Your makeup journey

[AnnieBalegan]

I would like to know what your makeup journey has been like. When did you leave the aisles of Targets into Sephora (or makeup counters for pre sephora days) for higher quality makeup. For years I lived for Max Factor PanCake makeup... it is still my holy grail and I have never found a replacement dupe. I loved my L'oreal Voluminous carbon black mascara. I still used L'oreal for years until I found Benefit Bad Gal Lash. In college I found my way to the Channel counter and bought my first 'luxury' lipstick, Vamp. OMG I loved that stuff. I cannot find a picture of me without it during those years. Of course I also needed the MAC lip brush to look super cool to touch up my fancy AF lipstick. Next was the Clinique counter for their 3 Step system since my acne showed up in college. I loved their full coverage cream makeup to cover the acne. I probably had a huge makeup line on my jaw since I didn't know what blending was. I let my makeup skills fall to the side when I became a mother. Recently I've jumped back into makeup full force. My skills are rusty. Not that I had mad skills to begin with! So what is your makeup/skin care journey?

[Bunnyslippers]

I did pretty much eyes through high school and college. I always wanted to do more, but my Rosacea was/ is so bad that every product, even high end stuff burned painfully and just destroys my skin for weeks. I end up with a raised area where the product touched, for a week or two. Thank goodness times have changed and I found It Cosmetics. I can finally wear make up! So here I am. As long as I use the It products as a base, I can use anything by anyone! So, I'm gonna sit back and learn all I can. Thank goodness no one has to melt their eye liner with a lighter anymore.

[suzyo]

When I was a kid I would apply a full face of my mother's makeup, remove it, then apply it again. She let me too, it was my way of hanging out with her while she studied. When I was 12 I started wearing makeup to school. I loved blue eyeshadow and berry lips, and would get compliments from adult women all the time. I'm the youngest and only girl though, and one of my brothers was so mean about the fact that I wore makeup it sucked the fun out of it. So by 13, I stopped wearing it, except for concealer under my eyes.

For the rest of my teen years I had no desire to wear makeup. I only wore concealer under my eyes to look less tired and liked being low maintenance. That was actually one of my favorite things about myself, the fact that I felt comfortable so bare faced everyday. I knew girls that had to have their hair and makeup a certain way to feel good, but I didn't need cosmetics to feel good. I really liked that about myself. I was more into the health of my skin and hair.

When I was 19 I got a job at Filene's, and my best friend worked at the Estee Lauder counter. That's how I started using high end skincare. One day I let her give me a makeover to help her practice, and I absolutely hated the way it looked. Not that she did a bad job, I just didn't like the way my face looked with makeup. My skin looked terrible, and I didn't like the look of mascara. She also over drew my lips a little and I didn't like that because it made me look to different, and I didn't want to look different. I went into my 20's disliking the very idea of makeup, because I thought I looked better without it. Still stuck to concealer though, only now I was buying high end concealer. I started buying high end things because they were better quality, and lasted longer.

When I was 21, I decided to buy mascara from Sephora (I had been shopping there for a few years by then). I bought Tarte's 4 Day Lash Stain, because for some stupid reason I thought it would actually stain my lashes. It didn't, but It looked super pretty, and I felt pretty wearing it. The best part was the fact it didn't budge. It was discontinued about a year and a half after I discovered it though. I didn't bother looking for a replacement.

Sometime after 25, I wanted to wear blush. I'm very pale and tired looking and thought blush would help. After a ton of research, I bought a Tarte Cheekstain in Flush. I loved it, and nobody ever noticed that I even wore it except for my mother. It just looked so natural. That was all I wore for a year until Tarte came out with a vault with all the colors and I was able to get it on sale. I loved every color except 1, and to this day that was one of the best makeup purchases I've ever made. I could use a different color everyday! That's when I started to love the process of things, because I could pick something new everyday.

My love of blush got me to rethink makeup altogether. I found a new mascara that worked for me, and started to hunt for a face product. I still hated the look of foundation, but found Dr Jart's Premium BB cream. It was the first face product that actually improved the look of my skin.

Sometime in my later 20's, I wanted an eyeshadow palette. I knew I wouldn't use it everyday but wanted one on hand in case the mood struck. I ended up with the Too Faced Chocolate Bar, I think it had only been out for a year (mine is in the older, thicker packaging). My collection kinda just grew from there. I loved playing with new looks before washing my face, and of course overtime felt like I needed more colors.

I'm 32 now and just love the process of getting ready, but I'm still more into the health of my skin and hair.

[alexasteph]

Let’s see...

When I was young I remember really hating having my hair and makeup done for dance recitals and plays, and for some reason my tomboy mom wanted her tomboy daughter to be a girly girl. It’s not that I wasn’t in to girly things, I just didn’t want my hair curled. I had dolls, tea sets, etc, but I also wanted to climb trees and play in the mud.  Eventually though, I wanted things like glitter and blue eyeshadow. I had a whole bunch of scented glitter rollers in like 6th grade or something.

