Beauty Ice Breakers

[danielledanielle]

BIC is the place to talk about beauty!  There are lots of fun threads, from mask to makeup (and even photo A Year of Beauty- Photography Challenge ) challenges all the way to pet paradise.  In my early days, I kinda wanted to talk to everyone, but I didn't know what to talk about, I just knew I loved makeup and had found my people.

With threads like Monthly Favorites: May 2025 Edition! Community Favorite Concealers: Tag your Holy Grails!  , Beauty Pet Peeves 2 I feel the most comfortable when chiming in because I can talk about makeup.  I figured, hey, let's open up some discourse amongst ourselves; a thread with getting to know you questions could be kind of fun.  (And, I still get to talk about makeup.)

photo cred: HelloGiggles

I'll post a question and a phrase with a blank and change it weekly? periodically. Answer one or both.

[itsfi]

My current summer aesthetic is casual chic for clothing. 

The brand (s) I can do a full face with is/are 

(in alphabetical order)

* Armani

* Chanel

* Cle de Peau

* Dior

* Gen See 

* Merit

* Natasha Denona

* Pat McGrath Labs

* Prada

* Sephora Collection

* Suqqu 

* Tom Ford

* Tower 28

* Victoria Beckham Beauty

* Westman Atelier

There's been some magnificent capsules on the makeup capsule challenge!

*spoiler* - there'll be a One Brand or All The Brand theme, like we had last year thanks to @Mellmars1185.

I'm going to pretend I didn't see this list (or the one I made of brands that I'm 1-2 (or maybe 3) products shy of being able to do a full face). I now need to head over to the 2025 - THE NO-BUY, LOW-BUY, BUDGET-BUY ACCOUNTABILITY AND SUPPORT THREAD thread after I respond to the last question.  

What product had you in a chokehold? Meaning, what's a product you remember buying and immediately wanted to stock up?

Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Natural Glow Foundation 

Bioderma Micellar Water 

Secret Key Banana Honey Sheet Mask (discontinued)

Sephora Collection Caffeine Eye Mask (discontinued)

Too Cool For School Coconut Ceramide Sheet Mask (discontinued)

Tower 28 Beauty SunnyDays SPF 30 Tinted Sunscreen Foundation

Great to see these ice breakers @danielledanielle 😀 

[CorgiMommy]

Wow that is a awesome list of beaity brands!  @itsfi 

[danielledanielle]

I have two fill ins, plus a question... Answer one, both, all of them 🤷🏽‍♀️

My current summer aesthetic is _____ (need not be beauty related directly)

The brand (s) I can do a full face with is/are ______

(Prompted by some of the Fab capsules in Capsule Makeup Collection Challenge 2025 )

What product had you in a chokehold? Meaning, what's a product you remember buying and immediately wanted to stock up?

My current summer aesthetic is Wanderlust.  I want to go on weekend trips and use up some foils.

The brands, I can do a full face with are Fenty, Dior, Uoma, Danessa.

The previous version of DIOR Backstage Face & Body Foundation had me in a chokehold.  Buildable, covered up a lot without being cake, holds up.   I def stocked up right before it disappeared.  I still think about this 😂

[Titian06]

My current summer aesthetic is matte.  I still get more oily in the summer, so I wear more mattifying products like:

- Danessa Myricks Beauty Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder -Universal Primer Universal Radiant 

- DIOR Dior Forever Matte Skincare Foundation 0N Neutral 

- MAKEUP BY MARIO SurrealSkin™ Talc-Free Soft Blur Setting Powder 2 Neutral Light 

The brand (s) I can do a full face with is Dior.

What product had you in a chokehold?  I'm not sure I've had one.  I still miss Meow Cosmetics eyeshadows and blushes if that counts.

[PDXXXX]

My current summer aesthetic is drawing a lot from the nautical and prep aesthetic of the French Riviera. Simple separates, wide leg pants, and linens. Scarves and glasses. Made up but casual. A bit like 50's clothing clashed with 70's makeup and accessories...

The brand(s) I can do a full face with are Dior and Patrick Ta though only in the summer or when I don't have to have blush which is rare.

The products that had me in a chokehold, oh my....I so miss the Dior and YSL serum foundations that were the rage about ten years ago. I think I was pretty much hoarding the Dior just shy of ordering expired products on eBay when they were phased out. Also, where did all the Urban Decay Eye Shadow and Liner Shades go??? They had some of the best midtone browns. I still have a compact of the shade Secret Service and I haven't found a taupe replacement for it yet. Now it's the Gucci Luminous Matte Beauty Blush. I swear I want every shade but the cost would be outrageous. I'm hoping they age well because they are d-e-v-i-n-e.

