Who or what made you fall in love with makeup?
MAC Pigments! They were magical to me as one of the first makeup products I had. I was all about eye makeup for the first couple of years of my makeup journey.
MAC Pigments! They were magical to me as one of the first makeup products I had. I was all about eye makeup for the first couple of years of my makeup journey.
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No “one” thing – I think I’ve always loved makeup for as long as I can remember. I remember reading Pattie Boyd’s beauty tips in 16 Magazine (anyone else here old enough to remember that? I’m not sure if it was really she writing these tips, though she did use the term “lip pomade” when we in N. America would have said “gloss”! I rest my case! I remember the excitement back in the 70’s and 80’s when there would be a new Estee Lauder ad campaign in the magazines (when Karen Graham was their “face”) and heading to the stores to check out the new items. But what really tipped me over the edge was MAC – just the sheer variety of products, finishes, colours – EVERYTHING. And it’s been downhill since (but a happy “downhill”).
MAC was huge for me too. The momentum the brand had, all the amazing launches and face charts…
The fact that a done face can make any outfit I throw on look instantly adorable.
Wow what a question! Being the only girl of a family of all boys (I’m the only granddaughter on both sides of my family, 13 grandchildren) I was always hanging with the boys, but wanted to do girl things. My mom worked for artmatic cosmetics in the late 80s early 90s and was always bringing home products, she never stopped me from playing. So I guess I have my mom to thank for letting me explore and play at such a young age!
MAC period! I fell in love with going to the MAC counter with my older sister and was always in awe of all the brushes they had. I thought “I want to have all those brushes!”, and when I was a little older, I began collecting them and I can’t even tell you how many brushes I have now! But I still want more, esp MAC brushes! I fell in love with the way they had everything set up so you could try it. I have a complete obsession with makeup now and I’m not one bit ashamed of it! Love this blog, btw! I just saw this on Pinterest and had to come comment. This is my go to site for all things beauty!
♡ Kaila
Definitely Allure magazine from the 90s- it was so focused on makeup only and made it seem accessible to me. The first brand that I got excited about was Benefit, their products seemed so fun and novel.
Allure was so glamorous and cool. I remember learning about Pat McGrath from Allure! They had gorgeous makeup photography too.
MAC cosmetics and the variety of their products.
My mom. She was a formal model, and she’s let me look at her makeup collection, and watch her put on makeup. In particular, I was obsessed with a fuchsia lipstick in a black floral cloisonne tube. It was so shockingly bright, she rarely wore it. It was incredible, but I can’t remember the brand.
Wow, great question. There were a lot of things.
TBH makeup advertisements had a lot to do with it. I still really love 90s and early 00s beauty photography and find it in many ways more inspiring than modern ads and spreads.
I also had my adolescence at the same time Christine did, in the mid 00s. It was a really unique time in social media and beauty blogging. It was rawer and less polished, but extremely vibrant with a lot of really unique, talented makeup artists who were more accessible and less like celebrities than modern influencers.
Also I was not confident about my body as a teenager and makeup helped me feel more attractive, and probably more importantly, more in control of how I looked.
I feel like I’ve answered this question somewhere before, and I can’t remember my answer. I think it happened over a short time (weeks … months) of realizing that makeup didn’t have to be about prettiness.
I never understood trying to be pretty when I was growing up, and any time I tried (because I felt like I should) if felt fake, false. I despised makeup for the longest time and just gave up trying to wear it for 15 or so years. I developed rosacea over time and eventually started wearing foundation to disguise it, and once you add a base of mono-color, you kind of have to add more or you look dead, so I picked up makeup again (but I still didn’t like it).
I think the pivot point for me was discovering indie brands — when I saw the unusual colors and sometimes “dark” themes, I was hooked. When I realized makeup could be about expressing a mood or revealing a counter-culture side to yourself, I was all in.
Cover Girl and Seventeen magazine in the 90s. I wanted to look like those models soooo bad and I would try to recreate their looks with my dollar store makeup.
So many different factors! The film noir type movies that my Mom loved, plus her own classic style, 60’s fashion while I was a young child, female Motown singers, and art classes. But, when it came to my falling in love with it on *myself*, that would be my cousin Debbie! She was the one who taught me how to apply eyeshadow to my very hooded, almond shaped eyes and how to choose shades that flattered me better than standard 1975 blue frosty e/s. Even though she and I are not biologically related, she and her siblings have hooded eyes similar to mine, so she was in a far better position to assist me with that. After that? I was enthralled with cosmetics on a brand new amped up level!
