It just doesn’t stay on very well. It does give me a kind of gritty, desperate, ill, urban junkie rock star by the end of the day, which isn’t normally what I’m going for but could be okay in the right circumstances.

x1000 for the pill change/acne thing. Man. I switched from low dose pills to a Nuva ring and from there to an IUD and good grief. My face is a mess. I’ve been using Aveno anti-acne face wash/toner/lotion and that seems to have gotten things a little under control but I’m not going to win any complexion awards.

Look. Gritty, desperate, ill, urban junkie rock star look. The cake mascara does not produce an actual desperate, ill, urban junkie rock star and thank god, because I’m way too old for that shit.

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.

Same here! I went through a few months of being back on the pill and still having nasty skin. I’m now about 6 months in of pill prescription, I can’t tell if my skin is better from the pill, or it’s because I use the magical Kiehl’s.

Sam, I use the Blue Herbal stuff (cleanser and moisturizer). It’s great.

I never wear blush because I have a tendency towards being naturally pink... this could also be because my face is oily and whatever makeup I put on seems to slide off within an hour or two. I suppose what I need is a really good, stay put foundation.

MAC cake liners are indeed wonderful. I love their pencil liners too. I usually just wear eyeliner and lipgloss everyday—Rimmel glosses are great, stays on WAY longer than most and their liquid eyeliner is also pretty ace.

I don’t like mascara.

Hmm, yeah. I don’t want look like a herion junkie either.

i actually never wear eye makeup since I always wear glasses now. I figure it’s not worth bothering with.

I am totally trying the MAC cake liner, I’m using a black eyeshadow from Lancome and it’s just not concentrated or dense enough for some days.

Re pill vs breakouts: BC will definitely affect your monthly breakouts associated with your cycle (not so much the regular oily-skin ones, more’s the pity). Unfortunately there’s an direct relationship between suppressing monthly breakouts and suppressing libido: the hormones that wreak havoc on yr acne are the same ones that give you an upswing before & during ovulation, etc (HI DERE I HATE YOU BCP). So uh, enjoy that, either way.

Also, eyeshadow is easy, people! Last time I had a department store makeover, the guy put all my shadows on with his fingers, so now I don’t worry about brushes anymore (except for fine lines). Of course you can do anything you like with it and some plans are better for some face shapes etc etc, but rule of thumb: lighter colors go inside, towards the tear ducts, darker or more dramatic colors go at outside corners. Apply with fingers; blend. Start out with a couple of shades of the same color, like ivory/tan/brown or white/light pink/rose so that the blending is easier (you can move onto lime green/electric blue in subsequent lessons).

okay, but the corners thing confuses me. are you just applying shadow in the corners? what goes in the middle?

(I am totally embarrassed by how dumb I sound, by the way.)

No embarrassment! I put the lightest color right around the tear ducts and it overlaps a little bit past the eye onto what you could call the side of the nose, I guess? Not enough that it’s clowny, just to bring some reflective brightness to the inner eye (a twinkle, if you like). If I’m using two colors, that same light shade gets swept across about half the lid, if three, it’s in about equal thirds (and the medium shade goes on the center lid). Darkest or most vibrant shade lines the outside 1/3 along the lashes and swoops up to the brow-bone.

Only experimentation will tell you how far is too far (or how much peacock blue is too much) for your face. Also, you can take off eyeshadow with a little moisturizer and a cotton ball (or soft tissue) if you don’t pull too hard — I find that’s easier on skin than cleaning with facial cleanser if you’re just going to reapply.

I got a MAC pencil liner recently (thanks for the tip on that place, Q—they were super, super nice to me and I’m nearly clueless about makeup).. plus some taupe shadow with a little shimmer to it. it’s nice. I think what I really need to do is switch from glasses to contacts and then I can wear makeup better.. I feel like right now, I have small eyes and glasses on top & then wearing any strong color shadow or whatever just looks hideous. eh. I see so many women who look like they know how to wear makeup properly, you know, just enough to look polished and professional.. and whenever I try I feel like I look ridiculous!

thank you, Laurel; that was super-clear! I think dividing into thirds was what the makeover person did to my eyes, and I loved the way it looked.

clearly I have some makeup to buy.

