Little Magazine 13
Oopsie Daisy. Life has hiccups. Your makeup doesn't have to be one of ‘em.
We can ponder
all the mishaps that happen on the daily, or we can do something about it! IDK about you but I’ve just been having one of those months. 🤦🏼♀️ Internet goes out here, then that breaks there. 🤬 FML! 😭 But hey—your makeup? No need to worry about that. 😃 I’m gonna show you a couple tricks that’ll have it on LOCK!🔒 You're fretting about makeup-meltdown in this 90-something degree humidity? Let’s make it, as I like to call—bulletproof! 🛡️😎
Mascara.
We can’t live without it, until it makes us look like a hot mess. Panda-status. 🐼 Post-rom-com status. That’s not a cute look, is it? And the constant rubbing that ensues to try to tidy the area up just makes me wanna cry, honestly. The skin there is so delicate! The rubbing and tugging and friction will wear down the skin’s elasticity, dry the area, and make me cry. So. Here’s what I’ve discovered: Japanese mascaras. (thx c chien!😘) That’s the answer. I’ve tried a million different kinds of waterproof formulations, and American ones, while staying hydro-repellant, also don’t budge, so I end up losing half of my 10 precious eyelashes while trying to remove my mascara. The Japanese ones have a formula that applies like a regular mascara (not watery like those tube-mascaras or chunky like the fiber-ones), but comes off easily come wash time. Here’s ($18) my personal fave. The packaging is reminiscent of stationary you’d buy for your 8-year old niece who loves Hello Kitty (—also adult me), but never mind that. It’s not exactly cheap, either, but it’s good stuff and it lasts forever. Remember! Mascara should be the most cycled-out item in your makeup bag. A stye (or worse—an eye infection! *cringe) is never worth it.
Eyeliner.
Girlfriend ova here is using it as a statement, but for me, it’s the air I breathe. 🌬 I literally can’t go throw out the trash without my eyeliner. I wear it when I’m at home by myself. It’s a part of me, and I have no shame in that game. So. If you don’t want to fuss with it but need a fierce cat-liner in your life, then you need a product that you can rely on like your life depends on that Spanx keeping you sucked in at your cousin's wedding that your ex is attending. Yes. We need that kind of strength. Cue the humble and under-appreciated Milani infinite liquid eyeliner ($5-$8). You can find it at almost any CVS or drugstore. At a humble $8 a pop, it’s the “dupe” for the MAC waterproof liquid liner, which, at around half the size, comes in at almost three times the cost. While the formulations differ slightly, it performs just as well. TIP: Please use a separate applicator brush with it, of your personal preference, be it a pointy, slanted, whatever. The stuff is goopy. And a little goes a looong way. Use less than you think, then use half of that. It’s highly pigmented so keep mini q-tips handy to wipe quickly before it dries and sets (dip in micellar water for extra ease of removal). Also—keep a paper towel handy, as it crusts when it dries. Use the paper towel to wipe the brush between strokes so as not to lacerate your delicate skin with the crusty brush (yes I'm dramatic but it also does get that rigid). Also, since it’s waterproof, use an oil to remove.
If only we could
wear a helmet over our heads like this lady, to protect our makeup. If you find yourself in a spot where you know you’re going to be bludgeoned by the merciless UV rays of the summer sun and all its sticky glory, but you need your face to look snatched, then this is a pro MUA (makeup artist) trick that’ll save your cute tooshie. There are ten million setting sprays out there now, but this is the O.G. and this setting spray does not play. A friend from makeup school shaved off her brows (I know, the horror 😱) and drew them in with a pencil, sprayed her face with this and danced her face off all night—except for her brows. She said her brows were still there at the end of the night. 🤩 This is nothing short of a miracle. So. Drumroll* this setting spray by Urban Decay ($33) will suffice, thank you, all you newbie setting sprays. TIP: So here’s the catch. After cleansing your face and moisturizing, priming, all that good skin stuff, you spray this before applying makeup. It functions to control excess sweat and oil production, like a deodorant for your face. Then you do your makeup, powder, and spray again. It’s a setting spray sandwich. It's officially bulletproof. Tested and approved by emotional, riotous brides everywhere. Try not to leave your mouth open when you realize your face is perfectly still in tact at the end of the night, after all your shenanigans. 😉
Tippy-Tip:
Carrying a cute lil clutch that carries no more than two tubes of lipstick but need to powder your nose later? I get it. Stick to the look. Carry oil-absorbing papers. Don’t have any? Use a tiny puff and load it up with loose powder (rub it in to “load it” and FLICK it like you’re catapulting the winning point across the table in a game of paper football when you need to powder yourself. The settled powder will “pop up” to the surface and provide a fresh layer of much needed anti-shine). Your friends will ooh and ahhh at your pro-status makeup knowledge. :)
Rain ☔️or shine🌤, we ain’t gonna whine 😩bc we ain’t got no time 🕰️! Let’s just be sublime 🦋. 😌 See you next Tuesday friends! -Renee :)