How do you figure out what makeup to wear?
I usually have a good idea of the immediate things I want to test, so it’s very much based on what I want to get reviewed or tested that day or week!
— Christine
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It usually starts with the outfit I decide to wear. Then one of two things happens:
I start with a lip color that goes nicely with the outfit and coordinate the rest of my makeup to my lips…OR…I start with an eye look that goes with the outfit and coordinate the rest of my makeup to my eyes.
But every now and then I’ll have a specific makeup look in mind and match the outfit to my makeup.
My last step is fragrance, which (perhaps this sounds odd) I usually match to my lipstick. Does anyone else do this? (If it’s a common thing, which seems doubtful, perfume-makeup matching might make a fun question.)
I did that back in High School! Back then I wore perfume oils, and had so many to choose from, and actually had the time/energy to make the effort. By the time I started college, my overall “look” had pretty much solidified, and I had a “signature” scent. Now I have only 2 scents I wear, but one is so difficult to come by, I save it for special occasions…
I can’t commit to a signature scent because I get bored too easily. I have about five or six that I use on a regular basis, and not every fragrance matches every color. Wondering if this could be considered a type of synesthesia. My weird brain also ties music to color.
Fun idea re lipstick and fragrance. I’ve never made that link myself, but to extent my lipstick is influenced by season, mood, etc, which certainly influence my choice of fragrance — there might be a link. Like I can’t imagine wearing my main summertime fragrance with a heavy plum winter-time lipstick.
At least MAC agrees with you…have you checked out their ShadeScents? They match lipstick to fragrance, name them the same, and the perfume bottle matches the lipstick color. I tried samples for all of them (6) and I like Heroine the best.
I’ts usually centered around a certain product I want to wear for the week – either a favorite or something new I have yet to try. I pick out a weekly look on Sunday nights. I wash my brushes and set up my glam tray for the week and it streamlines my mornings so that I can leisurely dress my face ( I really enjoy putting on my face).
I wish I could be that organized!! I’ve tried weekly planning so many times. I’ve had ideas like “MAC Lipstick Week” or “Palettes-I-Rarely-Use Week.” But it always fails because I change my mind at the last minute. The only thing I truly stick to is my brush-washing schedule. I’m kind of fanatical about having clean brushes.
Yes – the brushes feel scratchier when they are “dirty”, and I also don’t want to get hard pan on anything!
I have to do a palette a week, cheek combo a week type of thing. I cannot think in the morning. Occasionally I will be randomly inspired to wear blue liner or something, but I can’t be adventurous every day. I have about 10-15 minutes to do my makeup so I would end up going to work with some “interesting” looks.
After the basic input of what day is it — a work/office day, a travel day, a weekend, a night out, etc — it’s almost just what mood I’m in or what I have on hand that strikes me.
I try to rotate through my lip products and palettes. So either the lip color inspires the look or I have an idea of a colors I want to use from a palette.
I go pretty much with how I feel that day or if I have new goodies I want to use. Sometimes I have new makeup and I do looks around the new item, other times I want to wear a particular outfit and plan makeup to coordinate.
A lot of the time I have a particular product I want to try/use. Whether it’s a specific eyeshadow shade/color story, or a particular lipstick, I end up basing my look around that product. On the rare occasions that I don’t have that particular inspiration, I tend to just dip my brush into some of my (too) many singles and just go at it. Form is also indicated by function when I have certain places I have to be (interview, party, etc.).
It really kind of depends on how i’m feeling that day. I also try to figure out what i’m wearing before I start my face of the day.
Since my collection is getting entirely out of hand I’m now using the Decide Now roulette app to pick my eye primer, shadow palette, face primer, setting powder, and even my mascara since I’m trying to work through a big stash of samples.
It’s helping me try lots of different combinations and since I stick to one foundation it’s helping me determine which primers and powders work with it. It’s also making it easier to destash – if a product comes up and I have a strong feeling of not wanting to use it then I let it go, also if something consistently isn’t working well with other products it’s gone.
I try to rotate my products out on a weekly/bi-weekly basis. I keep 1-2 eye palettes on my vanity that I rotate out, and my colourpop singles and tarte clay play palette permanently stay on my vanity incase I need a single shade from each of them. My becca face palettes in becca x chrissy and becca après ski also permanently stay on my vanity, but sometimes I also try to rotate face palettes and swap out for Nars bord de plage, becca blushed with light or becca sunchaser. My tarte blushes are also permanently on my vanity, and I try to consciously make sure I’m rotating them out.
Mascara is the one product I don’t rotate as I tend to have only one tube open at a time. I also usually have a couple brow products on the go, but only one of each at a time (eg one pomade, one pencil, one gel, etc.)
For foundation it depends on the day, but usually UD all nighter for an average workday and something a little less long lasting if I’m just running errands for a couple of hours.
Generally I start with whichever lipstick I’d like to wear and then base my eye look off of that (bold or natural), which is typically the opposite of whichever color my lip is.
I also tend to go through color scheme cycles because I change my hair color often. Right now it’s pale blue so I’m feeling more cool tones than warm!
