I’ve been a cosmetics/product sucker/whore since my first department store makeover. I’m trying to remember exactly what that was. Lancome, I think, here in Denver maybe? I was in my mid-20s. I’m not sure how I managed to escape the department store makeover for so long. I think they just didn’t have them in Topeka. Or did they just start in the ’80s?
They did my face, I looked so polished and finished, and I of course bought every product they put on me. Not all makeovers after that were successful. The black-red vamp lip color that Chanel thought would look amazing on me was the Hooker Express, and I’m not sure I’d even put my credit card back in my wallet (I did NOT buy the Vamp lipstick) before I was wiping it off.
Time has brought a little discernment, and I haven’t bought “everything they put on my face” since that first time, but the siren call of all those makeup-aholics praising Le Metier de Beaute products has been trying to break through my discernment glass case I’ve put myself under for months – ignoring the BG and Neiman-Marcus catalogs, the In Style prize for their treatment foundation, the blog reviews, especially the British ones, the oohs and ahs over their creme lipstick in framboise, the jade and silver eyeshadow combo they put on one blogger.
I’ve tried so many overpriced cosmetic lines, loved some things in them, hated others, bought way too much of it that I soon discarded for the next newnewthing, I’m just reluctant to try new ones, especially the stratospherically priced lines. Did I mention I’m still in love with the Armani stuff I got in London? I didn’t need anything else. Really. So why look at this Metier stuff? Pointless, I sniffed, and ignored another blog review.
What finally got me? My fickle eyelashes. I’ve been doing eyelash extensions for several months, but the glue or the process or something is bothering my eyes more and more every time I do another application, and I now spend four days with red, itchy eyes and a bottle of Benadryl before they settle down. I’ve decided I need to give it up. Not just for that, but because my body tends to reject anything that is fake. My pretty short, trim nails always try to lift, peel, chip. My eyelash extensions, once they stop itching, don’t want to stay on one eye, so I have to have it done every two weeks. Some of you may be aghast, wondering how this can be when I have so much that’s fake on me. Actually, very little of me is fake. I tend to be a pretty natural girl in my every day life. I love to get glammed up, I love the eyelashes because then I don’t have to think about my eyelashes in the morning except to comb them or worry about mascara running during yoga. My nails I love because I’m not constantly having to file some new tragedy that one of my nails has become. Everything else? All me. My foundation is always the lightest I can find or a naked face – most days it’s a naked face. I love my lipstick, but it also crawls off my lips pronto.
So the eyelashes, I have to stop getting the extensions, so I need to research mascara. I wanted one that stayed on all day, didn’t smudge or otherwise crawl off my eyes within an hour. I love the Kiss Me mascara, but it just didn’t do enough to make my lashes pop out there. Off I went to Google around for mascara reviews. To my horror, the Le Metier de Beaute mascara popped up everywhere. I’ll save you some googling, you can buy it here for $34 in too many off-black colors – jade, midnight, aubergine. You don’t need them all, I’m sure, not that I heeded that advice. Reviews are excellent for the coloration and the staying power, reports that it really doesn’t smudge and gives you a nice, natural eyelash, and two coats makes them very thick and full, still not smudgy.
I shielded my eyes carefully while reading those reviews and looking at the BG site, trying to stay just with the mascara. Then I saw that In Style award for their Peau Vierge anti-aging tinted treatment with retinol and SPF 20, and everyone Loooooooooves it. Nononononononononono! Oh, oops, I think I have a sample or three of it in my bathroom. Well, I’ll just try it first – tinted treatment product is almost better than naked moisturized face! – goes on silky smooth, light, covers unevenness without giving me a mask, and my face feels and looks damned amazing. The Armani Face Fabric looks as good, but it doesn’t have retinol or spf 20, and this seems to cover the undereye area a little better and reflects light.
I really am hopeless. So I’m setting a reminder on my calendar to come back here in two months and tell you how my face looks after using it daily for that long – better, the same, worse. It’s $125, so it’s not a product you want to spend on unless you love it. Yes, I’ll report in on the mascara too and the creme lip gloss and the other couple of things that found their way into my cart before I hit checkout. Did I mention they have some new Kaleidoscope eyeshadow thingies coming out this fall that are supposed to be amazing? And they’re teaming up with Marchesa for a little palette collection? That seems to be up on the NM site now. When I go to NYC in October, I’m planting my butt at their counter and trying everything.
