Making it Up as I Go Along

So let's talk cosmetics.
Instead of a bike for my birthday, I got make up. It's just make up, right? This year, I learned that not all make up is equal. You've got high end cosmetics that you find at department stores and have a pretty price tag. And then there's the cheaper stuff that you find in drug stores and super markets. I used to walk around not knowing the difference between MAC and Cover Girl. It's all the same, right? Right?? Why spend $$$$ on a single eye shadow instead of $ on four? I know why now. The quality is much better. 

Honestly, I've never been into cosmetics. And I can only guess why. While I was growing up, my mom was never really into make up so I never sat with her as she put it on, she never put any on me. I think I only played in her make up once. As a teenager, I never really spent what little money I got on cosmetics. I never had any little girlfriends or BFFs - no one to really play with make up with.

I was 10 when I got my first "make up". It was a little case that had all the basics. A blush, a bronzer, a few eye shadows, several lip glosses and a tube of mascara. Thinking back, having the mascara in that kit is odd. I used it as real make up even though it was marketed as a toy.

A couple years later, still using that garbage, a 'friend' asked me why I didn't wear make up. Hell, for all I knew, I was! So then I decided to spend my allowance on a few Cover Girl cosmetics. It was all I knew. After that I never really messed with make up. Just didn't do it. I did accumulate more over time but didn't really put any effort into anything on a daily basis.

I think I got into make up after I graduated high school. I got contacts and had to cover the bags under my eyes. After years of dating, I was gifted with Clinique freebies so I was introduced into the world of high end cosmetics. I bought an eye shadow duo and a foundation. Still, I never really did my make up much.

College came and went. Did my make up sometimes. By this time, I had myself figured out. I didn't need cosmetics to feel comfortable in my skin. I was happy with me, au naturale. Still, I had accumulated some more make up but didn't do it all the time. I'm just lazy like that.

Skip ahead a few years and I finally got into make up. I got foundation matched to my skin tone. I still only accumulated cosmetics here and there. Cover Girl and Clinique is what I stuck with. Then came along a little lady named Dita Von Teese. Kerplewie! I really loved her glamourous look. And red lips. Somehow, I found out about MAC and got a lip liner and lipstick. And a Christian Dior gloss. But at the time, I still felt the red didn't look good on me. That was like two years ago. And this year, THIS YEAR, I finally get into messing around with make up. Hellooooooo YouTube Beauty Vloggers and Gugus.

I've spent more on cosmetics this year alone than I have my entire life. Maybe that's an over-exaggeration. I really don't think so. I'm still trying to get over the sheer amount of products that are used. Primer for face, eyes and eye lashes. Bronzer, highlighter, blush. Foundation, concealer, powder... I think you get the idea.

So I have two make up vlogs I'm going to do this week.

One is a $20 make up challenge. You purchase as much cosmetics as you can for $20 to create a full face or something. Here's what I got for $19. All of it from the elf line which is $1 or $3 depending on what you get; regular line or studio line. This vlog will probably be a review of the products too because I've never used some of this stuff. I don't know what I'm doing with some of these things.

e.l.f.: 1. Tone Correcting Powder 3$; 2. Contouring Blush & Bronzer (dusted/bronzed) 3$; 3. Brightening Eye Color Quad (butternut) 1$; 4. Matte Lip Color (nearly nude) 3$; 5. Mineral Infused Mascara (black) 3$; 6. Tinted Moisturizer (porcelain) 3$; 7. Under Eye Concealer & Highlighter (fair/glow) 3$;

Twenty Dollar Challenge at Nineteen Dollars
Could also consider this an elf challenge

Another vlog I'm going to do is a five minute make up challenge. Can I do a full face in five minutes? I guess we shall see. 

So let's talk about my birthday. We planned on moving apartments and I was going to get a bike for my birthday. But we ended up not moving and I decided I didn't want to try to carry a bike up a flight of stairs, through the apartment and through a tight squeeze galley kitchen. I got high end cosmetics instead. I'm starting to replace Cover Girl with the good stuff. I'll probably vlog this too. The following picture isn't all of my high end make up. I'm just starting to get into MAC.

MAC: 1. Viva Glam VI Lipglass; 2. Carbon (matte); 3. Blanc Type (matte); 4. Naked Lunch (frost); 5. Fig 1 (matte); 6. Brun (satin)... I purchased 2 & 3 in May or June. but everything else I got for my birthday.

I'm really liking the MAC cosmetics. Should I save that for a review video? So I think that covers it, girl.