Also: I need a brand of eye pencil/liner with which to line the inner edge of my lower lids. None of my current pencils really do this, nor my liquid liner.

Dude I HATE Great Lash, get one (1) tube of “Full & Soft”!

(BTW I think I am the only person in the world who hates both of the classic “Editor’s Favorites,” ie Great Lash and all Lancome mascaras so take w/grain of salt etc.)

xpost I used to just use cheapy Wet ’n’ Wild for that. Now I use Stila powder shadow applied with an eyeliner brush.

I used to use Mary Kay, as my cousin sold it (have to support the fams...), and then I stopped buying it. I bought the Almay and you’re right: it is TERRIBLE! Sadly, I’ve been too lazy to buy anything else. so this thread will help me too, I reckon.

The Almay eyeliner isn’t too bad, though.

Who makes this “Full and Soft”?

I like Max Factor 2000 Calorie waterproof (in Rich Black). It looks good, it stays on, and it doesn’t bother my contacts.

I hate Great Lash, too, Ally.

Is it true that blondes shouldn’t wear black mascara? I had a Mary Kay consultation ages ago (thanks, Cuz) and the woman told me I should wear brown mascara. I’m blonde. The woman also had horrible make up, so I don’t know why I ever trusted her.

My favorite is Clinique Lash Doubling Mascara in Black/Brown.

Full & Soft is also by Maybelline! It is less expensive than the Great Lash, and has 100x better brush (I have always hated the Great Lash brush, I have really long lashes and that brush + fact that Great Lash takes approx 37 hours to dry properly ended up getting mascara all over the place).

When I was blonde, I didn’t give a second’s thought to what color mascara to wear. I guess it depends on HOW blonde you are and what color your brows are but by and large brown mascara looks really flippin’ weird.

I have had no problem with Max Factor 2000 Calorie myself, and used to buy their waterproof version when I went to beach more often ;_;

Oh! And BTW I hated the Almay One Coat so much that I refused to buy another cosmetic from Almay ever again.

The only makeup I wear every day is mascara, I’m really, really obsessed with it. q, I just got $100 from my supervisor, we should go shopping for make-up + wine “tasting” soon.

another great lash-hater here. that stuff is terrible. however, maybelline’s volume max extreme is awesome, definitely the best of the drugstore brands in my opinion. for high-end ysl faux effect or whatever it’s called is pretty unbeatable, and bobbie brown everything mascara is good if you want a tamer effect (ysl is like hello! lashes). i currently have diorshow and am impatiently waiting for the tube to finish as it kind of sucks but no way am i getting rid of it before it’s done.

Oh I liked the Volume Max Extreme too, Lauren OTM on that one being pretty awesome too.

Have any of you tried that philosophy primer that is supposed to fakey-fy your lashes?

Is it true that blondes shouldn’t wear black mascara? I had a Mary Kay consultation ages ago (thanks, Cuz) and the woman told me I should wear brown mascara. I’m blonde. The woman also had horrible make up, so I don’t know why I ever trusted her.

I wouldn’t worry about it, I don’t think it really matters.

I like Diorshow, but it is obscenely expensive so I usually just stick with Jane mascara.

and ally is right—shadow is really good for lining the lower lid. there’s also a very expensive powder liner by ysl or dior that has the same effect, but it may have been limited edition. physician’s formula did a knock-off of it, which was terribly dusty.

xpost—no. i’ve tried lash primers before (bourjois, almay, l’oreal), and they really irritate my eyes.

I’ll rep for Great Lash! Thousands of Miss American hopefuls can’t be wrong. Then again, I wear mascara about twice a month so I could probably just use a charcoal briquette or something and be fine.

Black mascara makes me look like a hooker. My overall coloring is too light for it.

Note: make-up companies pay beauty editors to put their products on the “Editor’s Choice” lists so Great Lash/Lancome’s never-ending presence means nothing more than those two companies have the biggest beauty mag-bribery budget.

I end up buying the black/brown mascara, but think I may live on the edge and buy just black, even though I have a fairly pasty complexion.

Black mascara makes me look like a hooker.

i’d say it was more the hot pants/thigh-high combination that affects this look jenny but whatevs.

i suppose there’s the option of clear mascara for those with really light lashes, but it just makes things look weird and sticky. and it’s not good for brow grooming, either, no matter what beauty editors claim to the contrary.

the mascara-wearing redheads i know wear brown mascara. it isn’t as noticeable, i guess.

i use some random thing i bought in russia in a state of desperation. it’s not great. so thanks for all the suggestions.

I’m one of the palest people in the world and I stick with black mascara but on the other hand I do enjoy looking like a hooker.

With brows it is absolutely, 100% necessary to get a product meant for brow-grooming. Using clear mascara just results in bullet-proof eyebrows (I don’t mean that in any kind of complimentary fashion).

benefit’s brow-zing is rad—lasts forever and comes with a pair of mini-tweezers.

Girly! Is there any mascara you can wear that makes it look as if you are not wearing mascara? Because my problem with the stuff is that is always ends up clumping around my lashes in a highly unnatural way. Am I putting it on wrong?

x-post I’m also supposed to put make-up on my brows?

Part of why I dislike black mascara on me is surely because I so rarely wear it—it looks too obvious or something. Sometimes I do the eyelash curler/vaseline trick when I’m feeling saucy but lack confidence that I’ll remember to avoid rubbing my eyes all night.

I had no idea people really used eyebrow grooming products! The lady who waxes my brows always trims them and that keeps them in check.

Speaking of... the place where I get my brows done now sells pubic hair dye. It’s advertised to cover gray! Oy.

Full & Soft is so the shit. I like to use it on upper & lower lashes, which results in a more elegant version of the “Alex the Droog” look. Heh.

Oh, when I use mascara I always wipe the brush off first—that keeps it from looking too clumpy. Maybe try that! If it’s not mascara-y looking enough, you can do another coat.*

*Despite ads that laud the miracle of “one coat mascara” I also don’t believe that people ever take the time to put on multiple coats.

You don’t have to put brow make-up on. I use it because my brows are blonde but my hair is dark auburn currently so it looks kind of “Fifth Element” if I don’t fix that up.

