Good afternoon everyone! So in light of recent events, in which I had posted my second most recent blog post for family and friends to see, a lot of people have been asking me to give them tips on how to start into makeup. I need to do a disclaimer before I continue however. I am by no means a makeup artist. I learnt how to apply makeup through watching Youtube videos, and gaining my information and tips from there. It's been a good 3 years of learning and collecting. I also have the very basics of a makeup collection. Some people think it's a lot, and others think it's a healthy amount for someone to have! I just wanted to start this off by saying that.
So to start, I laid out some of the best starter products I think are a great investment, and most are drugstore.
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In the first photo, you can see everything laid out. I will do a little break down. I put out my favourite drugstore lightweight foundation and good coverage concealer as they are both drugstore, and the foundation is quite a light coverage, meaning you can add a small layer and you won't feel you have too much on. (I'll list the best way to apply this foundation further down the post.) This foundation is ideal for normal to dry skin as it gives a dewy affect, meaning your skin is left looking very glowy and with a natural "shine". If you are more oily, Maybelline just released a very similar foundation but it is called the "Fit me: Matte and Poreless". This one is better for those with oily skin.
Blush and Bronzer: These are very, VERY simple products that are very easy to apply. The bronzer is the matte light one from the Sephora collection, and it's more of a grey tone, which means when applying it with a light hand, you won't have a "orange" face. The blush is something that I just had from NYX, but that brand also has AMAZING picks for blush that would work with your skin tone. Just apply this to the apples of your cheeks and sweeping backwards with a brush that I'll show below.
Also a translucent powder just sets your foundation from sliding, but that is optional as some people don't want to powder their face, but it doesn't make you look 'cakey'.
These three products are a few of the easiest things to ever use and will make one of the biggest differences in your everyday routine.
Brows: If you don't know by now, filling in your brows is a huge thing on trend. I use the brow Wiz from Anastasia in dark brown (i think it's brunette now?) It is a very waxy pencil with a very fine tip and a brow brush on the other end. Using this with very light strokes is the best way to get a natural but fuller looking brow. Follow the natural curve of your brow when filling it in.
Eyeliner: if you want to try a little flick with your eyeliner, this Loreal one is THE BEST ONE. It takes some time to get the little flick, but it gets easier.
Mascara: Any mascara that will give you either volume or length. This one is just one of my favourites right now.
If you want to invest in anything, I recommend an eyeshadow palette. You can get this Naked by Urban Decay palette at Sephora. It is pricey, but the looks you can do with any 2 of their Naked palettes are endless. This one i find is great for people starting out and just need the basic neutrals for their eyeshadow. I often like running Naked through my crease and on my lid, and then Buck through the crease again to darken it up and then half baked on the lid. I blend half baked out by using the brush I used with Buck on it to blend it out. Then I'm done! I do run the colors lightly under my lower lash line, but that's up to you!
For lips, I just gave you 3 drugstore options and one MAC lipstick as these are some of my go-to colors.
In order: Touch of Spice, Kate Moss 107, Relvon Matte Balm in Elusive, and MAC's Coral Bliss (which is very sheer so good for everyday)
I just chose these to show you that there are so many options when it comes to lips and to not feel the need to branch out and try a dark lipstick, but that you can even just wear a sheer lipstick.
Now onto the beginners brushes that I recommend everyone should eventually have.
Foundation brushes: These are very important if you want a good even coverage. Yes, your fingers work just as well! But if you don't want to get your fingers dirty, these brushes are very affordable. The gold handle is Real Techniques Buffing Brush, which you can find at London Drugs if you're in Canada or most drugstores I think. The whole Real Techniques brushes are FAB.
The flat top kabuki brush beside the buffing brush is part of a BH Cosmetics set. (please excuse the random cat hair coming out of my brush .. thanks cats.)
I HAD to include this for people who don't understand how to get a foundation brush to work for them. This is also from Real Techniques and it's called something like their Miracle Completion Sponge. I know what you're thinking; SPONGE? REALLY? Yes, really. This is one of the only things I use to blend out my under eye concealer because if you just bounce it off the skin, it gives you amazing coverage and a great flawless finish. I use this sponge with the Fit Me foundation I mentioned earlier. This just helps make that foundation apply beautifully. If you want to see this in action, just youtube it and a lot of people use it.
These are two great bronzer and blush brush options. The one on the left is a Duo-Fibre brush meaning it doesn't take too much product. I often will use this for all over bronzer. Both of these brushes are again, Real Techniques. The second one is a multitask brush which is one of my favourites because it really is a multitasked brush. Not sure why BOTH brushes have a strand of hair sticking out, but my apologizes! I do use these daily so they are well loved.
Two powder brush options here. Both are Morphe brushes, which is a brand I am in love with. I did a review on them previous, so feel free to check that out. The smaller brush I use to set my undereyes, and the larger one I just dust the powder all over with it. Very simple! Some people just use the smaller one depending on the size of their face ;)
Hello eyeshadow brushes! These are my favourite brushes to collect! Both of these are again Real Techniques, and I love them. They are both great for all over colour as they are able to blend out the colour very well all over your eyelid. One is just a little bigger and fatter than the other one.
This one is a Morphe brush, and this one I used today, which apologizes for the dirty brush but you know. I often take a nice soft brown and run this brush with the product through the crease of my eye and just blend it so it doesn't look very harsh. Go in sweeping motions and at the outer corner of each eye, do little circular motions. I highly recommend you watch Rachel Whitehurst's video on "Blending 101". She does swear, so warning! But her technique is very simple.
THE LAST SET. These are going to be your best friend if you want to get into eyeshadow. The pink handled brush is from Sedona Lace, and it was my first blending brush and I would be so lying if I said I didn't use this everyday. I use it to buff out any eyeshadow to make it look seamless. The other brush is a very similar blending brush from Morphe Brushes. One of their gun metal eyeshadow blending brushes. (The name rubbed off .. whoops)
If you get any of these brushes, these are a great option.
ALRIGHT. Well then. That's my long but hopefully very helpful post on some basics when starting off with makeup.
If you have any questions and/or wanting links to who I watched and learnt a lot from, let me know and I'll link you up! Thank you so much and I hope this was very helpful to some of you!
Toodle-doo!