I went through two of my three samples of the Peau Vierge, and since I”m getting my full-size product tomorrow, I’ll give away my last sample (light to medium color) to a commenter. But you have to tell me about your first makeover – did you love it, hate it? Buy nothing, everything?
So I was walking through NM a few days ago and this lonely SA greets me to ask if I had tried Le Metier de Beaute tinted moisturizer. Being a sucker for tinted moisturizers I agreed to have her apply it to my face. I did love the look and if I didn’t have access to physician strength anti-aging skin care products( the de Beaute has Retinol and SPF) , she would have had me. Couldn’t justify the 125.00 for it as pretty as it was. On to the Armani counter to try the new powder foundation which I hear is quite lovely.:-?
What a fun topic! I used to work at a makeup counter and the manager would beseech me to wear MORE makeup! You can imagine what my clients looked like–waaay too natural for glamour-lovin’ Miami! I got a great makeover at MAC in the early days–all of their fleshy neutral blushes and the revolutionary (at the time)Studiofix. Now I find many of their colours to be a bit “dirty” or with a greyish cast…my best makeover was from a colleague at Estee Lauder–I came out with peachy lips and feathery lashes, sculpted cheeks–very West Palm Beach, and very high-maintenance. So just fun for a day (:
You know, I’ve been pretty much obsessed with makeup since I was 13, but I’ve never had a makeover. The only person who ever does my makeup is me. I usually end up doing makeup for everyone else as well, especially for special occasions.
One time I went into a MAC store on my birthday to buy myself a makeup present, and one of the wonderful men working there absolutely wouldn’t let me leave without letting him put some mascara on me; he said it was just wrong for a girl to have naked lashes on her birthday.
I was fully charmed.
I have *never* had a department store or cosmetics store makeover. The closest I ever got was back in either high school or very early college, when my mom wandered into Merle Norman wondering if they had a blush she remembered using back in the 80s (back when MN was actually *good* and she wasn’t allergic to most of their makeup) and a lipstick shade she used to use (they had it, actually!). My mom wanted to try some blushes, but not on her face, so since she and I are the same skin color and tone, I volunteered and had the SA daub and brush me. I’m pretty much my mom’s testing strip, so I’m used to looking at cosmetics and fragrances with her and having her use me as a canvas, if that counts :)
Well, late as I am, would love to be in drawing. My first makeover– the Lancome lady flattered me silly, telling me my eyes looked jsut like Isabella Rossellini’s, and to this day, I seek out smoky taupe and accents of green, just like that very first Lancome palette. But no, I never did and still don’t look like Isabella, except in my mind’s eye. I aspire to her attitude about life, though. Mascara– I loved a French one calle Boncza Elongcils, or something like that –my lashes looked great and it had a lovely rose scent. But I can’t find it any more.
Use generic Latisse. It’s $10 a bottle. I have used it for a year. No problems, long lashes, can’t beat the price.
What’s generic Latisse, and where do you get it??
From that sketchy place :d It’s $25 shipping and $10 a bottle so people stock up. Also your bottle may be labeled in a foreign language, I think they ship from India? Thailand? But it appears to be the legitimate stuff. Ms. Christian will likely pop back on here with the link.
Oh, I’ll comment, because I’d love to try that sample – I’m using only products with physical sunscreen these days and this sounds too tempting NOT to try.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a department store makeover. As a young teen back-to-school season was poring over the Avon catalog, from which my grandmother would buy me a set number of products. I don’t even remember the year but I do remember one eyeshadow that came in a triangular compact (unbeatably cool) and a lipstick that popped up out of its case with a slide switch (also cool). I’m not sure I ever wore either of them after I did my “makeup” the first time (the last of vacation, before school) at my grandmother’s house, but I definitely loved owning them and kept them for a while, as I recall.
I even did my own makeup for my wedding. I’m a do-it-yourself kind of girl.
O my god. My first makeover was at the Filene’s department store near where I worked. The makeup artist was lovely and everything was wonderful until my (male) coworkers stumbled across the cosmetics counter and decided to provide gratuitous comments. Plus the results always look different once I am in direct sunlight.
Enter me in the draw please, and thanks.
My first and only makeover was when I got a haircut that came with a makeover–department store thing. The makeover person was about 40 years older than I was and she put makeup on me that Elizabeth Taylor whould have thought was too much. I screamed and washed most of hit off immediately. Couldnt get the bright red lipstick off, and it didnt go with my tennies and cutoffs.
