Face to
Face
By
Jennifer Fernandez
December
Let’s talk makeup, ladies! I know some of you
are excited; others are thinking I’m au naturel. Hold that thought for a second because I too,
was once like you. My excuse was that I didn’t know what to apply, what color
eye shadow complements my eyes, how to choose foundation for my skin tone and
what the heck is PRIMER? I know the feeling!
That all changed when I became a bartender
and my oh-so-fashion forward friend, would come to work with makeup on and I would
come in bare faced, maybe a little blush. Long story short, I began to
experiment with blush. Do I want the rosy ingénue look or the “I just flew in from the Caribbean”
bronzed glow? Then I moved on to eye shadow, which isn’t an easy category to
master. I tried light colors, and then the colors got darker and darker. There
were times when I thought I looked like a drag queen but that was simply
because I didn’t know any better. Looking back, those drag queens wished they
looked as good as I did with my dramatic look. Mmm-hmm!
Here’s what I’m saying, be brave. Remember
playing dress up with your mom’s dresses, jewelry, putting on red lipstick and
working those 3 inch heels at the tender age of 4? Who does that but a fearless
child? So, let’s revisit those days and let’s play!
This season the colors are gray, purple and
black. What I like to call, heavy metals. If it’s too soon for you to go for
the dark and dramatic, stay light. Or you can always combine the two. Go dark
(the charcoals, gray or even purples) from the lashes up to the crease line or
you can extend it past the crease line for added effect. From the crease line
to your brow bone, you can use a light metallic white and if you blend the two
where they meet in the middle, it gives a more polished look.
To brighten your eyes after a long night, use
a snowy-white eyeliner or shadow along the inner parts
of your eyes, it’ll give you a touch of freshness. I use MAC’s Rondelle to give me the look of someone who has actually
slept eight hours, that’s usually not me.
If you’re still not convinced that make up is
for you, try Maybelline’s Great Lash mascara. A hint of lip gloss and two coats of
mascara will do wonders to your face. I do it to my friend all the time,
“Allie, are you wearing makeup?” To which she’ll say and try to downplay, “I
have a little mascara on.” See, a
little goes a long way, it doesn’t go unnoticed.
Everyone always encourages you to go to a
department store and get your makeup done; it’s free, why not? I agree. My BF took
me to Sephora to buy a few things and question after
question (I tend to ask a lot of questions) the girl who was assisting me
finally said, “I’ll do it for you.” I left the store a different person; I
finally had the smoky eye look I was dying for. It took some practice but I now
have a better idea of what to do after watching her every move. That’s another
way to learn all about make up, ask. I rather just DO, but we all have our ways
of getting things done.
Makeup isn’t going to make you a different
person, if it does anything, it may give you confidence. It’s you, but a
confident, glowing, prettier, vibrant YOU. Other things can have the same
affect too, don’t get me wrong, but makeup makes me feel alive at times, and
there’s nothing wrong with that.
Continue to play, use different colors, take
pictures, pretend you’re on America’s
Next Top Model, go grocery shopping and see the reactions, just go for it!
You won’t regret that you did! Remember, when it’s bedtime, wash your face and
moisturize, let your pores breathe. Now is a great time to experiment with
makeup, the holidays and New Year are here and there’s a party going on
somewhere! Be ready! I know I will =D
Let me know how it goes ladies!
You can catch me on www.myspace.com/prettyeyesjen
-Jennifer Fernandez