Hi Guys,
A beauty tag - as always, please feel free to do it too.
How old were you when you started wearing makeup?
I think I started wearing make up in 6th form (aged 16) or possibly before, towards the end of secondary school (15...maybe even 14?)
How did you get into makeup?
I didn't elaborate in the previous question because I saw that this question was coming up next; I didn't start wearing a full face of make up (i.e. anything more than black eyeliner) until I was in my early twenties!!! From (possibly) 14 years old until about 22 I only wore eyeliner, vaseline and maybe mascara.
When I was younger I had amazing skin. Flawless. And then all of a sudden BANG I developed allergies and my face went crazy. People who see me now who knew me 'before' are shocked but for me, I'm kind of used to it now and realistically even though my skin is awful it is much better then when all the allergies first came.
So anyway, I guess that's how I got into make up. I didn't need it before and then one day I did!
What are some of your favourite brands?
My favourite brands are Benefit and Clinique. I think I've spoken about the reason before, but basically because it was these two brands that I first used that worked well with my skin and allowed me to embark on my make up journey. (Cheesy much?!) But I honestly feel very sentimental towards these two brands because they changed my life. Which might sound extremely shallow but that's (my!) life.
Other brands that I like are MUA (yup, the £1 range at Superdrugs), Collection 2000, Body Shop, Revlon.
Big up to the high street!!!
What does make-up mean to you?
Make up to me means........peace of mind and confidence. Wearing make up lets me worry about one less thing and makes me feel more comfortable in my (shite) skin.
And also, because I am round, I find that make up lets me be involved with girlie stuff when, because of my size, I might not be able to be involved with the other girlie stuff. For example, imagine being in a crowd of 'normal' sized girls, girls that can fit in high street sized clothes. And then there is me, who for most of the time, can't. To me, wearing make up lets me tell people that despite my size and lack of topshop clothes, I am a girly girl and I like girlie things and........yeah.
If you could only wear 4 products on your face what would they be?
Since this is a make up tag, I assume moisturizer and vaseline do not count, so my 4 make up products would be (in order of importance)
1) eyeliner (if I had to pick one item, this would be it)
2) foundation
3) mascara
4) ........I think I'd be pretty happy with 3 items but I won't waste my 4th so....
erm lol I can't think! Bronzer or blusher?! erm erm erm Bronzer! Bronzer is my final answer.
What is your favourite thing about makeup?
Oooooh. I guess I like the fact that it is accessible to just about anyone and you can do so much with it. Just a slick of eyeliner, or a full face of glitter, whatever you want.
This is unrelated to this question but anyway; I find it really surprising the amount of people I see (people I know, strangers on the street) who don't wear make up. To me, make up is just another part of my outfit and I wouldn't be fully dressed without it. Yeah, you look wonderful without make up on, same as your outfit looks great, but wouldn't a skinny belt or a pink lipstick complete your look and make it even better......?
What do you think about drugstore makeup vs high end makeup?
Well, now, after a few years of wearing make up and a lot of purchasing I can say that it doesn't really matter. When I first got into make up I went for the higher end make up because my skin was so sensitive and in my mind high end equaled safe. I now realise that that is not neccesarily the case. In fact, sometimes the drugstore stuff is better for me because it's so cheap and they don't use fancy ingredients which means less irritants for me.
I think that the only product I use which I would say has to be high end is concealer. Under eye concealer is fine from a drug store brand, but for me, for acne, scarring and blemishes, I need hard core stuff and that is wear high end delivers.
Paying £30 for a miniture blob of concealer is worth it in this case.
I think that high end is only better because of the service. If drugstore brands had booths with make up artists these products would be the same. I personally could not have started my make up journey with a drug store brand because I needed help and advice, and a bit of pushing!
What is one tip of advice you can give to a beginner?
Don't be shy. Go bug the high end make up booths in department stores. Don't buy, just pretend you have money. Learn learn learn. Then go google for a drug store dupe!!!!!!
What is one makeup trend you never understood?
These aren't trends as such, because I think that every trend makes sense in it's context, but I really don't understand (bad) lipliner .The bait bait bait clown lipliner and lipstick combo. Why?
And this is a bit random, and maybe hypocritical in a way, but I don't understand OOT eye make up. I mean, the hardcore "I am wearing 5 shades of shadow and glitter and falselashes" look at 9am to the supermarket. It's a bit old woman drag to me. I appreciate the time it takes, and the talent. But there is a time and a place.
And yes, I do realise I am known for wearing a truckload of black shadow. But it's black. And matte. Boring drag queen as opposed to las vegas drag quuen.
What do you think of the Beauty Community on Youtube/Blogger?
I think it is good. It is a bit shallow and petty, and it seems to be encouraging a lot of bitchiness (do you ever read some comments holy christ!) But for people who are watching or reading for knowledge and tips it is an amazing community. It is because of this community that drug store make up is so great. There are no booths and make up artists but you don't need that, just google 'revlon photo finish review' and you'll know what you need to know!
Also, my mum is not a make up wearer (last time she wore make up was when I graduated - that was a few years ago) and I didn't know many people my age who wore make up so thank god for the online beauty community.
Who is your style icon?
Rachel Bilson, Alexa Chung, that Olivia P person - I like their make up style, understated but definitely there!
And I like their clothes - classic but cool, pretty but relaxed.
