When I lived at home and my mom was paying, I wore Lancome but now I wear Loreal foundation, Chanel lipstick (that I already had from before) or Revlon lipstick or Rosebud Salve (love it!). I wear whatever eyeshadow...it seems not to make a difference as long as you prime your lids to hold it. I like the Lancome Definicils mascara but now I am using the tried-and-true pink and green tube! Not so bad. I naturally blush, so I don't use any. I can't wait until I can afford to go back to my usual makeup!

Word to this.
Once you have a good set of brushes and know how to use them you can buy that cheap $.99 make-up from Wal-Mart and do a good make-up job on your face. How well it stays around I don't know. But, it is true with the proper know how you can really use any type of make up and look wonderful.

Try Mary Kay or go to www.gardenbotanika.com. Garden Botanika is awesome because they use all natural products in their makeup. It's the best stuff.

Sorry this is long as a book!!!
 

LOL, as a former Mary Kay Consultant, I would say that is somewhat true. Mary Kay is a great brand, especially the foundation and foundation powder! Ladies can't resist when you put the stuff on them! They atleast have to take a sample home and when the sample runs out...I would get a phone call :)

Ladies!! I know this is weird...especially since most you ya'll are probably young. But, invest in good skin care. Cleanser/Exfoliate, Moisturizer, and Sunscreen. Since I have sensitive skin, I use Origins. I love everything they have, but my all time fave is the Comforting Solution Sensitive Skin Soother. And it wouldn't hurt if you started using eye cream. If you start now, you'll thank yourself in the long run. And drink lot of water....okay now I sound like a charm school headmistress now.

As a self-proclaimed Make-up junkie and future make-up artist (I hope). I use everything from Loreal to Nars. Right now, I'm really into Make Up For Ever, Prescriptives, and O Hui (a REAL expensive Korean make-up brand). I think I will always love Clinique and the Body Shop, my first brands.

Hmmm, I guess I could make some suggestions cause I love this kind of stuff!! :

For Mascara: Prescriptives' False Eyelashes Plush Mascara. I love the stuff. If I could, I would buy it in bulk! But a cheaper alternative is Clinque's Lash Doubling Mascara. Or even yet, go for the hot pink tube by Maybelline.

For Foundation: I guess the best all-rounded foundation has to go to Mary Kay's Medium coverage liquid foundation. Once you try it, I swear you'll be hooked. Another good one to try is Nars Oil Free, my roomie swears by the stuff.

Powder: Bobbi Brown's Face Powder, great for setting foundation.

Bronzer: M.A.C's Iridescent Powder in Golden Bronze. When I use it, I look like I just got back from the islands.

Blush: Clinique's Soft Pressed Powder (I use Plum Gorgeous) It's goes on soft and it intensifies when you add more. It also lasts all day long.

Lip Gloss: M.A.C's lip glass. OMG, addicted to it. I love the color named 'Nico'. Make Up For Ever's Super Lip Gloss (shade 01), it's a pinkish brown.

Eyeliner: I use Loreal's Soft Effects Eyeshadow in Raven as eyeliner. I just use an eyeliner brush...it's better than dragging a pencil across my eye.

Okay, I'm done. I promise :) Sorry

Is the Bobbie Brown powder better than Estee Lauder' Lucidity? Lucidity has some sort of little reflector type thingies in it (I know how to wear makeup, not make it! :) ) that make lights kinder to your skin - supposedly. I just know that I feel "finished" with it on, and not quite when I don't use it.

LOL, I have Clinique's Gentle Light Loose Powder and it has light reflecting specs in it as well. I wore it this Summer, with the Foundation. I think the little light thingys make the skin look radiant and beautiful. But I'm just not lucky enough to pull it off in the winter :)

as for better...naw, probably not. Estee Lauder is some good stuff as well! I just made note of products I really loved.

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I read about Lucidity in one of Sidney Biddle Barrows (the Mayflower Madam)'s books. I thought, if a high priced hooker thinks it's an asset, it's worth a try!

And I got hooked - no pun intended!!! ;)

I am pissed that I was out of town during this thread. I am a makeup artist! Taken classes & everything!

I will try to make this short.

OK--There isn't just one great type of makeup or anything. You first need to evaluate your skin. Most makeup lines have different kinds of foundation for different types of skin.

Foundation - Prescriptives has an excellent line of foundation. No matter what kind of coverage you want they all feel light on your skin. If you want to spend less $$ Neutrogena also has a good line of foundadtion.

Concealer - again prescriptives.

Powder - I like Lancome for this. I have also found that MAC is great.

Blush - MAC has a great selection of colors. Also NARS has has great colors and they stay on great. If you aren't looking for a whole lot of cheek color then try Benetint by Benefit.