Mary, you can probably try the full and soft in brown and be very sparing with the coat, though if it is clumping really badly it could be an application issue, or maybe you are letting it get too old before getting a new tube? I get clump issues if I try to stretch the tubes too long. Try brushing excess mascara off the wand and always start each stroke from the very bottom of your lashes and kind of roll/wiggle upwards.

my eyebrows are for some reason lighter than my hair, so if i’m feeling ambitious then i’ll put some crap on them. also, i cut myself pretty badly over my right eye when i was a kid so that brow grows in kind of strangely and looks bette with some help.

xpost—i put on multiple coats. it takes about 5 seconds.

How do you wipe off the brush—with a tissue?

I use Neutrogena mascara—does anyone know anything positive or negative about this?

Also: how to make cats eyes?

x-post: The getting old thing could well be it; I wear mascara about twice a year:) My new years rez will be to wear it more.

eer, you are supposed to start at the end of your lashes? I need to go to beauty skool.

I use it because my brows are blonde but my hair is dark auburn currently so it looks kind of “Fifth Element” if I don’t fix that up.

Ah! I understand. I dyed my hair dark, dark brown once and emerged looking like I had lost my eyelashes in the process.

xpost—that’s five more seconds I could spend in bed! ;)

Yeah, girl, on a tissue. Or if you are el cheapo like me and don’t buy those fancy tissues, a square of TP.

i blot the wand with a tissue first, and if it’s still clumpy i very lightly rub the tissue along the bottom of my lashes to separate them. (again: i bought my mascara in russia. no guarantees.)

Cat’s eyes? Do you mean like this?

Your best bet is liquid liner + shadow applied w/liner brush to keep it in place (especially out at the “wings,” at least if you are me and are constantly poking at your eyes for no good reason).

Also I usually just wipe around the, uh, entry?? to the tube of mascara, I am extreme lazy.

I did learn one thing from Ms. Mary Kay: when trying to get the gloobs off your mascara, don’t push it back and for in the tube, as it will only force air into the mascara, exposing it to air, which will slowly cause its demise. Take it top of the tube, where it narrows, and spin it around. That gets the junk off.

the most foolproof way to do the cat’s-eye thing is to invest in benefit’s cake eyeliner and the accompanying genius angled brush. otherwise, you need to practice practice practice with the liquid liner. pulling the skin out taut just a bit at the outside corner of the eye helps when doing the swoops.

So off topic but... For the first time in my life I finished a whole tube of lipstick—Pink Beach by Clinique. I ran to my local Clinique counter for a replacement but they were out so I thought to myself, “Shit, this is not some crazy color. It’s pretty much the same color as my lips except sparkly! Surely I can find a cheaper version in the drug store.” So I looked and looked and compared and looked and finally settled on a Cover Girl lipstick called “Nearly Nude” and I ran home and put it on and it had these horrible fuscia undertones that made me look jaundiced and I was pissed because I’d wasted a whole $5.12 with tax.

The End.

Yes, like that, I don’t have any liquid liner: it always seemed to scary.

Are you supposed to apply mascara from above the lashes or from below, or both?

To be honest, I can’t be bothered to go invest in a decent liquid liner for how little I end up using it and just use wet shadow + liner brush. I’ll have to look into the benefit thing, that sounds like a good investment.

Re: Mascara, application above or below, I usually do just from bottom because I am lazy in mornings but if I’m being really proper with my makeup I do a quick sweep across top too.

I’m going to force you and Q to teach me lessons the next time I see you.

Don’t even get me started on lipstick.

I only own one (1) tube of lipstick, which is red. I usually just slap on some (clear, flavored) lip gloss or Burt’s Bees lip balm and go, I am very suspicious of lipsticks to be honest.

Suspicious in what way?

It’s always been fairly difficult for me to find a color that I like that also looks good on me. I’ve had a couple of neutral-ish lipliners that I comboed with some glosses that worked ok but I kept losing my sharpener so I stopped with them.

Ah. Me, too, actually, which is why the Pink Beach (free gift with purchase even! That never happens!) was a minor miracle. I should have just gone on a Clinique counter rampage until I found some in stock somewhere. It’s not like I live in a tiny mountain village with a shortage of fancy make up retailers. Sheesh.

I rule the lipstick. This is the only makeup that I feel I rule. Well, I’m pretty handy with liquid liner, but mostly can’t be bothered and just wear lippy + mascara.

Now I am confused by mascara application! I do just my upper lashes, starting at the base of the lash (underside near eyeball, not upper side near, uh, upper eyelid) and sweeping up to the tips. Am I doing it wrong?

Also: I am still not clear on the lining-the-inner-lower-lid thing. It is kind of, uh, wet and slippery, so stuff doesn’t stick! But I’ve seen models with this part of lid lined—so what kind of stuff did the makeup artist use???

No, your mascara technique is correct, I think there was just a misunderstanding as to what I meant!!

Re: liner, you just have to apply a good amount of it and use a good product, but yes, some of it will rub off during the day just due to blinking, etc. Seriously, I do this with eye shadow and used to do it with a regular eye pencil.

re: lipstick I’ve had several of them discontinue on me, which is another thing that bothers me a bit.

I’m pretty envious of the black ladies at MAC who pull off these awesome intensely colored eyeshadow the likes of which would make me look like a really, really misguided drag queen.

I rule the lipstick. This is the only makeup that I feel I rule.

me, too! but I wish I understood eye makeup. I went to one of those free makeover thingies recently and had the makeup person do my eye makeup. it looked awesome, but I have no idea how to reproduce it.

My rule is I do either eye makeup (beyond mascara) OR lippy, but not both. And b/c I rule the lipstick and find it quick and easy, I often eschew the eye makeup thing in favor of the lips.

yes, me, too. I think really I’m a little saddened that there’s a whole range of product I could be BUYING that I don’t because what on earth would I do with it?

we should all get together and trade tips or something, being as I only wear eyeliner + mascara + brows and completely avoid lipstick because that is way too hard for me!

