Weddingbee Blog

Last night, Mr. Blueberry and I went to Wal-Mart and I picked up some fresh makeup for my trials. I talked a few weeks ago about possibly doing my own makeup, and after tonight’s pseudo-trial, I’m pretty sure that’s what I’ll do.

I know I was told to sort of “over-do” my makeup for the trials, but since I usually just wear very light makeup anyway I didn’t want to look completely unusual for this first attempt. So I just went with a light coverage, and for my next trial (probably today!) I’ll try a bit more eye shadow, lip gloss, and maybe blush.

It’s a well-known fact that I’m poor. I don’t have the money to spend on fancy department store makeup, so I stuck with drugstore brands. And because I had a buy one/get one coupon for Cover Girl, two of the three things I bought were CG. I’d also been meaning to try some of the matte mousse foundation–I’ve always used liquid foundation before–so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a shot.

I bought three products (my powder, eyeshadow, and lip gloss were still “good” so I didn’t need to buy fresh ones):

That’s under-eye concealer on the left. I’ve been using this product since I was in high school and a friend discreetly pulled me aside and suggested it might help me look less like a raccoon. Thanks, Laura! Waterproof mascara in the middle. It’s a dramatic shift from my usual mascara–the Maybelline stuff in the pink tube (green lid). But I know waterproof is a necessity, so I got it. On the right is the Maybelline matte mousse foundation with free gift matte blush. The concealer and mascara were each about $4.50 (well, one was free ’cause of my coupon) and the foundation was about $7.

Here is how I looked last night (excuse the poor lighting–it’s one reason I’m doing another trial tomorrow!). No makeup, no moisturizer, nothing. (warning: the image you are about to see may cause retinal damage. Miss Blueberry is in no way responsible for any effects of viewing this image).

First thing I did was remove my nose ring, and then silently lament that all I did today was stick my hair in a ponytail. Oh well–it’ll be up for the wedding, and I suppose this is a reasonable approximation for my pseudo-trial. Then I plucked my eyebrows. They’re naturally pretty well-behaved so I just caught a few stray hairs and called it good.

Next, I put on moisturizer (the same moisturizer I’ve been using since forever…I love it because it’s so light and has a decent SPF):

Then I opened up my matte foundation. I was pleasantly surprised by the texture:

It’s really really light and fluffy, and actually looked like it would be yummy to eat. I didn’t, though, at Mr. Blueberry’s insistence. When I got it on my face, it felt so light–really like I wasn’t wearing any foundation at all! The coverage was really even, and I love how it didn’t hide my freckles! I <3 my freckles :). I applied it using the pad of my middle finger–the same finger I use when daubing on my under-eye concealer. This is because the pad of your middle finger is softer than on your forefinger, and less likely to “smush” the makeup in. Then I put on the matte blush the same way (only without full coverage, lol). I sealed the whole thing with my CG powder and big soft brush, the applied the concealer.

This is how I’ve been applying the concealer since forever:

Dots all under the eye, then smoothed in (using the pad of my middle finger).

Then, I used this color of eyeshadow:

I used it to fill in my eyebrows a little bit (not too much!), and as a sort of light eyeliner (top lashes only). I hate how I look with pencil or liquid eyeliner, so this soft smudging is about the most I can handle. I actually used the dinky little brush that comes with the eyeshadow for this step, since its edge is so fine I can really get just next to the lash line.

Then it was eyeshadow time. I’m not sure what color I’ll use for the wedidng, but I used this light pink Maybelline stuff since it goes well with the blush I just got. I put the lighter one (the ivory color) on the inside half of my eye, and the pink on the outer half–according to Carmindy, this will make my close-set eyes look a bit wider set. I was careful to blend the two shades in the middle, so I didn’t look clown-ish.

Next was the mascara. It was weird using a brush that was different than normal, since I’ve been using my Maybelline mascara since I started wearing the stuff. But I like this CG stuff OK. I put it on by placing the brush at the base of my eyelashes, then wiggling it as I pulled it toward the tip of my lashes. I put more mascara near the outside of my eyes, to further draw my eyes apart.

Last of all was the lip gloss. The brand is Savvy, and I got it at a Sally Beauty over the summer. It’s the yummiest lip gloss ever, and so light that it shows my natural lipcolor (which I’m quite fond of):

(sorry for the blurry photo)

After all that, this is how I looked:

Close-up:

Just looking at those pics I realize I need to start using White Strips again reeeal soon.

For my next trial I’ll wear a white shirt, and do it during the daytime so I can take some pics outside :).

So what do you think? How did I do? What should I do differently next time?