BUT BUT BUT if you use your fingers, the eyeshadow gets the grease from your fingers in it and eventually, over time, gets weird and unusable. I’ve tested this and it seems to be true. The ones I use my fingers in eventually all get this weird hardness to them.

I feel like I read so many women’s magazines from the age of 13–20 that I have tried every possible makeup look under the sun. These days I settle for brow grooming/powder, a little blush and lipstick. Sometimes mascara.

what is a good way to do eye makeup with glasses?

I think you’d be better off using a brush...

Amanda, you’re right about the grease from fingers, you’re not TECHNICALLY supposed to touch any products...but people who frequently apply make-up do, I think, because they’re replacing it more often anyway...? Anyway, the only time I make-up is when I’ve just washed myf face anyway, so fingers have been washed along with, and I don’t worry. I haven’t experienced the hardening thing that you mention, tho.

Also, re blush: I very often dab some of my lip color onto my ring fingers and apply it as cheek stain — it makes coordinating the shades a total no-brainer, and I prefer the gel consistency of most lip colors to powder blush (which brushes right off me esp in winter hats and scarves).

i HAVE to wear foundation because my skin is kinda crap. It’s very porey and sort of red in places. I’m interested to hear more about the vincent longo stuff ally mentioned above. right now I use Cargo foundation which is actually quite good! I’m really dead pale and it’s a good color match. Combined with smashbox foundation primer my makeup seems to stay in place until the end of the day..

As far as blush, I tend to use lighter pink shades as anything darker seems a bit easier to fuck up. I really like this light ballerina pink from Nars (forget the color right now). I then use an angled blush brush and very lightly apply it to the apples of cheeks (while faux-smiling). Seems to work but if I go overboard I get what I call “balls of blush” where it looks like a doll (big blobs of blush in middle of face... not cuet).

I used to have a problem with acne but it was after coming off the pill. Now I just use Caudalie face wash and some cheapo moisturizer with SPF, nothing much else.

here’s an older pic where you can see obvious blush addiction

Sam, I do the exact same make-up with or without glasses, actually! Maybe I go a little easier on the shadow but heavier on the liner? Since the visibility of the color matters less than the weight of the lashline.

one thing: please,try not to wear foundation, powders, blush before going shopping. this just reminds me of sales clerking in a shop and being totally disgusted by girls who would leave their whole face on expensive shirts after trying them on. or at least be careful.

gross II: getting makeup all over the screen on your mobile phone. guh, grodey.

Why on earth is someone putting on a full face of makeup to go shopping anyway? That is like for maybe work, or parties, not for malls.

Re: Vincent Longo, I use the Liquid Canvas Healthy Fluid when feeling like I should be wearing some base. It’s about $50 but you don’t need to use much of it at once so it’ll last about a year, even with regular use (not really sure if you’re meant to keep foundation for a year+ but whatever it still works and hasn’t changed color). The Healthy Fluid is the sort of matte finish one, they also have Dew Finish which is the more illuminatey one.

THey also have the Water Canvas which is creme-to-powder but I’ve never actually tried that one. I’ve heard good things about it but just don’t like creme-to-powder formulas at all, so I extrapolated “good things about this specific one must mean good things about ALL BRAND”.

http://boutique.vincentlongo.com/User/ViewSubCategory.aspx?SubCategoryId=2 (but they are available at Sephora too)

gross II: getting makeup all over the screen on your mobile phone. guh, grodey.

It totally is—especially when it’s your own phone that someone else has used and handed back to you.

