Make-up advice please?
 

I've never really been one for make-up and don't really know much about it. Was wondering if I could have some advice please? Also feel free to discuss make-up amongst yourselves if desired.

I have very pale skin with very little pigment (not much of a 'creamy' complexion, more a 'can get visibly flushed, purple under the eyes or all pallid instead!' Yeah it's great... )

I tend to use no. 7 tinted moisturiser, a no. 7 mascara and sometimes a lip gloss (also usually no. 7... 3 for 2!) Occasionally I wear powdered eyeshadow, which I've had for 10 years. Might not be ideal.

Is there anything else/different/better I could use to look a bit better? Bought a foundation from M&S recently but it just dried around tiny hairs/dry skin and looked awful.

The number 7 colour match things is AMAZING. Their concealer is fair too.

Maybe try an eyeliner, you can get coloured ones if you fancy changing things up a little?

What do you do with your eyebrows? Do you dye/colour them at all? I use an eyebrow pencil and I find that it makes me look loads better. Eyeliner helps too.

Oh, also I like to use BB cream as I find it gives more coverage. I've also heard CC cream is good, it's similar but I think it's more colour correcting.

I was just about to suggest bb cream. It's a lot lighter than foundation (generally) and so can be less likely to go cakey.

Also, lipstick can really change your look. I am firmly in the lipstick camp, I think matte colour > lipgloss anyday. A strong pink or red can look good if you're quite pale, probably avoid corals and nudes.

Lillie and Allie had good suggestions with eyeliner and eyebrow stuff. If you find eyeliner hard to apply then maybe tr to get one of the felt tip style liquid ones like Maybelline Master Precise:

I'm a big eyeshadow and mascara fan. I have blue green eyes so I go for darker colours to make my eye colour stand out but I do occasionally wear lighteer shades. What colour are your eyes?

Makeup blogs are a good place to start for reviews and advice from real people! YouTube tutorials are also great for watching how to apply stuff and gather new techniques.

In terms of base makeup, I actually hate foundation on my skin but I like the bareMinerals mineral foundation as it's a powder so it's really light and doesn't feel like you're wearing a heavy layer.

I love playing with colour (mostly green!) so I tend to focus on my eyes a lot with an eye shadow look of 3/4 blended colours or a bold line of colour, either using a liquid eyeliner or an eye shadow mixed with a mixing medium. I don't particularly buy into the 'certain eye colours should wear certain shades' thing because if a colour makes you happy you should wear it regardless.

In terms of brands I love: Sugarpill, Inglot, Urban Decay, NYX, Rimmel, MAC, bareMinerals, Max Factor, Too Faced... there are so many wonderful brands out there which really vary in price so it depends what you're looking for.

I'm a bit obsessed with makeup so happy to talk over PM about it! It just takes practice and experimenting and it's such a good thing to do for self care so I think it's great you want to try new things.

P.S. A 10 year old eye shadow is probably fine... they warn you not to use it past a certain point to cover themselves but if it looks/smells/applies fine don't worry too much! :P

I have the maybelline eyeliner and can confirm it is life changing

Garnier BB Cream is great for skin and has full coverage. Then I also apply Revlon's press powder. Mac's satin lipstick (stays long). I also love sephora's eyebrow thickener.

Do you like theatrical/stylized, balanced or understated? People do all kinds here. I like balanced/understated but I see some of the gothy sorts do amazing things with dramatic eyes and pale skin