I’m so fortunate, my neighbor and friend is a professional makeup artist who worked for magazines with some high end models! He is great and very kind.
I can ask him for an advice but it’s all a bit lost on me since I don’t do much. I think it’s important to understand what look you would want and your face structure when booking a consultation.
I started to use a bronzer a few months ago for the first time in my life. I gained a few pounds and my face became a bit flat (to me), I wanted to emphasize cheek bones a bit. I don’t like to use much eyeshadow, just a bit in the middle for a touch of light.

This turned into such an interesting discussion! Thanks again all. LJP and Angie, again I really appreciate the practical advice! I am on mobile and am having trouble scrolling back and forth to mention others by name but I am really grateful for your advice and will be combing through this thread to check out the various shows, instagrammers, brands etc that have been mentioned.

I also really enjoyed hearing people’s stories about how they learned to do makeup. You all are cementing my hunch that a lot of this knowledge gets transmitted very implicitly/by “osmosis”/etc. I am reminded of a comment that I think Greyscale made a while back about feeling out of place with certain elements of feminine culture. That phrase really struck me so it has stuck with me and I’ve pondered it off and on since.

I’m also interested to see that I’m in such good company with others who feel unskilled in the makeup department. For those posters, I hope this thread will provide some useful advice if you want to learn more. I hope it will NOT make you feel like you have to or should improve your makeup skills though! I really want to emphasize that I think this is all totally optional! Makeup, no makeup, minimal makeup, full face, it’s all good!

I didn’t learn a thing about makeup until I started acting. I’m still not super adept with anything elaborate—winged eyeliner, extreme contouring—but feel pretty confident applying basic makeup. Doing makeup with cast mates has affirmed for me that almost no one really *knows* what they’re doing, and many of us are winging it!

La Ped, interesting to hear the overlap between theater & everyday makeup.

Sarah, repeating myself here. If you go to the counter for a specific brand, you’re (pretty much) obligated to buy something from that brand and you don’t get info on how it compares to other brands. There are stores that carry Estée Lauder, Clinique, MAC, Bobby Brown and other well-known brands that will compare them for you. I found that invaluable, much prefer it to trying out multiple brands by spending $$$.

LaPed somehow it is also reassuring to know that everybody is just winging it!

StagaireFash, yeah, going to a specific brand counter vs. a store that sells many brands is a tradeoff for sure. I will say, echoing other posters, that in the past I've found Sephora very chaotic and the associates' advice not super in line with the look I'm trying to create. I guess my theory is that the technique for applying, say, powder eye shadow should be more or less the same regardless of whether the eyeshadow you are applying comes from Estee Lauder or MAC. So, since I am looking for advice on *technique* rather than products, identifying a brand that is more in line with my aesthetic (and thus more likely to teach me techniques that help achieve that aesthetic) makes the most sense to me as a first step here.

I've never used much, but used foundation since 3rd grade (back around 1970) because after moving to a new neighborhood, I was walking home from school and some creeps in a car threw an empty glass bottle at me, yelling "Welcome to the neighborhood (racial slur for white people)" Bottle hit the fence behind me and shattered, sending a piece of glass into my face. I was less than a block from home, so put my mitten on it to stem the bleeding. Told my mom I fell off my bike (we had just moved in a few weeks b4, knew we didn't have the ability/$$$ to find somewhere else to live quickly.) It left a 2+ inch long scar on my face, which I still have today, 50+ years later. I've found that using 1 finger to 'pat' the liquid over it, do the same with my nose (large pores) and put a 2nd coat on the scar, blend with fingers works best. Also frustrated I was born with 'half-eyebrows' Looks like I deliberately tweezed, razored off, ugh! So I need to use an eyebrow pencil to have it look normal. Powder doesn't work well for me. Seems everytime I find one I like it gets discontinued, ugh!

I grew up watching my Mum apply makeup every day. When I was 14, I went to a grooming and deportment holiday program at a modelling agency. It was super fun, we had gorgeous teachers introduce us to skin and hair care and makeup applications. After that, I would wear a very natural and light makeup. In my late teens, I got the ultimate part-time job working for Clarins whilst being a university student. There I was regularly sent to courses on giving facials and applying makeup, but as a product that focused on skincare, it was always about highlighting a natural skin.

My advice is to go to a department store and see if there is a consultant who you like how they have applied their own makeup. I would have a chat to them and book in for a consultation. Generally the make up application is free, but it is nice to buy two or more products as that means the time spent by the consultant with you is time well spent by them. I would get them to write down the products used and a map of how to apply.

Generally it is good to start smaller and build your routine up. You need to consider what you want to achieve. Pictures help stylists know the look you are trying to achieve. If I were to go to a stylist, I would pick a celebrity with similar colouring to me and see what picture appeal regarding their makeup.
Do you want to
- even out your complexion
- defined cheekbones, lips, eyes…
- a healthy glow
- facial contouring
Makeup is a tool and you can play with different looks, much like changing up hairstyles.

It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the products. Moisturizer! Primer! Foundation! Sunscreen! Cover stick! Setting spray!

That's before you even get to lips and eyes, and I haven't mentioned all the bronzers, blushers, highlighters, color correctors, etc.

I find that the more my face ages, the richer the moisturizer I want to use, and therefore makeup can just slide off. I no longer do any eyeshadow because crepe-y eyelids and eyeshadow are not friends.

There is something about the foundation brush made by Il Makiage that really is somewhat magical. And the slanted eyeliner brush by Mommy Makeup is marvelous as well, if you use gel liner.

Interesting fact: when I was doing crisis counseling by text, a number of texters cited makeup videos as something they would watch to calm down.

Thanks for posting this! Saving for later as makeup is something I’m interested in learning in 2023 (also as a clueless almost 49yo…). I have the advantage of teen girls with lots of colour palettes to play with, which hopefully they will share as freely as their opinions

Oh gosh, doggeh lover, I'm so sorry that happened to you. That attack sounds terribly traumatic. I am with you in the "barely has any eyebrows" club.

Bijou how fascinating that you have had formal training in this area! Very good point to go in with an idea of what I'm trying to achieve.

April there are so very many possibilities out there, aren't there?? Excellent reminder that the tools, not just the products, are important. I don't use foundation or liquid eyeliner but those sound like very helpful tools that you mentioned.

Jules do keep us updated on the results of your experiment. I will try to do the same!