Eyeshadow/eyecolor- Mac (except for the creme shadows), Laura Mercier, Nars, Chanel, Clinique

for Blue eyes - use pinks and oranges/peach. Doesn't mean you have to use bright orange or anything just something with that pigment

Green eyes - Purples

Brown - golds

Eyeliner - Prescriptives, Revlon, and Givenchy liquid eyeliner. I also use dark shadows with liner brushes most of the time


Makeup Brushes . Mac has great brushes, and they are less expensive then others. Prescriptives has great brushes.


Books - Kevyn Aucion's Making Faces and Face Forward. Also there is a book that they have NARS counter..not sure if you can buy it though..

Mainly they're all made by CosmoLab. MAC is owned by Estee Lauder. Loreal is owned by Lancome I think...yada yada..They're mainly all the same..you just need to play with it and learn what looks best on you.


I could go into detail about how to highlight & countour...yada. And smokey looks.

i'll try and keep this short, but heres what i use

foundation- i dont use foundation becuase it makes my skin breakout and look really bad overall, so instead i use revlon skinlights face illuminator

concealer- stila

loose powder- estee lauder so ingenious multi-dimension loose powder. i think it looks great.

blush- MAC. i have a matte blush and a shimmery blush. i layer or alternate depending on the time of day/season/etc

eye shadow- i use either MAC, stila, estee lauder, or sephora. personally, i think sephora and stila are the best.

eye liner- i dont use, you'd have to ask other people

mascara- i use maybelline or maxfactor... i like maybellines lash extension (the one that curls your lashes), but i dont like how it doesnt come in water proof. and i always curl my lashes... i think it makes you look more awake...

lipstick- i dont use lipstick... but i use a lip liner as a base and i layer a gloss on top. i use lip liner from the body shop to outline and fill in the lip, and then i put MAC lipglass on top. i blot that off, then put philosophy lip balm on top of it and out the door i go.


i have a TON of makeup (like, a full drawer in my dresser) that i switch off depending on my mood, the season, where im going, etc etc etc... but thats what i use now :) i find it best to find a line that works best for me and then get several different colors in that brand/line.

eta: oh, and make sure that you get a good set of brushes and such. they really can help make your make up look better...

Here are my favs. As a women of color, I have pretty much tried tons of stuff, but I find that I am most satisfied with Lancome.

Foundation/Pressed Powder: I have tried everything under the sun (I'm African American and it is EXTREMELY hard to find a foundation/powder to match me) and I keep coming back home to Lacome. It is by far the BEST! I love both the Adaptive and Photogenic foundation and I the Dual Finish powder.

M.A.C. comes in second for their range of colors and formulas. This is THE ONLY thing I like about MAC. I think the rest of their stuff comes in colors that are too "teeny" (sparky blue, white, pink, orange shadows and lipsticks) for me.

Eyeshadow: Again, Lancome is my favorite. The colors are SO sheer! In second, are Revlon's new color palette.

Mascara: The new Dramatic mascara by Clinique is GREAT! If you have no lashes, buy this and an eyelash curler and honey WATCH OUT!!! I have had people ask me if my lashes were fake because they looked THAT full and long. :D

Blush: I don't wear it that much, but the one I do have is Lacome's Blush subtil. It is a powder and goes on very sheer.

Lipstick: Lacome, Max Factor's Lipfinity, Perscriptives. This item has been discontinued, but I absolutely LOVED Mary Kay's Lip Laquer!! Whomever got rid of that needs to be caned! :mad:

Brushes: I use Perscriptives Foundation brush to apply my foundation and I use a set of Estee Lauder brushes (powder, blush, eye shadow).

hmm, this thread just made me realize that i can't remember the last time i saw my mac clear lipglass..or another lipglass (i think the color was called spite) one i have. i should probably go look for them :)

Haha, Kate. Lip glass is my absolute favorite. I am not sure what I would do without them. I use Mac for most of my make up. I love their selection of eye shadows!!! As for mascara, I am using Mabeline, and it works pretty well.

Ahhhh I missed this thread! :o

I gotta put my vote in for MAC (yes I am a Mac Momma). Like some of my fellow black women, finding a good foundation is hard to find and I fell in love with MAC. My wedding day makeup was done by a MAC artist using all MAC products

I've always been a Clinique user, just because I used to always go to the Clinique counters as a kid with my mom... and just kept using the brand when I got older... use it for foundation, powder, Really Black eyeliner, and lip gloss... though I also like Sephora for lip glosses... and I'm going to start buying eyeshadow from there soon.

Chanel has great Lip Gloss, as does MAC. Also (don't laugh) I like the Hillary Duff lipgloss that you can get at Limited Too...someone gave it to me. Bloom has good lipgloss as well.

Mascara - Loreal Voluminous, Prescriptives False Eyelashes, and Lancome

Also Bibo cosmetics are a reletively new line that I like.