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What is your biggest beauty-related accomplishment?


What is your biggest beauty-related accomplishment? A technique you’ve mastered? A problem you’ve solved? Share!

Learning that it’s okay to wear shades that may not be the most flattering, because it can be about having fun and being creative.

Thanks to reader Chanel for today’s question idea Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

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Helene Avatar

Go for it, I’m older than you are, and I break the “rules” every day. MAC Rose pigment on the eyelids today, maybe not neon, but sparkly it is, MAC Shitake on the lips, I can’t wait to get me a blurple lipstick.

Helene Avatar

The photo’s some 5 years old, I look a bit like Chandler Bing in photos so I don’t have many that I can show 🙂
Now I just hope you saw Friends 🙂

Alex Avatar

I think that the biggest accomplishment of all would be being brave enough to wear blush – I always suffered from rosy cheeks and they’ve calmed down since I first started to wear make-up, so a medium or even a light coverage foundation manages to cover them up. However, because of this I was never confident enough to wear blush because I always thought: ok I’m getting rid of pink cheeks, so I’m not putting the pink back onto my cheeks with a blush. Boy was I wrong.I went to a Givenchy event at my local beauty store and the make-up artist really tried to bring out my cheeks in that particular look because he said that I have amazing cheeks and they totally need the whole package of bronzer/blush/highlighter, and after he was finished people were literally stopping me in the store to tell me that my cheeks look amazing! So this summer I bought the Wordly Wealth blush from Mac’s Moody Blooms collection and I just fell in love. I think that now, buying blush is becoming a small obsession 😉

ilovemakeup Avatar

Overcoming my fear of my blush looking like ’80’s “racing stripe” blush. I didn’t wear it for years because, for whatever reason, I couldn’t figure out where to put it. It’s silly, I know. Eventually I just sucked it up and did it and now I feel naked with out it!

Laura Avatar

Hi, I’m proud of having mastered the art of makeup so that I look younger and slimmer. Watching hours and hours of youtube tutorials paid off: I now look better than 10 years ago. A little makeup helps immensely, if you know which tools to apply it with. My favorite makeup guru is Wayne Goss 😉

KaseyCannuck Avatar

The first answer to pop into my head was getting my acne under control without the help of a prescription medication, which was 30 years ago, but I think learning to read ingredient labels and understanding what each ingredient is there for is a big accomplishment for me. I found out the hard way that it only takes one crappy product used one time to cause a reaction that can take years to recover from.

Mariella Avatar

I can’t really think of any “accomplishments” (though, Christine, I think creating and growing Temptalia is a huge accomplishment….THAT is a true accomplishment/achievement; by contrast, the stuff I’ve “achieved” is really just about buying stuff and that’s not really an achievement in the greater scheme of things). Anyway, I think my biggest “accomplishment” is finding mascaras that stay on and don’t leave a grey smear under my left eye (not as easy as you’d think!)

Andrea Avatar

Learning to create the most subtle no make up, make up.
Also, learning to apply blush. Believe it or not, was extremely dificult to me. So much I refused to wear it.

Andrea Avatar

This past year I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I lost all of my eyebrows and lashes to chemo. I learned how to use liners (Smashbox liquid and Chanel pencil) , shadows and my Anastasia Brow kit to compensate and it turned out pretty well.

Mimi Avatar

I’m sorry to hear this Andrea, but know that you have lots of company out here, and that you will get through and beyond this and move on. Take good care of yourself and with time, all this will fade away. I know because I’m 6 1/2 years out from my diagnosis.

Another Deb Avatar

I haven’t fully accomplished it yet, but I’m in the process of going cruelty free. It’s harder than I expected; I’m sort of grieving for products and lines I love (which I think is funny when I catch myself). I’m grateful for brands like Hourglass and Chantecaille. I can give up brands and products but not luxury itself.

When my nails aren’t broken, which they often are, I can also manage a reasonably neat manicure: definitely an accomplishment. I still look at your beautiful nails and wonder how you do it, though!

Jane Avatar

Discovering make up in middle age! Until 2010, when I was 46, I had only owned two lipsticks: Clinique “Current Plum” and a red for crazy times. I wore eyeliner in 1990 (MAC Carbon applied with a wet brush- egads) but gave it up as too much work. Then my children grew into teens and makeup infected our home. Now I am a full on makeup fan and practitioner. A little bit of happy creativity every day. Even visited Guerlain at the Champs Ellysees store in Paris in July. Where they still sell Parure Gold.
And Christine I agree your beauty accomplishment is your beautiful blog!!!!

Helene Avatar

Having the confidence to stay true to myself when it comes to all the “rules” of makeup, especially when you have passed a certain age when all of a sudden things are “forbidden”.
Also learning, am still not very good at it but I practise, how to deal with all of a sudden having hooded eyes.
And finding fantastic makeup blogs and You Tube videos.

Lucia Avatar

Hmm, when I was procrastinating on writing my term papers last fall, I managed to figure out how to do the complicated Katniss braid with the Dutch braid nested inside a traditional braid! This was a big deal mostly because I couldn’t even figure out how to French braid before.

Elizabeth Avatar

I love your accomplishment & this fabulous website! My accomplishments: Discovering the very best concealer (Cle de Peau, hands down!), MAC eyeshadow, and my favorite lipsticks (Guerlain – in the pink-fuschia-purplish range), which I boldly wear-especially Shalimar.

Donna Avatar

I stopped worrying about trends and what others expected and cut all of my hair off. I got tired of trying to fight Mother Nature to pull off looks that went against what I have. I’ve never felt freer and I love enhancing my look with my favorite makeup.

Amy Avatar

For me it was about learning how to contour and highlight. I really took my time to get it down packed and now that i do Im so happy.

The biggest concern about highlight and contour was that as a dark skinned woman I wouldnt be able to highlight and contour but I was proved wrong

Eliz Avatar

Making peace with not being 20 anymore. Or, 30. Or, 40 🙂 But, every day is a blessing and an opportunity to pour love into someone’s life. I feel the most beautiful when I am able to make someone smile. Sometimes I happen to be wearing a fabulous red lipstick. That’s just icing on the cake.

Lulle Avatar

I’m quite clumsy to start with, so anything that requires precise gestures took a lot of practice (eye liner, lip liner, nails, etc). If I have to choose one I will say being able to do my nails better than how they look after a mani at the basic salons in my area.
More generally, I think that my biggest achievement, which came through a lot of reading, practicing and blogging, is that I’m able to see past the marketing claims, limited edition collections and seasonal trends to choose products that actually work for me. Not that long ago I used to buy a lot of new releases, sometimes regardless of actual quality or despite owning a dozen iteration of the exact same shade. I’m not that easy to influence any more.

Kat Avatar

The most important was finally realizing the reason my foundation looked like a clingy flakefest wasn’t because my skin was too dry, it was because it was too oily. After years of applying 658294 moisturizers and creams and even Vaseline, this was quite the revelation. Sometimes the answer is right in front of you!

Candice Avatar

When I started reading the question, I was thinking that your’s Christine has to be your website and occupation, you’re amazing, you’ve accomplished so much, you’re a beauty master!!! 😀

Nicole Avatar

Lerning how to create the no makeup look and finding the right shades to support that. I remember my colleague asking: you are wearing makeup? Your skin looks really well.

Mardi Avatar

Going cruelty free. I haven’t knowingly bought a cosmetic from a company that tests on animals for nearly a year. It’s been so easy I can’t understand why anyone would buy products that are tainted with animal cruelty.

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