Sephora

maymay92 · ‎02-25-2019

Hi! I finally started to try some makeup on and I have a few things in my collection, but I don't know what else I should be adding in my collection for everyday look. I just paint my eyes and maybe a bit on my cheeks, but no contouring or expert stuff.

I have a decent eyeliner, eyeshadow palettes and blush. I might need a good mascara but I have small lashes and they end up smudging everywhere. I also don't know what are the good makeup brushes I should use...

So all in all, if you had a few products to recommend for someone who a debutant, I would love to get a bit of help. Thank you so much x

WinglessOne · ‎02-25-2019

Which products you should add really depends on which parts/features of your face you’d like to enhance or de-emphasize. If you don’t feel you want or need to emphasize your lashes, then you don’t *need* mascara. 🙂 Plenty of people do nothing to their brows and own no brow products, vs. someone like me who won’t leave home without filled-in brows because I feel my brows enhance the rest of my face. It’s all subjective.

You mentioned mascara smudging everywhere. Do you mean smudging after you’ve applied it, or smudging while you’re using the brush to apply it? If the latter: that’ll improve with practice. I used to make a big mess when applying mascara, but now I might get just a bit of mascara on one corner of my lid during application—especially with a large mascara brush. Wait for the mascara to dry, then use a cotton swab (the pointed ones are great for this) to wipe the dried smudges off your skin. You can also try using a lash guard for a while, until you get the hang of it. I don’t remember if Sephora carries one... there might even be a Sephora Collection branded one.

My current daily makeup routine is quite minimal:

Brow pencil to fill in my brows, especially the sparse back half. My new favorite is the Kimiko Super Fine Eyebrow Pencil, but sometimes I use my old faves: Benefit Cosmetics Precisely, My Brow Pencil Waterproof Eyebrow Definer Shade 3.5 and NARS Brow Perfector.
Lipstick as a (usually bold) pop of color. I have many lipsticks choose from. I always feel naked without some color on my lips, even if the color’s just a tinted balm.
Concealer under my eyes to mask darkness. I don’t do this every day, and I use just a tiny amount each time. I normally use NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer with Medium Coverage Madeleine but I’m testing JOUER COSMETICS - Essential High Coverage Liquid Concealer for a week.
Setting powder to set the concealer. I use such a teeny tiny amount of powder, you’d think it wouldn’t work at all. 😄 My favorite is By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder, but I also love CHARLOTTE TILBURY - Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder and Hourglass Veil™ Translucent Setting Powder - Talc Free Translucent .
Blush to warm up my cheeks and compliment my lipstick color. I don’t really use blush daily, but I do wear it often nowadays. I love NARS - Blush most of all, but I also have shades from other brands. If I had to recommend only one NARS makeup item, it’d be their blushes.

Makeup items I use less frequently:

Spoiler

Once in a while, I add mascara. My lashes are naturally short, straight, and barely noticeable. I like to make them visible sometimes. 😄 My current favorite mascara is Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Lashes Volume 2 Mascara Black Vinyl Vol 2. It gives me the most length and volume without irritating my eyes, plus it doesn’t clump or flake all over my face. I also still love my old favorite, PERRICONE MD - No Mascara Mascara for a more natural “my lashes but better” look. And I like LANCôME - GRANDIÔSE - Wide-Angle Fan Effect Mascara for its gooseneck want, smaller tapered brush, and volumizing effect. You might find that mascara easier to use than one with a straight wand and huge brush. It also comes in a waterproof version.

My skin is dry everywhere except my oily nose. To reduce the shine and the appearance the large pores on and around my nose, I occasionally use LANCôME - Blur & Go Stickonly on that area, then dust it with Beauty Bakerie Flour translucent setting powder. I use these items more often in the summer.

To emphasize my eyes, sometimes I just use a black or colored eyeliner. I like MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Color Pencil Longwear Lip Liner 606 Wherever Walnut, MAKE UP FOR EVER Aqua XL Eye Pencil Waterproof Eyeliner Aqua XL M-10, PAT MCGRATH LABS - Permagel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil, MARC JACOBS BEAUTY - Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner, and clay liners like Tarte’s clay pots. Honestly, there are lots of good eyeliners out there. I have some liquid liners but prefer pencils and clay pots.

I have hooded eyes, so sometimes I use eyeshadow to de-emphasize the hood and further enhance my eyes—and to add more colors to my face because eyeshadow’s fun! I have some palettes and quite a few single shadows from Viseart, Make Up For Ever, ColourPop, Pat McGrath Labs, Juvia’s Place, Coloured Raine, Sugarpill, NARS, and Natasha Denona.

