The Toolkit of My Youth

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you've probably encountered the tale of my Year Without (much) Makeup. It was my junior year of college. At the time, I had a pretty sizable collection, and I'd also ended up in a very old-fashioned dorm room. This means no air conditioning, communal bathrooms, and the ugliest carpets you've ever seen. It was also the year that I decided it would be an awesome idea to take 6 classes each semester: 5 major-level course and a new language.

Friends, this was not the time for beauty or big collections.

I got in to the habit of wearing 4 things and 4 things only, albeit on the daily: Shiseido Ultimate Sun Protection Lotion SPF60 (now discontinued, though you can still purchase an SPF50ish version), Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF15, Shu Uemura Hard Formula brow pencil in Seal Brown, and whatever mascara I had handy/could afford, which usually meant Maybelline Great Lash. And somehow, I always managed to look halfways decent.

Now, I didn't use the EA stick balm or Maybelline Great Lash in this photo, because the tubes photographed above actually belong to my mother. Instead, I used Bare Minerals Lash Demolition and the original Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream. But the feel is the same: slap it on and go, nobody knows you're even wearing anything. The only "strenuous" part of the process was my brows, which took about 2 minutes to draw on and brush through.

I'd actually recommend that most people give this almost-nothingness a try. If you want to stay under a $20 budget, consider using a Neutrogena sunscreen and the $2 La Femme brow pencil, plus whatever your favorite lip balm and mascara are. It might not be your favorite look, but it gave me a new perspective on my face 5 years later.

I fell back in love with makeup after that junior year of college, and I haven't turned away since. So I decided that I would allow myself to add 3 more products to this lil' toolkit...but I imagined that I was still in that 21-year-old's stressed out "I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS NONSENSE" mindset.

I knew that I would've gone for products that were sheer, easy, portable, and multi-tasking: MAC Strobe Cream, which is both a moisturizer and a subtle illuminator; Paula's Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint, which is a light-coverage foundation that looks like skin and provides extra sun protection, and a Becca Beach Tint in Dragonfruit.

I built over the already-applied sunscreens, mascara, and brow products. I squeeze a dollop of the PC tint on the back of my hand, then an even tinier drop of MAC Strobe Cream near that. I added a bit of the Strobe Cream to the foundation to make it even sheerer and slightly glowy; then I applied it to my entire face, including my undereyes and eyelids, and down my neck. I patted a little more of the mixture on to spots and redness for some more coverage. Then I began tapping what was left of the Strobe Cream on to the tops of my cheekbones and under my brows; I did this before applying blush because it seems to make everything appear more seamless/natural, and because it forces me to focus on how my skin looks versus my blush. Dragonfruit is exceptionally pigmented and lovely, so I used the tiniest dots of product on my lips and my cheeks. I put on another layer of EA8HC to keep my lips from drying out.

You would not believe the number of compliments I got from random people when I was out shopping with my mother. Somehow, these products manage to look like makeup without looking made up, if you catch my drift.

And there you have it: still no-muss-no-fuss, even 5 years and 3 more products later!

Oh, and for the record: I packed the Beach Tint along with some blotting powder and a sheer concealer in my purse for touch-ups. Twas a smart idea. I'm older, but I'm also wiser!

A Week Without Foundation, Day 4; now with bonus empties!

You know, I'm starting to appreciate the "wow factor" of this whole no-foundation thing. I still wish I had some concealer on my discoloration and my horrendous undereye circles, but if you're going to do a statement lip, it's kind of...fun having nothing else to distract from it. A bit unbalanced in the eyes of some, yes, but I'd take an unbalanced Revlon Black Cherry look over something outta Showgirls any day.

Skipping foundation, concealer, and powder also makes my looks more cost-effective. Besides the $5 Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick, I also used my $4 Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes mascara, a very pigmented Wet n' Wild $1 brow pencil in Taupe, and the peachy Victoria's Secret gel blush I got on sale for $3. That means this look cost all of $13...and if it wasn't meant to be completely base-free, I would've used a bit of cheap-o concealer to finish it off.

Just imagine it with concealer, friends! Imagine those dark circles awaaaay!

ANYWAY. Here are some more empties, all skincare, all much-loved. I've gone through another tub of the Avon Nurtura night cream (which I always have a back-up of), the infamous Jack Black lip balm (not sure how many of these I own now), the Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream Body Treatment (which I currently can't afford a back-up of), and the L'occitane foot cream (ditto).