I don’t think it was any single thing… my mum used to sell Nutrimetics when I was a kid (and I still have a thing for that Apricot Dew stuff) and she used to practice her makeup application on me but the first product that I remember really made me go WOW was Dior’s Mystic Jade eyeshadow quint – that icy pale iridescent blue, matte mustard green, warm golden peach and shimmery bronze duochrome was such a stunning combo.
I still have it tucked away in my archives somewhere, I should pull it out and have a play 🙂
I remember answering this question the last time it posted and I was pretty long-winded so I will try and keep it shorter. I grew up on the beach in S. Cal and most of the teenage girls only used lipstick and were after that sunkissed look all the time. They were naturally beautiful and that wasn’t me!
Consequently, hyper-pigmentation is my main issue now. My best friends Mom worked for a makeup store and in particular for the brand Borghese, which was a very exclusive and expensive brand back in the day. She did not allow her daughter to wear makeup but since I was allowed to she always gave me samples of both makeup and skin care. I wish she had known to tell me to wear sunscreen!! Anyway, she always looked so glamorous. She wore a lot of wigs and false eye lashes which weren’t such a big deal back then and consequently she just stood out from every one else. She showed me how to apply makeup and I just fell in love with it. I probably have her to blame for my preference for HE makeup. I think that between genetics and my use of good skin care back in the day, has contributed to my skin looking pretty good for a 65 year old. I also worked with Cheryl Tiegs cousin and she and I always envied Cheryl. She was the quintessential S. Cal beauty and we all wanted to be her. So, I always copied her looks.
Like a lot of women who are interested in beauty and makeup, I don’t have great self-esteem. I think I used makeup to try and level the playing field with regards to all those beautiful, tan, slender girls that I went to high school with. I don’t think it worked but I do think it played a part in my use of makeup.
I did go through a period of time where I didn’t wear much makeup but that coincided with working night shift and not having adjusted to it yet so I slept a lot and didn’t take the time to put any makeup on. After I adjusted to the time situation, I returned to wearing makeup. I also didn’t wear much while going through cancer treatment. I just didn’t have the energy. If I had to go out I would put on mascara and lip gloss and that was it. Sometimes maybe a mineral powder like Bare Minerals.
I really had a resurgence of interest when my daughter became interested in makeup and we support/enable each other in our obsession, LOL!
I used to go to the library a lot and looked through Seventeen, Glamour, Mademoiselle, and Vogue. These magazines started my interest in makeup and beauty. But the one thing that really cemented this interest was a book, A New You, by Emily Wilkens. I read that book and studied it as if I were studying for an important exam.
My sisters were 5 and 6 years older than me, so I had them as role models and I always looked up to them and wanted to emulate them. That was my first realization of makeup. Then my Mother started selling Avon to make a little money. I would pour over the skin care books she would get and that is probably why my skin looks so good at my age now. Skin care comes first and foremost. Then when I was a teenager and all the magazines I would read took center stage and that is when I would start copying the eye looks.
It was a Grade 6 school concert and we had to wear makeup…I raided my mum’s stash and have been hooked ever since.
Three distinct times in my life boosted my love of makeup!
1. In middle school, my dad & mom would love to buy clinique skincare when they had gifts with purchases, so I used the makeup they got that my mom didn’t need.
2. In college, I had a friend who sold Avon. I discovered how great their lipsticks were, and got excited that good makeup can be affordable.
3. Soon after I began watching YouTube, with Emily Noel being one of the first Youtubers I subscribed to. I discovered Temptalia soon after, and my collection & love of makeup has grown since!
I had to do makeup once a year for dance recitals and loved coordinating my makeup with my costumes, so between that and my aunt and cousin loving makeup, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion!
I was inspired by Pop Punk and celebrities like Hayley Williams when I started out, so lots of bright colored eyeshadow!
I can’t really say why (too personal), but I can say that it was due to frustration of not being able to change a number of circumstances in my life, in a new place, while trying to find myself as I was becoming older and while trying to find (make) friends (with difficulty). So makeup helped to fill in a gap (temporarily) and then it became a passion and a way for me to give to others (free makeover for weddings as gifts, charity work and to elderly family members). What I really like A LOT about makeup is the colors and it’s ability to change a look, help people feel better about themselves, feel beautiful. It’s a great way to mentally escape (like traveling without the distance or cost). I’ve said it before, my eyeshadows are my jewels (imagine if they really were, we’d be sooo rich!!! LOL!)