I feel pretty--NOT! THE COSMETICS THREAD

tehresa and q you both look great while i have always been v clueless about this makeup thing, tbh. i hardly wear any and always feel kind of weird if i do. but maybe should get some blush due to being perpetually wayyy too pale. has anyone tried this stuff?
http://www.benefitcosmetics.com/gp/product/B000FBK5HW/sr=1-2/qid=1267551716/

Daria - yes, I have tried it. Some ppl swear by it but I wasn't a big fan. While the color is nice I found it pretty tough to apply correctly because it sets really quickly and if you don't blend immediately it makes dots on your cheeks. Also, it stains your hands!

just1n3 -- just an idea, but maybe "lots of makeup" for these events just isn't for you. if it's going to become a big ordeal and not feel natural, you shouldn't worry about stuff like foundation, etc.

a little concealer, mascara, blush, and lip gloss should be enough for someone who doesn't normally wear makeup. why go nuts?

i like nars penny lane blush, btw. i'm vv fair and it's just right for me. one pkg has lasted me forever.

I hate all my make-up but I don't know if I care enough to search out replacements.

Especially my foundation, suddenly it seems like a horrible choice.

i guess basically i think makeup should be fun, and if it is not fun, then why do it? pretty sure no one will recoil in horror if any of us are not wearing foundation.

Daria you have the kind of beautiful pale transluscent skin and lovely features that require no makeup! Plus cool glasses, which I think of as an eye makeup substitute.

Therese had perfect glowy cheeks, so if that was Orgasm, I recommend.

Here are my thoughts for just1n3; I am not a product junkie or anything but I am very very picky about the stuff I wear:

super light foundation: I am pale, like something very sheer (just enough to even out skin tone a little bit; I'm OK with my broken capillaries and sunspots shining through in all their glory because to cover them would require something v. heavy), and have settled on MAC studio fix--it comes in a bazillion colors so easy to match (get MAC SA to help you). I think it is maybe $25, so high for drug store but low for department store foundation.

mascara: I like Kiehl's (~$12), L'Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black (a thread recommend iirc; cheaper than the Kiehl's), Bad Gal ($$), and Dior Show ($$$).

blush: again, I'm pale and like a subtle blush; Clinique's powder blush in Honey has been my go-to since high school. Don't recall what it costs because a compact lasts literally YEARS.

lip stain: I don't really have on (more of a bright lipstick gal myself), but Clinique's Black Honey is OK--I keep it in the car for quicky lip color when I've forgotten my lipstick.

I should mention that the MAC Studio Fix is a powder foundation--I just use the spongey thing that comes with it (dry), and it is easy-peasy even for me.

a testament for my love for this thread--I started reading it immediately rather than my just-delivered annual performance review ahahahah.

It's spring and I'm the palest I get all year -- haven't gotten any sun in 6+ months, and the bracing winter breezes that pinkened my cheeks for a while there are all gone. Have become all one color and terrifying.

Will go to MAC counter this wkend and try the studio fix, thx q.

q otm re d: i recall lovely skin! don't muck that up with makeup if you don't have to!

i may have to check on that mac foundation. i was using makeup forever hd for like 2 years but since my skin's 'change' in the past 6-9 months it doesn't absorb as well and i feel like i have this film going on and i want to wipe my face off after an hour. like it all rises to the surface or something. v weird.

and yes, i was wearing orgasm @ ethiopian night, so there! i am also v v pale right now :( pics my friend took from that dc weekend make me look ghostly!! that benetint stuff always makes me think of the rouge gel we would put in our caboodles to use for ballet recitals. remember caboodles?!?! <3

can we get some photos up in this thread? here is a shitty iphone picture of me with my completed census form:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4441473078_238446f0a8.jpg

i am wearing makeup! not much. blush, eyebrow powder, mascara, concealer. not sure why i bother, looking at that picture.

I have been looking for an old school caboodle all week and can't find one. Anyone know where to get one these days?

what is the greatest concealer to cover the worst zit i have ever had in my life?
my. rainier has decided to relocate with me, via my chin :( :( :(

what about eyeliner, ladies? i have this eyeliner i've been using for ages, but it comes off really quickly. this normally doesn't really bother me, since i'm just wearing casually, but i would like something a bit better quality.

i don't want to actually look 'made up' - i just want to look like a better, fresher, smoother, more even-toned version of myself!

I love the L'Oreal Lineur Intense but it's a liquid liner, so you have to be good with the brush AND be okay with the dramatic, clean-edged look. NB: I think this item has an unusually good brush for its price and for being a drugstore product!

having never applied liquid eyeliner in my life, now is probably not the best time for my first attempts. plus, i think it might be a bit heavy for the look i'm going for?

