Rules to Live By (If you want to buy and wear makeup)
Yes, okay, here's that life-experience thing again. Please note that this is relevant for anyone who actually is wearing makeup occasionally -- as opposed to just a one-time costume thing -- and really relevant for anyone who feels the need or desire to wear makeup regularly and doesn't already have a bushel basket full of the stuff. Or you can just read it if you happen to be bored.
Firstly, I know very little about how to properly apply makeup (totally clueless when it comes to mascara), and most of what I know, I learned from books. (I may be on the Fashion Police, but I am still a geek. Go figure.) So, I am not going to address applying cosmetics at all. What I do know is how to save time, money, and hassle when it comes to purchasing the stuff -- and who hasn't spent an hour in the cosmetics aisle of a drugstore wondering what the heck to buy? (If you don't wear makeup, hush.)
1) Don't buy anything but nail polish and eye shadow from the drugstores (CVS, Target, Wal-Mart, whatever). Really. It only seems less expensive and more convenient to get cosmetics that way. Reasoning: you spend half an hour or more staring at fifty different products from ten different brands, all priced somewhere between $2.99 and $11.99, and wondering which one will work, at what price, and what's the difference really between the low-end and high-end stuff? If you guess incorrectly, you wind up with something you won't use (or worse, you use it, but it looks bad -- thus completely defeating the usual purpose of wearing cosmetics) and now you have to go through that again and spend even more money for colored goo. Also, most drugstores won't accept returns once a product has been opened and used. (Some do. But you still have to buy it before you find out whether or not you like it.)
(Why are nail polish and eye shadow the exceptions? Because most nail polish is, honestly, the same; the base coat -- get something sticky -- and top coat -- get something fast-drying and shiny -- are the only parts which actually matter. Everything else is marketing. Eye shadow because...well, you really can see what color it is when you buy it, and again, having a good base under it matters more for wear than what goes over top. Oh yeah -- get a base for eye shadow; see number three.)
2) Plan to purchase the rest of your cosmetics from department store counters. Reasoning: the products will initially cost more, but not much more, as drugstore brands keep getting more expensive and department store brands, surprisingly, do not. The rest of the reasoning is more complicated.
Okay: Revlon eye pencil: $7.99. MAC eye pencil: $13.50. This may look like an obvious savings, but usually it is not. The Revlon pencil you bought in a sealed package (hopefully), you have no idea how it actually applies or how it will wear, if you don't like it you probably can't return it, and you spent that half hour (at least) in the aisles figuring out (guessing) which product to buy. The MAC pencil you also bought in a sealed package, but you got to try it first, were shown exactly how to apply it by an experienced cosmetics salesperson who also led you directly to the product you wanted based on what you told him/her you wanted it to do for you, it's returnable for full refund if you don't like it for any reason after you use it a few times, and your total time spent shopping (off-peak hours) was about ten minutes. [If you really plan ahead and don't mind going back later, you can even try on the product you think you might want and wear it around for a few hours to see how it suits you before you make a purchase.] If you have to buy two drugstore pencils before you find exactly what you want, you've just spent more than the right one first time at a cosmetics counter -- and a LOT more time.
Also -- I know, I know, all of the magazine ads and reviews say otherwise, but -- IME, department store brand cosmetics usually do wear better than their drugstore counterparts. Also the product itself tends to last longer, and if you go at the right times of year there are all sorts of free-with-purchase specials. Better value for the money, in the long run. (The exception to this seems to be the permatone lip colors -- even in drugstore brands, those things are great! )
3) Get the appropriate base for what you'll be wearing. Prime coat before you paint; skin is no exception. Most people don't think of this, really, but it makes a big difference. Eye shadow primer keeps the color where you put it (it doesn't meander into creases and wander off to wherever eye shadow goes an hour after you apply it). Lip primer makes a difference if you are using traditional lipstick and tend to have very dry or very lined lips. ALWAYS USE LIPLINER!! It serves as a base to keep lip color from wandering away and allows you to draw the shape of your lips to emphasize what you like (or want people to see) about them, as well as giving you the chance to modify the color of lipstick closer to what you want (a brownish-red liner under a bluish-red lipstick will give you a more solid, real-looking red color, for example -- the cosmetic counter person will help you with color choices), and your lip color will last much longer between applications. Using a facial moisturizer appropriate for your skin type will help whatever other product you put on your face apply easily and wear well.
