The Basics

For all those who are asking how to start with make up when all you have in your purse are lip gloss and pressed powder, here's a post based on my experience and research.


But before I hit bull's eye, let's go around circles first. It matters why you would want to wear make up. Ask yourself why you need or want it. As for me, I have been keen on face tint when I was still in secondary school. I used to watch my mom dressing up and putting tint on her face everytime she goes to work. Her lifestyle had changed though, now that she is helping my dad in his factory. So now, she doesn't wear make up because she has to deal with dust everyday.  To cut it short, know why you would want to wear make up and start from there. It may be depending on your lifestyle, your job, or you just simply feel good wearing make up.

As for my present job, yes, I require myself to wear make up everyday because first, I look like a 16-year old girl explaining to expats what our product is, when my face is all bare. I am a frontliner, I'm in sales, and I feel good wearing make up and looking at myself in the mirror. Plus the fact that I  had a formal education in advanced make up. That gives me a good reason why I allot 15 minutes of my time daily, to put my make up on. But ey, I don't wear make up when I am just at home. Not everyday is a photoshoot. I allow my skin to breathe during my off days, and that's a good practice to keep your skin healthy.

So much for intro, let's go to the real thing. First, you have to know your skin type. If you feel that your skin feels tight after washing, then you may have dry skin. If you feel that oil is coming out every single minute of the day even if the weather is cold, then you may be having oily skin. If you have dry skin on some areas of your face, and oily on the T-zone, then we are one and the same, we have combination skin type. After knowing this, you already have an idea, which products to purchase.

Cleanser, toner and moisturizer are part of the deal. These will allow your skin to prepare before applying make up.

For starters, here's what you need: (my recommendations too)

Liquid foundation - Mac studio fix fluid / Revlon Photoready / Lorea'l
Concealer in a pot - Mac / VOV
Pressed/Loose powder - Shu Uemura loose powder/ Mac Blot powder / Maybelline 2-way foundation
Neutral Eyeshadow palette - Revlon Custom Eyes / In2it / Nyx Neutral palette
Eyelash Curler - anything from department store (but Cala at Landmark is the best) or Sasatine at Sasa
Mascara - Covergirl Lash Blast or Maybelline
Liquid Eyeliner - Kate or Revlon color stay liquid pen
Tinted Lipgloss or Lipstick (closest to your lip color) - Benefit / Smashbox / Nyx / Chanel
Blush Palette / Cheek tint - Bodyshop / In2it / Sephora / Benetint

When choosing the right foundation, discover what would work best your skin type, and of course, know your budget. But then I would strongly suggest to splurge on your base (foundation, concealer and powder). There's no point of having the perfect smokey eyes if you cannot cover uneveness. The skin is the most crucial part when you are doing your make up. There are few drugstore brands that can offer good quality.

The secret is to make things simple, then gradually add some spice. You don't need a drastic change. A little bit of here and there will make things better. In addition, you have to make sure that you know your make up very well. Cosmetics too, need understanding and require a good relationship.

P.S. please do not get frustrated when liquid eyeliner is not very friendly to you. Remember, practice makes perfect!