Lipstick application

As I was reading the Bobbi Brown makeup manual, I came across Chapter 5 which is all about application of lipstick and choosing the correct shade. I rarely wear lipstick with a complete makeup look, maybe just a dab of lip gloss or Carmex. But while reading I realized the importance of lipstick, especially in the beauty industry. It's not often that you see celebrities going out in public with a full face of makeup, but no lip color. This inspired me to go more into depth with lipstick.
Brown includes a chart that shows which lipstick shades would look best with which natural lip colors. She states that for lips similar to mine, brown, rose, pink, orange, or warm red shades would compliment those who have a natural medium tint to their lips (80).
I also wanted to learn all about the different formulas of lip products. "Lip glosses provide hydration, sun protection, and sheen... Tints protect lips with moisturizing formulas that usually contain sunscreen... Matte shades are dense and last longest. They contain less moisture than other products, so they adhere to lips and don't fade quickly..." (82).
As I read through the different lip products, I came to the conclusion that matte lipsticks or glosses were my favorite, and could both work on me, since I have neither dry nor very hydrated lips, so typically any product could work for me.
I decided to look through my lipstick collection, and came across 2 products: a M.A.C. matte lipstick, and an Anastasia Beverly Hills gloss.

After I did a full face of makeup, I followed Brown's 5-steps about how to apply lipsticks correctly.
I began at the corners of my mouth with each product, then I slowly applied it more into the middle, and finally I added another layer just so the product would be more pigmented. I did separately this for each of the lipsticks.

(1st set of pictures was with the matte M.A.C. lipstick, 2nd set was with the Anastasia Beverly Hills gloss).
After this, I found that I actually love lipsticks, since they add so much to the makeup.
I wore each lipstick for about 40 minutes, and the matte one did tend to stay on more then the gloss, but that's expected, considering it is more dry. The gloss did fade but it still lasted.
Now I  also know which colors work best for my lips, and not to mention that there are many cheaper dupes for almost every lipstick in the makeup industry! Also, I know now how to apply lipstick correctly so that it looks best.

A question I have for you guys is do you guys prefer lip-glosses or matte lipsticks?

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

The importance of eye makeup

A bold eye look is a nice touch to a complete makeup look. I have dark brown eyes, so I love doing bold eye shadow looks with bright colors. As I read the Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, she states that deep-set eyes need to be brought out with light and medium shades of shadow (96). I have found this to be true, since doing smokey eyes on my brown eyes does looks good, but it's more for important situations, like homecoming, etc.

In Chapter 6 of the Makeup Manual, Brown has a page with 5 steps to reaching an even eye shadow look with bright colors. I chose to use my Take Me Back to Brazil palette because it has a wide variety of colors.

The first step is to chose a shade that I like. I decided to start with a pink shade because pink suits my eyes best.

The second step states, "Cover the entire lid three-quarters of the way to the brow bone, blending as you go" (Brown 97). I followed this step with my best effort, but this was a bit out of the ordinary for me because usually when I am doing bright eye shadow looks, I do either a cut crease or a halo eye. But for the sake of this, I wanted to learn how to do a simple eye shadow look and still use bright shades.

Third, is to layer the bold color so that it is more pigmented and blend in any other colors into the crease.

Fourth is to just blend the color out more so that the line isn't so harsh.

Fifth is to add any other colors wanted to reach the desired look.

After completing the eye shadow, the outcome was a bright pink blend with orange and purple hues added just for more of a pop. Using Brown's steps made me achieve this easily since I had guidelines to follow. If you struggle with eye shadow, this blog could provide you with tips and tricks on how to reach a bright eye shadow look.

A question for you guys is do you guys prefer bright eye shadow or more neutral shadows?

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

Tips for a smooth and glowing complexion

To have flawless foundation application, having smooth and glowing skin is essential. To reach that, understanding how lifestyle can affect the skin is important. I am someone who struggles with combination skin - this can be considered an advantage, considering most foundations or face products work on my skin type. But when having oily and dry skin, finding a face wash, moisturizer, and more, can be a struggle.
Bobbi Brown, a professional make artist and the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, states in her book that the condition of your skin can be impacted or changed due to many factor: the environment, diet, or overall health (33). This means that there are many things that can contribute to the type of skin someone may have, for example, skin that is red and dry can be caused by very hot or cold temperatures. For me, I have found that very cold temperatures lead my skin to be more flaky than usual. In the winter, the cold weather dries out my skin and minimizes my pores, which impacts my makeup application and often causes me to have to use a different, more hydrating foundation.

Brown goes into further description and analysis about all skin types, "Normal skin: comfortable feeling, smooth texture with small pores... Dry/Extra Dry skin: feels tight after washing, pores are small and sensitive... Oily skin: large visible pores, frequent breakouts... Combination skin: oily T-zone, dry cheeks or spot dehydration" (32). Before reading this chapter of the book, I did not know how to identify certain skin types. Brown led me to the conclusion of me having combination skin. I did some research on what products work best on combination skin, and I found that the brand Murad has a set of face washes and moisturizers for skin like mine.

