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A Makeup Journey

Posted in Personal

Back in the early days of my blog, I wrote a review of Surreal Makeup. In it, I was very clear that I didn’t wear makeup very often. Four years later, that has changed completely.

I wear makeup virtually every day now. I’ve long-since discovered the joy of decorating my face with colors. I look at makeup as clothing for my face. I put it on in the morning, take it off in the evening, and use it to show off my personality.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I take inspiration for my looks from all over: nature, pens, photos, etc.

What Changed?

I don’t really know how, why, or when the change really happened. Perhaps it was just having the disposable income to buy more makeup. Maybe it’s being more comfortable in my skin. Either way, I remember enough to know it started as a gradual change.

When the pandemic hit, it pushed me further into makeup. It was a way to keep a hold of “normal” and make sure I kept up with skin care. After all, I have to wash off the makeup.

I went back to posting more looks on Instagram, and that eventually morphed into my fountain pen makeup, which has been a ton of fun.

But — big but — it’s also made me a bit sad. I keep getting comments and messages along the lines of “I wish I could wear that.” But you can! Anyone can. As long as you wear it — and don’t let it wear you — you can look good in anything.

I’ve been pushing my own comfort zone, trying more colorful looks and improving skills to be able to do whatever I want. I’ve found wearing masks to be freeing in what I wear and try. If I’m not around friends, no one knows who I am, so who cares what I try out.

Want to Give It a Try?

Start cheap. But not cheap as in bad. There’s some good stuff out there that is inexpensive and great. If you want a full rainbow palette, try:

If you want something a bit tamer, you can try:

And make sure you have good brushes. I’ve found Jessup and JAF have some great brushes for cheap on Amazon.

Practice. A lot. If you aren’t already familiar with blending colors together, trying blending on the back of your hand. You want to get to where you can create a seamless gradient between skin and color and two different colors. That will help make looks more polished.

Start Slow. If color makes you nervous, try looks that don’t require a lot of it. A single bright color on your eyelid, for example. Or what I call a sunrise eye — a single color blended on the crease and nothing on your eyelid. Follow tutorials and go all out when you’re ready.

Looking to the Future

So what’s next for me? I want to try following some tutorials. I’m sure that there are techniques I don’t know, or colors I haven’t yet tried together. Angelica Nyqvist has some great tutorials I’m itching to try.

I also want to play around with more colors. I’m not great with neutrals — straight up, I suck at putting together a good neutral look. And I tend to stick to 3 colors or less. I would like to try some looks that have lots of colors without looking over-the-top.

I also need to make sure I use the makeup I’ve been buying. You all know I like my randomizer, and I’ve been testing out using it for makeup, too. I get a different color each day, and I’m keeping track of which palettes I use to make sure everything gets utilized. Maybe a bit obsessive, but it’s working for me.


So how about you, do you like colorful eyeshadow? Are you a makeup person at all? Let me know in the comments.

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