Non-Drugstore-Brand Makeup = LOVE

I loveity-love-love makeup, and always have. Given my super-brokeness, most of the makeup in my current stash is of the $3 easy, breezy, beautiful variety, but I love playing around with it all the same.

(Side note: I think part of being a makeup aficionado is going through some tragic stages. I went through a period during ninth or tenth grade where I wore liquid eyeliner and glitter eyeshadow as part of my regular makeup routine. To school, during the day, every day. Please, somebody out there, console me and tell me I'm not alone!)

Anyway, I was really excited about my makeup trial in Pittsburgh, especially because the artist I was trying had a really nice-looking portfolio. I brought along this photo of my #1 girl crush, Christina Hendricks, who in addition to being a voluptuous bombshell goddess, has coloring pretty similar to mine.


(Source.)

I went in looking like this...


AAAAHHH I am putting this on the Internet for people to look at freely!

And came out like this!




Woooo! My eyebrows are a hot mess in this picture! I was waiting until Bridesmaid Erica's wedding to get them waxed.


Recognize this one?

It didn't end up looking that much like C-Hen, I don't think, but not for lack of trying. Julie, the makeup artist, started out with that glam, silvery cat's-eye thing Christina's got going on, but I kind of hated it on me, so she added some other shades to soften it up a little. Overall, I really loved what she did, and booked her right there on the spot! It also held up through the entire day and several hours of St. Patrick's Day festivities with two of our groomsmen later that night, so thumbs up all around!

What look were you going for in your first ideas for makeup? Did you stick to it, or change it up a little?

Wearing Ivory to the Wedding

Let me tell you something: I am PALE. How pale? The only makeup I use has names like "lightest ivory" and "alabaster." Once, when I was wearing a skirt, my friend asked me where I had gotten my tights--she thought I was wearing white stockings (ha ha, NOPE! Just my natural skin tone, girlfriend!) I have never in my life gotten a tan, partially because I am basically incapable and partially because I hide from the sun for fear of burns. I could give the Cullen family a run for their money.

Don't believe me? Check out this photographic evidence of myself, Mr. O, and Groomsman/Brother Adam, in which it is clear that I am literally a different color than the two of them:



Or this one of Bridesmaid Clara and me (I choose not to explain anything else about this picture):


When I was younger, I used to be embarrassed about it, but not anymore. I have embraced my ivory complexion. I think it's pretty, and I am definitely not going to try any kind of real or artificial tanning for the wedding. So, now I'm thinking about what kind of makeup would complement my skin tone best. I've been perusing the Internet for pictures of celebrities who, like me, have blonde/reddish hair, blue eyes, and cool (i.e. pink) undertones to their skin. Here's what I've come up with:

Kirsten Dunst

(Source.)

Nicole Kidman

(Source.)

Lindsay Lohan (who is a train wreck these days, but, if you remember, used to be fierce as hell)



(Both from here.)

Amy Adams

(Source.)


(Source.)

Christina Hendricks (who plays Joan on Mad Men and is the object of my most passionate girl crush)

(Source.)

A lot of these pictures have some things in common, like berry/pink lips and using shades of gray to strongly define the eyes. I think it's really pretty, and definitely the direction I'm going to go for my makeup.

How are you going to use makeup to play up your skin tone?