EW

re: eye shadow — I learned from the crazy Mary Kay makeover lady that a medium-esque color goes on the bottom of your lid, near your lashes to the crease. The crease gets a darker shade, and the crease to eyebrow line gets the lightest shade. Is this wrong? Have I been a beauty skills failure? I sometimes it turns out strangely and I feel like I have two black eyes. Laurel, I’m going to have to try your technique.

I know!

x post

Editor’s choice here is the Maybelline Great Lash in Brown/Black and sometimes I will use Borghese—but Ally I will try out the one you recommend upthread as I see in my consumer crystal ball a big trip to Targée Boutique coming.

Shiseido do fabulous brow-filler kits but try not to lose the fab little brush like I did.

Kieh’s blue range: I’d only recommend the blue zit-zapper fluid, and only on the zits.

People on pills might do well to take zinc and magnesium supplements—I haven’t had a single pimple since I did.

i generally prefer to layer shadow horizontally, not vertically.

Molly, I got that same Mary Kay lesson in jr high and I eventually gave up on it — putting dark in the crease just doesn’t work for me.

Lauren, horizontal? I think I’m not imagining that right. Tho I should point out that mine aren’t strictly vertical either, they kind of angle out to the corners.

oh man I just got back from sephora, where I purchased some powerfully FUSCHIA lipstick. also from CVS where I procured the soft&full mascara!

it’s more horizontal than vertical, at any rate. i usually only work with two colors at a time (often just one), so the lighter color goes in the crease and fades out up towards the browbone with a tiny bit on the inner corner of the lid. the darker color goes on the bulk of the lid.

I’m going to try the Laurel Method when I get home (thanks, btw!). I’ve been dissatisfied with the Mary Kay Method for a while now, but I guess I’m just too lazy to figure out another way to do it on my own. Also, I do wear my glasses a lot, and I figure, who the hell cares? But if I have a nice style of application, things might be different.

zinc does work! even for me, though some days i take two x15mg, esp when feeling tired/pale—yet red... yeah, i have rosacea too! thank you, irish/english heritage. but it’s under decent control. it seems i worry far less about makeup and far more about skin care, both washing/toning and vitamins/nutrition/rest/exercise.

every time i’ve ever tried to use eyebrow tint, i look like a crazy person. maybe i will let the counter people at my eyes one of these days.

xpost

fuschia lipstick = awesome!

i want some cake liner now too

I don’t really do eye shadow too much, ironic considering I have a stila 4-pan plus several loose stilas and a couple Make Up 4Evers lying around.

hey sam my nieman-marcus has a kiehls counter, maybe yours does too? is austin big enough for a n-m?

We might be but it must be in a fancy rich part of town I never go to. ;)

And I might try Lauren’s tip about putting the light shade in the crease, and see what happens. HEY I HAVE AN IDEA: let’s all swap! I refuse to wear lipstick, though — it all comes off on the cigarettes anyway.

There’s a Kiehl’s store in Snashville, but it’s in the uber-fancy mall, near the Tiffany’s and Louis Vuitton store.

My brows have become lighter over the past year or so. I’ve retaliated against Nature by having them dyed when I have them groomed.

Most days I wear only a little powder, mascara on top lashes and a little swipe at the bottom lashes, and Kiehl’s lip balm without the SPF because there does not seem to be an SPF inclusif product that doesn’t make me break out. Damn good thing I hate the sun.

Order Kiehl’s online from www.kiehls.com

hmm there is kiehl’s at Saks and Nordstrom here.

This uber-fuschia lipstick is making me look straight out of Dynasty, but I’m kinda loving it!

Why is it that dark/smoky/dramatic eye + pale lip always looks better in magazines than irl? Or maybe it just doesn’t suit me—I have rather, ur, odd features and the strong lip seems to balance things out better. . . also, the last time I tried for dark/smoky/dramatic eye Mr. Que thought was all “WAHT HAPPENED TO YOU? YOU HAVE TWO BLACK EYES DID YOU FALL DOWN?”

