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| Hehe, random start picture because I felt like it. |
First, before anything else, I recommend getting a good tinted moisturizer or foundation that is comfortable, with decent coverage and has an SPF rating. Evening out your skintone does wonders making a person look put together. One of my major issues is acne, so I'm always on the look out for a foundation that doesn't break me out. This problem is harder as I'm also highly sensitive to silicones so my choices are limited. However, many other bloggers have recommended Revlon's Colorstay foundation as a full coverage non-comedogenic foundation. Finding your foundation takes patience, so I recommend getting samples and trying it over the span of a couple days.
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When looking at the vast amounts, colours, shades, textures and brands of eyeshadows available try to stick with the basics. I recommend buying a palette of shades that are cheap. I recommend Wet n' Wild, as it is in the lowest of the drugstore prices but still has really good quality eyeshadow, better than many higher priced brands. A palette is a great way to start as you can try a variety of colours and looks and truly see what types you like. You'll know by what colours you end up using the most. Try to choose a palette that has either a wide variety of colours or neutral shades like browns and greys (such as the above one). Brown and grey can be paired with pretty much anything else, and though many other people say they can't live without their black eyeshadow, I personally find it much too harsh most of the time. I very rarely use my black eyeshadows.
Many times the effect that people are trying to create with eyeshadow is larger eyes. For a natural everyday look, big eyes is a great easy and pretty option. The best way to do this is by bringing light to the eye. Using light colours and shimmery shades will bounce the light around your socket making it look larger. I find that on a lazy day some undereye concealer a light shimmery peach shade and some mascara makes me look awake and pretty without a bunch of work. By placing a shimmer on the tear duct of your eye and a nude colour along your waterline (the rim between your bottom eyelashes and your eyeball) I can go from insomniac to bright-eyed and bushy tailed.
The simplest eye looks are usually done with two colours that are a few shades apart from one another. Take for example a matte skin-shade and a slightly darker brown. I spread the skin colour all over my lid and up to my browbone and blend in so it looks natural. Then taking the darker shade I lightly blend it in the outer part of my crease. Or if you want to use a shimmery shade you can put it all over the lid (not to the browbone, just the lid) and place a slightly darker shade again in the crease. This way you can easily get a nice neutral defined eye without much work.
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My secret weapon is duochrome eyeshadows. With duochromes (eyeshadows that have one base colour and reflect a different colour depending on how the light hits it) it always looks like you've done waaaay more work than you actually have. This pretty much means you can skip the crease defining step. I love Mac Vex for this. It's a very light cool grey that subtly reflects pink. Because it's light and not super shimmery it's perfect for all over the lid and on the tear duct to bring light to the eye. Sometimes I even sweep it up to the browbone as a highlight/redness neutralizer in one.
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As for lips, lipgloss is much easier to wear than lipstick or lipstain. For one they are mostly more moisturizing, but they also tend to be easier to apply as you don't need to be as precise. A sheer light pink, peach or clear gloss is something that can work with any look you've got and is something you can put on anywhere, just dab in the centre of your lips and smoosh around until you feel they're evenly coated. The gloss will provide a bit of colour and make your lips look bigger as it will reflect light, especially around the centre of your mouth which is always the part that is emphasized when trying to make lips look larger than they are. For drugstore I recommend Revlon Super Lustrous glosses as they smell nice, have decent pigmentation, feel nice and last a decent amount of time.
As for blush barely there is what you're aiming for. I personally love New York Color's Blushable Cream Stick blushes as they only require a dab to your cheek then are easily blended out to a very natural looking flush. They also start creamy but very quickly turn to powder once blended which means they don't feel greasy on (score!). I like the shades Plaza Pink and Big Apple Blush personally. One tip for applying blush is to make sure you aren't too close to your nose. Most people (me included) have red discolouration around your nose area (even with concealer) and if the blush is too close it looks like you've continued the blush along and around your nose. Instead use about a fingers width between your nose and where you start your blush and sweep upwards. There is a bunch of different ways and shapes to apply blush on your face with so experiment and see which way you prefer.
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Lastly, though in my opinion most importantly is make-up brushes. You don't need a bunch but I truly prefer to use brushes for eyeshadow at the least as it makes blending and applying colour precisely to the crease much easier. Ecotools is my favourite budget friendly make-up brush brand and the little brush kits are a great buy for eyeshadow brushes. They're super soft and made from a type of plastic so they resist bacteria production and are cruelty-free.
So after all that, what do I recommend to start with?
- eyeshadow palette with a variety of shades
- foundation or tinted moisturizer
- eyeshadow brushes
- cream blush
- mascara
- lipgloss
If you have any questions (like always!) or comments about how helpful/useless this was please let me know. I want to know if posts like these are beneficial to you at all. Have a good friday, TGIF!