I don’t think I really wore much through most of high school, but my mom wore a ton of Clinique and would always give me the bonus gifts. I’d use the eye shadow and mascara, and I had a drug store powder. Maybe eyeliner? I can’t remember. I took that super minimal makeup routine with me to college for the first couple of years. 

In around 2008 or 2009, I started to learn of brands like Smashbox, MUFE, and MAC. I was in a sorority, and those were the brands girls were using. I was more interested in makeup, probably because I wanted to stay trendy. Sororities will do that to you. Around this time, black eyeshadow was in. So I got some and wore that like everyday. Black eyeshadow had a short moment, and once it passed, I was over it. But, I was still learning to use makeup a bit more frequently and started to put more thought in to it. 

While in college, I developed terrible allergies and had prescription allergy medication filled each month. I’d wander the makeup aisles of Rite Aid as I waited for it to be ready, and started buying different stuff, like lip sticks, palettes, blush, etc. Stocking up on a variety of things. I amassed quite a collection. During the summer, I was taking classes but a lot of my friends went home so I didn’t have much to do outside of school. That’s when I started watching YouTube tutorials. I found looks I liked, and needed the products to replicate it. Through these tutorials, I learned of other brands like Urban Decay, Too Faced, Nars, etc. and discovered Sephora. As a college student, a lot of that was still out of my budget though. 

Once I had graduated, I got more in to makeup. I could afford it after getting a job, and felt more comfortable using different products. I began replacing my drug store stuff with higher end stuff, and I began really enjoying makeup as a hobby. Sort of ironic considering I was so anti-makeup as a child. My mom has pointed that out more than once. After years of buying up every new release, different formulas of the same color lip product, convincing myself I need the full color collection of a certain product, I have waaaaay too much! But that happens. Makeup was the central theme to a project I did in grad school 5 years ago. Interestingly enough, it was an about me/describe your journey project and I used my makeup routine to symbolize each step of my life. 

I’m in my late 20’s now, and feel totally happy and comfortable with my makeup set up/routine. I have enough product to last a life time and the variety to produce any look I want. And what’s funny, my mom now comes to me for advice. 

[ShortErica]

This is such a cool topic - thanks for posting. I wasn't really into makeup until recently.

In high school I wore mascara occasionally. I also had a Maybelline dream mousse blush and maybe the foundation but rarely touched them. I kinda would like to try the dream mousse blush again but it's discontinued and I don't think the bouncy blush is the same. I digress.

Moving on, in college my roommate was a Bare Minerals girl. Eventually I caved and got some too. I used it some but mostly was still a mascara only wearer. At that time I also stockpiled a large assortment of makeup brushes though I didn't use them.

After pregnancy I wanted some "me" time and started going to Sephora classes. My main makeup staple, you guessed it, mascara was still my go-to. I decided to buy the Sephora Favorites Lash Stash kit to try some high end kinds since I'd never used them before. I've also been searching for some sort of BB/CC cream or tinted moisturizer to just even some redness with no holy grail yet. Even with my not perfect face products I then need something to give my face life again. I purchased the Tarte blush bazaar (on sale after Christmas - woo deals!) after having good luck with the paaarty! blush in the birthday gift and a Tarte Lippie Lingerie kit. I've also dug out my old Bare Minerals makeup (it's mineral, it doesn't expire right?). So I've been playing with finding a good simple routine of something for face (that I can apply with hands), mascara, blush, lip, and occasionally a brow gel. Since I've done most of the Sephora classes I no longer go to them but would recommend them to anyone on their makeup journey since it's interesting to learn new things and test products.

[WinglessOne]

The 80s - my teen years: That’s when I first got into makeup. Specifically, eye makeup and lipstick: my goth punk days made me an eyeliner expert. (And man, eyeliner formulas have come a long way in the last 30 years!) Back then, all my makeup was drugstore—mostly Revlon and Wet ‘N’ Wild—since that’s all I could afford. I wasn’t into foundation or blush at all, and never wore mascaras because they burned my eyes. (Most still do.) 

Early 90s - my college years: I stuck with drugstore brands until I bought my first MAC lipsticks at Marshall Fields. Media, X-S, Cyber, and Sin were my norms. They’re the reason I got hooked on MAC in general. All my first non-drugstore makeup—eyeshadow, eyeliner, lip liner, mascara—and brushes were MAC, and I bought ‘em from department stores back then. I still wasn’t into foundation or blush, but I did start shaping and filling my eyebrows around this time. Eyebrow pencils weren’t a big mainstream thing yet, so I always used a black-brown MAC eyeliner and a little MAC Carbon eyeshadow. 

Late 90s: I was in a store and saw a few lipsticks by some new little brand called Urban Decay. I added the shades Plague, Bruise, and Frostbite to my collection. When I first found Heroine, it replaced Frostbite as my favorite blue lipstick. Aw, Urban Decay grew up so fast! 

Mid 00s: I was working a very busy full time (40-60 hours/week) schedule and kept my makeup routine as light/simple as possible so I could quickly get out the door: eyebrows, lipstick, and maybe a little eyeshadow + simple eyeliner. I’d tried a few foundations but they either broke me out or made my skin feel suffocated—and I had no time for daily foundation anyway. But I did still browse and buy makeup, especially from Nordstrom where I first got into NARS. 