I think if you can rock a red lipstick, nothing looks better, Ally. so you sound like you’re in good shape. but yeah, I need someone to mime for me all the things I’m supposed to be doing with my eyes. the lady who did my eye makeup used like a zillion brushes and three different shades of eyeshadow.

lining the inner lower lid is a total nightmare, and it’s easy to end up giving yourself an eye irritation. if it’s done for photos/runway, the liner only has to stay on for a brief period of time so it doesn’t matter how heavily it’s applied or if it rubs off after ten minutes. and honestly, it can look kind of strange in an everyday, non-fashiony context plus you run the risk of making your eyes look smaller.

i really like cover girl lash exact mascara but it makes my eyes itch. i am right now using some overly expensive guerlain mascara i bought on a stupid whim, its not great and it was like $30. stupid stupid stupid. mascara is the only thing i dont think people should pay more for as it generally should be replaced every 6 weeks and it gets gunky after that anyway.

i use max factor, or whatever my mom gives me from her free gift with purchases that she is obsessed with.

I am allergic to like 70% of lipsticks and lip balms. clinique and dior is ok. i usually just do roses lip salve and wet eyeshadow as eyeliner and mascara and a little shimmer something on my top lid. otherwise i look too kabuki.

I didn’t read the whole thing, you people were prolific today and I missed it! But I do what Lauren said, I wear cateye liner a few times a week and black or dk brown cake with tiny brush (wetted) is the awesomest. Liquid liner could be all right, I guess, and sometimes the more concentrated color would be nice but WHY DO THE APPLICATOR BRUSHES ALWAYS SUCK?

i’ve never found a mascara i’ve been satisfied with, but i’ve basically given up on eye makeup anyway (except a little shadow on special occasions).

but i do love lipstick! i’m usually more willing to drop good money on lipstick than i am any other kind of cosmetics.

see, im a blush addict as without it i look basically dead and/or ill. i can go without mascara because my lashes are freakishly long.

I like Max Factor 2000 Calorie waterproof (in Rich Black)

Thats what I use too Aimee!

I’m hopeless when it comes to makeup: I dont wear it very much (you wouldnt know it from all my photos but hey). My skin is real bad, easily irritated and quite red so foundation looks like shit when it rubs off. Mascara makes my eyes sting. Powder sits on my skin like an old lady in too much makeup. Ugh urgh. Why’s it all so hard?

But speaking of foundation coming off, I have discovered a foundation that totally stays on and isn’t a gluey mess. I forget what one it is now though. Max Factor I think. It sort of instantly dries into an almost waterproof powdery feel. Bastard to get off the fingers though.

my favorite right now is revlon new complexion one-step makeup in ivory beige. it blends, it evens out, it covers up.

oh, makeup threads, i luv u

i wear clinique naturally glossy (black)—have tried a million others, drugstore or dept store, and always come back to clinique (it stays in place, no smudges, washes off fine, doesn’t cause reactions)

am allergic to pretty much everything out there lipstick/gloss-wise (lips get dry, ugh). though did get a revlon gloss that’s kind of like a lipstick and it’s okay. forgot to go into sephora while in nyc to get rose’s lip salve! rrgh

have recently gotten into plum eyeliner. am not all that great at eye makeup though. i have to say though, that of all the drugstore brands, revlon has impressed me the most in the past year or so (even though i haven’t bought all that much makeup)

dior is prob the nicest feeling lipstick though. and if it weren’t, like, $45 a tube, and if i weren’t so sensitive in the face region and feared wasting $45 on allergic reactions, i would probably wear only dior.

yeah, i think I became intolerant/allergic to lip stuff about 5 years ago when I started using a tube of blistex and then carmex thinking it would help my itchy lips that made me look like I had fruit punch mouth. I seriusly thought i had like psoriasis on my lips. Now I can’t even use stuff I used to use before, like Bonne Belle. I wasted money on Nars and Chanel etc etc. Roses, Kiehls, Labello I am def. ok with.

oh i love my dior lipstick. i’ve had the same tube for 10+ years and i still wear it. it was not $45 when i bought it.

really like my nars lipstick but i usually need to wear a gloss on top of it.

I’m a fan of Clinique naturally glossy too. I have really long eyelashes anyway, so it’s hard to find a mascara that doesn’t lengthen them even more. More length means the lashes hit my brow and little bits of black come off on my skin.

I found this great make-up in Germany called Art Deco. You get to choose three eyeshadows and put them in a little case so you’re not stuck with two colours you hate in order to get one you love. And their mascara is pretty good too—not as glossy as the Clinique one, but it curls them up better.

I am also a huge fan of the Benetint. I haven’t worn anything else on my cheeks for years.

This thread gives me teh fear, I am so glad I don’t do make-up. How the holy hell do you get yourselves together in the morning to do all this shit?

Putting make-up on is a getting ready ritual I can’t do without. It’s a transition from me in pyjamas to me ready to go get’em. If I go to work without make-up on I feel crappy all day. And it’s nice to look in the mirror when I’m done and think ‘OK, I like myself now’.

I’m fairly confident that if someone were to put mascara on me, my eyelashes would take over the world.

I like the new max factor masterpiece mascara. I’m looking rather drag queeney today—it’s the office xmas lunch and i made the mistake of applying my make up under a rather harsh overhead light so in daylight it looks way OTT. The best red i’ve ever found is baroque red by elizabeth arden although i’ve read lots of good things about MAC’s russian red.

the mascara-wearing redheads i know wear brown mascara. it isn’t as noticeable, i guess.

No—I stick with black. Brown just feels a bit wussy to me.

Is Rimmel just available in Britain, because their Volume Extend mascara is ace and only aboput £6. It’s one of those primer-at-one-end, mascara-at-the-other things.

Last night, while in CVS, I picked up some Maybelline Full an Soft in jet black. It’s nice! Much nicer than Almay (I had Triple Effect which was total junk). And the black doesn’t make me look like a trannie.

I am very excited to buy new mascara today and throw that Almay crap away. And Madchen OTM about makeup application as transitional I’m-half-asleep-oh-ok-now-i-am-awake-and-ready-to-go-out time. I mean it doesn’t take me but five minutes, but there is a psychological impact there.

