Clothes, makeup, hair, and other such things

the joke is that is all the same wig lmao.
It has the easiest cut to style, tbh I have a lot of other wigs I don't do a lot with because they are more effort to style and I'm pretty lazy about wigs? Clip on Pigtails/Poofs/Buns are probably something I should look into more, I just have one wig with clip on pigtails. It can make cute twin buns! but it's a bit heavy and gives me migraines :/

 

HOARD:

 

@littlepinkbeast

i feel you, the world of makeup/fashion can be pretty overwhelming if you're trying to get started. the way i learned was by just kind of experimenting and looking really awful at first until i figured out what i was doing and got better with practice. like most things, there is a certain skill and you'll develop it the more you do it, which i know is hard because first you have to start. there's a bunch of beauty blogs on the internet that are helpful for inspiration/tutorials. i don't follow many anymore, but i super recommend powderdoom, because they try hard to feature a lot of diversity in their posts & they're super knowledgeable and generally trustworthy. also rookie mag's beauty section has a bunch of advice and tutorials, a lot of them are videos but there are a few really nice picture tutorials. the non-video tutorials are harder to find but they do exist, you just have to snoop around for them more. & for some good basic makeup products i recommend this post.

but anyway, here's my cobbled-together knowledge of How To Pretty:

for basic makeup, you pretty much have everything covered: eyeliner/mascara/lipstick/concealer will give you a nice natural look. depending on your skin type- whether it's dry or oily, whether you have acne or dark patches or other blemishes that you want to cover and whether or not you care about covering them- will determine what routine you use for your face. it's always super important to use moisturizer (face lotion, basically) when you're wearing a lot of makeup, because layers of product on top is incredibly drying to the skin (esp. if you're like me and have super dry skin anyway). also sunscreen!! you can find a lot of face products that have SPF and you should use them.

so, like crypto said, bb cream is the easiest face makeup, as it's supposed to be an all-in-one product. everyone makes bb cream now. asian brands do them the best because they did them first, but i have also heard good things about this one by maybelline. bb cream provides a light even coverage, it's nice if you're lazy because you just smoosh it on your face and you're good. a lot of american brand bb creams are actually just tinted moisturizer, which is normal moisturizer with pigment in it. it provides the lightest amount of coverage. next up would be foundation, which is heavier and covers more. foundation comes in liquid, powder, or cream formats (generally) and they each have their own benefits. it mostly depends on the feel you want/your skin type, and that's something that you only learn by trying a bunch out. foundation isn't super necessary unless you want to have Perfect Flawless skin. then there's concealer, which you seem to know about already. (also, for beard shadow in specific, i have heard from one of my friends that orange lipstick helps? i have no experience w/ it, but you might be able to find a tutorial or something explaining that better). then there's bronzer/highlighter, which you really don't need to care about unless you're contouring (using light & shadow to re-define the features of your face). that's like Makeup 301 and i'm pretty awful at it, but it's super trendy right now which means tutorials and products specifically for contouring are all over the place, if you want to look into it more. finally, there's blush, which is used to add color & depth after you've taken it all away with foundation :P. blush can be kind of intimidating, but it's not super hard. you basically want to put it on the apples of your cheeks (if you smile, it'll be the roundest part that sticks out) and then blend it out and up towards your ears with a brush. less is more w/ blush, you want a subtle hint of color. then you take a translucent powder and brush it over everything, that helps set the makeup so it stays put longer. if you're just wearing bb cream you don't need to worry about setting it.

and then, the best part, eyes & lips. it's my favorite part of makeup because you can pretty much do whatever you want here. black winged eyeliner + red lip is the Classic Look, it's pretty easy to do and you will always look cute & put together. i don't prescribe to a lot of rules when it comes to eyes/lips, but in general, picking one feature to emphasize and leaving the rest neutral will look balanced. there's so many different styles you can do, the best method is to go nuts and play around and figure out what you like best on your face. you can do a lot of complicated stuff with eyeshadows and blending, that's something i recommend tutorials for. also, my personal motto is that you can almost literally never go wrong with glitter, but your mileage may vary.

a lot of makeup is expensive, but there's plenty of drugstore brands that perform pretty good and are much cheaper, ulta carries a really good selection of both high-end and drugstore brands. NYX is really good, and in my experience e.l.f. is more hit-or-miss in regards to quality, but some of their products are really nice. there's also an indie company called colourpop that has these lipstick things for $5, which i have heard are really good but don't have any personal experience with.

edit: ooh, i forgot to mention brushes!!! a large part of good makeup is having good tools. Real Techniques are really nice quality and the price is pretty reasonable, this set is a perfect starter kit.

in regards to clothes, a lot of what makes the difference between "just wearing clothes" and "actually dressed up right now" is the accessories & small details- intentionally chosen stuff like jewelry & hair accessories, and details in clothes like ruffles, bows, and lace. also, the cut and shape of the clothes themselves- tighter clothes tend to read more feminine. so like, skinny jeans & a cute tank top with with a bow on it will read as "jeans and t-shirt, but pretty". hair accessories are a super A+ way to add a cute little girly details to an outfit, and have the bonus of helping to style your wig so it looks less obviously like a wig. also, contrasting elements will help make an outfit look more "fashionable"- so like a sleek leather jacket + pretty pink ruffly skirt/dress/bow will look super cute and be visually interesting, or wearing a loose, flowy blouse and tight leggings or jeans.