Kiehl’s seems to be in all the Nordstrom’s—I need to make my Mall Of Americky pilgrimage to get my stuff soon.

We went over the fact that you are not odd looking at Muttley’s last Sunday, do keep up!!! FWIW I have seen you with dark(er) eye makeup and no lipstick and thought you looked nice.

I have always wondered the opposite, why minimalist eye and dark lip always looks good on tv but not when I do it. Though I’ve gotten a bit more used to trying it and just trying to get used to the way it looks, so maybe that is a big part of it.

Yeah, Q, I’m all about the dark eyes and only neutral or gloss on lips — I almost NEVER wear lipstick. And then I see photos of myself and my lips seem to be missing, so I should probably find a stronger color for my “neutral” but when I put strong colors on, it looks so funny.

whenever i wear dark lipstick i feel like i am trying pick people up.

You...aren’t?

Dark lipstick makes me feel, as my mother puts it, risque.

I’m a colored gloss kinda gal.

I’m a bit flummoxed as to why, among six billion brown eyeliner pencils, Lancome’s cost, like, $28? And are not discernably different from those costing twenty bucks less?

i am always way too intent on drinking to pick up people. do not try to talk to me before I have a drink in my hand.

In my experience as a veteran lipstick wearer, lipstick is actually more repelling to men than gloss. It’s almost like armor against them in a totally backward way.

speaking as a man (and i am, technically) i prefer women who don’t wear make up but that’s just me.

see?

Does anyone else remember when orange lipstick had it’s moment in the sun in the mid-90s? Actually, I remember that it was 1995 when US Vogue did a whole thing on tangerine being the “must have” lip color for the spring season.

Orange lipstick is hard to pull off, ppl. Believe me, I tried.

xpost my better half is actually way into lipstick, but no no no on any sort of eye makeup beyond mascara. Maybe this is unusual? Michael White to thread for the male perspective!

Actually I think that maybe a lot of dudes don’t know when a chick is, in fact, wearing makeup. I mean they may think they prefer that women not wear makeup, but maybe what they actually mean is they prefer that women not wear obvious makeup? Just throwing the idea out there.

YES! My mother went through this awful “coral” phase in the mid 90s. It was bad news and VERY orange. Poor thing. I think my sister and I went in and raided her stash, and threw the bad stuff out.

maybe, but this dude is basing his preference on seeing women he’s known in both made up and non made up situations. he’s also talking in third person for which he should be hit in the face with a wrench.

xpost.

Gloss is another one of those things that I think sometimes works in theory better than in practice. Like I always remember reading in some fashion mag a designer or makeup artist or whatever who said something like “lip gloss makes a woman look like she just ate a bunch of greasy fried chicken.”

I loathe Lancome because it’s far, far too scented. To recap:

Scent in products for the face: breakout

SPF: breakout

Zinc and magnesium supplements: no breakout

Scent in lotion: the Prada one smells like chocolate, otherwise NEIN DANKE

Scent in pefume: best place for it.

Boys who are going to kiss you on a regular basis hate lipstick because they might end up wearing it by accident.

i went through an orange lipstick phase last year. I didn’t think it looked orange on at all. But then it ended up giving me a rash.

i actually think that lancome’s eye pencils are fantastic. they’re really long, so they last a while, and they’re soft and not draggy—you get a firm line with out any bumpiness. really good colors, as well.

many xposts!

orange lipstick, meh. orange nail polish, rah! i’m wearing some at the moment (nars “hunger”).

I mean they may think they prefer that women not wear makeup, but maybe what they actually mean is they prefer that women not wear obvious makeup?

Totally. My goal in wearing makeup is not for people to notice I’m wearing any. When you’re blessed with Swedish and Eastern European genes, you need something to spice up your pallid complexion and accentuate your good features.

