Put your face on!

[nicole]

How is the 3-step? Which one did you get?

[Ellie]

I got the oily skin (3/4) small version. I confess I really dislike the smell. I haven't noticed any change in how my skin looks, but it's early days. My skin does feel much softer. Plus, it's spurred me into actually washing my face, so there's half the battle right there.

[nicole]

I'm the same version, and I don't like the smell either, so I feel your pain. At least, I don't like the smell of the soap. The moisturizer I'm fine with. But yes, that is TOTES half the battle, if not more.

[nicole]

So, Ellie, this is very much just a starting point/some ideas, but if you're ever taken by the desire to go into a Sephora or department store and start trying things on, I've been thinking a bit about your coloring.

You look based on the pictures in the ladyfashun thread like you have "cool" undertones, but you can verify this better than I can: are the veins in your forearms more greenish, or more bluish? The more bluish, the cooler you are. (Also, do you have a sense of whether you look better in silver or gold jewelry? My guess is silver.) You're about as fair as I am, maybe a little more so, but much pinker. The helpful thing is this means you have coloring similar to my BFF. Also, looks like you have hazel eyes, but not sure.

Anyway, there are a lot of good neutral options that do work for everyone, but as I said, if you're feeling feisty and want to go try some things on and you want them to be FUN and not OH NO WHY IS THIS DEPRESSING INSTEAD OF FUN, what you want to do is look for cool-toned colors. Note: I don't mean the color itself is cool or warm, necessarily, but the undertone. E.g., red is a warm color, but there are tons of red lipsticks with blue undertones, and you would call those a "cool red" or something like that--and that's what you would want, if you wanted to try a red. Do you think you can recognize a cool red if you saw on in person, vs. a warm one? I'm not sure how best to explain it but I'm sure you can find pictures. Mac Ruby Woo is a cool red; Mac Russian Red is warm.

Berry-type shades are frequently cool, and my gut is that someone with your coloring would do really well with raspberry, strawberry, watermelon type colors. Raspberry could be a cool look for you for fall/winter. Right now I would probably think more along coral lines, but the kind of lighter, pinkier coral that looks shitty on me (e.g., Mac Crosswires, whereas I wear more orangey red corals). But you also had a lot of pink in your face and you might want to do something to contrast with that rather than emphasize it, in which case you might go a bit more purply (this doesn't have to mean dark).

The same kinds of warm/cool distinctions go for everything, pretty much. Blue eyeshadow can be more or less warm. Red eyeshadow can be more or less cool. Finding your cool/warm zone and what works with it is not actually that hard, though may require some practice, but once you do it you can almost always tell at a glance whether something will work (well, unless you're colorblind, of course). Of course, that doesn't mean the thing will actually be YOU, and you might still not like how you look in it because it doesn't look the way you want to look, but it will lead to less, like, "OMG GET ME AWAY FROM THIS MIRROR WHAT HAVE I DONE" type situations.

[entropica]

The task is not to find the lovable object. It is rather to find the object lovable, just by adding a fun lip color.
— KimKierkegaardashian (@KimKierkegaard) May 29, 2014

For lips, I am a bit of a snob. My feelings about drugstore lip products (other than balm) could be described by the Selina Meyer quote: "It's like using a croissant as a dildo...it doesn't get the job done, and it makes a fucking mess." That is to say, it fades and feathers and gets all out of place, and probably dries your lips out too. So I don't fuck around.

I am basically down to using only a few brands for lip color: NARS (LOVE the Satin and Velvet Gloss lip pencils; the Matte is too drying for me; lipsticks are also excellent), MAC (lipstick only), YSL (Glossy Stain is the ONLY stain that actually doesn't dry, doesn't fade, and is motherfucking awesome). I also like Buxom, the lipstick pencil (forget what they really call it) is very good and I like the colors although the selection isn't huge. I basically only use lip gloss on top of lipstick or stain. If I want to use only something light I use (the really poorly named) Clinique Chubby Stick, which is just a color-ish balm. There's a couple good Burt's Bees option for colored balms though too. I also find myself using gloss a lot less now that my hair is long enough to get stuck in it (lip gloss is really fucking sticky, ALWAYS, no matter what they say). Oh, I like Urban Decay's Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color, too, now I remember. Anyway, all these "pencils" I'm talking about here are not lipliners; they are just pencil-shaped lipsticks.

My secret to the perfect lip, though, is Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Ozone, i.e., clear--so you only have one lipliner, ever, and it's clear, and you put it all around the outline of your lips, and NO LIPSTICK WILL EVER CROSS THAT BORDER. It is amazing.

Anyway, the real thing about lips is deciding what direction you want to go: boldly, or otherwise. Bright colors are something a lot of people are uncomfortable with here. As you can see, that is not the case for nicole.

image.jpg

(MAC Morange)

image.jpg

(NARS Yu)

One thing to note is that with nothing on at all, my lips are pretty pigmented, so I have a lot of trouble with nude or other light colors--they don't cover my natural lip color and thus don't look like anything. This is me with nothing on.

image.jpg

Basic rule is, the heavier you go in this direction, the lighter you want to go everywhere else--especially eyes. You want some balance, but only one "statement" color, if you have any statement color on that is.

I like to layer lip products as well--stain under lipstick under gloss, say, or at least stain under lipstick. Depends how good of a match I have, and what I'm going for overall, but usually I'm going for long-term high saturation.

It's a shame I didn't have any pics handy of a true red handy, because that's usually the hardest thing for people to choose for themselves. Tonewise, I mean. There's a lot of very average things I could say about cool and warm tones, but my real advice is just to try stuff out, on your hand if nothing else, or via online pictures of someone with similar skin tone. Also not pictured, I like corals and berry colors a lot. But not as much as hot pink or orange. Anyway, the larger point is, you might look good in something you don't expect. I am fortunate in my own coloring "going" with a lot, though.

