Top Cosmetic Items (and etc)

There’s only so much of the ups and downs of my personal life that you can take. Here’s something hopefully entertaining, or at the very least, could come in handy as a guide lest you ever need one.

I love putting on make-up! I love it just as much as I love books and matching my clothes and thinking about getting new shoes. Sometimes I find myself spending hours online reading up make-up techniques, cosmetics reviews and watching videos, experimenting and filtering out the best and most conventional methods. A large amount of money from my (and my mother’s credit card and my boyfriend’s) wallet goes to cosmetic stores, leaving me broke but terribly excited about the new purchases.

With so many items and so many brands available, it took me a long time to find the best of the lot and putting it all together! Trust me, I had my phases of hooker make up… my mother and sister never bothered to give me any tips :(

So here you go, a mini-guide :D

Jade’s Guide to Cosmetics

(In no order)

1. Eyeliners

Every girl needs a liquid eyeliner and a pencil eyeliner. They define your eyes and give them a finished look, especially when you’re heading out for a long day. Eye shadows look great when you first applied them on, but without a primer, after a couple of hours they would have faded and lost the vibrance.

I’ve stumbled upon a couple of Singapore blogs and had my fair share of celebrity bloggers abusing eyeliners…

So the tip is: keep it simple. You don’t want to smear half of the eyeliner stick on the whole of your eyelid.

Too much eyeliner can actually make Asian eyes appear smaller,  on top of looking trashy. And no Louis Vuitton bags can salvage that.

How to: Use a liquid liner for upper lid and a pencil liner for lower lid. Smudge liner on lower lid to create a simple smoky effect.

I only use pencil liner on lower lids when I’m in the mood or special occasions though. My eyes tear easily and I have a tendency to wipe them so it requires a lot of touch-ups. Besides, I’m more into a neutral and natural look.

In terms of eyeliners, or any products conerning colours, I’m in love with Bourjois Paris.

Their pencil eyeliners come in a wide range of colors, stays for a long time and feels really soft on your eyelids. And I’m such a sucker for colors, don’t you have days that you just feel like wearing a certain color?

Their liquid eyeliners have colours, too! I have the blue one, but with glitters.

I use this almost daily, except when I’m going to school. I love how easy it feels to control the brush, and how it feels slightly cool against my skin when I apply it.

Cost: Not sure, about $20-ish?

Tip: If your pencil eyeliner feels dry and hard, put a little Vaseline on the back of your hand and rub the liner over it a few times. Vaseline should ‘melt’ it and it’ll be soft and perfect. Just be careful not to smudge when you apply though, for Vaseline makes it wetter and thus taking it longer to dry.

But you could just save yourself the trouble and get a Bourjois liner..

The white end is for your waterline, supposed to make your eyes appear bigger but I never use it because of said tearing problems.

2. Mascara

I have shit short eyelashes and I can’t stand people who wear false eyelashes all the time, so mascara’s my only salvation. Til today I have owned at least 10 mascara sticks and used at least 20 different types. Not a great number, compared to the amount of products available on the market, all claiming to give you lush lashes, but certainly enough to judge.

Here is a picture of me, December 2007. I assure you my eyelashes have not grown one bit. I was probably using Maybeline Unstoppable.

The photo actually makes my lashes appear pretty long. NOT true.

To sum up my mascara journey:

- L’oreal gives you clumps.

- Bourjois gives you volume and clumps.

(and it’s not that waterproof)

- Revlon mascara is…

… meh. Not even worth talking about.

And many, many more that I can’t remember. I know however that the best Mascaras have to be from Maybeline.

I have owned many, many generations of mascaras from Maybeline, and I have honestly loved them all.

Intense XXL

Volum Express Turbo Boost

Unstoppable

I still do use them now, because they are all amazing. I’ve come to believe that Maybeline makes the best mascaras, for a surprisingly low cost as compared to many other brands. They give the most length and volume and the least clumps, if any.

And the best part is they help people realize that I actually HAVE eyelashes just like everybody else… -.-

Fun Mascara goes to Bourjois again! I guess I’m just a fan.

Clubbing Mascara. I have the blue one and I love it. Not much volume or length, but awesome color.

***this is the point where I became to lazy to write about the rest of the cosmetics I own and recommend, so I’m just going to cut it short***

General Tips buying/putting on make up

Buying:

• Cost does not always equal quality, as seen in mascara case
• If you’re going to buy make up, bring a female or a gay friend who’s interested. The female can be your friend, sister, mother or anybody in general. This comes in very handy because they can advise you on the colors and selections.
• If you don’t have a female friend with you, ask the person selling cosmetics to you if you must. But try not to because most people will tell you that everything looks great on you and you should buy them all.
• Never ask your boyfriend or partner for opinions or worse still, advice. NEVER. It will only drive you nuts.
• Don’t even bring your boyfriend, unless he’s paying.

Putting on:

• Apply concealers in thin layers
• Eye make up should follow this process:  eyeshadow -> eyeliner -> curling -> mascara. You would find it very hard to do anything with your eyes when your eyelashes are all curled up and getting in the way.
• Use a lip tint before lipstick, so that if your lipstick gets licked off (it probably does after 15 minutes) or fades atfer dining, there’ll still be some sorts of colors on your lips.
• Use said tint for lips and cheeks for natural sunkissed look.

I remember this costs about S$22.90 and is really handy. If you’re not into a full-face makeup, you should just try this anyway. It gives you a sort of post-work out look. I’m the sort of person whose face has no color at all, my friends insist I don’t have enough blood, so lip tints are a must in my makeup box. It can be used for cheeks as well.

Also, check out Eve Pearl, EnKore and Julie on Youtube.

Goodluck!