How I learned to do my make up growing up without a mom.

AJ's Book Corner(ABC's)

Title: Chakras. A Beginners Guide to Healing

Author(s): Heidi E. Spear

Link: I'm Reading...

What I’m listening to...

Name of Album: Janet

Artist: Janet Jackson

Favorite Song: Any Time, Any Place

Link: I'm Listening to...

What I’m Watching

Name of Show: Barry on HBO Max

Brief Overview: A show about a hit man who wants to get out of the hit man business and become an actor.

When I was little, I used to play in the middle of the hallway watching my mom do her make up & hair. I was too young to get to learn her techniques, so my learning to do my makeup process in middle and high school was A LOT of trial and error. YouTube wasn’t full of the Jackie Aina’s and Fenty’s like it is today, so I didn’t have that access to tutorials and all that, BUT I DO NOW! So I’m going to take you through the process of how I do my makeup, just something simple for today, with my novice, amateur tail

My skin is very oily skin and hyperpigmented, and sensitive, my face is prone to breakouts in my T-Zone and I get mask-ne because of the great panda-la-bra we’re in, so here we go:

1. Tatcha Silk Canvas(Travel Size), which I use as a primer and a finisher

2. KVD Vegan Beauty Lock it Foundation, I use 76 Deep.

I went to Sephora and tested a couple of different foundations and this worked best for me. I learned to use a beauty blender from one of my best friends and then I transitioned to a foam applicator sponge which I picked up from an Ulta associate. Before I began using a liquid foundation, I was using a power foundation, and looking cakey as hell and this was way before I even discovered concealer.

3. I use Nars concealer in Caramel(Travel Size) for contouring, the dark circles under my eyes, my eyebrows, eye lids and my lips. I also the Fenty Match Stix in Espresso for contouring.

I used to think that concealer went underneath the foundation until a Sephora associate showed me otherwise. I was making all the mistakes LOL! NOW WE BLEND!

4. As I said before I put concealer on my eyelids and lips so it stays in place.

When I would put on a full face to go to work and have it on for over 10 hours it would shift and I would have my eye shadow get into my eyes and it would burn and hurt and cause me to have break outs on my eyelids, so putting concealer on my eyelids holds it in place for me.

5. I use the Nars Climax Mascara in Explicit Black(Travel Size) OOH OOH LOL

6. I use Anatasia Beverly Hills Soft Glam eyeshadow palette:

a. I’m using Rustic for whole lid

b. Fairy for the mid lid

c. And Bronze for right below the eyebrow

When I do my eyeshadow sometimes I use a brush, or my finger, it depends. I don’t wear eye liner for two reasons. 1. I can’t draw a line that well, 2. again it irritates my eyes. I like my eye because they’re similar to my mom’s eyes, and I think I have nice eyelashes. My older brother has beautiful eyelashes, I’m a bit jealous of them but, I like mine as well. And my eyes curve up at the end and if I could do eyeliner, I would have an amazing cat eye, so I’m told. One more thing I like about my eyes is that I have ample eyelid room to play with different eyeshadows.

7. Lip time! I’ll be using Anatasia Beverly Hills lip gloss in Vamp

I really like this lip gloss a lot because it stays glossy, some of my liquid lipsticks can become dry so I would have to put a clear gloss or Vaseline over them so it doesn’t chip.

8. Put on the Tatcha Silk Canvas again to cut down on the oiliness of my face.

9. The final thing is my eyebrows, let’s pray I draw them on straight the first time LOL.

For my eyebrows I use a stencil that I I’ve had for years, I think I purchased them from Sally’s. I can’t freehand my eyebrows, and I don’t like how my natural eyebrows grow so I tweeze and cut them down. I use the KVD Vegan Beauty tattoo liner in Mad Max Brown. What I love about this liner is that it doesn’t come off easily, because your girl sometimes forgets she has makeup on(shrugs) and most liners I tried would smudge at the slightest touch

10. DONE! YAAAAAAAAAAY

Everything I used is linked in Pink if you want to check them out!

I’m happy with how my makeup turned out and being able to find beauty in my natural face for today. Tomorrow it may change up for today I’m feeling myself.

I’m grateful for being able to be a decent learner by watching and not being afraid to experiment. I’m also grateful for my friends who are way better at doing makeup than for showing things.

To thrive in life you need three bones:

A wishbone.

A backbone.

And a funny bone.