Makeup is Confusing

[someonehasthe]

Hi I'm starting high school and I've been wanting to get into makeup. I have no idea what to buy, what to do, and what the basics are. My school requires us to have natural/light/minimalistic makeup. If you could point me to the right direction or teach me about the basics that would sooo appreciated because I'm really confused. Thank you so much for your time! 😄

[RAWRitsRED]

Hi @someonehasthe!

So stoked that you're starting makeup!  Makeup is one of my favorite ways of expressing myself and it gives me so much confidence.

When I first started wearing makeup in eighth grade, I used brown and black eyeliner.

I then upgraded to black winged liner looks in high school.

The first step in skincare and makeup is having a great skincare routine!  I know you're young but you age faster than you think.  Find products for your skin type (oily, dry, normal, combo, sensitive) and skin concerns (acne, dark spots, wrinkles, etc.).  My most basic routine consists of face wash, exfoliator, toner, serum, moisturizer and eye cream.  On some days, I use a face mask.  And of course, one of the most important steps is to use sunscreen! Sunscreen is an absolute must, no questions or arguments.  Make sure it says it protects against harmful UV rays, regular sunscreen DOES NOT WORK!  Without sunscreen, you will age much faster.

Lips:  The skin on your lips are the thinnest on your face.  Use a lip scrub like the BITE BEAUTY - Agave+ Weekly Vegan Lip Scrub to exfoliate your lips and get rid of dead skin cells.  I HIGHLY recommend using Vaseline to moisturize your lips.  It's the most effective lip product and I'll most likely never use anything else.

Take care of your hands and neck as you would your face.  My mom always says that no matter how young and wrinkle free someone's face looks, you can always tell their age by looking at their neck and hands!  Use the same products on your neck as you do your face, maybe even a thicker cream.  For hands, L'OCCITANE - Hand Creams is great but I use Oronine ointment before sleeping.

Now that we've covered skincare, we can go over the fun makeup part!

These are some tips on getting a natural look:

Eyes: You can curl you lashes and use waterproof mascara since they hold curls longer.

My favorite eye product is the stila Stay All Day® Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner Intense Black.

You can use some neutral eyeshadows such as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam Eyeshadow Palette.  Get a good set of brushes for those.  My favorite starter set is the SEPHORA COLLECTION - Ready To Roll Brush Set for face and eyes.

Use an eyeshadow primer like the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Original or concealer and set them with powder.

Eyebrows: Have your brows professionally threaded to get the shape you want.  From there, you can start plucking, shaving and cutting them at home when needed.

Use a brow product to get flawless brows.  I use Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW® Waterproof, Smudge Proof Brow Pomade Dark Brown for my sparse brows.  Use an angled brow brush and spoolie.

The Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow+ Tinted Volumizing Eyebrow Gel 4 or the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz® Ultra-Slim Precision Eyebrow Pencil Taupe works well if you already have full brows.  I started doing my brows in college and I regret not starting sooner!  Brows are what make or break your face!

For lip products, choose the shade closest to your nipple color for a natural look (weird, I know).

You might not need these yet but you can always start practicing when you don't have school:

For foundation, it depends on your skin type.  Find a good primer, foundation and concealer that's best for your skin type.  The most popular way to apply foundation and concealer is by using the Beautyblender ORIGINAL Beautyblender Makeup Sponge Original since it gives it a smooth, streakless look.  Brushes are another option but choose one that is right for the foundation you're using.  There are many different types of foundation brushes made for different foundations by brand, type of foundation, or what look and coverage you're going for.  If you're lucky enough to have naturally nice skin, you can use a tinted moisturizer, BB cream, or CC cream instead of foundation and concealer.  Always apply in this order: moisturizer, sunscreen, primer, foundation, concealer.  Foundation with SPF doesn't work and you need 15 pumps of it on your face for it to actually work!

For concealer, use a color that's the same as your foundation color to hide blemishes like acne and dark spots.  Use a flat concealer brush.

To highlight areas like your nose, brow bone, jaw line, and under your eyes, use a concealer 2 shades lighter than your foundation.  Use a Beauty Blender sponge.

Contour: There are cream and powder contours.  Cream works for dry or normal skin, powder is best for oily skin.  Find the right shade for your skin color.  Use a contour brush.  My favorite is the double sided Kat Von D Powder contour brush, unfortunately, Sephora doesn't carry it anymore but KVD has some other contour brushes.