I'm glad you brought this back @danielledanielle ! I wanted to jump in when I first found out about the group but was late to it. Very cool of you to restart it.

 

[CorgiMommy]

@PDXXXX great aesthetic, the whole French thing is really fun 

[PDXXXX]

@CorgiMommy thank you. Hope you're doing well 🙂

[danielledanielle]

Oooh, I love this aesthetic.  @PDXXXX 

Urban Deccaaaaaaayyyy.  I was thinking about them today which led me to the brand question and brand(s).  I can't do a full UD face, but man, I really loved a lot of their makeup and wish they kept a lot of stuff.  I took forever to discard naked2 (and I still am holding onto the mini version because 🤷🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️) and I still think about it... It was 95% right and 5% regret.

Thank you.  I'll try to think of more questions and note keep them so I can update this a little more regularly. I was reading the responses from the "doctorate" question and was cracking up all over again, so I'm glad for y'all for entertaining this.

[CorgiMommy]

Thanks for giving new life to this thread @danielledanielle 

My current summer esthetic is athleisure.  Lots of summer activities planned including hiking in Montana in July, getting back to swimming as a form of exercise (if it ever stops being rainy and chilly here), and road biking on some of my favorite bike trails.

The brand i could do a full face with is Dior .  My budget says different.

[danielledanielle]

Heh, I love your responses @CorgiMommy 

[CorgiMommy]

Thank you so.very much @danielledanielle 

[danielledanielle]

What is are the scents or skincare items (list them...ennnabbblleee meeee) you're drawn to at this time of the year?

First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair® Cream Intense Hydration – Face and Body Moisturizer for Skin Repair 8... 

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Butta Drop Refillable Warm Cinnamon Shimmering Whipped Oil Body Cream 6.7 oz... 

DIOR J'adore eau de parfum infinissime 5 oz/ 150 mL 

Maison Margiela ‘REPLICA' By the Fireplace Eau de Toilette with Chestnut, Vanilla, and Clove Oil 

There's so many!! I've edited the question..

Dior Ball of dreams and my cheek challenge has me feeling royal.  Join me!  Give yourself an honorary title with a location or role styling -

I'm deeming myself danielledanielle, her royal highness, duchess of draping and ambassador of cheek challenges💸, first of her name 👑🤣

[PDXXXX]

I have been battling dry, sensitive skin that's constantly flaking and gets raw around my mouth and nose for the last couple of months. It's been a bit of a battle between Tatcha and SkinFix trying minis and figuring out what works for me. I'm still figuring out the exact combo of products I'll get full-sized versions of but some on the list are:

• Tatcha The Rice Wash Skin-Softening Cleanser , Tatcha The Dewy Serum Resurfacing and Plumping Treatment 1 oz / 30 mL, and most impressively Tatcha Indigo Overnight Repair Serum in Cream Treatment 1.7 / 50 applied at night,
• While I love how creamy the Tatcha face wash is, it doesn't always remove all my makeup and I've also been using Drunk Elephant Mini Beste™ No. 9 Jelly Cleanser 2 oz/ 60 mL and find it removes everything, is very concentrated (I've had the mini for a couple of months) and doesn't cause me any dryness or sensitivity,
• I've used #Paula's Choice 10% Azelaic Acid Booster for Redness Relief for years now and it helps considerably with my redness and is a level of exfoliation that doesn't irritate my reactive skin and each tube lasts forever,
• I've also been using Skinfix barrier+ Strengthening and Moisturizing Triple Lipid-Peptide Refillable Cream with B-L3 as my main moisturizer and it's done a great job of repairing my skin barrier. I also got their Skinfix barrier+ Triple Lipid + Niacinamide Activating Serum and may stick with it rather than the Tatcha Serum once I run out of the Tatcha as I find both very effective and like that the Skinfix products are very hypoallergenic with no fragrance unlike the Tatcha which sometimes makes my eyes water,
• I love overnight masks like LANEIGE Cica Sleeping Mask for Moisture Barrier Support at night, and
• I'm almost through a bottle of ALPYN Instant Bright Eye Dark Circle Firming Cream with Niacinamide & Peptides 0.5 oz / 15 mL and still loving it so will likely replace it when it runs out.

For Body Care some of the products I love are:

• Nécessaire The Body Serum - With Hyaluronic Acid, Niacinamide + Ceramide 5.1 oz/ 150 mL which I've been using since early summer and magically keeps my usually red, bumpy legs smooth,
• For moisturizer, I usually like scentless products that don't compete with my perfume like SheaMoisture's Dry Skin Nourishing Hydration 100% Extra Virgin Coconut Oil or BabyBum's Monoi Coconut Oil Balm, or anything sandalwood scented including Monoi Tiki Tahiti Santal Body Oil and Soap (or I'll just blend a drop of sandalwood essential oil with unscented coconut oil).