My first makeover was at MAC, and I already had the foundation, which I otherwise would have bought. I did buy the lipstick, but took the makeup-bedaubed instruction sheet home and decided that the eye colours were pretty close to things I had at home (I now know that the technical term is “dupe”). One day perhaps a makeover mascara will Change My Life, but it hasn’t happened yet…
I’ve been playing with makeup since my early teens (against a conservative mother’s wishes…), but it wasn’t until around 30 that I had my first full makeover. The first few were unremarkable until my first Guerlain makeover at SFA in NYC ~1994. She must have been the Northeast regional or even National makeup artist for Guerlain – a tall, handsome Frenchwoman in her 50’s who worked miracles on me in less than 15 minutes. Even though I only purchased the foundation, a powder compact, a brush, and a couple of skincare products that day(returned later to buy the brush), it was my largest purchase to that date. She gave me a whole new perspective on makeup selection and application that turned me into a Guerlain makeup devotee to this day. I’ve had several other great makeovers since then, including more Guerlains and a few Chanels, but that one brief session is still my best experience.
Please enter me in the draw – I’d love to try Peau Vierge.
correction – returned later to buy the blush, NOT “brush.” AND – to this day regretted not buying the eyeshadow – budget couldn’t handle that many items…
Wow, you make me want a makeover! My back-to-school makeup this year is lipstick, and I am loving what I bought (two rouge Gs from Guerlain and a Chantecaille) but now I’m curious as to what your gorgeous 50ish Frenchwoman would do to me with a full toolset!
You know, I love their lipsticks, but the packaging is super bulky and the Rouge Gs are so heavy. I much preferred the old Divinaura lipsticks with the clever little flip top mirror. The biggest problem with lipstics – I always forget to put them on or re-apply, so nice makeup job but bare lips…
Her application was fairly simple, but the effect was stunning. I only saw her a few times there. She may have been from Paris and only visiting the US boutiques temporaily. I recall she had one of those briefcases loaded with large bottles of scents for decanting samples. Gave me a large vial of Chamade because that was what I wore at the time.
I think my first makeover was at a Clinique counter – I was in high school with my slightly older and more sophisticated friend. She had all kinds of department store makeup and I had only used drugstore stuff at that point so it seemed very glamorous! I think I ended up buying the powder, which I used for quite some time, and maybe 1 or 2 other things. I don’t get makeovers now because I know I’ll feel like I have to buy something and I’m still a drugstore makeup girl and am pretty minimal – concealer/loose powder/blush/lipstick and I’m done. Add mascara if I’m going out – I have yet to master eye shadow aplication! I also figure I spend enough on perfume and hair stuff to get into spendy makeup – it takes a several product regimen to coax my wavy/curly hair into shape everyday and of course, as soon as I find a good product, it gets discontinued so I’m always trying new stuff there.
I did let a Benefit girl do my eyebrows recently – made me realize how patchy my brows are, so I do pencil them a bit now!
I never let anybody put anything on my face except my beloved (and truly talented) makeup artist, Nicole Bond. First, my skin will explode if there is the least bit of drama done to it (like a blush brush dug into my skin, which caused an actual sore)…
…yeah, I know – given all that, why do I have old foundation? well, at least it’s MY old foundation. My own ‘ook’ as it were.
Also, I’m with Carter and the rest of you who believe less is more as one ages. I’m a totally YLBB and YEBB gal – between my skin, weight gain, eyeglasses and extremely curly hair, I find it’s the best way to go for me.
I eyeballed the Smoooooth Dream Moooooussse today but have decided to wait until cooler weather – I only have another month at this skin-tone so once I drop back down into (relative) paleness I can figure out which color works for me. Of course, I could return it, a la March @ CVS – I didn’t know you could do that with drugstore stuff! 😕
I tried the Armani eye cream, Patty. It was nice but….I think I’ll stick with LaMer. Nicole has me using the regular La Mer cream as an eye cream and it works wonders!