Who was it that advertised mascara on UK TV with the slogan “the more you put on, the sexier U R!” or some shit? I had hueg lolz @ that.

Is Rimmel just available in Britain, because their Volume Extend mascara is ace and only aboput £6.

Rimmel is now available in the US, but I haven’t ever tried it out.

Tracey, re: foundation, I have a bottle of Vincent Longo liquid canvas, which is pricey but I’ve had for a year now, and that sticks well on me, and is basically specifically made to even out light complexions with some ruddiness issues (yes, they have some dark colors etc but 80% of their shades vary from “whitest person alive” to “third whitest person alive”). Like I said, a bit pricey but I have very good skin, so I usually only wear foundation if I have to look extra polished for work, or to EVENTS like a wedding or major party where there will be photogs—so the stuff has lasted quite a while. And it seems to be forgiving to all kinds of lazy, lazy application methods (ie I am hungover and glop some in my hand and rub all over my face still looks pretty good).

really like my nars lipstick but i usually need to wear a gloss on top of it.

arrgh, yes. nars is generally all-around amazing, but the lipstick is a bit too dry. gloss on top ruins the matte look, though, so what i do is put on some lip balm a while before i apply the lipstick and let it soak in. that works pretty well. otherwise, the color tends to bleed out even if i use a liner and i look like baby jane.

does anyone have recommendations on eyeliner that is very resistant to running? a few years ago I tried to go through an eyeliner phase, but every single time I would end up with racoon eyes within, like, a couple of hours. (and I wasn’t crying or anything.) maybe it was the fault of the brand I was using? or maybe I put it on wrong. anyway it kind of scared me off eyeliner for, well, years.

(also Ally, way upthread I misread your post and thought that you regularly wear red lipstick. sorry about that!)

mac makes a cake liner that has unbelievable longevity if you apply it wet with a brush. i once put some on in the morning, went about my daily business, went out to a bar, drank for about 6 hours, went to my friend’s house, drank for another few hours, passed out on the couch, woke up and was sick, passed out again, then woke up the next day AND MY EYELINER WAS STILL PERFECT. not a smudge.

Mary Kay eyeliner used to be great, but I think once she died, the entire product line went down hill. She was scary. I think she was around 80 in this picture:

Also, my cousin lives far away now, so I cannot get reduced priced make up whenever I like. Therefore, I am left at the mercy of the make up counter. The Almay eyeliner is okay, but it gets smudgy at the end of the day and I look like I’ve just been on a really big bender.

I’ve tried just the mascara routine, with no eyeliner, but I always end up looking tired and dull.

And Madchen OTM about makeup application as transitional I’m-half-asleep-oh-ok-now-i-am-awake-and-ready-to-go-out time. I mean it doesn’t take me but five minutes, but there is a psychological impact there.

I will admit frankly that I adore watching women put on their makeup—it’s not the change in appearance but the whole change in demeanor, like an actor assuming a role, that I find appealing. It’s as if I’ve been allowed backstage.

For awhile I thought this thread might be about a band or something.

I don’t wear any makeup anymore. I’m lazy.

thanks, Lauren! but can I ask a stupid question? what do you mean by “cake” liner? I just went to MAC’s website and there were, like 7 different kinds of eyeliner, ranging from eye pencils to something that looked like lip balm, but I guess is to be applied by a brush.

I need to try the cake liner. i am deathly scared of foundation due to seeing the the outline on people’s necks and near their ears. i am addicted to this drugstore brand shimmery/night effects or something eye cream. i feel like it is not that greatest for my eyes which i have always rubbed constantly but i love the shimmery dewy look on my eyes for the day.

when I was rockabilly girl I loved cake liner! I always wanted cake mascara too but couldn’t find it. Cake liner is literally a dry cake of makeup (like eyeshadow but not as powdery.) You apply it with a very small, wet brush.

I don’t do foundation b/c skin is bad enough without smothering it.

I don’t do foundation b/c skin is bad enough without smothering it.

My skin has a tendency to be oily and gross. With the help of Kiehl’s oily face wash and moisturizer, and some Oil-Free foundation, things have been looking up.

I’ve always had lovely skin until the past year or so when it’s been ‘wtf? acne!’. I went to my doctor who prescribed retin-A and referred me to a dermatologist but my stupid insurance wouldn’t pay for either so fuck it. She also said I had rosacea but I think she’s wrong there.

I try to remember to put neutrogena 5% benzoyl perioxide cream on once a day but not sure if it helps.

cake liner is a cake of powder, like an eyeshadow, rather than as a pencil or in a tube like liquid stuff. the thing that looks like lip balm is probably what i had. i’d recommend getting benefit’s angled eyeliner brush to use with it.

many xposts!

The same thing happened to me. I went off the pill, and then BOOM: gross, nasty acne-prone skin.

The Neutrogena Clear Pore wash/mask did a pretty good job for, but it dried my face out something awful at first, and then it seemed to calm down. Also, if it’s not washed off completely, it will ruin your towels by adding a lovely amber-colored stain after you wash it.

I love Kiehl’s, though. I don’t use the toner very often, as it dries my face out, causing more breakouts (ugh). It gives your face a lovely glow after washing and moisturizing, and the oil situation is completely under control.

the kiehl’s calendula extract alcohol-free toner is really good for oily skin/acne, and won’t dry you out like the blue stuff can.

can you order kiehl’s online? I don’t think there are any down here. (hello, gooogle.)

The dude at the Kiehl’s store gave me samples of the Tea Tree oil toner, as he said it would dry my skin out less than the blue stuff. It still did. I may have to try the calendula stuff! Thanks!

Sam, here you go:

http://www.kiehls.com/_us/_en/home/index.aspx

My problem with lipstick is keeping it on my lips; I am afraid to use lip liner bc it seems to severe.

And blush: how to make it look nice? This girl in one of my classes uses blush that looks obvious but nice, but if it looks visible I get the fear.

which one do you use?