There have been like farrrrrrr too many studies done on what men mean by “They prefer a woman to look natural” wherein they are shown three pictures of the exact same girl sans make up, with just like base, gloss and mascara, and like actually done up (but “natural” done up ie neutral colors etc etc) and overwhelmingly men go for the last option. Half of them don’t even realize the pix are all of the same girl. So yeah, q OTM.

I am curious as to why there are now two people showing up on a thread titled “mascara” to be kind of rude but whatevs. otto, you know I love ya and I’m sure you’re telling the truth. Though I would imagine that most situations where this would occur (ie woman wearing NATURAL LOOKING make up versus no make up), you are in a woman-in-question-just-woke-up-and/or-just-went-to-bed situation so that’s a bit of a skewered look.

All I know is that when I’ve gone to work with a completely bare face, people ask me if I’m not feeling well :(

A little mascara and some lip gloss/color, no one questions my health.

There have been like farrrrrrr too many studies done on what men mean by “They prefer a woman to look natural”

I would like to reiterate that this is not something anyone in the bloody world should be studying, there are better things to think about than “OMG WTF MEN: WHO WILL THEY BONK” and it just seems like there are a ridiculous amount of people devoting themselves to this kind of study???

PS ORANGE MAKE UP IS A DEMON’S WORK PEOPLE. Nail polish does not count as make up in my world, it is a different realm entirely. I’m not sure why I feel this way about it.

All I know is that when I’ve gone to work with a completely bare face, people ask me if I’m not feeling well :(

I feel yr pain. I also think it’s grand when someone of questionable makeup taste (i.e. too much) tries to give you advice on makeup application (hello, family!).

i stand by my original post:

speaking as a man (and i am, technically) i prefer women who don’t wear make up but that’s just me.

Hey what do people think of nuevo-Vamp nail polish? I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m old enough to remember vintage Vamp. I actually got some OPI “Lincoln Park After Dark” (dark dark dark, bordering on black, purple) and did my toes. It just doesn’t look that great. Mr. Que declared my tootsies “skank ho toes.”

Actually, the do sort of look like something 2X-ex-Mrs. Mathers up there would sport.

Haha I think everyone here is old enough to remember Vamp the original ;_;

I did like it when it was first available but I was much younger and skankier then. Now...I’m not so sure, especially since the redux by Chanel is basically just pitch black with red sparkles in it.

It ain’t going on my fingers, that’s for sure.

i wear lincoln park after dark more than any other polish. that, or essie’s “wicked” which is like vamp-lite. i think the key is to keep nails very short. i’ve never tried lpad on my toes, though. i’m not a fan of very dark colors on toenails.

I like dark colors, but I just am thinking that (at the very least the new Chanel Vamp) these are too black for me? I haven’t examined closely.

it depends on your skin tone and (obviously) personal preference, i guess. i really like the almost-black.

It also helps to have pretty hands and feet. I have “hands of an old working woman” so it’s not flattering on me.

I actually think it would look good on short fingernails; my reluctance is that my experience with polish on my fingers is that it chips within 24 hours—not a good look, esp. with a dark polish.

knobby, dry, small, gnarled = my hands

I have nice long fingers and a good nail shape but nail polish doesn’t suit me. My mom has nails to kill for.

Oddly my sister and I were just fighting about who has the nicest feet out of us. I think I win. Toenail polish however is all about straight-up red or Chanel Rouge Noir. Or something black.

Let’s all just agree that women who do french manicures on their toenails are insane?

In my experience as a veteran lipstick wearer, lipstick is actually more repelling to men than gloss. It’s almost like armor against them in a totally backward way.
— Armando Grouse (showdow...), December 21st, 2006. (Armando ) (later) (link)

OTM (at least for me). Gloss is nice and cute, lipstick not so much.

amen. inevitably paired with a toe ring or two.

xpost

“lip gloss makes a woman look like she just ate a bunch of greasy fried chicken.”

i love that quote.

i used to wear dark lipstick when i looked especially skuzzy (studying too much, no time to shower) because i thought that maybe the lipstick would distract from the non-showered-state.

i wore dark lipstick a lot, actually, and now i like how it looks but it seems like altogether too much bother. i really like my bodyography natural-hue lipstick, though.

french pedicures really do sound insane.

