Sunday, March 17, 2013

Does the world really need another makeup blog?

Maybe not, but my reasons for writing this are purely personal and not for the betterment of mankind. If I can help someone decide whether or not a makeup product is worth getting or better left on the store shelf I will be very pleased with myself and happy I have been able to help. Admittedly though, my main reason for starting this blog is because I love to talk about makeup and while my husband is incredibly thoughtful and kind and will listen to me ramble all day, I know he would much rather talk about something else, so I thought it might be better to have a separate outlet for my makeup conversations, however one sided they may be.


As of the writing of this post I am in my 30s and have had an on again/off again love affair with makeup since my late teens/early 20s. The off part started in my late 20s when I realized my husband really didn't care if I was wearing makeup or not, and since I have always had a problem with eyeshadow creasing and lipstick wearing off my lips in less than attractive ways, not wearing makeup didn't seem like a bad idea. The rediscovered love of makeup started a couple of years ago when one Christmas I asked my husband if he would get me one of the makeup kits from Wal-Mart after they put them on clearance the next day. You see, my health is not what it once was (I have fibromyalgia) and the activities I am able to do are much more limited, and while this has not led to depression it has led to boredom, and lots of it. I had been looking at my Kevyn Aucoin books about makeup and remembering how much I had enjoyed all of the colorful eyeshadows and lipsticks and thought to myself, even if I can't make it look as nice as the pictures in these books, just looking at colorful things always makes me happy. My husband very kindly got me a makeup kit the next day and the improvement in mood from having something I enjoyed so much available to me again prompted him to go back the following day and buy another one because he believes the more options I have available to me, the better the makeup as therapy works. He may be right and I'm not going to complain if my husband randomly buys me makeup when he sees something new and colorful on clearance.

Since we are on a tight budget, the makeup reviewed on the blog will mostly be drugstore, although exceptions are always possible (my parents and my husband's parents do occasionally give me makeup as they know how much I enjoy it). They will also most likely also be from the core lines of the brands as any limited edition stuff I might get will probably be gone from store shelves by the time I manage to form an opinion about it, although exceptions could happen there as well as some limited edition stuff really isn't that limited. A lot of my makeup does come from the Dollar Tree so I will try to keep anything from there limited to stuff they seem to have all of the time, like L.A. Colors or things you can still find elsewhere, like e.l.f. which also frequently shows up there. There may also be cases where I review something that isn't available from a brand anymore, but I will explain why I am reviewing it anyway as some brands don't seem to really have a core line or only sell things in kits (as far as I can tell) that change on a regular bases but the quality of the things in the kits may not.

When reviewing makeup there will be certain attributes covered and others skipped because I find that sometimes opinions given on how good a makeup product is doesn't always have a lot to do with how well it actually preforms. I will say whether or not the makeup will be part of my day makeup (makeup I would actually wear out of the house) or middle of the night makeup (makeup I play with when I am up all night either because of pain or having slept all day because of previous pain). It will probably be a very rare thing for me to say that something is completely worthless unless it truly doesn't actually work (like the one nail polish I have that doesn't dry at all).

Example Attributes Considered:

Eyeshadow:

Cost: (Without any discounts)
Crease time without primer:
Crease time with e.l.f. eyeshadow primer:
Fade time without primer:
Fade time with e.l.f. eyeshadow primer:
Fallout on to the rest of the face:
Can two colors from the same brand be blended together:
Can I actually see the color on the lid:
Day or Night makeup: Basically if I say it is a day makeup then that means I think it is worth buying based on what I consider good, please keep in mind that what I consider good may not be the same thing as what you consider good, also keep in mind that most of my makeup cost $1 or less. If I say it is night makeup, I still think it is worth me having, but others would probably want to stay away from it.
Tips: I will include any tips for making the product work better if it isn't great on its own, like using a cream eyeshadow under a powder eyeshadow to make the color show better. I am by no means saying that I am the creator of these tips and if I can remember who I heard them from (if it isn't common knowledge) I will try and link them.

Swatches will be shown as applied with the fingers on forearm and a second set will be shown as applied with a brush since in general most people I have seen apply makeup don't use their fingers. There will also be with and without primer swatches so you can look forward to at least four swatches per color. If an eyeshadow includes a primer in the palette the crease and fade times without primer will be changed to with the primer included in the palette.

I am using the $1 e.l.f. eyeshadow primer as my standard primer that will be used for all eyeshadow reviews for consistency sake and because if you are getting into makeup on a budget, $1 is pretty budget friendly. It is widely available through Target and the www.eyeslipsface.com/ website. I have very oily eyelids and most eyeshadow creases on me somewhere between one to two hours; with the e.l.f. eyeshadow primer some eyeshadows have gone 10 hours without creasing although the color may not be as intense by the end of the day. Since creasing is for me the biggest problem with eyeshadow that is what I am most focused on. Besides, I am sure almost any eyeshadow could work if a good enough primer and base were used.

As different types of makeup are reviewed I will come up with different standard attributes considered, but as this is already becoming a very long post so I will not be including any additional ones here.

I do ask for patience on the part of my readers; fibromyalgia does mean that I can lose a month or two of time to nearly continuous pain and since my fibromyalgia includes daily migraines and IBS-A, things happen a little more slowly for me than other review sites you may frequent. Just know that I will always do my best as that is all I really feel you can ask of anyone.

Thank you for your time.

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