Foaming Non-Detergent Washable Cleanser

Blue Herbal Gel Cleanser

getting samples at kiehl’s is the best.

lip liner gone horribly wrong:

i think blush has to be at least a little bit visible, but obviously there’s a huge potential for error. once you find a good color, to apply smile and brush it on the tops of your cheekbones. then swipe a tissue or cotton ball over to blend and take off the excess. i actually like the stick format better than the classic powder, because you can blend it on your fingertips first before smoothing it on.

mary, i don’t think you need blush. or maybe i just always see you when you are drunk. jk.

I hear good things about those blush sticks, Tart or whatever. So you can at least rub it in.

xp

mary, if you come up we will make a special tour of sephora.

what a glorious thread.

thank you for mentioning that going off the pill can lead to break outs. I’ve been totally breaking out since going off, although in every other way I feel better so I guess I don’t mind that much.

I have total combo skin. for the actual zits I’ve been using mario badescu drying lotion. works great, smells like meds.

mascara . . . i’ve been thinking about getting aveda but a make up artist i knew swore by 2000 calorie. i kind of want a natural one but i also want a good one. has anyone used aveda?

i love the bobbie brown blush sticks and have been using them for almost 6 years. i love the way the various gel blush sticks (tarte, jelly pong-pong, etc) look in the package, but when i’ve tried out the testers they’re kind of greasy and feel very oily/sticky.

Blush is one of three products I wear daily (the other two being concealer and powder). I think the key is to get a color that really works for you, and that requires putting yourself in the hands of those scary cosmetic counter ladies.

I always wanted cake mascara too but couldn’t find it.

Here you go. Frankly, it’s lousy. I have an unused cake of it at home that I will send you after the holidays if you email your address (that is a working email addy down there).

why do you not like it?

you know I kind of suspect pills with my acne too. The start of the problem coincided with an extended period of unemployment (and no pills). I’ve been back on them for awhile now and thought my skin would improve but it didn’t. My pills were very low-hormone though and I’m about to switch to a higher one so maybe I’ll see improvment. that would be fantastic.

but i miss out on a lot of cute flats because i can only wear mary jane type ones!

i bought these a few weeks ago because they were super cheap. they offer no support but damn it, they are shoes with ruching!

damn that’s a huge pic

I own two pairs of shoes and two pairs of trainers I actually wear (I have some sandals and dressy shoes and stuff that only come out for holidays and “occasions”—i.e. virtually never,so I don’t think they count and none of them cost over £10). One eyeliner, one lipstick, one bottle of foundation (virtually unused), I had a mascara but I can’t find it and I don’t care. I totally fail at being a girl.

I am glad someone else admitted to not having a cleanse/tone/moisturise routine. Do I get away with just a bar of soap / once a week face pack thing because I don’t wear make-up?

maria—insoles! when i was going through awkward pre-teen growing my feet were like half a size different for a bit—insoles work—you can get ones just for the heels, the toe, the arch or the whole foot (okay you prob know this but still)

jaq, i hear you on the skin probs—my skin used to react to everything too, kinda still does, but i’m pretty good at choosing products now and knowing what foods/environments i react to. if just water’s working for you, then so be it! it’s not enough for me though—but i wear (minimal) creame and makeup—i alternate btwn cetaphil bar soap (not the cleanser stuff—that kills me) and quite like the mychelle products, though even their fruit cleanser, while good for my skin, can’t be used often around my eyes (clinique makeup remover seems to work fine for that—haha and i’ve never bought a full bottle! all samples ever)

ok it’s all cheesy and infomercially, too, but all the women of my family have gotten hooked on the bare minerals makeup stuff. i was lagging behind, so someone gave it to me for christmas. it’s actually kind of cool because it doesn’t look overly makeupy (i think) and you feel so much freer pore and skin-wise than when wearing a liquid makeup. i have yet to watch the included dvd to really find out all the tricks, though! lol... makeup with an instructional dvd!

yeah, i hear good things! i’ve tried psychician’s formula mineral makeup but didn’t like it so much—is the one you’re using actually called ‘bare minerals’ or is it barecscentuals (or whatever it’s called)? (i have missed out on infomercial land!)

i tried the neutrogena mineral one but all the neutrogena stuff is too dark for me, plus the applicator was fuxored and stupid (powder in the brush, it was weird).

the one i got is the id bare minerals. i think actually it might be a tad dark, too, but they have 1 lighter shade that i will probably go pick up and my sister said i can mix it with mineral veil to lighten it up (the starter kit thing comes with the 2nd and 3rd lightest shades, and there isn’t a kit with the lightest shade in it, but i wanted the brushes so i kept it).

Yes yes yes about insoles! There are little cork pads that go under the balls of yr feet or in the heels to take up space (but putting pads in the front is better for natural heel fit). Ask for them at a good shoe store or repair place, they might not be a regular drugstore kind of product like Dr Scholl’s. No one’s two feet are exactly the same size!

i tried bare minerals and could never find a shade light enough for me.. their lightest turned orange on me. :( i then tried mineral makeup from another company, they had super pale shades, but i realized i dont like the way mineral makeup feels, at all! it really feels DRYING. i went back to my cargo foundation after 2 days of experimentation.

robyn, i tried mychelle recently too because my co-workers are always raving about it and it’s a local business, but i found the pineapple facial cleanser smelled SO fake it turned me off. but that was the only thing i didnt like, it did a good job of cleanin’ and stuff.

can i direct you all to makeupalley.com for great cosmetic and makeup reviews? i get really addicted to it at times.

I have flat feet, and size 11 too! Mind you, I’m 5’10, so it’s fairly proportional. If my shoes don’t have the right amount of support for the puddle jumpers, I’m crippled up like an old woman. I only wear heels on special occasions (save these uber cute brown kitten heels from nine west), as they WRECK my feet. My daily shoe routine usually consists of Wallabees from Clarks. Mind you, work has no problem with me dressing in jeans and sneakers every day.

One of my gay boyfriends tries to get me to wear heels more often (coincidentally, he taught me how to walk in heels too) as I should “work” the tall thing. I can’t help but feeling a little self-conscious when I’m a teetering 6 feet tall.