And I’m glad you’re dumping those extensions – when we had dinner last month you seemed very eye-itchy. That would drive me insane. Btw – Gaia (nonblonde) just did a great post on ‘giving up your mascara’. I think it could work – especially on blondes. They cite SWINTON as an example but she is so exotic that I’m not sure she counts in the mix for normal humans.
xoxo >-)
I hated my first makeover. I have deep set eyes and an exotic look, but in my first (Shiseido) makeover, the salesperson over-tweezed my eyelashes (yes, she really did tweeze them!) and put white all around my eyes, making them entirely disappear. Later makeovers didn’t fare much better for me. It seemed that “deep set eyes” somehow meant to the cosmetologists that I needed white or light all around my eyes, when in reality I myself have learned how to strategically use eye pencils in gold and brown, with a darker brown shadow in the corners of my eyes, to best emphasize my eyes. I remember reading Way Bandy’s first book, in which he recounts that he saw faces like canvases – so important, since deep set eyes, like all eyes, come in all kinds of sizes and types and should never always be made up according to some old-fashioned rule. I don’t even always do mine up the same.
These days I decline makeovers, telling the salespeople honestly that they don’t do well by me.
Way Bandy! Yessss!
The first one was years ago at a Clinique counter in Dallas, before a friend’s wedding. I was not in the ceremony. Thank God. I always thought of Clinique as younger and more demure. I didn’t know they could make you look like a Vegas showgirl using only Clinique. I don’t believe I bought any of it.
I’ve never had a makeover. :”>
Really? did you just not want one, or not ever at a counter that was doing them?
I always turned them down. Bothered me to have someone putting makeup on me in public. Odd that, considering some of things I wasn’t put off about doing in public.
My first make-over – yes, I bought a lot of it, not everything, but it was Chanel so it was pretty spendy for a single-parent teacher (Chanel was my first quaility product fixation). I had an awful one at, of allplaces, a Philosophy counter that made me look like a drag queen – I actually got most of it off in the mall bathroom! it was awful! I was timid about the process after that, but, perhaps unfortunatly, have recovered my courage. I try not to get them unless I am going to buy something, so as not to waste the SA’s time, but I also try to go in mindful of what I “need” and don’t need. (I’m trying to find light but decent coverage for my face and would love to try this, though I’m afraid I might like it!)
Philosophy? Wow, I didn’t think they had enough oomph in their products to make it bad, but I don’t think I’ve ever used anything of theirs.
I’m with you, I don’t sit for a makeup application unless there’s something I’m definitely interested in and want to see how they put it on, or it’s a new line with some cool things in it.
My first department store makeover was at the Clinique counter when I was 16. I wasn’t allowed to wear any makeup until then, so the day after I turned 16, I went out and got a makeover. I got all the products, too, partly because I am a sucker and partly in defiance of my parents. I’m pretty sure she used the ubiquitous Raspberry Glacé lipstick and Pink blush on me, since I remember using them all throughout high school.
Please enter me in the draw. I would love to try the Peau Vierge. I’m curious–I have rosacea and wonder if it would cause a reaction.
Thanks!
I can’t even remember what makeup I wore in high school. I think just Great Lash mascara!.
I have ruddiness in my skin. It’s not rosacea, at least not the irritable kind. So far the retinol in it doesn’t seem to be irritating it. That’s my biggest fear. I’d definitely sample it, though, before buying. BG has been doling them out in little free product kits with orders. Or they were!
My first makeover was when my BFF and I were in ninth grade — maybe 15 — and we had them done at Merle Norman at our local mall. We ended up looking very beauty-pageant with tons of foundation, blush, eye makeup, and lipstick. What I remember buying was a plum colored powdered blush. My friend and I both got the same one. It was very Pat Benetar-esque if I remember correctly.
Your new makeup products sound awesome. I’d love to be entered in the drawing for the sample. My favorite brands of makeup nowadays are Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown. For mascara, I like one of Maybelline’s less popular ones in a silver tube or Lancome’s Definicils.
you know what, I might have had one of those Merle Norman ones. Were they the first to do that, along with the Mary Kay home parties? merle Norman were definitely Old School about painting it on.
Make-over stories are always fun and entertaining to us make-up addicts. We have all had at least one scary experience and usually more. My first make-over was also at a Merle Norman shop in my teen years in the late 1960s because I was raised by my grandmother and Merle Norman is what she had always worn. I was excited to be going to have my first make-over, and then very shortly horrified at the outcome. When I looked in the mirror after the SA was finished I didn’t recognize myself. And further more, I looked like a dead person made up in a coffin for the funeral, as well as looking like I was about 50 years old instead of the sweet 16 that I was at the time. I left the store and cried all the way home, which efficiently washed all the makeup away. Perfect solution for a bad make-over. That kind of remedy works well for an emotional teenage girl. I honestly never ever have gone for another make-over. I am much too easily intimidated by SAs to assert myself, and so I meekly work my makeup out with samples until I find what skin care products and cosmetics work for me.
