Recession-Proof Ways to Revamp Your Look
Beauty Digest, Editor's Letter, Features, Nails, cosmetics No Comments »
The beginning of a new year is many things to many people. A time to reflect on the past. A time to examine our errors and triumphs. A time to shed our old skins; to blossom and expand to new heights. A time to…. clean out our make-up drawers?
While sorting through your old lipsticks might not seem as much a life-affirming process as, say, deciding to take up yoga or learning a new language, going through your cosmetics cache can be a great (and economical) way to update your look. Aside from re-discovering that awesome eye shadow you bought years ago and promptly forgot about, taking a closer look at your previously neglected goodies can turn up some new and unexpected results! Below are some ideas on how to use old products creatively to get a fabulous new look, all without breaking the bank.
Lips:
- Lipsticks and glosses are some of the easiest cosmetic items to mix. A bright red can quickly be toned down by a nude gloss, or deepened to a vampy wine by mixing in that leftover black lippie from Halloween.
- Love the color but hate the texture? Create a sheerer version of your dry old lipstick by mixing it with a soft lip balm like Smith’s Strawberry Lipbalm, or even Vaseline.
- Add some (food safe) body shimmer to a flat shade for new depth and dimension. You can also use powdered eye shadows and blushes… your imagination’s the limit!
- Sample jars and pill boxes make great containers for your new creations. Some drugstores also sell inexpensive contact lens cases, which is a compact way to carry 2 colors at once.
- To create your custom colors, just shave some lipstick or smear some gloss into the container, then microwave the container on low power at 10-second intervals just until everything is melted (make sure there’s no metal in it!). Mix thoroughly with a toothpick until well blended.
Eye shadow:
- Using a primer or skin-toned cream shadow as a base can really make colors pop. Plus, it helps loose glittery particles stay put. We love Urban Decay’s Primer Potion, but remember to slice open that tube at its widest point after it “runs dry”… you’ll find twice as much primer hiding in there!
- Foiling can also drastically change the look of your eye shadow. This technique is typically used for lining the eyes, and involves dampening your shadow brush with something prior to picking up and applying the shadow. This helps the shadow go on more vibrantly, stay on longer, and, in the case of many mineral eye shadows, gives you flashes of gleaming color that just don’t show up when applied dry.
- You can foil shadows using water, eye drops, or even a homemade mixing medium. To create this, mix 1 part glycerin (available at drug stores) with 3 parts water in a small bottle. Shake it up to mix, and you’re set. You’ll only need a few drops at a time, so keep your batches small.
Blush:
- A common reason blushes get tossed in the reject pile is that they’re too intense. These blushes can easily be by a fiber-optic brush, which combines long fluffy fiber optic strands with shorter, sturdier traditional brush hairs. These delicate brushes deposit just a hint of color, making application of even the most pigmented shades practically foolproof.
- Try mixing a powder blush with a dab of moisturizer or serum to create a cream blush that will give you a sheer healthy glow. You can also add a bit of shimmer to liven up a drab shade, or combine it with a drop of foundation to tone down an otherwise Bozo-esque color.
Foundation & Powders:
- Aside from the standby trick of mixing foundation with your day cream to create a custom-blended tinted moisturizer, foundation can also help contour and emphasize your bone structure. A too-light foundation can be dabbed lightly on the brow-bone, along the bridge of the nose, or at the cheekbones as a barely-there highlighter. Likewise, a too-dark shade (preferably in a powder formulation) can be applied just under the cheekbone or in the eye lid crease to create subtle dimension.
- If you’ve found your perfect shade of foundation, you may be well on your way to having a perfect nude pout as well! Often, foundation applied alone to the lips ends up looking too washed out and corpse-like. But, mix that base with a soft gloss (either pink or peach, depending on your coloring) and you’ll end up with a perfect, flattering nude shade.
When it comes to reinventing your look, it doesn’t have to cost big bucks, or even involve a trip to the mall. Often, we already have everything we need in our bathroom cabinets and vanity drawers to break out of a cosmetics rut and try out new trends and textures. So go on and rummage through that stash of yours, and embrace the New Year with an arsenal of creative new makeup ideas!
Brain Spam: http://leftoverluncheonmeat.blogspot.com
:::::::::: A girl. A blog. A helluva lot of products. ::::::::::
Oh those glorious warm filled days are almost upon us, and I for one can’t wait. I’m such a warm weather girl. Warm weather sure makes a girl feel good, but sometimes the maintenance to keep that gorgeous bronze goddess look you’ve got going on takes a lot of work.No worries. Our lovely ladies from The Beauty Blog Network have come to your rescue with warm weather tips for hair and makeup. So you can get back to looking all gorgeous at the pool, beach, resort. Just anywhere you happen to be at the moment is a warm weather beauty moment just waiting to happen. Me? I’ll be slaughtering on that SPF 75 sunscreen to keep those wrinkles and freckles at bay. Wanna be a goddess beauty for a long long time…..enjoy!