I actually had someone suggest that to me as a viable option for wedding day chic, “Oh you should go to the salon with the ‘maids and all get french manis and pedis“ and all I could think was, ”Why do I even still know you.“

Aahaha OK is your sister going to make you do this for her wedding?

I’m more disturbed that they used the abbreviation “manis and pedis” but I HAD NO IDEA that people would do French pedicure; how gross.

See: all of Red State USA

see: jordan and jodie marsh

I don’t get the french pedicure, either. It just looks... weird. See also people who get acrylic TOENAILS. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Oh god my sister’s wedding. One of the other bridesmaids is a right diva sorority sister type. I had said I was not at all interested in hiring a make up artist etc etc for the wedding and they did not need to do such a thing for me (especially after BAD experience with make up + hairdressers at LI wedding), she actually e-mailed back that she would prefer to not have to worry about that kind of “bullshit” (like, uh, putting on your own mascara I guess) on her “big day”—wtf?? Since when is a wedding the BRIDESMAIDS’ big day? It was completely psychotic.

End of my story.

xpost oh god acrylic toenails I have seen that and I wanted to cut my own eyeballs out.

WAHT? I was unawares that the acrylic madness extended to toenails ;_;

Ally, you did say the biyotch was a diva. It would have been all I could have done not to mail back with ‘but then some people are really insecure about their appearance and think a make-up person will be able to fix it somehow’.

This thread made me put on make up this morning!

I use that Maybelline XXL mascara. I love liquid liner! At the moment I use some by Maybelline (hi dere buy one get one free at CVS).

My favorite red lipstick is one by Jane that is probably discontinued.

I learned to put on liquid liner at uh...... modeling school.

You went to modeling school? I am jealous!

I was 13.

I lurve dark lipstick, though I wore it much more frequently in high school than I do now. but I remember it fondly; I sort of think it ties my face together.

quincie is totally right about men assuming women wearing “natural” makeup are wearing no makeup and finding that more attractive than women actually wearing no makeup. but whatever.

rolling out of bed in the morning...now that’s natural. that’s my makeup routine more often than not these days. i kinda wish i had the energy to put into looking all gussied up sometimes, but meh.

at my old job i used to wear a bit of eyeliner and neutral lipstick every day. one day i wore a darker lipstick and a guy at work made this really big deal about how omg i was wearing makeup, i NEVER wore makeup. uh, dude, not so.

Hahahaha I have that happen every time I deem it a thing to do to put on the red lipstick, which is like maybe once or twice a month.

OMG so true! My ex thought I never wore makeup(??) until one night for a party I wore extra, and he said “you don’t usually wear makeup, do you?” and I was like, “Dude, I’m not nearly as attractive as you think I am.” To his credit, he said, “You are exactly as attractive as I think you are” which is a little WTF but is a good answer, I guess.

All I know is that when I’ve gone to work with a completely bare face, people ask me if I’m not feeling well :(

I have used this technique a couple of times in the past, post chucking-a-sickie. It works a treat and no one suspects a thing.

And there is no way in hell that some stupid men’s poll is going to make me give up wearing my red lipstick. That will only happen when I’m too old to pull it off.

Haha, actually I did accidentally send my boyfriend home one evening with lipstick on his cheek (I hadn’t realised!). His flatmate thought it was very hilarious. I thought it was vintage teen movie and brilliant. Talk about a girl marking her territory!! Haha.

Should I give it a try? Since I’m wearing glasses:

1 I can’t rub my eyes as much as I used to

2 If I’m rub at it, noone will notice it

TEACH ME HOW TO BE A GIRLIE GIRL!