4) If you want pale -- like vampire-pale -- skin, buy Manic Panic foundations and powders. They're the only ones I've found who make really good stuff (not costume or theatrical makeup) for the severely pale look. Hey, Marilyn Manson uses it. And he doesn't even use the palest color they make, believe it or not. You might have to order it online if you don't have a local One-Stop Goth Shop, but it's worth it.
5) Find your color preferences, and learn which brands tend to have what you like. This is just me -- I don't know how the industry refers to this -- but I've found that there are at least four distinct "types" of cosmetic color brands; what I refer to as New York, Pacific Northwest, Paris, and Deep South. "New York" brands tend to have edgy colors; a full rainbow of crayon box brights, which look on the skin exactly like they look in the package, and are intended to stand out -- think runway models -- rather than look natural. (MAC is a good example.) "Pacific Northwest" brands are mostly about a healthy, natural look; lots of earth tones. (Garden Botanika, Aveda, Origins) "Paris" brands have a general mix of traditional colors aiming for made-up-but-tastefully looks. (Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clinique) "Deep South" brands are...well, traditional colors but extra-vivid, in that larger-than-life, your-lips-enter-the-room-before-you-do sort of way. (Mary Kay)
Knowing what sort of category your particular product need fits into saves time when heading to the counters. I go to the MAC counter for white eyeliner (they had it before anyone else did) and metallic lipstick, Lancome for foundation and finishing powder (also magic anti-aging goo), Clinique for lipliner and traditional lipstick (okay, it's because they're cheaper than the others), Origins for natural-looking eyeliner...yeah. But because they're all in one store, this doesn't take as much time as it sounds like it should.
6) If you want mascara, you're on your own. Most sources seem to agree that Maybelline Great Lash mascara is the best stuff out there; I wouldn't know. I'm still treating the Mysterious Black Goo as something which might bite; me wearing mascara is a lot like a cat with tape on its feet.
Um...yup, that's all I can think of for now.
Firstly, I know very little about how to properly apply makeup (totally clueless when it comes to mascara), and most of what I know, I learned from books. (I may be on the Fashion Police, but I am still a geek. Go figure.) So, I am not going to address applying cosmetics at all. What I do know is how to save time, money, and hassle when it comes to purchasing the stuff -- and who hasn't spent an hour in the cosmetics aisle of a drugstore wondering what the heck to buy? (If you don't wear makeup, hush.)
1) Don't buy anything but nail polish and eye shadow from the drugstores (CVS, Target, Wal-Mart, whatever). Really. It only seems less expensive and more convenient to get cosmetics that way. Reasoning: you spend half an hour or more staring at fifty different products from ten different brands, all priced somewhere between $2.99 and $11.99, and wondering which one will work, at what price, and what's the difference really between the low-end and high-end stuff? If you guess incorrectly, you wind up with something you won't use (or worse, you use it, but it looks bad -- thus completely defeating the usual purpose of wearing cosmetics) and now you have to go through that again and spend even more money for colored goo. Also, most drugstores won't accept returns once a product has been opened and used. (Some do. But you still have to buy it before you find out whether or not you like it.)
(Why are nail polish and eye shadow the exceptions? Because most nail polish is, honestly, the same; the base coat -- get something sticky -- and top coat -- get something fast-drying and shiny -- are the only parts which actually matter. Everything else is marketing. Eye shadow because...well, you really can see what color it is when you buy it, and again, having a good base under it matters more for wear than what goes over top. Oh yeah -- get a base for eye shadow; see number three.)
2) Plan to purchase the rest of your cosmetics from department store counters. Reasoning: the products will initially cost more, but not much more, as drugstore brands keep getting more expensive and department store brands, surprisingly, do not. The rest of the reasoning is more complicated.