Oh Patty – another make-up post? I’m a terrible sucker for make-up as you know. I have had zillions of makeovers but am always very careful which brand I choose and it is usually Laura Mercier or Chantecaille these days.
You know, though, for all my love of things maquillage-related, I don’t wear a lot. I do like to do the eyes (and I wish you hadn’t told me about the Metier mascaras as they have those in Liberty’s – doomed!)and I’ve already written this week about lipgloss but I like a light tinted moisturizer-type foundation and a light dusting of powder, being of a Certain Age. Neglect is a Bad Thing but so is caking it on, methinks.
Anyway, you always look fab, Patty!
sorry, I know!!! At least you can easily go try and Metiers and see if they work for you. I’m annoyed at either buying blind or having to wait. :(
You always look fab as well, so no worries about neglect or overdoing it, doll.
Yeah, I’ve had a couple of those, too – when they get done, I’m just picking it apart for the product that are actually working, and they seem baffled that I don’t like the whole of their artistry. I just wanna say – you do realize I look like a clown at this moment, right?
Great topic. My first makeover was at the Shiseido counter when I was around 14 or 15 (in the 80s). My eyes are hazel (dark green with a brown center and gold flecks), so I guess the conventional thought back then was purple shadow to enhance green eyes. So, they did me up with some pretty lavenders and plums, and a gorgeous mauvey lipstick. I hated it, and the impression I got from them was that they were surprised it didn’t light up my face like they thought it was going to. The enthusiasm became so forced that to this day I will not let someone make me over. So, that’s part of how I became a makeup fanatic – taking on a lifelong mission to find my own products and colors. The other part is that my Mom probably owns more makeup than our local Macy’s! The plus side to that whole experience was that it was at that counter that I discovered my first perfume love – Shiseido Zen (black). Even now that my perfume collection rivals my Mom’s makeup collection, I am still head over heels for the original Zen.
I still adore Shiseido cosmetics, though, am totally with you on tinted moisturizers, and would SO love to try the Peau Vierge! Thanks, Patty!
I avoided the department store makeover until my sister was getting married, and convinced me that it would be so so fun to go together. All was going well- I fully intended to buy a little something, even though this particular SA’s modus operandi seemed to be intimidation- until she said “This will help cover the age spots. You have a lot of age spots.” Um, they’re freckles. I’ve had them since I was 5. To be fair, she was Asian, with flawless 50 year old skin, but I still felt it was disingenuous to pretend she didn’t know what freckles were, since she did work at a makeup counter. We actually had a quiet little argument when I said I didn’t want my FRECKLES covered up with a masklike skim coat of foundation and she said it was up to me if I wanted my AGE SPOTS to show,
Purse firmly snapped shut.
Yikes!!! Talk about no sales skills at all. I’ve had SAs do that as well, insist that I had something going on with my skin that I needed Product X for that I did not. I know my skin really well and what it is and isn’t doing, and I just walk away when they start arguing.
I love your “purse firmly snappped shut.” LOL. Why do they do that? I have the same problem with hairdressers. The negative sell just doesn’t do it for me. I got so tired of the criticism of my fine hair that I decided to learn how to do my hair on my own. One actually told me the only thing you can do with fine hair is just to cut it all off. I beg your pardon? Yeah, so I have to come back to you to make it all better once a month. No way.
HA HA HA! I feel you on the freckles; mine have mostly faded but I still have to convice SAs that I don’t care to try to blend them out. My own favorite sales-fail occurred as I was perusing the Guerlain counter at NM for perfume. The SA confronted me with the following “Oh, I see you’ve got a lot of dryness and light damage around your eyes; would you like to try our Product X?” To which I suavely replied “Only if it doesn’t mess with the ringworm cream, that stuff burns as it is.” Yes, I had received a little present from our recently rescued kitty that was slowly disappearing, but I’m pretty sure Guerlain didn’t have anything in their skincare lineup that was going to help.
Oh dear! Ringworm cream. If I were to guess each morning, what might make me laugh on Perfume Posse today, I’d be wrong every time.
Hehehe on the freckles. Why do they think that’s gonna make a sale? I ended up doing the same thing at the sniffa once at BG, because the woman at Laura Mercier steadfastly ignored my assertions that we were NOT going to be putting 15 kinds of preparatory crap on my face before we got to the foundation.
