Starting up...

[Beautiful]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the site. I am trying to build a makeup collection and improve my technique. I would consider my make-up skills to be very basic. What products should I purchase first?
Right now, I have the following:
Bobbie Brown smooth foundation (almost gone.)
Cover Girl blush and eye shadow (looking to replace these colors)
Maybelline mascara
Ardell's individual falsh eye lashes
eyelash glue
Covergirl lipgloss, victoria secret lip gloss
Black eyeliner

This is basically it. I use my blush and lipgloss (victoria secret) as eyeshadow sometimes. What is the best way to build up a case? Which techniques should I try to master first? TIA

 

[scrapbookromance]

for me when I started building up my collection (which is still rather small) it was all about experimenting and trying. what part of your face do you like to makeup the most? eyes, lips, face, everything?

for me, I loved playing around with my eyes and I've spent about a year working on that part of my makeup collection and technique. Now I'm going to start experimenting with lip products.

I guess what I'm trying to say is work at what you enjoy the most, that way you're less likely to get discouraged, and keep at it! pretty soon you'll have a technique and a collection that works for you in that one area and you can play with other things!

 

[pumpkincat210]

These are my preferences, I would get: All MAC because its my favorite!!
Foundation - I love studio tech
Concealer
eye shadow- mac's eye shadows are the bomb!
eye shadow base- the Paints are great
eyeliner-
mascara-Mascara X
lipliner
lipstick
blush

Look through the tutorials and FOTD section. You'll find LOTS of inspiration there. HTH

 

[Beautiful]

Thanks for the responses! So, basically, I should just buy the make-up for whatever look I want to recreate? thanks for the advice.

 

[user3]

My advice is if you can go to places like MAC counters or other makeup counters and test the products. Find colors you like. Looking in the FOTD section is really helpful for putting together looks or just finding out what colors you like. You can also go into the Swatch forum and make a request. It is in the MAC chat area. It does not have to be a request for MAC either. I can't make any promises that someone might have that color but it is worth a try.

When I first started out I flipped through magazines and looked at pictures online. At the time was no Specktra around and many of the other forums did not have people posting FOTD's so it was a bit hard. That's how I ended up with such a huge collection.

The 3 hardest things to find is a good foundation, concealer and mascara. These are the 3 things I see people looking for the most.

If plan on shopping in the drugstore for things try lines like Milani for eyeshadow, Max Factor, Maybelline and Covergirl for mascara.
For blush the texture varies by company and somtimes even by color.
Covergirl has some nice ones and if you would like to go highend Nars is very nice.


I am going to be posting some Sephora looks in this forum soon so keep an eye out for them.

If you can buy the products to recreate a look that's great! I have bought products to get one look and ended up getting several looks from just a few products.

Also take a look in our Traincase forum. That will give you loads of ideas!


Have fun spreading out your collection and Welcome to Specktra!

 

[xiahe]

here's my 2 cents:

eye shadow- MAC eyeshadows are absolutely WONDERFUL! kinda pricey but i highly suggest looking into them. i also suggest Milani (drug store brand) or NYX if you can find it.

eye shadow base- MAC paints or Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. you could use concealer / powder as a base...i remember for awhile (before i got into MAC paints) i used chapstick as a base and i had no problems with it. L'Oreal DeCrease e/s base is good, too.

eyeliner- MAC fluidline is good, but you also need to purchase a brush to apply it with (i like the 266). this stuff stays on all day...it's kinda hard to remove, but that just proves how good this stuff is. fluidline is a godsend for me. if you want pencil, i recently discovered Rimmel (drug store brand) automatic pencil liners - they have a built in sharpener so you'll never have to sharpen it like you would with a wooden e/l pencil. i have this e/l in Aubergine which is a dark purple and it's GORGEOUS.

mascara- Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara or L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara

blush - NARS Orgasm blush. ♥

 

[kat121085]

If you want to recreate the more complicated eye looks, it's prob a good idea to get some nice brushes (Sephora sets are pretty cheap but will give you a nice assortment to play around with till you know which ones you'll really need). If you like eyeliner, I'd recommend getting a flat eyeliner brush. It's one of my favorite tools and lets me use the shadows I have as eyeliner (also a cash saver

. You can get a terrific thin line just using a shadow wet.

 

[pink__grapefruit]

These are (what i seem to think) are essentials to any makeup collection.
1) a good foundation and concealer. ( i use bare minerals)
2) depending on your skintone a blush and/or bronzer (i use peachykeen by MAC and Carribean in a Compact by TooFaced)
3) a good mascara (if your looking to dish out some good money i suggest DiorShow and Hypnose by Lancome, if not Great Lash by Maybeline)
4) a good highlighter (i use 2, tan and light silver?, it depends on what looks your doing)
5) nice colored eyeshadows (mac has the best finnishes and selection)
6) A good eyeshadow base, i like Beige-ing shadestick because it goes with pretty much everything
and 7) good brushes. I like sephoras just bcause they're not as expensive as MAC's, but they're still good quality. For drugstore brands i like Sonia Kashuk from Target. Just a blush brush, and a few eyeshadow brushes should do

<3 hope that helps
Oh, and i didn't mention eyeliner, because i never use it, you may or may not. For eyeliner if i ever do use it, i use Black Tied eyeshadow with a 266 (slant tip) brush by MAC!

 

[Noire]

I wouldn't start by buying things to recreate a look unless it is a look you think you will wear a lot.

I started with some basics, even for eyeshadows, and then added things here and there that would really bring out my eyes or that I loved the color and texture of.

Good foundation and brushes are an important start (assuming you want to wear foundation - otherwise just a concealer). 2 blushes, maybe an everyday one like Tenderling, and something else, like a pink or peach, would be a good start. Ask to try them on, and look at them in different light before you buy.

If you want to try something more exciting, ask for a sample, or ask to try it on at the counter. The crazy fun variety can come later, once you have a good set of versatile products you love. Fluidlines and paints are good for an eye base, eyeshadow, or liner. You can ask for samples of these to make sure you like them.

Blush and lip products aren't usually safe to use on your eyes, so check out the product safety forum for more information about that. You can use eyeshadow on your cheeks safely though, so buy an eyeshadow if you want it for both.

You can get a few eyeliners for cheap if you go with something like Wet and Wild. They aren't as nice as MAC, but until you know what you like, you could experiment with them and get variety without spending much.

Hope that helps a bit... don't be afraid to experiment, and above all, have fun!

~Noire

 

[joytheobscure]

I began a high end makeup collection last January- before that I had a decent revlon/maybelline selection... But I really recommend:
Mac paint (bare canvas-my favorite for a base)
mac eyeshadows (huge selection you can't beat it )
mascara I use about anything
fluidline eyeliners (if you wear black start with blacktrack)
lipstick - maybe three or four basic shades
blush- I had one or two for ages and I really don't buy tons of blushers even now.
This is my first year "obsessing" and I really buy a lot of shadows.. I love shadows they do so much and a decent brush set, hey I bought a Mary Kay brush set on ebay which works until I can move up and work on mac brushes. Have fun!

 

[swaly]

When I started my makeup collection, I really only just reached to purchase things that somehow struck my fancy. I wasn't too strict about getting one of each kind or anything, I just got the colors and products that I was genuinely interested in. That said, you pretty much have the "necessary basics" anyhow, so you'd be fine branching out and getting fun colors or higher-end products or something.

 

[MACisLOVE]

when i got into MAC i started off with..
studio fix
bare canvas paint
MAC eyeshadow palette
powerpoint eyeliner
zoomlash