any tips on doing winged eyeliner I'd love to hear them! I think I probably just need more practice but I find it quite hard because I'm basically unable to wink so I have to do it with my eyes open.
Also any product recommendations for a setting spray/ powder (preferably vegan and cruelty free). I'm currently using e.l.f's Halo Glow setting powder but I find it quite mattifying and it tends go a bit cakey for me after a few hours.
Anyway, I would love to hear any and all of your thoughts on makeup. What products do you love? Are you looking for some recommendations? What's your goal with makeup and what does your routine look like? Anyone that you follow for inspiration or tips?
I’ve legitimately never known how to figure out what my undertones are. I heard the “vein thing,” then I heard that the “vein thing” is a myth… I feel like I should be good at this because I make things and I work with color, but I don’t know how to “trace” my skin undertones, if that makes sense. Any advice is appreciated.
Yeah I'm still honestly a bit confused by undertones - similarly to you I work with colour so it was super frustrating that I wasn't getting it. And a lot of the 'tests' seem to rely a lot on intuition and personal preference. Like something I wear gold jewelry and sometimes I wear silver, it depends on what I'm feeling.
One thing that helped me was a video which explained that you can have redness on the surface of your skin without that meaning you have cool undertones. I always thought I had cool undertones because I have some natural redness in my face but that redness is more 'overtone' than undertone.
What I did was take a photo of my face with no makeup in direct, natural light and then I opened it in Photoshop to and used a colour picker and looked at the CMYK values for my face. You can do a similar thing with this site. Just upload the image and then click on different areas of your face and look at the values.
CMYK stands for Cyan (blue), Magenta (red), Yellow and Black so you're just looking for the first three values. For me, wherever I click on my face, Y is highest, M is a bit lower (or occasionally equal to Y) and C is the lowest. This told me that I had warm to neutral undertones. Or at least, that's the theory. I'm currently using a warm tinted moisturizer and it blends pretty well with my skin.
If your C values are highest or equal to the M values, you probably have cool undertones and if they're all pretty much equal, you probably have neutral undertones. But you might also have olive undertones which I know less about, apart from the fact that it's a bit of a pain because less brands will cater to you. Theoretically though, olive undertones would lead to your C and Y values being higher than M because olive translates to a neutral tone with a green tint as I understand it.
It’s a bit of a cliche to say that good makeup starts with good skincare, but if you’re someone with rosacea like me (and probably acne and other skin concerns too) it’s SO true. Brands and techniques do almost nothing to improve my skin if it’s flaring. Luckily what I’ve found that works for me is fairly inexpensive, especially because I have to buy the higher end foundations otherwise my skin flares up. The clinique redness range is very nice for sensitive/rosacea skin, but it’s $50AUD a bottle.
The other non-makeup-but-related tip I have is that if you, like me, hate mascara, get an eyelash lift and tint. I’m a recent convert and it’s sooo amazing! Feels really nice to have the look without the smudging
Yes, I thought after I posted this that I should have included something on skincare as well because the two are so interlinked. But maybe the post was long enough anyway...
I have some light acne and I've found that the Byoma skincare range works well for me in minimising breakouts and giving me overall healthy skin.
This is something I might have to check out! Is it something you have to get redone regularly or does it last a long time?
The lift and tint are both permanent which means they’ll last until your eyelash naturally falls out at the end of its lifecycle - usually 4-6 weeks. At first I thought it was too expensive to be worth it, but I’ve enjoyed the subtle difference so much. It makes me feel put together even without any make up on at all
Late to the thread but yes skincare!
I like a number of East Asian products because after a minute of putting it on it doesn't feel like it's there anymore: my skin feels a little healthier but it isn't greasy or shiny or sticky.
Note on Asian skin care routine
I found the whole Asian skin care routine thing very intimidating. So I started with just focus on washing with a gentle cleanser. Then I recognize the feeling of my face being dry afterwards! So I added one moisturizer. That's two products only.
It came with a sample of a toner so I looked up the order: wash, toner, moisturizer. okay I can deal with three. Then once it's a set routine I added one more. Etc. Repeat. I'm up to being quite happy and regular about 6 items now, and a small handful of others if I'm feeling fancy or if I'm planning on wearing any make up.
Missha BB creams…I could never find a good alternative. I could dupe most of their items I have used but the BB cream is in “holy grail” territory. A runner-up for me is their Time Revolution night repair ampoule. Not a fan of how the brand put snail in everything.
I still use Paulas stuff (especially acids) but moved over to Cerave for the daily basics (toner, cleansers, general moisturizer). Healthy skin is way more important than makeup to me these days.
I was super into makeup and the pandemic killed a lot of my passion... plus I now work from home.
I still love the ritual of putting makeup on and looking at makeup, but I'm kind of crushed I lost some of that passion!
Here's a question and a statement from a guy:
I'm in Japan right now and trying to figure out what to get some friends back at home, any suggestions? My friends are mostly Asian as well if that matters! Needs to be small enough that I can fly with it!
I bought concealer for the first time to hide my tattoos to go to the onsen, and holy crap I didn't realize how crazy expensive makeup is, and people wear it every day???