Okay: Revlon eye pencil: $7.99. MAC eye pencil: $13.50. This may look like an obvious savings, but usually it is not. The Revlon pencil you bought in a sealed package (hopefully), you have no idea how it actually applies or how it will wear, if you don't like it you probably can't return it, and you spent that half hour (at least) in the aisles figuring out (guessing) which product to buy. The MAC pencil you also bought in a sealed package, but you got to try it first, were shown exactly how to apply it by an experienced cosmetics salesperson who also led you directly to the product you wanted based on what you told him/her you wanted it to do for you, it's returnable for full refund if you don't like it for any reason after you use it a few times, and your total time spent shopping (off-peak hours) was about ten minutes. [If you really plan ahead and don't mind going back later, you can even try on the product you think you might want and wear it around for a few hours to see how it suits you before you make a purchase.] If you have to buy two drugstore pencils before you find exactly what you want, you've just spent more than the right one first time at a cosmetics counter -- and a LOT more time.
Also -- I know, I know, all of the magazine ads and reviews say otherwise, but -- IME, department store brand cosmetics usually do wear better than their drugstore counterparts. Also the product itself tends to last longer, and if you go at the right times of year there are all sorts of free-with-purchase specials. Better value for the money, in the long run. (The exception to this seems to be the permatone lip colors -- even in drugstore brands, those things are great! )
3) Get the appropriate base for what you'll be wearing. Prime coat before you paint; skin is no exception. Most people don't think of this, really, but it makes a big difference. Eye shadow primer keeps the color where you put it (it doesn't meander into creases and wander off to wherever eye shadow goes an hour after you apply it). Lip primer makes a difference if you are using traditional lipstick and tend to have very dry or very lined lips. ALWAYS USE LIPLINER!! It serves as a base to keep lip color from wandering away and allows you to draw the shape of your lips to emphasize what you like (or want people to see) about them, as well as giving you the chance to modify the color of lipstick closer to what you want (a brownish-red liner under a bluish-red lipstick will give you a more solid, real-looking red color, for example -- the cosmetic counter person will help you with color choices), and your lip color will last much longer between applications. Using a facial moisturizer appropriate for your skin type will help whatever other product you put on your face apply easily and wear well.
4) If you want pale -- like vampire-pale -- skin, buy Manic Panic foundations and powders. They're the only ones I've found who make really good stuff (not costume or theatrical makeup) for the severely pale look. Hey, Marilyn Manson uses it. And he doesn't even use the palest color they make, believe it or not. You might have to order it online if you don't have a local One-Stop Goth Shop, but it's worth it.
5) Find your color preferences, and learn which brands tend to have what you like. This is just me -- I don't know how the industry refers to this -- but I've found that there are at least four distinct "types" of cosmetic color brands; what I refer to as New York, Pacific Northwest, Paris, and Deep South. "New York" brands tend to have edgy colors; a full rainbow of crayon box brights, which look on the skin exactly like they look in the package, and are intended to stand out -- think runway models -- rather than look natural. (MAC is a good example.) "Pacific Northwest" brands are mostly about a healthy, natural look; lots of earth tones. (Garden Botanika, Aveda, Origins) "Paris" brands have a general mix of traditional colors aiming for made-up-but-tastefully looks. (Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clinique) "Deep South" brands are...well, traditional colors but extra-vivid, in that larger-than-life, your-lips-enter-the-room-before-you-do sort of way. (Mary Kay)
Knowing what sort of category your particular product need fits into saves time when heading to the counters. I go to the MAC counter for white eyeliner (they had it before anyone else did) and metallic lipstick, Lancome for foundation and finishing powder (also magic anti-aging goo), Clinique for lipliner and traditional lipstick (okay, it's because they're cheaper than the others), Origins for natural-looking eyeliner...yeah. But because they're all in one store, this doesn't take as much time as it sounds like it should.
6) If you want mascara, you're on your own. Most sources seem to agree that Maybelline Great Lash mascara is the best stuff out there; I wouldn't know. I'm still treating the Mysterious Black Goo as something which might bite; me wearing mascara is a lot like a cat with tape on its feet.
Um...yup, that's all I can think of for now.