Maybe you just need to get used to being looked at? Being that tall commands a lot of attention — head up, girl.

No, it’s not that. It’s that I’m super-wobbly when wearing heels. I’m afraid I’m going to fall over.

There is NO WAY the shoes I was going to wear will stand up to the rain we’ll be getting. Let’s talk about wellies.

Ooh! I have a very cute, sensible pair of black wellies. It’s raining here too, and not a bad idea to wear when I trudge over to a friend’s party this evening. But, I’ll have to carry other shoes, which is a bummer. I wish there were wellies that one could wear all the time and not have to take off due to WARM FEET.

I used to use Almay one coat back in my goth days...

Well, that just takes a little practice to get over. xpost

Seeing as I’m wearing green it’s even more sad than usual that they don’t make those green frog wellies for grown ups cos they’d even match and everything.

Sarah! They do!

I can’t help but feeling a little self-conscious when I’m a teetering 6 feet tall.

You should join the DCchixors in xtreme towering. Ally, dar1a, and I are all v. tall and all rock the heels on a regular basis—except maybe dar1a? I can’t remember the last time I saw you in heels, dar1a. But also we are usually sitting at bar with feet hidden, so hard to say.

I just spent way more than usual (but half-off original price!) on brown Stuart Weitzman pumps with the most beautifully shaped heel I have ever seen. Can’t wait to wear!

Well, that just takes a little practice to get over. xpost

But the pain! Is this a normal occurrence with heels or is it my miserably flat feet which make it terrible to walk, stand, etc.

I actually find heels to be easier on my arches (which are high-ish) than flats, but heels definitely shift pressure onto the ball of the foot, which is where good design and ball-of-foot cushions come into play. But in flats I have way more of a tendancy to pull my arches, which hurts like a motherfucker and takes forever to heal.

me too, i’ve only just broken my running shoes in to the point that i don’t get horrible cramps in my arch after the first mile! i suppose as insoles make up for differently sized feet, arch supports make up for flat feet in flats, but i’ve not got around to buying any of either. didn’t know they made special insoles for the ball of the foot, the full-length ones haven’t worked for me.

They’re not proper “insoles”, they don’t absorb shock or support yr arches, they just make shoes fit better. I mean, since they’re cork they probably absorb SOME impact, but not like athletic insoles. They’re just err...kind of teardrop-shaped cork pads that go under the balls of yr feet and push you back a little bit into the heels.

good enough!

Yeah, I get the horrible cramps in my arch that then shoot up my shins. Major buzzkill.

regarding eyeliner that won’t come off, which rosalind was wondering about upthread: i got some mac liquidlast eyeliner in a really nice shade of plummy burgundy, and after washing my face vigorously, using moisturizer on a cotton ball, and trying two different kinds of eye makeup remover it was still on. and not faintly, either—it was like nothing had touched it. the next day i got an old fashioned oil-based remover, which seems to be what this stuff needs.

Baby oil. That seems to work for eye make-up removal. I’m not sure if it’s bad to put that stuff around your eyes, though, hence my purchase of proper Almay eye make up remover. Although, I find that baby oil works much better.

q, I do wear heels.. just not so much for walking around the city.. it’s a problem b/c most of my trousers except the zara ones are from club monaco and only long enough to wear with flats. I got a great pair of charles david ankle boots that have 3.5“ heels plus a little platform so with those I’m about 6’1” which is awesome

how bad can baby oil be? it’s for babies!

Probably not bad at all, but I just feel weird putting something around my eyes that should be going all over babies’ skin. This is probably just my own neuroses talking.

anyone know how long apc trousers run & sizing in general? looking for at least 34“ inseam. hmm

on the makeup front, I recently discovered that Loreal has a faintly ridiculous new line for women of color called HIP, which stands for “high-intensity pigment” (ridiculous #1), wherein all the lipsticks are named things like “feisty” and “daring” and “don’t fuck with me or I’ll cut you” (ridiculous #2; seriously, not a single one of their lipsticks has a descriptive-of-the-actual-color name). I have a problem with lipsticks not looking on me the way they look in the tube, though, so I bought lipstick “daring” and lip gloss “tempting” (translation: red) and they are actually very pretty. fyi.

okay, I just double-checked and the lipstick I bought is “brave,” not “daring.” it’s a nice, deep, not-at-all-orange-y red.

Maria, in answer to the baby oil thing a lot of people don’t like lanolin products.

Standard issue baby oil is just mineral oil (a petroleum product) and fragrance.

Oooh sorry, i misunderstood about the pain thing; I thought you just meant it was difficult to walk or balance in the shoes. I have extremely high arches so heels are more comfy to me than flats (I am another one who tends to get blistered and cramped wearing flat shoes). You could probably get insoles and etc but that all seems very trial and error, and maybe not worth it unless you really, really want to wear heels. :\

I would definitely buy any lipstick called “Don’t Fuck With Me or I’ll Cut You.”

I’ve always used baby oil or just old Vaseline to remove eye makeup! Though I don’t wear waterproof make up anymore due to irritation and lash breakage issues, so nowadays my Cetaphil does the job decently enough.

I totally want lipstick called “don’t fuck with me or I’ll cut you”.

I imagine it would have to be blood-red.

I do kind of hate that, though, you are right. Stila does that too which can make it a huge bitch to order their shadows without actually going into the store and looking them over. I mean, how am I meant to know that “Barefoot Contessa” means plum and “Kitten” means sparkly beige? Also, why is my kitten not sparkly!?

yeah, mostly I thought it was hilarious. like, I could imagine the marketing meeting. “you know these colored girls, all ‘fierce’ and filled with ‘moxie’!” (“fierce” and “moxie”=actual HIP lipstick names. not a “demure” or “on-the-job-market” in the bunch.)

i missed out on being a girl too and now i have to buy fancy suits and shoes and crap (LAWYERING) but i gained 10 pounds this semester (might be good? i was too skinny in the summer) and i need to shop NOW but how do i know i won’t lose it again? i imagine i will. but i don’t want to buy a 6 knowing it doesn’t fit just because i believe i will shrink back to normal. i also need like a 34“ inseam and i’m having a horrendous time finding anything like that that i like.

oh and shoes, i have narrow size 11 feet (so a typical 11 falls off my feet) and don’t believe in high heels i guess. i don’t know how to be fancy.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Carey put on my eye make up in a sixties stylee and I made her put on my mascara too but I think it kind of looks like I have spider eyes because the mascara makes certain lashes stick together and spindle outward in a frightful fashion.