Weather & the day’s agenda play a big part on how “elaborate” I go, and what formulas I choose. However, when it comes to the overall color selection, I’m often inspired by my jewelry (the “stone” colors). Also, if I’m wearing heavier fabrics, I tend to wear more saturated colors on my face, whereas with flowier fabrics, I go with a more “ethereal” feel. I live in SoCal, where we have “Hot” & “Cold” for seasons, and my wardrobe is 98% black, so I really only have a few “restrictions”, LOL!
I look at my eyeshadow collections and just think, “what looks fun today” and then I tune it by events I have that day.
I usually start with a product I want to use and build the look around it!
I totally wing it each and every day! My makeup choices usually depend on the weather (cream products versus mattes, etc.) and what color outfit I’m wearing. Other than that, I just go with whatever strikes me when I’m getting ready.
I tend to do my makeup before I get dressed or even think about what I am going to wear so most of the time I just pull new products, if I have any, and use those in a look and then dress based on that. If I don’t have new products then I shop my stash and go from there. I don’t follow any hard and fast rules about makeup so if I want to wear a smoky eye then that is what I do. I keep pictures on my IG account to keep some idea of what I used to make the look and then I can always go back and recreate the look if I want to. Since I am retired I usually have a little more time to play when getting ready so I usually use whatever I enjoy. I do try and use older products when I haven’t picked up anything new in awhile.
I actually bookmark make-up tutorials on youtube or photos with make-up that I like, and then based on my outfit for the day or activity choose one of them. I have zero personal inspiration when it comes to make-up, so getting inspired by other looks makes me both decide and experiment.
Several factors are likely to be my personal decision makers:
1.) My mood has a lot to do with the color family I select for that day. Many times, that mood is also highly influenced by whether I have something new I’m dying to try!
2.) What clothing I’ll be wearing that day. Again, this could be due to it being a new dress or top that I’m chomping at the bit to wear! (BTW, I’m *still* waiting for my “I’m a Cat” hoodie to arrive…and it’s getting very warm outside ?
3.) Where I might be going or what I may be doing that day.
4.) The weather! Unfortunately with the infernal summer heat coupled with the monsoonal humidity, I tend towards foundations that I know can handle it without breaking me out, ie; Fenty ProFilt’r Foundation. Also, I’ll do more elaborate eye looks, but will keep cheeks and lips more neutral, as those are the things that the humidity can affect much more than eye makeup. The late winter/early spring allergy season is a reversal of that! Because of the eye look ruining teary eyes, which is really BAD no matter what I do.
I usually use my outfit for inspiration: I’ll use colors in the pattern or the style. Or I have a new item I want to try out, and I build around that. Most of my clothes are black or dark gray, so I can do whatever I want makeup-wise. Other times, what I’m doing, the weather, or the venue dictate what I wear to a degree.
Usually just my go to shadows for the day: a vanilla shade for the base, mauve for the crease, and then a purpley brown to intensify. I have been wearing these three for about a month now because I want to hit pan on the base and the crease shade before my graduation and move out in June. Just a little mini project for myself!
And then based on these shadows I usually reach for a rosy toned lipstick/gloss, a neutral pink blush (trying to wear away Tarte celebrated right now), and my usual black/grey brow pencil, and a black eyeliner.
I’ve been loving mixing my Tarte shape tape concealer and Shiseido spotcover as my overall foundation lately because of all the flareups.
I generally wear the same face products every day. I think about what fun look I can do on the weekend, but during the week I just grab whatever palette/single I see first.
I think weather sets the mood for me: smokier & less sheen, med. depth of color overall when it’s cooler, lighter/brighter & more reflective surfaces when it’s warmer. I love perfume, (and that question about it) and weather’s most influential for me there, too. Richer orientals or white flowers when it’s cold/cloudy, vetivers, woods/incense, chypres in the fall, soliflores, citrus/aquatic and lighter florals and chypres in summer & spring.
It really depends on the season and the colours I am wearing so I can co-ordinate the look.
Most of my face is pretty standard: eye brow pencil, mascara, foundation, blush, setting powder.
What differs is the choice of eyeshadows and lipstick.
Sometimes I prefer to start with a particular eye look or lipstick shade (especially when either are new and I want to ‘play’) and then choose the outfit that co-ordinates with that look.
I know I wear brighter eyeshadows and softer shaded lipsticks in summer and more muted autumnal tones with a berry/copper lip in autumn/winter.
I have a bag full of HG products that don’t fail me and pretty much go with everything. If i want to try something new or use something that’s not in that bag (pretty much every day), I do and use all the other go-to products in the bag so I won’t have a clash. I just sub that one thing out for the standard product.
I used to pick stuff that would go with my outfit, but now I’m more into makeup than clothes so it’s the other way around…I pick stuff that looks good with the chosen makeup. Can’t go wrong with black.
I don’t venture out much with my makeup. Most of my makeup depends on what I’m doing for the day, but I never go full out glam with my makeup unless it’s a special occasion!
I don’t lan it much but mostly think of what color especially on the top I’ll be wearing that day or it depends on my mood or activity of that certain day. Walking my dog very minimal, going to a party spice it up a bit.
I tend to do my makeup based around either my outfit or one product! For example, I might really want to wear a certain sweater and my look will be appropriately matched to that. Or, if there’s a certain lipstick shade I feel like wearing, I’ll pick an outfit and other products that’ll go with it.