Well the thing is, it never comes off. Actually it PEELS off, at the end of the day, in big chunks. So at least it has that going for it.

i have been on this mac powerpoint eyeliner for years and it's great. very easy to apply. lasts well. my color is bordeauxline but i am sure there are lots of good ones!
do not use a gel eyeliner, it will flake off!

i like the bad gal eyeliner from benefit

probably gonna make this my mission saturday morning. kind of dreading it, as make up counter girls freak me out a little :/

i wish i could go with you!

me too! i wish i could take my one friend here, but she's moving house this weekend. i need someone who knows what they're doing, bc that sure is hell isn't me.

protip: do not let any sales people do your makeup if you do not want to look like they do. if someone has way too much makeup on, etc., they are probably going to do your face similar to how they do their own. beware.

i had a hilariously bad experience with that at a "makeup party" where apparently they make everyone up to look super fucking old. my every crease and wrinkle was highlighted by that disgusting mineral makeup and then they gave me garish eye makeup "to highlight my best feature". they also lied to me about my skin.

it was like a Whatever Happened to Baby Jane makeover. We all looked ancient (this was for someone's quasi bachelorette party, she won the makeovers at an auction) and then we went out for brunch in a hip neighborhood. It was really really really embarrassing. Worse than I would have imagined.

bette: alright, who wants brunch?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Bette_Davis_and_Joan_Crawford_in_Whatever_Happened_to_Baby_Jane_trailer.jpg

joan: i would love some! you look great btw!

http://www.cinemaretro.com/uploads/babyjanehires.jpg

xxp that's what scares me! so many of them look so garish!

another thing to remember: girls working at sephora are not necessarily trained makeup artists, they are just retail workers most of the time. so, if you think they are giving you ridiculous advice, don't take it!

we finally got a sephora in little rock last year. i dont walk out of there without spending $300+ and i dont even wear much makeup.

Just1n3, i wore liquid liner for years and theres a real simple trick to make it perfect. first apply as normal. youll no doubt mess it up somewhere. then get a damp cotton bud, pull the outer corner of your eye as far as you can and then run the damp cotton bud along in a straight line. works perfectly every time.

tza, does the nars orgasm blush have glitter in it. im very pro glow but anti glitter.

it is shimmery but not glittery

a very, very fine shimmer - less than a shimmer powder, which is i guess where the glow comes from.

ahh. nice. the pics on the sephora site look very glittery

seriously interested in this. i have never found a foundation i like.

http://a248.g.akamai.net/7/248/8278/20070112190028/www.sephora.com/assets/dyn/product/P104914/P104914_hero.jpg

Sunny there is another version of Orgasm out now that has extra shimmer (I think it's called super orgasm or something like that) - maybe that's what you're looking at? I can't imagine that one because although T is right about the very fine shimmer, I'm also sensitive to shimmer and it took me a while to get used to O for that reason.

sensitive to shimmer!

Sunny, have you tried that foundation yet?

Another really pretty light shimmer is Benefit 'Georgia Peach'. It also smells really, really good. I don't use this every day because I don't like powdery things on my face. I use Tarte's cheek stain in 'tipsy' (how appropriate) for a light glow. I don't really notice much shimmer, just glow. Tipsy smells sort of lightly fruity and pleasant.

why do i like make-up to smell? that is weird.

Oh yeah - I like both tarte stain and the benefit stuff. Good call.

I read the book 'how to not look old' and it said not to use powders on your face, just creams and liquids. I have been keeping this in mind and notice that powders DO make me appear older by accenting wrinkles and making my skin look dryer. Products like Tarte cheek stain instead of a powder blush make a huge difference in looking glowing and moisturized and young...

anyone else find that to be true for you?

absolutely! i only use cream blush and eyeshadow don't have any other powders.

totally see the logic in this. but sometimes u just need to put some powder on. it feels nice, it can look amazing. i think too much powder is bad for the skin in general, and of course it makes sense, that a dry substance would make your skin look less moisturized than a cream. but they both clog your pores, and they both have their various uses, in different lightings, moods etc.

i actually wish i could wear more moisturizer/powder -- my pores clog so easily! i try to rock the "radiating from the inside with just a little bit of concealer" look most workdays but sometimes i just need to make myself up, no matter what the consequences!

powder makes me look like a drag queen.

it makes my face look like it's made of paper
NAGL

oh god I use powder everything--so much easier than creams for this clutz

lol well u don't have to put THAT much powder on! a light touch goes a long way, IMO

(xp)

u can use as much as you want quincie :)

I don't really use powder powder that much unless I'm shiny, but like powder blush, powder eyeshadow. . .

Like I totally admire cream eyeshadow but have no idea how you actually go about applying it.

cream blush would make me break out like WOAH