I’m sure that’s lovely! I’m wearing like a quarter inch thick line of eyeliner.

flats and i are BFF. although, the lack of support sometimes makes me knees hurt. i am a geriatric before my time.

sometimes, i just want to get my eye make up to look like this:

I can’t walk in heels, even little tiny ones. Platforms are easy though.

wait can someone explain this to me? i went shoe shopping with my mom and she picked up heels and i was like NO, so bad for my feet. then she said flats are bad for your back? they are also bad for your knees? what is this? i just don’t want to wear heels, i’m too tall and they just look so uncomfortable and wrong and um, like, patriarchal. like guys never wear them and their knees are fine, right?

My mom is very anti-stiletto due to the heels she wore in the late ’50s/early ’60s. I didn’t actually wear heeled shoes until I was 30 owing to the prevalence of brothel creepers, Chelsea boots and Doc Martens in my shoe collection until then, and then it was all about granny shoe low heels and Patrick Cox loafers until people started busting out the kitten heels. I love all sorts of different wedges as a compromise because they give the arch support that normal heels just do not. You’ll all be thrilled to know that Cuban-heel WINKLEPICKERS are the coming thing according to my colleagues at the Edgy Style Mag, who are BTW still wearing impossible towering platform wedges, particularly if they are already tall girls.

Fucked knees are kind of an equal-opportunity injury. Just make sure you play shoe roulette and all should be good.

Puhleeze, winklepickers have never been out! The problem is finding the right angle from toe box to point. Continental makers are usually quite narrow throughout the shoe, which is unhelpful for some of us.

And I don’t know about knees? The worst thing for my knees has been my Frye motorcycle boots, because they’re so heavy that when I throw my foot forward sometimes the knee hyperextends. Have found heels to be painful in myriad ways, but never on my knees. My idea of the perfect shoe is probably a partial wedge with a notch mid-way, so there’s flex at the hinge; otherwise 2–2.5“ winklepickers, already broken in.

Third, I don’t care what Mary and Carey say, M’s hair had tons of crown volume and was perfectly swept back, and C was wearing a mini-ish-skirt of her own manufacture that was really kind of complicated! Love to both.

no i mean flats, bad for knees?

The old lady librarians I work with always snicker when then see some 20 y/o student teetering by on her heels. “She won’t be wearing them when she’s our age,” they scoff. They even had a diatribe against pointy-toed shoes, but I haven’t heard it since I’ve been wearing my cute FLAT pointy toe black shoes.

Also, these women are terribly grumpy.

that sounds bogus to me. (xpost)

Also, I have bad knees from my failed career as a high school volleyball star. I think the lack of arch support in heels exacerbates any pain I might develop in my gimpy knees. The two could be related (flat feet / bad knees). I have no idea.

I am such an old woman.

caitlin, move to dc, we could share a wardrobe it seems

as far as suits go.. buy what fits now—you can always have it taken in by a tailor, right? esp. trousers. the thing that can’t be altered is fit in the shoulders of a jacket, and it’s pretty hard to make a too-small garment larger. i usually wear a 6 but some lines an 8, not wanting to admit this means i have a $130 pair of club monaco trousers never worn b/c a touch too small, i keep thinking i’ll lose 5 pounds and they’ll fit. (new year’s resolution! right!)

I figure either flats or heels can be painful if they’re not well made and don’t fit properly. I would’ve never believed it w/o trying but honestly my charles david 3.5“ platform boots are the most comfortable shoes I own that aren’t sneakers, because the insole is actually padded + comfy. what about the nike air shoes for cole haan? a lot of them are ugly but there are a few that are cute.

My 91-year-old grandmother wore heels on Christmas day.

Daria, you don’t need to lose any weight! Do I need to hold an intervention for my numerous slender and statueesque DC girlfriends?

Thanks Laurel! I loved your outfit. Carey did my hair and gave me a mini cat’s eyes lesson. My shoes were killing the balls of my feet though. Do I need to build up calluses there?

Back to mascara: I was under the impressions that one coat was one swoosh of the wand, all lashes at once. But is one coat that painting of each singular lash bit by bit?

A new clumping culprit: my lashes might be long but not full. Mascara-ing them draws certain lashes together to form varigated spindles.

One coat for me is generally whatever I decide it is, I am not really clear on that terminology because one “whoosh” with the brush doesn’t really get your lashes, so it isn’t that. We’ll go out soonish to some stores and look at some really light formula mascaras, I THINK that should help solve your mascara woes significantly.

Mary I think the teddy bear mascara brush (such as the full and soft one) is helpful for not pasting long lashes together into spidery spindles. Avoid the Great Lash, which definitely does spidery spindles, but for my (short, sparse) lashes that wasn’t really an issue.

Also: why can’t I find Max Factor stuff anywhere (anywhere = CVS, in this case)? I want to do a head-to-head comparison between full and soft and 2000 calorie, but can’t fine 2000 calorie!

Wal-mart has Max Factor

If you wiggle the brush from side to side as you work upwards, it can help prevent the spindles.

I shouldn’t try to wear mascara, I never manage it without it getting a bit spindly, which is ok for looking quasi french new wave but not for everyday!

xpost, yeah, don’t really need to lose weight but could use more exercise, mostly to have more energy.

^^ cosigned, maybe we should have a DC Fitness Club for 2007??

If I wiggle it past the bottom half of my lashes, they spindle back together again. I have really, really fine, long, curly lashes though so they’re a bit difficult to keep neat.

Oh yeah, my heart just bleeds for you people and your long, curly eyelashes. Such suffering in this world.

Yeah. Ya’ll have it really, really tough.

If it makes you both feel better my eyelashes are almost completely invisible without mascara despite length and curliness.

