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What about your makeup routine makes you the happiest?
The moment when everything comes together–that’s the part that always brings a smile to my face!
— Christine
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Finishing my mascara application and not having serious polka dot lids makes me so happy. Also, applying lipstick which is usually what I do last.
I love when I can tell the difference between my bare face & my done-up face. Also putting on mascara last always makes everything feel complete!
Exactly what you said above, Christine; when everything comes together! My next best moment is when, at day’s end, I get to take it ALL back off. Both moments give me a deep sense of satisfaction!
Lipstick! Sometimes eyeshadow but I don’t use that as often as lipstick.
Lipstick!
I love color, and it’s looking best to me on the lips ATM.
Had an emotional reaction to Christine’s answer, so I wanted to share my own.
The moment in my makeup routine that makes me happiest is when I can see myself, but feel like other people “see” me, too. I’m mixed-race, but with such a combination of features that it mostly goes unnoticed. It’s painful to know that people only look at the features they deem “relevant” (that only a few features ARE relevant!) and are content to swath the rest in stereotypes. It’s like being told only one of your parents REALLY counts.
I have pale gray, almost crystalline eyes. In the course of my life, 9 out of 10 strangers swear they’re brown, or black, and almost 4 in 10 friends (the closest know better). My happiest makeup moments come when someone says “Wow, you have beautiful eyes”. I always smile and reply, “Thanks, they’re my mum’s.”
Wow, JoiaJ. I can see how it would make you feel “less than” to have people react that way to your appearance.
I’m “white bread” Caucasian, and have what I consider very green eyes, but many people compliment me on my “pretty blue eyes,” and will actually *argue with me* when I point out that they’re actually green.
“Are you SURE?”
“Are they BLUE-green?”
“They look BLUE to me!”
So I guess you could say that I have one of those “makeup epiphany” moments when I apply that eyeshadow that really “pops” my eye color, and I actually get compliments on my “green eyes.”
I have grey/blue eyes and mostly people think that they are blue – but really they are grey. It’s a very unusual shade.
I totally relate to your comment joia! I’m mixed race as well, I’m multiracial. And a lot of it gets erased by people who don’t want to see it. Or hyper played up by people who DO
Stay strong, friend!
Thank you! You guys are really great – what a cool community :),
Honestly, Carla, my usual response is a lot like your blue-eyed/green-eyed issue: a little frustrated that people keep making the same mistake, then annoyed that people are TELLING me what I know to be untrue. And on transparently faulty logic: “you look [race X], therefore your eyes must be brown”. I don’t feel less at those times, but I do feel unseen. Mostly, though, I feel terrible for my mother. If you split obvious features down the middle (hair, eyes, nose and lip shape, skin color, tendency to burn/tan, physical build, etc.), I’m almost a perfect composite of Mom and Dad. But she’s spent a lifetime (mine) telling people that she is the real mother of this child and not a nanny :/.
You too, Shannon! I honestly think it’s getting better. You nailed it, though, when you added about how it can get “hyper played up” by people who care. In my case, there’s no social/culture significance associated with either ancestry. It took other people saying “You’re X [race]” long enough to realize it was significant to other people, and therefore something I had to be aware of. Yeesh. 😉
I relish in the process of doing my eye makeup! I love when it is going right and even enjoy it when an idea does not translate to exactly what I want because then there is problem solving to be done.
Joan, you have some of the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen; no wonder it’s rewarding to make them up.
Once I let go of the notion that my eyes were “too round,” or “too pale,” etc. makeup got to be a LOT more fun; it didn’t feel like a “fight” anymore.
Thank you Carla!
It is fun to work with green eyes- as I am sure you are aware with your own green eyes! 🙂
I actually have really small eyes so I understand the struggle of thinking you have “too” this or that. I am glad you are not letting it stop you!
Joan: small eyes?
You must be an absolute makeup genius, because your eyes look rather huge in your photo.
I think I really started getting past some of my insecurities during a long illness that necessitated a lengthy hospital stay.
I had to go “cold turkey” without makeup, and visitors, even doctors, would remark about my “beautiful eyes.”
So I decided, “Okay; even if my eyes *are* “too round” or “too pale,” they’re obviously still pretty, so I’m going to enjoy them.
My eyeshadow when I get it just right?
doing my eyebrows for sure! it makes my face different so quickly
For me, it’s when I apply my lip gloss.
That’s typically the last item applied, and it gives my look that finishing touch, and brightens my entire face, and sort of pulls everything together.