My first and only “professional” makeover was at a MAC counter (the only one in our country then) fifteen years ago or so. I asked for a neutral eye with a pop of purple and left with a bruised look so bad I actually cried on the subway on my way home. Never had a makeover since… I even did my own makeup on our wedding day.
I think I did one makeup application by MAC. It was scary at first because the SA was kinda scary, but she did a beautiful job on me.
It’s so variable. I sometimes watch them do someone else before I let them do anything to me.
Ohmygod. I have been ignoring Le Metier mentions as well….but this stuff does sound amazing! Sort of thankful I have no idea where I would buy this stuff in Canada. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say about the mascara and lip gloss…oh my.
FYI I had extensions as well. I loved/hated them- the hate was when I finally decided to stop the insanity and found I was left with less than half the natural lashes I started with. After much reading and researching I decided to try Rapidlash combined with Mavala Double Lash. 3 months later my lashes are thick, curled and brush against my sun/reading glasses. Will never be without this stuff.
Sorry, sorry!!! :) No Neiman-Marcus in Canada?
so far my extensions seem not to have messed with my real eyelas hes, but I’m using Latisse as well, just because I knew the time was coming when I’d need to stop wearing them. I don’t feel like I have less eyelashes, but mine are so fine and so blonde, how would I know? :)
I’ve never heard of those two products. There are getting to be so many eyelash products on the market now, I have no idea which ones work!
My first makeover was undoubtedly at the hands of my older sister, prolly at age 4, with my mom’s red lipstick. Not necessarily on my lips. Little sadist, she was.
Next came Clinique. Not a full makeover, but likely a little lipstick and blush.
Nowadays, it’s only at Chanel-mostly because the SAs at Nordies are so sweet, and I like chatting. That and at MAC-some of the colors are tricky to combine. Usually I end up taking over, and grabbing brushes. I love me my makeup, and figure I know what to do now.
I do love making up my friends. I have a friend that just found good work after a long hunt. She has never worn makeup. I made her a starter bag (eyeshadows, blush) from my collection, and took her to MAC. The SA had some ideas, I had some, and my friend ended up getting her first lipstick and eyeliner. She looks gorgeous! What fun ; )
I think I’ve loved all of my makeup applications at Chanel, except that first one. I’m not sure what went wrong, except they just wanted to put me in the trendy thing, not what would look good on me.
you’re a good friend, and I’d let you do my makeup any time!
I would love to try a sample of your new foundation! My first makeover was at Bloomingdale’s in suburban Maryland-I was a teenager and it was the height of glam-rock. They cut my hair a la David Bowie (circa Ziggy Stardust) and my makeup looked like Tammy Faye meets Rainbow Brite. Subsequent makeovers have been more demure and successful:)
I have it on again today, and I swear it gets better each successive day you wear it. Well, I’m hoping that’s true! As the woman with at least 20 foundation-like things, it would be lovely to end the constant search.
Yikes, what a makeover! There should be a whole new name for that, t hat’s just a makeup-fest.
Only had 1. Never had the time or money, but once recently in a strange city when I had time, but not necessarily that other thing I let someone at one of the counters do a makeover thing. All went reasonably well until they lined under my eyes as well as on the top with black liner…like right on the tender red lower lid. It was the witchy racoon look in the middle of a not hallowe’en day ..I didn’t have the heart to tell the nice folks I hated this and I scurried off to find a washroom…looking like a strumpet….it was so so harsh…like what were they thinking?
sometimes they’re not. too many just do what they like. It’s like hair, I have to change stylists from time to time to get a new look.
I’ve had a few that have been artists with makeup and just blew me away. Others just have a standard face they put on everyone. :)
Oh I loved all of my first makeovers and became somewhat of a makeup addict because of them. Even back when I was a little kid, 6 years old, I remember sitting in front of the TV completely mesmerized watching the video for Annie Lennox’s “Why”. The way that she transformed herself in that video, her perfect bone structure and expert makeup application left me entranced for life. So I love getting makeovers. I love sitting in the chair and letting the artist do whatever they wish. And sometimes the result is stunning, and sometimes I end up looking like a news anchor from the 90s (blue eyeshadow, red lipstick, the works). The beauty of makeup though is that it always washes off. :)
That is the most fun thing about it – it all washes off. I’ve had a few that I went home and washed off, after screaming in fright. I just think it’s fun to let someone else go and paint you as they see you.