Confession, I have never used an eye lash curler and they kind of scare me.

I am a daily eyelash curler, for realz.

eye lash curlers look kind of like torture devices, no? I am afraid of them, even though I have very straight lashes so could clearly benefit from their use.

xpost: so quincie, they won’t accidentally pop one of my eyeballs out?

My facial hair thinks it’s blonde = do not leave house w/o mascara. Never curled mine, either. I think all that “opens up your face” business is mostly nonsense, nothing a little creative eyeliner couldn’t do just as well.

I have an eyelash curler but never used it.. i dunno, i get freaked out enough by wearing contacts & not having glasses protecting my eyes, much less trying to use curlers, pencils, etc.

I’ve never had an adverse eyelash curler event, and I’ve been curling for like a decade now. So go for it! Get a Shu Umura (sp?) one and it will last foreva.

Also: I needs to jump on DC Fitness Club bandwagon.

one benefit to uber-straight lashes: people sometimes think I’m wearing eyeliner when I’m not. actually, is that a benefit? not sure.

That is a benefit, I think.

eye lash curlers look kind of like torture devices, no?

This has to be the only reason they were banned on planes in the US. “Get back, before I CURL YOU!”

C. combed and curled my lashes, after I complained of sticky clumps. The medieval torture devise (cf Joey Potter) actually didn’t hurt at all.

Maybe I should just go for the Priscilla Presley stylee fake lashes. Also, I thought my lashes were average brownish black but I looked at them in the light today and they start off brown and then end up blond at the tips.

There must be a Sephora in DC, right? Maybe the tall DC gals could meet me and instruct me in the ways of womanhood:)

there’s a Sephora in the Pentagon City mall if I remember correctly. there’s probably one within DC proper, too.

Oh yeah there is a Sephora in G’town!

Oh god Georgetown—my mom and I had a post Christmas breakdown there.

By breakdown do you mean SHOPPING?

Unfortunately no; it was a parking breakdown which led to a bitter and acrimonious quarrel, somethat soothed by after-fight tea.

so since i obsessively buy cosmetics and perfume anyway, and i am looking to get some more writing experience under my belt, i decided to start a beauty blog last night.... can any of you ladies help me out in thinking of a really dead clever name? i am totally BLANKING right now.

Lipschtick.

I’m really, really bad at naming things :\

And yeah, M, there is a Sephora in Gtown and def. in Pentagon City, might be one at Tyson’s as well but I am not 100% on that.

lipschtick is good! i bet its taken already...

beauty mark?

I want there to be a pun somewhere in make-up/mark-up but I’m missing it.

http://lipschtick.typepad.com

huzzah!

entry number one!

Yay! I left a comment.

re: baby oil—i would think it would just be moisturizing! reminds me i need to buy eye cream cause i ran out like a month ago and i am getting old!

can someone find me an awesome pair of black pumps? i need a heel that is not too ridiculous so that i can go to work in them but everything with a normal heel is ugly and it seems giant heels are in this year. i’ve been putting off buying a pair but i really need to now since i seem to have lost my other ones (which were far past their prime anyway).

What is a good eye cream? I buy some Neutrogena kinds every now and again but I forget to use it because I think to do so would be to accept the aging process.

loreal eye defense is what i had before. my aunt recommended it and said she’s used it for years. she has very nice skin for someone close to 50, which she credits to lots of moisturizing. i credit her not having kids to wear her out. but i try to keep a nice skincare regimen anyway!

baby oil kind of creeps me out because its mineral oil.. its like, yuck, i am smearing petroleum on myself!

i just realized how dumb i sound

yeah but after removing the makeup you still wash your face... i think it’d be ok!

shiny black patent. classy.. (delman—$150)

My girlfriend got those and the burgundy ones. They’re awesome!!

can we recreate this thread on nuilx?

bump! I missed this whole thread until today and am so bummed cuz so much cool info was exchange. I spent most of my dull work day today reading all the posts you made more than a week ago. Now all of you are gone and I have no one to play with and talk girly things with. I am just gonna continue this thread my ownself!

I am in total mascara crisis now. I thought I had found the bomb kickin mascara, Loreal Shocking Volume. It’s one of those with 2 applicators one is a brush to “prep” lashes and the other is a really cool tiny comb that coats your lashes with black mascara (starting at the base of lashes and pulling all the way to the top.) It looks so great once it’s on, and I have wimpy lashes & brows that I have tinted every 3 weeks otherwise it looks like I have no lashes up til recently (for like 4 years) I haven’t worn mascara first cuz I had an allergic reaction to it then it just stopped being a habit and I got used to seeing myself without it and so did everyone else. The tinting was enough to at least look like I had some lashes. Back to my Loreral story. The stuff looks so great on, and it stays on…and stays on and stays on. No matter what you do, remover, Vaseline, soap water nothing! It won’t come off. It starts to get really sticky after a couple of days and I can’t help but touch my eyes – to find my lashes are coming out in clumps! Argh! It begins to break down and do the raccoon thing under your eyes on day 4 and by then I have rubbed my eyes so much and put so much crap on to try and get it off, I have a red irritation all around my eyes and look horrible! So much potential for that product but not after all that! Into the trash it went.

Do you all know that Lancome Loreal Maybelline and Biotherm are owned by the same company (Cosmair) and that many of the products are the same or only slightly different but are packaged and of course sold in different places (pricy Lancome in the department stores and Loreal at CVS) they are marketed for different customers and wallet sizes. Same for Estee Lauder and Jane being the same. I rarely buy “luxury” brands for this reason unless I know them to be (or at least believe) that I am getting something I can’t get at the local drug store.

I use Loreal foundation really lightly and doesn’t rub off on anything and it’s not that horrible orange or fake redish color that so many base make-up’s get when applied. I use very little bluse and it’s still after 5 years “orgasm” by Nars. Lipstick—always a dilema, hate dry lips, but hate it when the lipstick rubs off on everything, cups, people, clothes, phones....yeech. I have wound up with one of the “indelible” types (apply once in the morning and its on til you take it off at night in a really neutral shade just a little darker than my own lips are. That’s my routine, boring but quick.