How I Really Learned To Make Up My Face...or...I aint gots no tricks cos I aint no ho.

This entry is for Miss Mary over at Gothcupcake. For serious...go check her out...she's rad as hell...and looks fabulous in a tutu or three. While your at it...also check out her Etsy shop. You can find her stuff on me in some of the pictures scattered around my blog...most often the little kawaii skull ring...I wear it almost every day.

This is also an homage to all the people that have contributed to my make-up obsession. In a good way...
I have learned a lot from just playing around with what I have...and consequently looking quite foolish from time to time...but recently I started watching some of the gurus on Youtube. The tips, tricks and techniques I have gotten from them are seriously invaluable. I have always been a make-up junky...since I was allowed to start wearing it at age 12 (many MANY years ago...), but if I have any skill, it's from these last few months and the things I've learned during my recent obsession.

Can I tell you first that I love the SHIT out of Blogger.com? My Firefox just sharted and I thought I lost EVERYTHING I just typed. I would have been SO PISSED! But I didn't, and again the murderous rage ebbs.

All of the people I am going to mention here have links to their Youtube channels in their names. Go check them out! Comment, subscribe and rate...they very much deserve it. In with the makeup tutorials...a lot of them do product reviews that I have also gotten a lot out of. Many of them do basics (for those of you that are R-tarded like I am...) so it doesn't matter what skill level you start out at.

Frantastic Makeup

This gal is the first I found. I was clicking about Youtube one day...looking for something make-up related...and stumbled upon some eyeshadow tutorials that she had posted. I was amazed because I didn't even know that people DID this kind of thing...you know...other than like I did...mouthing words into their bathroom mirror while I made myself late for work in the morning. Her stuff is so gorgeous...SHE is so gorgeous...totally worth watching every video.

Petrilude

I can't BEGIN to tell you how much I love this guy. He's so beautiful...and does the most amazing regular and drag makeup I have ever seen. He also has a fantastic personality, is funny and so much fun to watch.

Xsparkage

Another one of my favorites. If you have seen my blog...you can tell how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE bright nasty out there colors...and thus why I appreciate this this girl SO MUCH. She also has a great personality and is really really good at what she does.

MissChievous

This channel has a ton of great looks...from basic and pretty to absolute nasty rocker-inspired hairdos and makeup tutorials. She also does quite a bit of nailpolish reviews...and we all know how addicted I am to nailpolish...

Pixiewoo/Fashon Face TV

Two sisters and makeup right down the line. From high end M.A.C and Illamasqua products to drugstore brands, these two give a bit of everything. They are both amazing at what they do, gorgeous...and have fabulously soothing accents to listen to.

These are seriously just a very few. Click around...look at these guy's favorites and friends. I also found a ton of people by just following the network around.

The second part of this entry...I promised to showcase some of my tricks to getting some REALLY good makeup for not a ton of money. I work a shitty retail job...most of the things I get...I get in stages. A little here, a little there...and I rely, as I said above, quite heavily on reviews of makup artists that I respect.

I will also say, that I have tried a TON of brands. From the industry standards (M.A.C and the like) to drugstore stuff like Rimmell and Maybelline...I can tell you with the utmost conviction, that you do NOT need to spend a ton of money to get quality makeup. It takes a bit of searching and weeding out...but I have found some brands that are as good, and in many cases much better, as something you would pay $14.50 an eyeshadow pot for *cough M.A.C cough*. (What can I say? I was unimpressed.)

Glittersniffer

I pimp this lady so much...I should probably have a contract. I first met her on DIYScene.com...my favorite crafting forum. From the second I clicked on her shop, I fell in love with the absolutely CRAZY colors she sold. Every one is beautiful, and every one I have purchased is fabulous. There is not one I am unhappy with...and my undying and voiciferous love has found it's way onto many an internet forum.

Coastal Scents

Second only to my Glittersniffer love is Coastal Scents. I put up a blog a while ago with a giant haul I got from their website. Their palettes are amazing. The colors are just fabulous...there is so much pigment in them...that you hardly need to use much. At an average of $25 for a CRAPTON of eyeshadows...you can make a look for every day of the year. If you want a truely incomparable value, check out their loose micas section. Normal people (note: normality is not necessarily a virtue in my world) buy them to mix their own cosmetics. Not me, I buy them for eyeshadow. You get a full ounce jar for around $4 (depending on the color). That's enough to use, share with your friends, paint the town, and then make a bottle of nailpolish to match.
This is also a great place to start buying brushes (which I will talk about in a minute). I have a couple and I love them. They are great quality and very inexpensive.

Heavenly Naturals

Another Etsy brand...I just recently tried out some of their stuff. I use the black gel liner EVERY DAY. There is a more "normal" selection of colors...and I really did like the shadows I picked up. I will definitly get more in the future.

NYX

This is another great brand. While a tad more expensive than the other stuff I've listed, if you look around, there are some fabulous deals. I love their blush...and the jumbo eye pencils are just amazing. They work as eyeshadow, eyeliner...base for OTHER eyeshadow...just fabulous.

Now, it's not to say that all I use are cheaper brands. (I just won't buy any more M.A.C...) If you are willing to spend a tiny bit more...and in some cases...for what you get it's not much more...there are some amazing brands out there. Most notably: Kryolan and Mehron. These two, along with Ben Nye cosmetics, are professional stage makeup (Ben Nye did the makeup for Cats).

One last thing and I will end this "more information than I'm sure anyone wanted" blog.

Brushes: What you need, and how to find them cheap.

I said before that Coastal Scents is a great place to find brushes cheap, believe it or not, so is your local craft store. Look in the Leow Cornell section (fairly well known...I get mine at Michael's) for their Maxine's Mop brushes. I have a 3/4 inch which is great for putting on general eyeshadow and a 1/4 inch which is good for lining under your eyes and getting in the corners. The only other brush that I use often enough to reccomend is a blending brush. Something like >this< is great for crease work, highlighting and, of course, blending the shit out of all the nasty colors you just put on your face. (It's important folks.) I have a few others...and I use them...but when they are that cheap, it's good to have a few of the same so you don't have to clean them every night (like when you want to use green the day after you used neon pink).

Alright...I think I have talked enough. This blog took me like two hours or something dumb like that. Damn I am one verbose bitch. I hope it was informative! Comment and pass me along!

The end!