Oh, and Patty, there’s no NM in NYC but BG is the same company so you can plop yourself in there.
Carter, should we talk about Latisse with Patty? Or will we get flamed on here?
Not that you know anything about Latisse. Ohno.
I’m using Latisse! I got it a month ago. Problem is, with the extensions, i can’t tell. But since they’ll be out by the end of next week, and I’ll be using mascara again, I should have some idea how it’s going. My eyelash technician said they were getting thicker, we had a lot more extensions on, and they were getting longer. The one thing I NEED them it to do, nothing will do, which is turn them darker. They are fine and blonde, and only extensions or mascara will turn them. Tinting lasts all of about 8 hours.
Latisse is so great! It’s kind of the reason why I’m wearing the Chanel brown a lot lately, because my eyelashes are so long now that they are actually sabotaging my less-is-more style; they actually look *fake*. That’s why I find myself using the Chanel brown a lot more these days — I find myself almost working against them — and the Full & Soft in black is plenty dramatic. When my current tube of Diorshow dries out (any second now) I won’t be purchasing another.
As for the drugstore thing, all I can say is that just because you haven’t had any luck in the past (neither had I) it sounds to me like you haven’t had much luck anywhere, really, or you wouldn’t be plunking down $125 for some new hope in a jar in Neiman Marcus or Bergdorf or wherever. The mascara from Maybelline is actually better than the expensive ones, and the foundation is very, very good. For anyone reading this who is planning to run out to CVS and fork over eight large on it, just be sure that it’s the Smooooooth Mooooooousse one — all of the names of the Maybelline foundations are ridiculously alike, and I think that a lot of the women reviewing the product on sites like MUA are reviewing the wrong stuff. Don’t get Matt, or the Smoooooooth NOT Moooooooouse, or I can’t be held responsible, ya hear?
Damn! DREAM Smooth Mousse. Is that it? Some combination of those words anyway.
I just came home and am test driving the two lightest colors — the finish is amazing! They’re very smooth. (I also bought two of the light mattes for my greasy-faced daughter.) Since I got them at CVS, I can return whatever doesn’t work. I think the lightest Smooth Mousse is the one for me – Ivory Porcelain? The next one is maybe a hair too dark, although the color itself is lovely. Thanks for the tip.
That’s the shade I’m using, March, the Ivory Porcelain. It just sort of melts right into my skin. I’m so glad you like…the surulls approve are doing a happy dance!
Jayzus! You know what I mean…
As far as foundation, I do have luck! Most of them work really well, but I’m always looking for just that perfect combination of sheerness that lasts well, but doesn’t look made-up or “done.” Some of them do well for a couple of weeks, then I see something that I just don’t like and quit using that one. I’ll try it again later, and it’s fine.
I had this trouble with shampoo, I could use a shampoo and conditioner for about two weeks, did great, then build up started, and it was a mess. The only shampoo and conditioner that doesn’t do that is the pink Kerastase. I’ve used it for about three years now, and it never builds up, my hair loves it, it’s really perfect, so I stick with it, no matter how bored I get (I love trying new products!!!!).
I may try that mascara, though, if this Metier one doesn’t come through for me.
I guess I misunderstood. You mean you *want* to pay $125?
Oh, hell no! I wish they’d sell it for $10, but if it is that good and treats my skin great while giving me decent coverage, which it’s doing so far, then I’ll pay the $125. I just hate layering so much crap on my face – retinol, spf 50, foundation or tinted moisturizer, primer, blah, blah. So if all of that can be in one productd and do it well, yeah!!!
Oops, did I say NM? I meant BG. :)
I’ve never had a makeover and I probably never will. (Never had a a mani or a pedi either, for that matter.) And the older I get, the less makeup I use; I’m with Carla Bruni all the way, baby, when she says that makeup makes you look old. I see her and other French women (except Catherine Deneuve, who looks downright tragic these days) who use minimal, extremely understated makeup and I’m sold. Actually, my fashion and makeup idol was/is the very American Carolyn Bessette Kennedy — she of the pale eye, barely-there blush and strong red lip. Streamlined, sleek and chic to beat the band.
I will spend anything on the right makeup however if it does what I want it to do. I have very particular tastes in lipstick consistency, for example, and I rarely wear anything other than reds, cool pink, and YLBB shades. Neutral eyes always, and no gawd-awful sparkles, not even when I was young. And you know what? I have gotten compliments on my makeup all of my life, from total strangers. Cab drivers looking in rear view mirrors. Fussy, know-it-all hair stylists, even. So I figure I’m on to something quite alright and I’m sticking with it.