$20 New York City-Inspired FOTD

A recent post on MakeupAlley about the makeup you noticed in different cities really got me thinking: haven't I read about looks that are supposedly "truly such-and-such-a-city," and haven't I noticed that sometimes, certain trends truly pervade one city more than another? So I decided to do another $20 face, and one that was inspired by a look that is supposedly "truly New York City": a super-minimalist look with a pop of lipstick. I noticed this on a lot of ladies from sites like IntoTheGloss, and it really struck me: they were apparently wearing nothing but brow pencil and lipstick, and wow, it shouldn't have worked for me, but...it did. The textures of the skin, the bareness of the eyes, the simple hair...just amazing. This isn't a look I'd wear every day--it's a little TOO unmade-up for me--but I think I'll keep it in my emergency bag for the foreseeable future.

I didn't do a tutorial for this look because there isn't a whole lot to it. I used the NYC Smooth Skin Liquid Makeup ($2) in 676 Ivory as both a foundation and a concealer. It's not a product I would highly recommend: it's so thick you have to spatula it out of the bottle, it provides hardly any coverage, and it oxidized almost 2 shades darker after about 30 minutes. But it's cheap and provides the barely-there coverage I needed for this look, so I went with it. Then I filled in my brows with the La Femme brow pencil ($1.50) in Taupe and applied the TINIEST (and I mean TINIEST) amount of Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing mascara ($3.50) to my upper lashes in quick, feathery strokes. I wanted to add a bit of glow to my skin, since natural-but-healthy skin seems to be the NYC look, so I used Boots No 7 High Lights ($10) on my cheeks and under the arch of my brow. Finally, I decided to fill my lips in with a NYX Long lip pencil ($1.50) in Plush Red, since they're smooth and pigmented without being hyper-drying, but still give a matte look on their own. You can skip this step if you want a look more like the uber-minimalist one in the left picture (where I was clearly testing how Plush Red would photograph.

The changes I'll make for my emergency bag are that I'll carry some Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer ($42) instead of the NYC foundation, I'll probably take a more travel-friendly highlighter or pump out a sample of the Boots one, and I'll switch out the pencil to have some variety.

$20 Face: Comfort Zone Cat Eye

This month, the "$20 Full Face" challenge has gotten a lot of press on the blogosphere, Makeup Alley, and YouTube. I decided that--since I love cheap-o stuff like woah and have tons of it--I should jump on the bandwagon and give it a shot. The problem is...I've got a looooot of ideas for full faces I can create with $20 worth of makeup. Hence, I've decided to make it a blog series: whenever I feel like doing a $20 face, I'll post the how-to here and attempt to use my webcam to film the step-by-step process.

STEP 1: Screw around for a few hours and drink lots of coffee. The cutesy cup isn't necessary, but it adds elegance to the whole my-computer-is-in-the-dining-room thing, no?

STEP 2: Put on actual clothes, brush your hair, and wash your hands. Ding! We're ready to start with the makeup.

STEP 3: Apply Revlon New Complexion foundation ($8) in shade 01 Ivory Beige all over your face, including your eyelids, your undereyes, and the upper parts of your neck.

STEP 4: Use the left column on the Wet n' Wild Comfort Zone palette ($5) to get a simple gold eye with brown winged liner. Use the top shimmery cream on the inner third of your lid and as a brow highlight. Use the second peachy-gold color on the rest of your lid and blend it through the crease. Then use a tiny amount of the medium brown to darken up your outer corner. Lastly, apply that last dark brown color across the upper lashline. Wing it out as much as you like (I kinda wanted a big wing today, LOL!). Apply a very small amount to the outer half of your lower lashline and soften it up.

STEP 5: Apply some Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing mascara ($3.50) and the La Femme brow and eyeliner pencil ($1.50) in Taupe. Then take a really sucky, not-so-helpful picture.

STEP 6: Get a nice, creamy lipstick and apply it to your lips. I chose the NYX Round lipstick ($2) in Fig, but I was also considering Fire (a pinky red), Power (a light purple-pink), and Louisiana (a hot pink).

STEP 7: Rub some of the lipstick on the back of your hand, then blend it in to your cheeks, focusing primarily on the apples. Take a tiny amount of that light, shimmery cream shadow from the Wet n' Wild Comfort Zone palette and dab it on the tops of your cheeks as a subtle highlight. Notice that your cat is suddenly sitting behind you and make a stupid face at the camera.

LE DONE!

 In other news, I have updated my blogsale and reduced just about all of the prices for the remaining stuff. I should also have the next round of packages all sent out by Monday, unless something awful happens, like the loss of a particularly valuable limb.