I'm a perfume nut who is drawn to white woods, sandalwood, and things like Ellis Brooklyn SALT Eau de Parfum with touches of driftwood or blended with coconut moisturizers during the summer but this time of year makes me look for creamier sometimes amber, powdery, smoky and wood scents. I just tried a sample of Mateire Premeire's Bois D'Ebene and might love it. I also like things like Ellis Brooklyn MYTH Eau de Parfum and a discontinued scent by Dean & Durga called Siberian Snow all which dry down to a soft, powdery almost lactonic musk. For days when I really want a smokey firewood feel I think Maison Margiela 'REPLICA' By The Fireplace 3.4 oz / 100 mL does a very good job.

Oh, and as for my title, @danielledanielle suggested, "Maiden of Mod" based on her The Fit, The Fab and The Face: Outfit and Inspo Thread and I'm keeping it 🙂 I'm probably not the first of my name but I enjoy keeping my favorite 60's Icons alive and am very influenced by them.

[itsfi]

I'll start with skincare @danielledanielle. 

My current skincare (body) loves include:

L'Occitane Cleansing And Softening Refillable Shower Oil With Almond Oil is always a love for my dry skin but especially well loved this time of the year! It starts off as an oil and takes on a thin, milky consistency as it's rubbed onto the skin, creating a light foam. It has a soft, almond scent and leaves my skin feeling cleansed, soft and smooth. Can also be used shaving. I use this almond oil shower wash with a shower scarf - the one in the photo is from hanni (part of a bundle through their site) but I usually use the Salux ones. I'm not as flexible as I once was and these shower scarves help me get to that mid-upper back area that is a challenge to reach even if I streeeeetch my arms and fingers. 😅 This trio is making for a great body care habit stack this fall / winter - exfoliation and hydration -Habit Stacking Thread 📚 . 

Hanni Splash Salve In-Shower Body Moisture Treatment 8.8 oz / 250 mL - quicky, easy and moisturizing. I've been making my way through the Hanni products for the last couple of years and this and the Hanni Water Balm Instant Hydration Body Moisturizer Mist 6.76 oz / 200 mL have been repeated repurchases and gifts.

Some new additions to my facial skincare routine for winter that I've really been enjoying include: 

Then I Met You Living Cleansing Balm Makeup Remover was something I started out using as a morning cleanser and has been one that has been working its way into my evening routine once or twice per week as both my first and second cleanser. With that second cleanse, I've been doing facial massage with it once a week. I talked in more detail about that on It's Tool Time - The BIC Beauty Edition with the tool for that face massage being the budget friendly tool of my knuckles! 

Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream 1.7 oz / 50 mL (not pictured) has been a go-to pretty much all year this year and it will still play a prominent role in my routine this month when my skin will start / is starting to lean a lot more dry. When that dryness is more noticeable, I'll apply a later of Rhode Barrier Butter Intensive Moisture Balm as the last step in my skincare routine.

I'm trying to narrow down my scents of the season (and also seeing if a new one comes up with one of the advent calendars I picked up -Advent Calendars 2024 - Let the Unboxings Begin!! 

[PDXXXX]

Ooh, yes @itsfi; I have been in love with the L'Occitane Almond line for years!! That shower oil is amazing!

[Titian06]

@danielledanielle - As you already know, my fave skincare is First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair® Cream Intense Hydration – Face and Body Moisturizer for Skin Repair and my fave fragrance for this time of year is Ellis Brooklyn APRÈS Eau de Parfum 1.7 oz/ 50 mL Eau de Parfum Spray .

I'm Lady Nail Lacquer 💅 and Keeper of the Kitties. 🧶

[danielledanielle]

@Titian06.. KEEPER OF THE KITTIES 😁 🫶🏽, Both of those titles are soooo good, m'lady

[itsfi]

I've always said that we are all royalty here and you are most definitely royal @danielledanielle! I love your honorary titles - fabulous and fitting! 😍 👑

[jaaayp]

Ahem, ahem, HELLOOOOO BIC

@danielledanielle @Sunnysmom @Samtian @itsfi 

And a few others I'm forcing to attend 😂

@CookieGirl1 @CynthieLu @ather @CorgiMommy 

Welcome to BYOF, Bring your Own Freckles.

The guide below is how I usually do my freckles and along comes freckles come the responsibility of great cheeks (that's what what he said?)