I rarely use skin tint and almost never use foundation. When I do use skin tint, it’s usually in the summer to even out my skin tones rather than cover anything up. My favorites are MAKE UP FOR EVER - Ultra HD Perfector Skin Tint Foundation SPF 25and LANCôME - SKIN FEELS GOOD Skin Nourishing Foundation. I do have some full coverage foundations but honestly, I might as well ditch them. I prefer skin tint for sheer to medium coverage.

I used to use bronzer (a Bobbi Brown powder bronzer) semi-regularly, just to warm up some large patches of hyperpigmentation on the sides of my face. (I’ve never used bronzer—or anything else—for contouring.) But ever since I changed up my skincare routine and products, my big dark patches have been slowly diminishing. I haven’t used bronzer in months.

<DIV class="lia-spoiler-noscript-content">Once in a while, I add mascara. My lashes are naturally short, straight, and barely noticeable. I like to make them visible sometimes. <SPAN class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:"><span class="lia-unicode-emoji" title=":grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:">😄</span></SPAN> My current favorite mascara is CHARLOTTE TILBURY - Legendary Lashes Volume 2 Mascara. It gives me the most length and volume without irritating my eyes, plus it doesn’t clump or flake all over my face. I also still love my old favorite, PERRICONE MD - No Mascara Mascara for a more natural “my lashes but better” look. And I like LANCôME - GRANDIÔSE - Wide-Angle Fan Effect Mascara for its gooseneck want, smaller tapered brush, and volumizing effect. You might find that mascara easier to use than one with a straight wand and huge brush. It also comes in a waterproof version.   My skin is dry everywhere except my oily nose. To reduce the shine and the appearance the large pores on and around my nose, I occasionally use LANCôME - Blur & Go Stickonly on that area, then dust it with Beauty Bakerie Flour translucent setting powder. I use these items more often in the summer.  To emphasize my eyes, sometimes I just use a black or colored eyeliner. I like MAKE UP FOR EVER - Artist Color Pencil: Eye, Lip & Brow Pencil, MAKE UP FOR EVER - Aqua XL Eye Pencil Waterproof Eyeliner, PAT MCGRATH LABS - Permagel Ultra Glide Eye Pencil, MARC JACOBS BEAUTY - Highliner Gel Eye Crayon Eyeliner, and clay liners like Tarte’s clay pots. Honestly, there are lots of good eyeliners out there. I have some liquid liners but prefer pencils and clay pots.  I have hooded eyes, so sometimes I use eyeshadow to de-emphasize the hood and further enhance my eyes—and to add more colors to my face because eyeshadow’s fun! I have some palettes and quite a few single shadows from Viseart, Make Up For Ever, ColourPop, Pat McGrath Labs, Juvia’s Place, Coloured Raine, Sugarpill, NARS, and Natasha Denona.  I rarely use skin tint and almost never use foundation. When I do use skin tint, it’s usually in the summer to even out my skin tones rather than cover anything up. My favorites are MAKE UP FOR EVER - Ultra HD Perfector Skin Tint Foundation SPF 25and LANCôME - SKIN FEELS GOOD Skin Nourishing Foundation. I do have some full coverage foundations but honestly, I might as well ditch them. I prefer skin tint for sheer to medium coverage.  I used to use bronzer (a Bobbi Brown powder bronzer) semi-regularly, just to warm up some large patches of hyperpigmentation on the sides of my face. (I’ve never used bronzer—or anything else—for contouring.) But ever since I changed up my skincare routine and products, my big dark patches have been slowly diminishing. I haven’t used bronzer in months. </DIV>

Hope some of this was helpful!

txcatx · ‎02-25-2019

@maymay92 I think brushes are definitely worth the investment. Most of mine are from Sephora Collection, but I also use some from the IT brushes line at Ulta and some inexpensive eye brushes from Elf.

As for everyday makeup, I go for a quick, natural look most days for work because I'm really not a morning person. Here's what I use often:

NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 St. Moritz

Glossier Stretch Concealer

Glossier Boy Brow

CLINIQUE Quickliner™ For Eyes Intense Eyeliner Intense Black

LAURA MERCIER - Caviar Stick Eye Shadow

Benefit Cosmetics Roller Lash Curling & Lifting Mascara Black

RMS BEAUTY - Champagne Rosé Luminizer

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Collection Mood Exposure

SHISEIDO - VisionAiry Gel Lipstick