a lot of fashion is subjective, which i know isn't super helpful advice. there are general guidelines, and there's different silhouettes and shapes and other tricks you can use to emphasize certain features or minimize others when you're dressing, but it's hard to give advice about that without knowing what you look like. but yeah, playing with contrasts between textures or patterns, finding fits that look good on your body, experimenting and not being afraid to try stuff that might not look good are the best ways to figure out how you like to dress yourself~

yeesh this got long, i'm sorry!! i just have a lot of fashion feelings. i hope this is semi-helpful, or at least helps you feel more confident in trying some of this stuff out. i honestly think the best way to learn is to play around until you figure out what works for you. but if there's like a specific look or a technique you'd like more explanation on, i'd be happy to make a quick tutorial or something?

 

I feel like we're a bunch of makeup hoarding dragons.
Seconding Colourpop rec.

 

On the one hand I did plan ontrying some indie brands for a while now, so I starting with colourpop is the logical conclusion after seeing two people rec it.
On the other hand: *whacks self with newspaper* BAD IVY STOP BUYING MAKEUP

 

yes. but have you considered this: PRETTY WEIRD LIPSTICKS :D

 

yes I have. I have also considered the quiet sounds of sobbing from my wallet.
... Ehhhhhhh next month or somethign lol

 

I'm a terrible enabler. Also after i made that post I went and bought like 7 of their lipstick thingies so...

 

Guys, check out limint lipsticks - they have cheap, vegan, true to color lipsticks (including some of the best homestuck colors I've seen). And Frinnaye eye products are exceptional.

 

Did my face today again (therapy every other week) and felt pretty cute instead of awful. I'm getting better! Still figuring out eyeliner and didn't have time for shadow. But my foundation/lipstick/mascara game was on point. I didn't notice how tiny my lips are until I picked up the super dark colors again.

Now that I'm willing to spend more spoons on my appearance I'm considering doing something to my hair. I just dunno what yet. My hair is super thick so styling's always a pain and it gets absurdly curly and untamable when cut short. And having long hair is tied to my identity so strongly even trimming it borders on traumatic. Thinking about an undercut instead of chopping it all off at once?

 

guess what came today guys

Spoiler: lipsticks that's what

Spoiler: and swatches

in order, top to bottom: chi-chi, bunny, leather, nevermind, feminist, brills, dalia

can you guys tell what my fav lipstick colors are lol. i haven't tried them on my lips yet but just one swipe on my wrist & i'm pretty impressed, especially for five dollars. this might be a super neat way to try out more daring or ~risky~ colors because if you find you don't like the way it looks, hey, only five bucks.

next i wanna try their matte liquid lipstick things, do any of you guys have experience w/ those?

 

The matte liquid lipstick I got is super good. But some of them aren't so read reviews of the colours before you buy

 

ahh okay thanks~

so i just tried on feminist and it looks super good, feels so nice on the lips. honestly comparable in texture to my mac lipstick. 10/10 would lipstick again.

 

That is nice to know. I KNOW WHAT LIPSTICK I WANT NEXT

 

*POPS IN* hey yes hello, I am Rue and I am a makeup newbie at a shockingly old age. My skin is absolutely terrible and I always thought "why bother" but now I'm INTO IT. Makeup can do some incredible things.

So I have some very dumb questions: eyelash curlers. Before or after mascara? Is primer for your eyelids really necessary? Have any of you tried those beauty blender sponges? Is ELF a good product line for those of us who are desperately poor?

 

ELF is pretty good, actually. I'd say read reviews, but overall they're supposed to be really good for the price point.

 

At the very least, I'm slowly collecting brushes from them.

It's the skincare itself I have the most troubles with...I've tried so many different things (staggered out to not overwhelm my face) but my skin is always red, flaking off, pimply and just all around terrible. Which sucks because as a teenager I had flawless skin. What the heck, body.

 

always before

fandom secret: I don't bother, ever

not the original but something very like it. They are decent, but I apply foundation with my fingers because lazy

can't say, isn't sold here, but cheap makeup can be pretty decent and I've heard vaguely good things about ELF stuff!

 

late acne is a thing and it's terrible. could it be a hormonal thing or a stress thing?
Hmm... flakey and red sounds like whatever you used is irritating your skin badly so you should try a soap free, perfume free wash thing, a toner for sensitive skin and straight coconut oil for lotion.
For easily irritated skin I've found the thermal water line by Avéne is really great if pretty pricey.

Skin Care is almost always a complicated endeavor but if I didn't horribly misread a lot of people there is this tendency to think one product fixes all and like... nooooooo
I use three products in the morning and four in the evening plus the occassional sugar scrub and full mask treatment OnO

 

Yeah, a lot of my problem has been assuming makeup is a simple process that just didn't work for me, not that I was doing it wrong!

It could be a hormonal thing. I'll keep an eye out for the right soap and toner and I'll buy some coconut oil ASAP!

Thank you for your wise wisdom, guys!