Now, I am not an expert but over the years, I've learned what works for me and my large cheek real estate. Depending on your face shape and your desired/preferred look, you can definitely edit this up or down. The guide is really meant to be a 101/starting point.

Items you'll need (really, everything is optional)

• Primer (if needed)
• Foundation/skintint/any type of base (if needed)
• Concealer (if needed)
• Contour (if wanted)
• Bronzer (if wanted)
• Blush (if wanted)

Freckle substitute:

• Brown eyeliner
• Brown eyebrow pencil
• Freck Beauty Freck The Original Freckle Freck XL 
• Light brown lip liner

[PSA: please be warned youll be seeing some close up images of my greasy hair, skin, bare brows, and large pores]

1. Prep your base, however you like. I find that better the base, better the cheeks. Really. Your bronzer, blush, contour pops out more and it's much nicer to blend on top of a foundation or concealer or skintint vs bare skin.

2. Take any straight, pencil like object, find the hollows of your cheeks. If it's your first time, maybe try to find before your base so you're not leaving finger prints. 

Once you find your hollow, place the straight, pencil like object flat against your hollow. this will be your contour

3. Once you find your contour, you'll place your bronzer above that (it's OK if you need to overlap against your contour, remember, I just have a lot of real estate) and your blush will go on above that bronzer line.

3a. Please contour anywhere else you see fit, for me, it's the sides of my forehead and jawline and double chin.

 

Now I've place both contour and bronzer for demonstrative purposes but irl, I'll apply these step by step so they don't muddle together (is muddle a word?) I'm using MAKEUP BY MARIO Softsculpt® Multi-Use Bronzing & Shaping Serum with Hyaluronic Acid so I was very generous with the amount of bronzer applied. 

4. Blend. Brush choices are important, for contour, I use a small rounded brush and blend upwards for my forehead and hollows of the cheeks but downwards for my jawline. 

5. Over lender? This is where your base brush or sponge you used to apply your base comes in clutch. It should still have some residue of your base on it, simply take the brush/sponge and clean up the edges (before and after in the picture below). Or if it really got out of hand, place a small dot of concealer in tha area you want to remove and blend out the edges using your brush or sponge.

 

6. Now time for blush placement. Because I'm getting older (🥲), I tend to place my blush quite high, it helps lifting the overall shape of your face vs if you place your blush too low, your face will droop slightly.

Look straight ahead, and draw an imaginary line down from the pupil of your eye to your jaw (demonstrated in the picture) and ideally, this is where I'll place my blush and I don't let my contour go past this line.

I place 2 dots of Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Mini Soft Pinch Liquid Blush Encourage in the places I want the most color payoff, center of my cheeks and tops of my cheekbones. I usually blend a little on the tops of my nose because I like to blend I'm still young and cute 😂

7. Blend all together. Be careful here not to overblend your blush too low towards the bronzer and the contour, don't let the hard work go to waste!!!

7a. Now if you did let your brush get overblended, it's A-OK. Just repeat steps 3 and 4 with a light hand.

  

Now, comes the freckles! 

Freck Beauty Freck The Original Freckle Freck XL is my absolutely freckle product. I've tried a few others (because it's so pricey for so little product) but I find that it's worth the money plus, little goes a loooong way.

8. Brush off the excess product and start dotting in sections. I start with my nose and at first, you'll look like your have chicken pox (picture 1 below) but it's OK, it'll get better.

9. Blend quickly. Use your finger tips for super natural freckles. Use a puff for medium, noticeable freckles. If you like a really strong, beautymark status freckles, let it sit for about 5 seconds and then blend. It kinda stains (not your skin) and it'll stay put.

9a. If you want natural looking freckles, space them out. Don't cluster too close. Try a few, step back and see how you like them, go in for more or stop there. Now you can stop at the nose but if you're like me and like being extra, follow your blush and dot them randomly. get creative!! Just remember to work in sections and blend in between so your freckles don't set.

9b. If you're using an alternative like eyebrow pencil, the method will be the same but you may have more playtime. Unless you're using a product that sets, take your time, see what looks good, what looks bad. Eyebrow pencil worked great for me and found that it was very easy to remove the ones I didn't like (just take a puff and some powder and tap tap, gone!).

10. If you feel extra fancy, finish with highlighter on the tops of your cheeks, brow bone, and tiny bit on the point/ball of your nose.

 

 

Voila. now you are ready for summer.

Hope you guys enjoyed! Stay tuned for our other BIC tutorials! 🥰❤️🫡🙌

[makeitup305]

You look gorgeous @jaaayp ! Your base looks fantastic and the freckles are the cherry on top!