So many things make me happy…my whole routine is a nice, quiet moment to myself. The most relief I feel is when my brows are done (it would make it a happier part of my routine if Clinique sold a full-size version of its Brow Shaper brush). Using a fabulous new product for the first time makes me very happy, but I think the happiest moment is the last step, when I put my lipstick on and the whole look comes together perfectly.
Yes! That part when it coalesces into something cool – that and highlighter/glitter – I’ve always loved the shiny/sparkly part!
The finishing touches are very gratifying. A bit of glitter pencil around the eyes, a hint of highlighter.. all the things that bring light to the face
When I get to the step where I put some color on my cheeks – and look fresh and glowy. Suddenly, I like myself a lot more!
That’s so funny. It’s how I used to feel about the bronzer step, when my skin has a more pale look thanks to the concealer, and the bronzer brings my color back. But now I don’t mind that pale time, because I know what’s coming! The whole process is fun and satisfying, start to finish.
When my eyeliner starts to look even on both sides (or when I fix it with a q-tip). I am the happiest.
Foundation and mascara usually when applied because they make a big difference! I love lipstick more but I wear it almost every day.
The part where I have my foundation, creme blush and setting powder on, but before everything else; I like to imagine as I look at myself that this is how I’d look if I’d never had rosacea.
Shopping my stash and getting everything ready. I love that I have plenty to choose from that suits me. Sundays are usually low key and I’m already in work mode, tidying and cleaning and getting everything ready for the week. Setting up my glam tray so I can relax in the morning is a bright spot in my Sunday chore routine.
That is fun. I actually do this as part of my nighttime routine every night. I have a bag with all the ride-or-die products, one from each category, and then I select whatever I’m going to vary/try out and put that stuff out next to the bag. So if I’m trying new eyeshadow, I don’t need the one that’s in the bag, unless it’s a single and I need basics to complement it.
Good idea!
My favorite part is not feeling like I have to put on foundation. I’ve gotten my skin to a really good place in the last year, and it’s really satisfying to see that pay off vis-a-vis being able to skip foundation and just spot conceal. Foundation has never been comfortable for me, no matter how lightweight, or well-matched, or even how “flawless” it could make my skin look. I’m savoring the days that I can go bare faced now because I know when I’m older I eventually might need it.
When I finish with a killer eye look. Adding that finishing touch of lip color also makes me very happy.
Applying highlighter! I love the final step of putting on lippie but even on my rush days, I still take 20 seconds to pop on some glow!
I’m with what several others wrote – the moment when I’m putting my lipstick on . Not only is that the last step in an overly long routine it is the item which brightens my entire face .
Lipstick really brightens up your face – I totally agree with you there.
It’s a toss-up between getting my brows right, and when my sunscreen plays well with my foundation (I don’t wear the same foundation every day, and I often try new sunscreens).
Currently NOTHING! I am at a crossroads needing to change my skincare and makeup to an over 50 program and formulas to meet those changing needs. So far I have come up with nothing but FAILS. I am so frustrated, there must be an easier way to determine what I need than checking things off of the list one buy one and wasting money in the process.
I feel terrific at the very end of my makeup routine when I add my blush and lipstick! My face lights up and I like that!
Each morning when I pick up a makeup brush, doesn’t matter which one, and I think of my daddy. Thats when I’m happiest. I know that’s a strange answer to your question without a bit of explanation.
My daddy died when I was 18. He was a Choctaw Indian and he always teased me about “putting on my war paint”. By the time he passed away I already had a deep love for makeup. Its only gotten deeper. So each morning I put on my face and smile and remember him.
A good daddy is one of the best gifts life can give you. So nice that you can have this memory every morning.
Picking out which eyeshadows and lipstick to wear are the most enjoyable elements in my makeup routine. Deciding which eyeshadow palette to use and the combination of shades. Finally choosing a lipstick that will compliment the look. Love it all.
Yes! I have to say, the final step of finishing up mascara is the best part! You’re done and you know you look fabulous!
I am not super big into foundation, and tend to buy sheer to medium coverage ones. But the moment when I am done applying it and my skin looks even in color is really a nice moment. I think the part that makes me happiest is the eyeshadow process, though.
When I first sit down at my vanity and I contemplate what kind of look I will be doing and the choices I get to make among all the products available for me to use. That feeling is what keeps it so new and fun and as long as I continue to feel that then applying cosmetics will never become routine.
Starting, so eye shadow/shadow base, and ending which is usually setting spray. I love doing it and I love having created a look.
Tapping concealer dots with my fingertips until it blends in, or removing the little fine regrowth hairs around my brows. Nothing makes me happier than that perfect sweetspot when you really sit down with the magnifying mirror to clean up all those little scraggly hairs.