I haven’t bought any drugstore makeup in probably twenty-five years…until a few weeks ago. I found myself totally fed up and disgusted with yet another tube of Diorshow drying out on me and decided to check out mascaras on MUA. Based on the reviews there I decided to throw all of my snooty skepticism to the wind and risk a whopping $7 on a tube of Maybelline Full and Soft, and to my complete shock (and awe) it is one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used. It isn’t a dramatic look, but it’s wonderful stuff and, as I mentioned, I’m not into so much into the drama thang anymore anyway. No clumping, no flaking and it stays put all day and then washes off with soap and water. Unfreakingbelievable. I use it daily now and save the Diorshow for the Met and the jazz clubs; when I want a great brown mascara I use Chanel Inimitable Intense because it’s the best brown out there. I haven’t checked out the Full and Soft brown, but if it’s close to Chanels, well, I shall just croak from happiness.
I am so thrilled, in fact, that I went boldly forth to the CVS (twice in two weeks!) and purchased *another* Maybelline product that has garnered rave reviews from the made-up masses: a foundation name of Dream Smooth Mousse and dang if everything isn’t coming up roses once again! See ya, Sensai. So long, Longo. I’ll undoubtedly continue to search for my HG foundation, but at under $10 a pop, little old Maybelline will do me just fine for now.
Carter, I just want to tie you down and do a makeover on you. Or go for a mani/pedi. Or just have coffee…we’ve never met, and somehow I miss you ; )
Honey, I’m all yours! Tie me up, tie me down and make me wear blue eyeshadow!
Carter, I’m glad you made those finds! I’ve never had any luck. I’ve not been anti-drugstore and would love to find things that work for me there, but most just never have. I should try again, but after so many dismal failures of eyeshadow, foundation, mascara, I just can’t bring myself to do it!
Agree with you on the natural part. The older you get, the less makeup you can wear and still look good. It’s diminishing returns. Every year the color I use to line my eyes gets lighter or more neutral, I never use black mascara, which is why the Le Metier appeals to me because it is black-based, but with the colors in it enough to take the black harshness out. Black on my eyelashes is a fright.
but never a mani/pedi?
Nope. No mani, no pedi. I know you (and many others) enjoy the pampering, but I enjoy doing my nails while watching baseball. It’s so zen! I keed…sort of…but the truth is that I like being pampered well enough, just not somewhere where I’ll likely wind up with toe mange. Honestly, I’d rather bungee jump off of Everest. Also, I really do like doing my nails while watching baseball.
Oh, I have to do them. My feet build up callouses on the outside of them like crazy, and during the summer, without the pedis, my feet would just be trashy awful. Nails, my nails split, and I have to do the overlay just to keep them all the same shortish place and looking nontrashy as well.
i like doing my own nails and toes, but I just can’t get them to look anywhere near as good as Liana does.
Carter,
You are now my makeup heroine. I love the French approach, too. Carine Roitfeld and Charlotte Gainsbourg are two of my fashion/beauty icons. But there are some Americans who do the understated very well. I think Angelina Jolie does, and usually Jlo.
I have never found a mascara I can truly say I love, so I’m out to try the Maybelline in brown. BTW, I love the Dream Mousse, too, but my HG foundation is Shiseido The Skincare Tinted Moisturizer, sadly dc’d. And I always do my own nails and toes. I think I have major beauty trust issues…
Yeah, those women know what they’re doing, don’t they? American women for the most part look like circus clowns in comparison. They spend their money on getting their skin in great condition and then they use extremely subtle makeup and they always look amazing. Carla Bruni says that she doesn’t wear any makeup at all, which is hard to believe but I suppose if you look like she does anything is possible.
Hair is the other thing. Great cuts, but not fussy or trendy. God I hate trendy with every fiber of my being. The “it” bag? Geez, don’t get me started. Um, anyway, I love Carine Roitfeld’s hair! It never looks like she does anything to it and it’s always slightly messy and she looks 15 years younger than her real age.
Carter! Just got back from Walgreen’s where I took a chance on Full and Soft and that dreamy smooth mousse. They are fantastic and I’m thrilled, especially with the mascara. Yay! Thanks!
Yay yay! That’s a double yay!