This face was is a gel based cleanser, which Brown states is best for oily or combination skin that are prone to breakouts (34). Ever since following Brown's tip on using a gel cleanser, my skin has cleared up and my pores have been minimized, which leads to less breakouts.

A question I have for you guys is: what type of skin do you guys have? And what cleanser or facial products work for your skin type?

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

How to: Makeup Manual / Face

The most important aspect to a complete makeup look is the foundation. Judging just from its name, we can gather that finding a good way to keep an even complexion is one of the first steps to having a good makeup routine. As someone with combination skin (both oily or dry skin depending on time of year), I have yet to find a foundation that sticks all day, doesn't get oily, and gives an airbrushed finished look, all while not damaging my skin during its time of application. Since I have not found a foundation that does all that and evens out my skin tone, I decided to turn to concealing and color- correcting in order to achieve my goal. 

In chapter 4 of Bobbi Brown's Makeup Manual, she provides several different techniques and tips on having good skin coverage for your specific tone/type of skin.

The main aspects I wanted to focus on in the skin makeup category is brightening my under eye area.

"Correctors can be pink or peach toned. Make sure it is applied up to the lashes and in the inner corner space between the eye and the bridge of the nose." (Brown 54). Brown elaborates how to use color corrector the right way.

Before reading this chapter, I was already familiar with color correctors, but not each of their specific jobs. I found through reading this section of the Makeup Manual that peach or pink toned concealers are specifically made for the under eyes, since it cancels out the purple/green/blue tones that under-eye bags typically have. 

I rummaged through my makeup bag and found a NYX under eye color corrector and decided to test it, following Brown's 4 steps to achieving brightened under-eyes.

I started by applying the corrector up to my lash line in order for all the darkness or discoloring to be completely gone. Then I went over the color corrector with my usual Tarte concealer, blended it with a beauty blender, and set tat with setting powder. I used the same routine for the other eye, only without using color corrector,

As seen in the results below, the side with color corrector is much brighter than the side without it, and the color corrector cancelled out the blue and purple tones in my under eyes.

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My left eye: side with only concealer

My right eye: side with color corrector and concealer

Through this chapter, I learned how to properly conceal under-eye darkness using tones that cancel each other out, instead of just applying concealer straight onto my under eyes. Truthfully, I thought this tip would be just like any other hack and not make any true impact, but I was surprised with the outcome and I will certainly be adding this to my foundation routine. A question for those reading is have you guys ever used color corrector? And if so did it work?

B Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

How to: Makeup Manual / Defining brows

Enhancing and shaping brows has been a trendsetter in 2017. Getting natural, dark, shaped brows has never been easy, so I decided to follow an experts steps: Bobbi Brown, a professional and well-known makeup artist.
Before I read this book, I struggled with my brow routine, and set out with a mission to finding a fool-proof method to having Instagram-worthy eyebrows.
This chapter I am reviewing focuses on shaping and defining brows, Brown includes instructions on filling in brows for different situations. Which in my case, is having nonexistent brows. "Use a pencil the color of original brows, and softly draw in the shape." (Brown 90).
In order to reach my perfect brow using Brown's steps, I followed her instructions, with my Anastasia Beverly Hills eyebrow pencil in the shade "dark brown".

"The start of the brow should follow an imaginary line drawn from the outside of the nose to the inside corner of the eye." (Brown 90).
I used this as a template and kept my eyebrow color at the outside of my nose, reaching the corner of my eye.

Brown also includes many images of the 5 steps to shaping brows, along with small paragraphs beside the picture explaining what to do. As I get further and further into my brow, I reach the arch, and switch my gentle shading technique to pressing the pencil down harder to solidify and darken the color of the brow. Following step 4, I bring the pencil to the center of my brow to create an arch, and then turn the pencil to go down.

Once I finished my brow using Brown's instructions, my eyebrow's looked much more natural. These steps and picture examples that Brown included in her book helped me understand how to outline the natural brow shape, and how to fill in/shape brows without it looking like you filled in your eyebrows completely. Instead of just applying product to one area of my brow and blending it out as I did before, I use a pencil a few shades darker than my brows, and create a color gradient until the arch of my brow, where the color begins to darken.

This was the final product. Trying these procedures the first time through was a minor struggle, nothing a little makeup remover couldn't fix. But the more I practiced the simpler the steps got. Thanks to these steps, my brow routine is no longer a worry for me, and I can flaunt my naturally defined eyebrows.

A question I propose to those reading this, is what has worked better for you guys, eyebrows gels, powders, or pencils? And why?

Thanks for reading and engaging.

Brown, Bobbi, et al. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for Everyone from Beginner to Pro. Springboard Press, 2011.