Highlighters make your skin glow and accentuates the part of your face you want to look taller or higher.  Use it on the bridge of your nose if you have a flatter or smaller nose, the tip of your nose, on your cheekbones, and a tiny bit above your upper lip.  Some people like to use it on their forehead and chin, but don't if you have oily skin.

Lips: There are lots of lip choices like lip tint/stain, gloss, balm, lip liner, lipstick and liquid lipstick.  Balm always goes first to moisturize your lips.  Lip liners are used to shape your lips, and creating things like the plump Instagram lips (you can contour your lips to make them look fuller).  Fill your lips in using regular lipstick, followed by liquid lipstick.

False lashes are my favorite lash product and would choose this over mascara because it doesn't look clumpy.  I love the SEPHORA COLLECTION - Luxe False Lash and use the SEPHORA COLLECTION - House of Lashes® Eyelash Adhesive (I call it the super glue for falsies).  It keeps my falsies in place even when driving 90 mph in a convertible!

Eyeshadow:  My favorite part of my makeup look!  The palettes I use are SEPHORA COLLECTION - MOSCHINO + SEPHORA Laptop Palette, tarte Tartelette™ In Bloom Clay Eyeshadow Palette 12 x 0.053 oz/ 1.5 g, TOO FACED - Just Peachy Mattes Eyeshadow Palette – Peaches and Cream Collection and HUDA BEAUTY The New Nude Eyeshadow Palette.  They have a lot of different colors I love to experiment with!  Take into consideration your eye color, skin color, and eye shape.  But then again, do what gives you confidence, not just because someone says to!  I look for tutorials and pictorials on Youtube and Instagram.

You can take some quizzes here if you need help finding any products!

https://www.sephora.com/beauty/best-beauty-products

I hope this helps!

[RAWRitsRED]

Also, this is just a personal preference, but I never use any products that are Made in China or Made in PRC (people's republic of China).  They are known to have harmful chemicals in them like lead.  A lot of their products have caused skin irritation.

[juliaroqs]

I am also starting high school! Natural makeup is my favorite!

Depending on your skin type and where you live the products you use vary but these are the products I find make the perfect easy natural look!

1) tinted moisturizer. Instead of using a foundation everyday which can be bad for your skin a tinted moisturizer is basically your skin but but better! I really like the glossier like a like skin tint.

2) Eyebrow gel. I like using the Benefit 24 hour brow gel. Just a clear brow gel. You can use a colored eyebrow gel but I prefer just a simple clear gel.

3) Mascara. There are loads of good mascaras honestly most are the same. I find that drugstore mascaras are just as good as high end ones so save some money on that! Check out Covergirl they have a really nice selection of mascaras. 

4) Blush. I know some people don't like blush but it's one of my favorite things in my makeup routine! My favorite blush is the Dandelion blush from Benefit. 

5) Those 4 things are really all you need for a natural makeup look but some optional things you can use are bronzer, a natural highlighter (which you can also use for eyeshadow) and, liquid lipstick I prefer liquid lipstick over normal lipstick because it stays on all day! Hope this was helpful if you have any more questions feel free to ask 🙂

[Al784]

Hey!

I'm starting high school as well, and I have loved makeup for years. I've never really used it a lot, but for starters, is it sunny where you live? If it is, I suggest the Ilia skin tint with SPF, it works absolute wonders and it's a clean brand as well. The tarte sea foundation is also amazing, but if you're looking for something on a budget, Colourpop hyalornic foundation is great. Concealer isn't super neccesary, but I SWEAR by the tarte Sea concealer. The Glossier Blush is great for beginners, since it's super easy to blend, and I suggest sticking to liquid products. They are super easy to blend with your fingers, a sponge, or a brush and great for light makeup and beginners.

[RAWRitsRED]

Hi @Al784!

It's so great that you found a skin tint that works well and looks amazing on you!  Unfortunately, recent studies have found that foundations and tints with SPF does not work and you need 15 pumps of it to actually be effective!  You can of course continue to use your skin tint, but make sure to apply sunscreen with SPF and UV protection before. 

Sunscreen that doesn't have UV protection is useless since it won't protect against the harmful UV rays (UV rays are the most harmful to your skin).  Always apply Sunscreen first before tints or foundations.