Lunachat
What was the first item of makeup that you remember seeing as a child?
I remember going into my grandmother’s purse to sneak gum or tic tacs and finding a little sample avon lipstick at the bottom. It was so cute and just my size, being maybe six years old, so of course I couldn’t resist slathering it onto my lips and probably most of my chin. I recall it being a terrible orange/red shade, but at that moment, I was Wonder Woman and Miss America all rolled into one.
Who did you admire as someone that you thought was a role model for beauty?
I have to say, my mother. She knew the ins and outs of eye shadow, nail polish and lipstick. Everyone told me how beautiful she was and I’m sure they shook their heads at me during puberty, thinking, what went wrong there? I found myself trying to reproduce her looks on myself and failing miserably. She could rock the red lips and nails like no one I know.
When were you allowed to purchase or apply your own makeup?
I was always told that I wasn’t allowed to wear makeup until I was a teenager. However, I sneaked into my mothers stash as often as I could get away with it and anything that she threw away, I would rescue from the trash and horde in my bedroom. A rather drying red lip pencil that was rescued in this manner came in very handy during my Madonna phase. It wasn’t until my second roller-skating competition that I had convinced my mother that all the other girls were wearing makeup to make their faces light up on the floor while they skated. Yes, I roller skated competitively in fourth and fifth grade. She reluctantly agreed and I piled on as much of the blue and green eye shadow, red blush and shiny lipgloss that I could fit on the surface area of my face. Wow, what a nightmare. But, we all start somewhere.
What is the worst beauty product that you’ve used and hated with the heat of a thousand suns?
Growing up with terrible, terrible options for foundation, there weren’t many options for me. I am very pale with pink undertones. Most of the Maybelline, Cover Girl and Loreal foundations were way too dark and way too orange on me. I was, of course, convinced that I needed the full coverage and proceeded to slather that gloopy orange mess all over my face and neck to prevent the obvious orange line at my jawline. I can’t tell you how many shirts I ruined with that terrible foundation. It was the 80′s and tanning was king, so I guess makeup companies never thought that anyone needed a range of lighter foundations.
If you had a daughter, what would you say/do when she began asking about wearing makeup?
I feel that once a woman-to-be sets her mind about something, she will make it happen. I would sit down and explain how to apply cosmetics appropriately and make recommendations that she steer clear of full coverage foundations to preserve that beautiful youthful skin. I’d probably try to persuade her to use more neutral colors with a pop of color on her lips and nails. Honestly, I would be supportive however she wished to express herself from dewey angel to gothic vampire. Beauty is a journey and I’ve learned so much along the way that I would never stand in the way of anyone experiencing those moments of self discovery, however tragic. And I’d take loads of incriminating photographs.
What is the one product that, if you could, you would build a replicator to reproduce it and never run the risk of it leaving your beauty stash or being discontinued?
Makeup comes and goes and keeps improving every year. There are many products that I love, but I am completely open to seeing the next stage of improvement. That being said, I think the mold has been broken with the Urban Decay Naked palette. I can’t think of any one palette of eye shadow that I would go to time and time again. Without question, if I were trapped on a dessert island and could only have one piece of makeup, it would be that beautiful palette that is capable of running the gamut from subtle to dramatic. I swear when I flip open that magnetic lid, I hear angels singing.
Why begin a beauty blog?
I am very late to the concept of beauty blogs, having recently discovered them myself. I do follow quite a few, but found myself upset with one aspect or another. I feel there was no one go-to blog for me. Someone who had great product reviews would have terrible pictures. Others were very technically impressive, but wrote like a twelve year old. The hardest for me were the ones that were great writers, provided fantastic reviews for products, and backed up the post with stunningly beautiful pictures because they had one fatal flaw for me, they looked nothing like me. From these ladies, I can read that a product goes on smoothly and has a great staying power of 8 hours, but I get no perspective of how this product will look on me. Through this blog, I want to attempt to provide reviews for a wider audience. I hope to show products for red-heads, blondes, brunettes, blue eyes, green eyes, color changing eyes, thin lips, full lips, average lips, Long, short and medium length nails, cool and warm skin tones. Every woman reading a review thinks the same thing, “how will that look on me?” Admittedly, I can’t show every type of woman on the earth, but I will get as close as I can with the help of my friends and this blog, making beauty less of a mystery for women of all types. Beauty Decrypted.
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