Beauty 101: Lips

Products from top to bottom:
Mint Julips exfoliating lip scrub Lush Cosmetics
Ashton Liquid Lipstick Anastasia Beverly Hills
Pomegranate Lip Balm Burt's Bees

For my last blog post, I am choosing to show how to apply a liquid lipstick. Liquid lipsticks are my favorite products because they are matte. In Bobbi Brown's book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual she describes matte products as "Matte products are dense and last the longest. They contain less moisture than other products, so they adhere to the lips and don't fade as quickly." (Brown, 82). My favorite brand for liquid lipsticks is Anastasia Beverly Hills. I fin that their lipsticks are the most long lasting without completely drying out my lips. My favorite shade is Ashton a Brown color that is recommended for medium lips in Brown's book. She says not to use colors that are too light as they can look ashy and unnatural (Brown, 80). The other colors recommended for my lip shade are rose, pink, orange and warm red. These colors are what mainly makes up my collection of lip products.
Liquid lipsticks can be quite drying so I start out by using a lip exfoliater followed by a lip balm to keep my lips moisturized. My next step is to line my lips with a lip pencil. I used the Kylie Cosmetics lip liner in Dolce K. The point of a lip liner is to prevent the product from bleeding outside the lip. This is not necessary for liquid lipsticks but it helps serve as a guide where to follow with my applicator. The next step is to use the liquid lipstick. I outline the lips using the guide from my lip liner on the bottom lip then fill in. I press my lips together to fill in the the inside of my top lip and get rid of the excess product on the bottom lip. This is the part where I make the most mistakes is following my cupids bow. Very carefully, use the doe foot applicator to line my lips and fill in any blank spots. Once I have all of my lipstick on, I go in with a small concealer brush and clean up any messy lines around my lips. That concludes my lip routine.

The Final Look

Thank you for reading! What is your favorite lip color?


Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro.
Springboard Press, 2011.

Beauty 101: Eyeshadow

The finished look 

Eye shadow is a powdered cosmetic used on the eyes to provide definition or color. In Bobbi Brown's Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, she explains eyeshadow as to be used to help accentuate the eye and make color stand out (Brown, 94). I will be using a mix of dark shades to accentuate my eye and oranges and reds o make my brown eyes stand out more. I will also use a couple different formulas of eye shadow.
For this tutorial I will be using the She palette by Colourpop Cosmetics.

Step 1

1. Start by putting an orange color in the crease. This will act as a transition shade. Transition shades are useful for eye makeup by providing a color that makes darker and more bold shades easier to blend and look smooth over the eye. I used a fluffy dome-shaped blending brush for this.

2. Next, I used a red color in the crease and outer corner of the eye. This is the darkest color used. A denser brush than the last works better for this because I want this color to be more bold and pigmented rather than the transition shade that I wanted lighter and blended out further. Because this color is still in the crease, I wanted it to be blended smoothly with the transition shade so I made sure I used a fluffy brush rather than packing brush that is used for packed, intense color on your lid.

Step 2

3. The next step is to use a shimmery pink shade over the bare space on your lid. I used a flat packing brush for this since only the edges needed to be blended out from the lid. Once I picked product up on the brush, I used rosewater spray to intensify the color. After the pigment was placed, I used a blending brush to blend out the harsh lines.
4. Once the top shadow is done, I used a small brush described by Brown as a "Eye Smudge Brush: A small-head brush with a slightly rounded point. This brush has soft, flexible bristles that help smudge liner to create a smoky look" (Brown, 12) to add the orange color we started out with and the red shadow from the second step under my eye from my outer corner to the further end of my iris.
5. The final step is to add mascara and false eyelashes. I used the Ardell Soft Touch Wispies 162 Black and the Loreal Lash Paradise Mascara to add volume and length to my naturally stubby lashes

Step 5

Step 3

Step 4

 Have you ever used eye shadow before and if so, how did it go?

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

Eyebrows

For me, eyebrows are one of the most important parts of my makeup. Eyebrows frame your face and provide definition. I have dark hairs but very sparse brows so I use a variety of tools, going from top to bottom I use a brush and pomade when I want my eyebrows to look darker and more defined, a brow pencil for everyday when I want to have my brows full but not as dark as what the pomade does and concealer with a small detail brush to outline my brows an clean up some of the mistakes I may have made. In her book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, Bobbi Brown mentions that the start of the brow should follow an imaginary line following the outside of the nose to the inside corner of the eye (Brown, 90). Another way you can find the shape of your brow is by following three imaginary lines that can guide your shape. Start from the side of your nose and imagine an imaginary line that goes through your inner corner of your eye and to the start of your brow, another from the side of your nose through the pupil to show where your arch should be and the last one using your nose and outer corner of your eye to where your brow should end.
Now that you have your shape, fill your brows in. The materials mentioned before are what I like to use to fill them in however there are also brow gels and powders that you can use. To use an eyebrow pencil, Brown says, "Using an eyebrow pencil in a shade that matches the brow color, fill with a light, feathery stroke, mimicking the look of hair." (Brown, 92). To start filling in, I outline the bottom of my brow then the top using my pencil then using those light feathery strokes that Brown mentioned earlier to fill my brow in. Once hey are full, I use a spoolie brush through my brow hairs and soften the lines used to fill in my brows. Once they are a nice fullness, I use my concealer and detail brush to outline my brow clean up some of the mistakes I may have made. Once my concealer is blended I am done with my eyebrows.

Do you fill in your brows regularly?

Beauty 101: Skincare

The most important part of beauty and makeup is to make sure that the products you are using are good for your skin. The way we can correct this is through skincare. I personally have problematic skin but through guidance, it has become better. The first step to skin care is knowing your skin type. In Bobbi Brown's book, Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, She explains a self-analysis of how to recognize your skin type. Brown says "An accurate skin analysis will help you determine the most effective cleansing, hydration and makeup products for your skin type and condition. However, when problem skin shows no improvement, see a dermatologist." (Brown, 32). 


I determined, through this analysis that I have combination skin. As you can see, I have oiliness on my forehead, nose and chin (T-zone), also where I have my breakouts and larger pores and dry patches on my cheeks where it feels tighter. Brown says that a gel cleanser and a moisturizer containing alpha hydroxy acids is most beneficial to combination skin types (Brown, 33). After reading, I realized that my skincare routine does not follow these guidelines that are beneficial to me so I decided to start fresh with a new routine.

Before

After

The Mario Badescu Enzyme Cleansing Gel, DIY apple cider vinegar toner and First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream Intense Hydration Cream (pictured top right) now make up my skincare routine and this is the best my skin has looked in months. As you can see, following this advice has cleared up my skin a little bit in the past couple weeks




What skin type do you have and what are your favorite products?

Resource: Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.