I was told to comment on this (Hi, new). Anyway, I have a pale-pinky complexion with faded freckles and sensitivity (won the jackpot here). I've never found a skin routine that works better than just mild fragrance-free soap and lotion. I've upgraded to using eye cream and some anti-age serum I'm not sold on (but just hit my 30s so I got marketed into it). One thing I have problems with is lipstick. I hate it. I want my lips to have some color to them, but when it comes down to it I just want my Carmex. So these are my easy color, bought at the drug store solution -- Revlon "Just Bitten" -- Buy the lip stain and put it on about 3 times and let it dry. The color will be on you all night. If you are going out and want to keep it vibrant also buy the lip crayon to update your color. If you just want a hint (with or without the stain) buy this terribly named thing from Maybelline. "Baby Lips" which is a light gloss that feels more like chapstick than most.

Again giving my complexion I go for berry shades of red; for the "Just Bitten" I use the color of stain called Frenzy, lip crayon called Smitten; for the Baby Lips I use something called... I've worn off the name because it lives in my purse, but it looks very red, but comes off subtle. Also Nicole spends too much money on makeup (love you baby). Also, wow, makeup companies really want us to hate ourselves a little bit more with these names.

[nicole]

entropica thinks I make this sound "hard" but I'm just really explain-y! That's not hard! I'm informational!

[entropica]

entropica thinks I make this sound "hard" but I'm just really explain-y! That's not hard! I'm informational!

I don't think you make it sound "hard" I think you are starting at a high entry level and thus make it sound intimidating. You are also someone who started your "makeup journey" by enlisting professionals; I went through years of guess-and-test. Not a criticism, just saying.

[Rachel]

Why can't we just get together and do makeovers? <kicks pebble>

[nicole]

Why can't we just get together and do makeovers? <kicks pebble>

OMIGOD I KNOW

[nicole]

Can we just blame the boys for fucking up Gryllicon planning?

[Mo]

Can we just blame the boys for fucking up Gryllicon planning?

Do you mean Lilest Mod, Mojito and Randling?

[Rachel]

Can we just blame the boys for fucking up Gryllicon planning?

Absolutely. Boys ruin everything.

We should just show up at Ellie's place and kidnap her for a weekend.

[nicole]

Can we just blame the boys for fucking up Gryllicon planning?

Absolutely. Boys ruin everything.

We should just show up at Ellie's place and kidnap her for a weekend.

That is SUCH a good plan.

[Jadagul]

So is there a good way to remove mascara? Mine is pretty stubborn about staying there.

[lunchstealer]

So is there a good way to remove mascara? Mine is pretty stubborn about staying there.

Your lashes are just that fabulous, and the mascara doesn't want to go.

[nicole]

If you use waterproof mascara, you basically have to just close your eyes and really carefully rub eye makeup remover on your lashes. I wouldn't call it "easy." My mascara is not waterproof and I have a much easier time.

[Jadagul]

If you use waterproof mascara, you basically have to just close your eyes and really carefully rub eye makeup remover on your lashes. I wouldn't call it "easy." My mascara is not waterproof and I have a much easier time.

See, this is what confuses me. The mascara I'm using is a $1 thing of mascara I got at target. I'm rubbing makeup remover wipes on my eyes, and not particularly "carefully"--I'm basically scrubbing for like fifteen seconds. And it comes off my lower lashes fine but I'm pretty sure it's just staying on my upper lashes. They might just be darker at the tips than I'm remembering, though.

[Jadagul]

If you're interested in makeup, get some Kevyn Aucoin books, like
Making Faces and Face Forward. The man was not only an excellent makeup artist, he was really good at explaining what he did.

As for me, it's pretty much just a mild soap and water, although I do like some Neutrogena "Razor Defense Post Shave Lotion" since I tend towards very dry skin. I've also started using an alum block on my face after shaving, although I do not really find that it does stop cuts instantly, or that it replaces a lotion.

Ooh, definitely going to look into those.

Been thinking about experimenting with light social makeup for a while, haven't gotten around to it yet. Every time I get mascara for stage makeup, all the girls start complaining that they're jealous of my long eyelashes, but they have basically blonde tips so you can't see them normally; I'm thinking using a bit of mascara might be helpful for me. Also maybe a touch of eyeliner.

Don't leave François Nars off the list of people whose makeup books you want to check out. NARS 4EVA

Also, Jadagul, let me recommend FAIRYDROPS Scandal Queen mascara, as a fellow already-long-lashed person. I can tell you this would be AWESOME for stage. And real life, whatever. I fucking love it. Nothing compares 2 u, FAIRYDROPS.

Nicole, are you still a fan of this stuff? The reviewers on Amazon seem to think that there's a new formulation that isn't as good as the old one.

[nicole]

Oh man, I don't know, I haven't bought it recently. I will check it out the next time I'm near a Sephora and report back.

[JD]

My wife got me some Proraso shaving cream. I'd actually read about it on shaving forums before, and it is really good.

[nicole]

We tried that years ago, it is pretty darn good.

[Warren]

Shaving cream is evil.

[Painboy]

Shaving cream is evil.

That was a lot of prose just to say use some baby oil.

[nicole]

I am now all in on Korean skincare routine and it's the greatest.

[dhex]

My wife got me some Proraso shaving cream. I'd actually read about it on shaving forums before, and it is really good.

+1 on the proraso. their aftershave is nice, but also a bit more expensive than i generally like.