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As you know, all my style posts are now migrated on my style site, which appears to be where I’m concentrating all my efforts lately… I don’t think I’ve posted in weeks!

So for my readers here who do not read the new site, here’s something I posted yesterday.

Comments are closed, if you wish to leave me your usual lovely comments, please kindly do so at the style site!

One thing I have become more and more passionate about in recent days is skincare and makeup. After learning about Michelle Phan, the YouTube-verse’s own Beauty Yoda, I’ve started to pay a bit more attention to the things I put on my face and how I apply them.

via http://dailymail.co.uk

Primarily, I’ve been obsessing over having long, lush lashes and perfectly shaped eyebrows. They say eyes are the windows to the soul. If that is true, eyelashes and eyebrows are the window casings and window treatments that complement and showcase those windows. A poor metaphor, I’ll grant you, but it’s pretty darn true. Strong, shapely, filled in brows give more structure to the face. They frame the eyes and make them pop. Anyone with wispy, sparse brows knows what I’m talking about.

Back in 2001, after a bad break-up, I wanted to change my image (how dreadfully cliché of me!), shed the stupid, naive girl I was, the love-lorn fool who allowed someone to come in so intensely that he could crack every part of my carefully constructed shell. Anyway, in my haste to rid myself of the girl I had been, I allowed those in charge of my makeover to trim too much excess. Namely, my brows. In those days, thin was in. But Miss Beauty Expert (she wasn’t) didn’t know the rules of shaping brows. (following the eye and nose lines) So she made them small and extremely thin. She must have plucked out tons of hair follicles, because even nine years later, much of my original brow hairs have not grown back in. I will never ever have full, thick brows ever again, sadly. Not without assistance of powders and waxes.

Anyway, back to the topic of skincare and beauty.

The first thing a girl should learn is how to have a bare canvas face. The “Not Wearing Any Makeup” Look. It truly is the canvas for a face, and is the foundation that allows you to experiment with bolder, more dramatic colors.

{Bare Canvas: “I’m Not Wearing Any Makeup” }

Except that I am.

Here is what I used to achieve this bare naked look:

{ Prime and Prep }

1. The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion. I use this on top or under SPF 34 sunblock. It has Tea Tree oil which helps to fight acne and also contains mattifying powders which help calm oil production on my T-Zone, which can look like the BP Gulf Oil slick by about 3PM.
2. L’Oreal Studio Secrets #1 Perfecting Base. As far as primers goes, I don’t think this is a very good one for delicate skin. It’s very thick, so when you put it on it takes lots of heavy-handed smoothing before the product is evenly layered on the face. It holds color decently, though. I’ll use it until it’s gone.
3. Revlon ColorStay Oily/Combination Skin Foundation in Warm Golden. I debottled it and put it in the Revlon PhotoReady foundation bottle because it has a pump, which is better.
   • I apply with a Japonesque foundation stipple brush (3b) and stipple it onto my skin, and then buff it in. It dries quickly, which leaves streaks. Any streaks I even out with a wet sponge.
4. Next, I apply Benefit’s Stay Don’t Stray Eye Primer to my upper and lower eye lids with my EcoTools concealer brush. Then I pat the excess product in. Just a small, small amount goes a long way. If I’m in a hurry, I use it as a concealer, since it’s so sheer.
5. Once primed, I squeeze a hatbox pinhead sized amount of Revlon Age Defying Concealer SPF 25 in light/medium onto the back of my hand and mix that with the same amount of Amazing Concealer in Light Golden. Using my concealer brush I apply a thin layer to my under eye bags and a tiny amount to the inner corners of my eyes. Using Studio Basics foundation brush (Walgreen’s equivalent to the Essence of Beauty brushes that Michelle Phan swears by), I blend it in. If in a hurry, I just use my fingers, but the brush works better.
6. I set my face with Pür Minerals Perfectly Natural Everyday Balancing Makeup powder with a fluffy mineral powder brush. (This one’s by Bare Minerals, but I hate their makeup and I don’t advocate it. The brush is kind of itchy, too. Poorly made.

Total time: 4-6 minutes.

{ Draw the Line, Fill the Gap }



7. Using L’Oreal’s Wear Infinité in Neutrals, I use the peachy beige and brush it all over my lid for all over color with my Mac large flat eye shadow brush. Then I use the sandy tan shade and contour my crease. Using Sonia Kashuk’s angled eye shadow brush, I blend the two colors together. If in a hurry, I just use my fingers.
8. Then I tightline my eyes using Maybelline’s Unstoppable eyeliner in Onyx. I fill in the outer 4th of my upper lashline on top, but as close to the lashline as possible.
   • Then, using my Studio Basics angled eyeliner brush, I fan out the edge for a subtle, smoky, wispy cat eye line.
9. Next I define my brows using Revlon’s ColorStay Brow Enhancer in Light Brown/Champagne. I am careful to make sure my brows are properly filled and they are arched without looking too harsh or angular.
   • Using the champagne highlighter on the other end of the stick, I run the stick all over my brow bone and in the inner corners of my eye to make my eyes pop and illuminate these areas. I blend with my fingers.
10. I use Clinique’s High Lengths Mascara to lengthen my lashes.
11. To fatten them up and really separate them, I use Maybelline’s Pulse Perfection Vibrating Waterproof Mascara in Very Black to my top and bottom lashes. 2 coats. If only they could make a mascara that both lengthened like Clinique’s and volumized.
12. Lastly for the eyes, I curl my lashes using Japonesque heated eyelash curler. It’s like a curling iron for the eyelashes.

Total time for the eyes: 2-3 minutes.

{ Blushed pout }



13. Prime the lips using Smith’s Rosebud Salve. I let it sit while I apply blush.
14. For blush, I actually use Laura Mercier’s Lip Stain in Mulberry. I bought this for it’s long wearing matte, red berry finish. It’s a subtle, bricky red with some berry undertones. It’s extremely long-wearing and is one of the items I always have in my purse.
    • It works well as a blush because it’s so pigmented, a small dab is all I need to get a perfect blushy, coral flush. And it takes seconds to apply!
15. I blot my lips to remove the RBS and then I apply a nude rose color, here Maybelline’s Warm Me Up nude pink.

Total time for lips/cheeks: 1 minute.

And you’re done! Total time for Bare Canvas look routine: 7 – 10 minutes. Worst case scenario, I get a little meticulous with my concealer and lashes, and it takes me 15 minutes, tops.

I hope you enjoyed that!

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