Sometime around here is when I first wandered into Ulta. They were still called Ulta3 then, I think. I only visited a few times, then didn’t return to an Ulta until 3 years ago, around the same time I finally went to a Sephora. Ulta is where I first tried any Too Faced products and discovered Lipstick Queen. 

2015: Until now, I’d avoided Sephora. I was so used to makeup shopping at larger stores, I didn’t see the point in visiting beauty-focused stores (except standalone MAC stores). One day I finally wandered into a Sephora, spent an hour playing with testers, and decided okay, maybe these makeup stores do have a purpose after all. Sephora was my intro to Make Up For Ever. And I found a few foundations and one skin tint (thanks, Lancôme!) that don’t break me out or feel grossly heavy on my skin. 

2016-17: I started buying direct from a few makeup brands online: Sugarpill, Juvia’s Place, ColourPop, NARS, Beauty Bakery, Tarte, Lancôme, and Glossier. I sometimes get better bargains and much better free samples from brands than from other stores. Lancôme in particular has been generous with their skincare samples. 

I got back into eyeshadow last year. I don’t wear much (or any) of it every day, but when I do, I like to experiment. Eyeshadow is fun! 

Today: I still don’t wear foundation on a regular basis. I wear a tiny bit of concealer more often than a full face of foundation. I’m more interested in evening out my skin tones than covering everything up—except for my dark under eye circles, which I sometimes conceal with the least amount of product possible. NARS and Glossier have turned me into a blush fan, and I finally see the value in a good bronzing powder (helps even out some of my hyperpigmentation). I don’t contour or highlight. I don’t hate either of those things, I’m just not interested in doing them to my face. 

All this nostalgia makes me look at my makeup collection. Most of my solid lipsticks are still MAC, including my most favorite shade, Rebel. MAC Amber Lights is still one of my favorite eyeshadows. And I still frequently wear Urban Decay’s Heroine lipstick. 

Last month, a friend’s cat killed my trusty old MAC 144 shader. I’d had that brush since the 90s. I went to Nordstrom that night for a replacement—which is apparently the 239. The Nordstrom MAC employee and I laughed about my priorities: I couldn’t wait til the next day to replace my shader brush, this was a tragedy that had to be remedied immediately! Teenage me, and even 20- or 30something me, wouldn’t have cared nearly as much as 40something me does. And I guess that alone says something about my makeup journey. 

[samkeaysxo]

I really got into makeup when I was in the 11th grade. Drugstore only. I’d go into Sephora and scoff at the prices, say “how can people shop here?”. And then once I graduated I started working full time, I had more money than I did working part time weekends (obviously). So I started thinking more about investing in a good foundation, maybe a mascara. And then for my birthday in October 2014 I bought a lash comb, Benefit They’re Real, and the little Benefit complexion set. ByNovember I was VIB status, and I just missed Rouge by $200 by the end of the year. My addiction was real. And 4 years later, I’ve been Rouge every year by May or sooner. 💁🏻‍♀️ all I ever ask my friends and family for for my birthday/Christmas is Sephora gift cards. I enjoy shopping both in store and online. Depends what I’m buying. If it’s not something like foundation or lipstick that I want to really see in person and swatch, then I prefer to order online for the samples and GWP’s. I love to share my love for makeup with my friends and family and basically talk about makeup whenever I can. I also love posting about it on Instagram. I post daily; follow me if you’d like💋 @ samsmakeupaddiction

[greeneyedgirl107]

@AnnieBalegan Good question!  I guess I started playing with my mother's hand-me-down makeup in first grade.  When she got mad at me, she'd hide it - so I guess that either tells you how much I liked it or how much she personally loved makeup!  LOL.

I wanted to wear makeup in middle school, but my mom discouraged it and my access was limited back in those days.

I didn't re-discover makeup until I was a junior in high school.  I was more mobile, had my own money, and found lines that were the right mix of natural and noticeable for a novice.  I liked Origins and Bath & Bodyworks.

College was colored by bronzer and glitter, and pink lip gloss - all from the drugstore.  

Once I got out of grad school and was able to pay more attention to my appearance (and finally had money!) I was able to get into Sephora more.  I started with Too Faced, and branched out from there.

While I still love makeup, I have little time to apply it seriously on a daily basis b/c I don't like to wake up early.  I've shifted more of my attention to skincare.  I do a lot of research on beautypedia, and will try most any brand.

[AnnieBalegan]

@Anonymous7 My mom had a huge Mary Kay set when I was in grade school. It had a ton of little tubes of lipstick. I squeezed most of them out onto a mirror to find the perfect shade of purple. then she hid her makeup from me too!

[carlym99]

I use both drugstore and high-end brand cosmetics. My go-to rules are as follows:

Drugstore - Eyeliners, Mascaras, Eyebrow pencils/products

Sephora or other - Foundations, Concealers, HIghlighters/Blushes/Bronzers