Newbie Needs Advice

[JustBeth]

Hi everyone. I'm 18 but I'm new to makeup. My mom's not around and my whole life I've been a tomboy, hung around with tomboy girls. This year I let my friend put makeup on me (first time I ever used anything but lip gloss) and I got so many positive compliments, I felt so pretty. But I need some help now figuring out what I gotta do. Let me describle my look first.

I used to be pale with red cheeks, but I have a light tan now. I have forest green eyes, a small nose, and little lips. My eyes are my most prominent feature. I have dark brown hair and my eyebrows and eyelashes look super black for some reason. I whiten my teeth and get my eyebrows waxed, so hopefully you now can vision what I look like lol.

So here are my concerns/questions:

1. All my friends wear foundation but I just don't think I need it. I have no blemishes or hardly any discolorations, but should I use it anyway? All the times I've tried to before it looks unnatural. I'd get a color, which would be too light, next week I'd get the next color up and it would be too dark. So does anyone have any recommendations?

2. I have trouble with eyeliner. Like I can't put it on to save my life. No matter hard I try to trace the line right above my lashline, I can still see a line of skin between the liner and the lash. Is there any trick to this or does it just take practice? Also I need a good drugstore brand eyeliner, any suggestions?

3. Lip gloss drives me mad! I have small, thin lips. When I put a clear gloss on them, my lips get redder, which makes them look smaller. The only type that doesn't do that are thick, light colored glosses. The only problem is that those are so heavy! I had one from Victorias Secret and I felt like I was wearing KY Jelly on my lips or something. I'm so sad that I can't wear clear or dark gloss, it seems to shrink my lips. Does anyone know some good light, nongloopy glosses? How about some ways to make lips look bigger?

4. I love mascara but everytime I wear it seems is though it makes my real lashes weaker. So is it even worth it? I'm great at mascara, I apply it perfectly, use my fingers to get rid of clumps, etc. But does anyone really notice mascara on a person? Does it make a difference? I feel discouraged cause my lashes look great but I feel as though it doesn't improve my overall look. Please say it does lol.

5. What kind of eyeshadow would be good for a green eyed girl? And not play eyeshadow, I mean something I could wear on an everyday basic. I hear purple a lot but I can't wear purple everyday.

6. The biggest question of all...what makeup should I wear??? Right now I only wear powder, gloss, and mascara. But I hear from everyone that most girls don't leave the house without this, and this, and this, and this. So what should I be wearing? I feel so disconnected from my feminine side.

Thank you so much for even reading this if you made it this far.

[american_doll]

alrighty here goes my advice/experiences/input!

#1 if you like the shade of your natural skin, i would def go natural and skip the foundation. thats what i do. i just have this fear that since i've been without it for so long, adding it to my daily routine may cause me to break out.

#2 i dont wear eyeliner either, so sometimes if i feel like i need to, i like to outline the lower part of my eye with eyeshadow instead.

#3 s for mascara, its probably my favorite. i can definatly notice a big diggerence as soo as i put it on, but i have smaller lashes. if your lashes are big and dark enough to your liking, then maybe you can skip this step too. especialy if you think its havine a negative effect (weakening) your natural lashes.

hope this helps ya out!

[Rose]

welcome to the forums, justbeth American Doll answered a few questions for me, but I'm going to see if I can get an answer to them all for you

1. If you don't think you need foundation, then you probably don't need to wear it, especially if you've tried it out before. I never used to wear it, then I tried it out and realised my skin looked a lot better with it! but if you don't think so, then you are lucky enough to have the colouring and skin to pull off no foundation. If you do want a little more coverage, try applying powder with a pad as opposed to a brush as this usually makes it go on a little thicker.

2. Eyeliner really does just take practise- but when you have gaps, I'd recommend just smudging it around your lid with the pad of your little finger until the gaps are filled- eventually you'll get the hang of it, and smudged eyeshadow also has a nice, soft look.

3. If you don't feel comfortable with lip gloss and you don't feel it flatters you- don't wear it.
A few tricks for making your lips look bigger:
- Put a little highlighter or silver/gold powder (eyeshadow etc.) in the centre of your bottom lip and smudge it out so it blends well.
- Try sheer or pearly lipsticks, they are usually a lighter formula
- With a light lipliner (or even a sliver/gold eyeshadow pencil) outline the cupids bow of your lips (the dip in the top lip) and blend very gradually.
all these techniques will add shine and light to your lips without making them too dark or making you feel like you have all kinds of stuff on your face
Also, clear lip balms might be better for you than gloss, as gloss seems to give you some kind of reaction to make your lips red. Try a balm with aloe vera in it- nivea has a few which add shine too.

4. You said you have v dark eyelashes, so I wouldn't bother with mascara, unless you wish for them to be longer or thicker. But generally dark eyelashes have this effect anyway. To be honest, with make-up, it's what you feel comfortable with, so if you feel that mascara is weakening your eyelashes you should probably stop using it (sorry, I'm not much of a mascara expert lol) you could see if there are any mascaras with strengthening nutrients in them, or find some kind of treatment to restore them to how they were before you started using mascara. I know castor oil is good for thickening lashes, but I've no idea if it strengthens them too (sorry again!)

5. Lots of colours go well with green. For an every day colour, brown is very nice- green eyes can get away with all shades. Also maybe try an antique gold colour. You might not like that for every day use though.

6. As I said before, it's what you feel comfortable with wearing. If you can get away with minimal make-up, you are very lucky and should make the most of it!! In the long run wearing a lot of make-up can cause skin problems such as acne, so if you don't need it or you don't like it there's not much point in wearing it.

I hope some of that was helpful!

[blackbird668]

Excellent advise already from Rose and American Doll!!

I'll add a couple of thoughts here, too. If you're finding that wearing mascara is causing your lashes to fall out, it may not be the mascara itself, but the way you're removing it at night. Use an eye make-up remover, it's specifically designed to disolve mascara and waterproof eyeliners. Eye make-up remover is typically a liquid, so put some on a cotton ball or cotton pad and very GENTLY press it on your lashes. Hold it there for a few seconds to let it disolve, then carefully wipe it away. Don't scrub! Scrubbing off your eyemakeup can cause eyelashes to fall out.

Eyeliner just takes practice, lots of practice! Some time when you don't have anywhere to go and a some time to spare, just grab a mirror and practice. If it turns out yucky, just wipe it off and do it again. You'll get the hang of it. Some people find it easier to draw a series of dots along the lash-line than to draw one solid swipe. Try to keep the liner as close to the lash line as possible.

Lighter color lipsticks and lip glosses will make small lips look larger. Darker colors tend to make lips look smaller. This is true for just about everyone. Like Rose said, apply a little bit of a lighter shimmer in the center of your lower lip and it will help make them look fuller.

A lot of women (especially younger ones) skip the foundation. It's up to you. Later, you may choose to include it in your routine. For some of us (like me!) it helps to even out skintone and cover up fine lines and dark areas like under the eyes. You ma want to start out by applying foundation just in the center, where the focus is on your face -- forehead, down the nose, under the eyes, and chin -- then blend it out towards the outer edges of your face. Just be sure to blend, blend, blend!!