sheen

So I’ve been thinking of getting back into makeup. This is motivated by a few Chinese beauty youtubers that I found recently. Actually I found Vivikatt a while ago and am always excited to watch her videos. Qiuqiu is more recent and holy she is the goddess of brows and eyeshadow. Nannan is the most recent and I very much enjoy the cheesy intros of her videos. But most importantly of all, their explanations of makeup techniques, and also criteria to evaluate products (especially base makeup) is so insanely detailed. It’s actually an educational experience watching them. I also find all of their personalities to be quite refreshing and easy to watch.

I haven’t binged too many of their videos, and have thought a lot about how I want to re-approach makeup. It’s both satisfying for me to arrange fundamentally aesthetic experiences into frameworks, but also kinda frustrating because make-up is highly hands on, for both figuring out what products are suitable and also to improve application techniques. But I’ve been avoiding going to malls to minimize my risks of contacting the coronavirus, so let me ramble on.
(I also thought too much about how to structure this post, but eventually gave up and the points below are rather independent and in no particular order)

Base makeup: cushions will continue to be my daily base since it’s so quick and convenient, so is it worthwhile to get a proper foundation? I feel it’s largely unnecessary and can always get samples from Sephora for when I feel the need arises. Using foundation will also entail getting the appropriate tools, such as brushes or sponges.

Outer eye: I really don’t know what to do with my outer eye. My upper eyelid overhangs my lower eyelid quite a lot...lengthwise? And the overhand is quite puffy too. I typically do a straight or upwards wing, which I think works well. But I feel it limits what I can do with on my lower lash line, any lining or colors look odd.

Contour: I’ve decided that this will be my first focus since my jaw is the part of my face that I’m least satisfied with. Will start small with the nyx taupe blush and a brush that I already owe. But there was a lot of analysis paralysis that preceded this. Like do I use a cream or powder product (aka more time blending per application or more time washing brushes), what is a good shade (cool and pale skintones are not the majority), do I commit to a high end product that has pretty much a consensus of praise (kevin aucoin’s powder), do I just use a darker foundation (with its own myriad of product choices)...

Blush: I put on some blush that I already own for CNY and realized that hey I really like how that looks. So after contouring I’ll tackle blush. Not sure if I want a matte (Burberry blush or Clinique cheek pop) or a shimmer (Hourglass ambient light blush).

Eyeliner: after using liquid liners for so long, I feel that perhaps a gel liner is the better format. Even my trusty k-palette will smudge and transfer on my hooded lids if unprimed, and it takes forever to apply a thick enough wing (I don’t even do a full line as before) with the tiny brush.

Lipstick: I feel accomplished in realizing that berry shades are not something I really enjoy wearing, and so can slim my wardrobe down further. Currently my ideal line up is:

• Warm tone red, buildable opacity 
• Darker red, matte 
• Brighter pink, sheer and watery 
• Dried rose, satin 
• Darker brown, satin