CSSB Guest Post: Getting Started With Makeup

This guest post was written by my good friend Monica, who recently put together a little ‘starter kit’ for her 15 year old cousin who was beginning to express an interest in makeup. Everyone has to start somewhere, make up is no different. Have a look at what she has to say and her recommendations and if you have any interesting stories or recommendations about where to start with makeup, I would love to hear from you too!

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First, a little backstory.

When I was a teenager, I was a makeup disaster area.  As I began to forge my own identity, I wanted to exert more control over my image (and hide my acne as best I could).  Little goth/grunger me was a big fan of black lipstick, poorly applied black eyeliner (without mascara) and layers of foundation that did not match my skintone in an attempt to hide my acne.  The foundation was probably the worst part, for which I put the blame entirely on Sarah Michelle Gellar.  She appeared in a campaign by Maybelline, and her foundation shade was listed next to the picture.  Aged thirteen, I desperately wanted to be Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so wearing her shade of foundation was obviously how I should begin my transformation, disregarding the fact that SMG is a California girl with clear sun-kissed skin and flowing blonde hair, and I am a brunette Londoner with skin the colour of slightly stale milk.

My family weren’t very helpful either – I had no older siblings or cousins I was close to that would take me aside and teach me the ways of skincare and makeup, my mother wasn’t interested and the rest of the adults in my life disapproved of makeup entirely for some reason – I dimly remember the words “loose morals” being thrown around regarding lipstick.

That was fourteen years ago, and these days I’ve got the makeup game pretty well figured out.  Somewhere along the line I ended up with a younger cousin (currently 15) that comes to me with all sorts of questions and crises, and as she expressed some interest in makeup, for her last birthday I put together a “makeup starter kit” for her.  I had a good long think and set some rules for buying for a teenage makeup newbie.

• Affordability – the intended recipient should be able to replace any items once they’re finished out of their own money, if they want to.
• Availability – items should be available on the high street, not internet-only products, as a teen probably won’t have a debit/credit card to order online.  Sadly, this immediately disqualified E.L.F, who would otherwise be perfect.
• Quality – must be products I’d test-run or have reliable reviews.  Cheap doesn’t have to mean bad.
• Ease of application – Perhaps not an obvious one, but for a makeup newbie ideally you’re going to want products that can be applied with fingers or included applicators, otherwise you’ll have to think about decent brushes and sponges and all sorts of things, which can get both expensive and complicated.  Keep it simple!

All together, this might add up to a decent little chunk of money, but many of these products will last a long time, and will form a solid backbone for a newbie makeup kit that will hopefully reduce the chances of the recipient walking around looking like a sad clown for a few years (as I did).

So here’s my shopping list – it’s not set in stone and there are plenty of equivalent products, so shop around and see what’s on offer!  I get most of my high-street buys from Boots as they often have 3-for-2 offers on makeup, and I use my points card pretty frequently, but most of these are available in other shops.

1. Start with a decent moisturiser with SPF.  I am fond of Olay Sensitive Skin day cream (spf15) as it doesn’t aggravate my skin.  It’s usually £9.99 in Boots, but I tend to find it on offer in Sainsburys for £5 fairly often.  In my opinion, it’s never too early to start taking care of your skin, and the added SPF will help prevent any sun damage on the days when unexpected sunshine happens.  It’s not remotely as good as sunscreen, but it’s better than nothing.
2. Make sure you pick up a proper makeup removing facewash – an essential item in any makeup kit, newbie or pro.  I like Garnier’s “Pure Active” 2 in 1 gel (£3.33 in Boots right now).  It’s very gentle and gets off even waterproof mascara without fuss.  They have a few different ones in the range – the oily skin one is my favourite, but think about the skin type of the person you’re buying for.  Get your recipient into the habit of removing makeup properly before bed as soon as possible, as sleeping with eye makeup on can cause all sorts of exciting eye infections (and get mascara all over the pillowcases).
3. A concealer for blemishes.  Witch hazel and tea tree skincare/makeup products *do* work…  Eventually.  But they’re no good for the “I have a huge red spot and need to leave the house in an hour to meet my friends” panic.  For that you need a green concealer, like the Natural Collection Corrector Stick (£1.99 at Boots).  Apply and gently blend in to the problem area, and the green of the stick will help neutralise the red colour of the spot.  It won’t make it disappear, but it’ll help tone it down, which would have done wonders for my confidence as a teen.
4. A tinted moisturiser or BB cream.  Teenage skin usually doesn’t need heavy coverage foundation, and applying foundation correctly is a skill many people never quite master, so skip that altogether and go for a lighter, easier BB cream.  My pick of the bunch for teenage skin would be Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream (£6.99 at Boots), as it contains ingredients that help calm down acne and I love products that multitask.  If that’s a bit pricey, Boots’ “Natural Collection” range has a selection of tinted moisturisers for £1.99, to name one I’ve tried and liked, but plenty of others are available.  Make sure you get something that matches the skintone of your recipient as best you can, to try to avoid looking like an oompa-loompa.
5. A lip tint.  You could go for a traditional lipstick if you like, but my aim was to try to keep things subtle and fresh (to avoid getting my cousin into trouble at school), so I went for a tinted lip balm.  There’s approximately a billion different types, but my current favourite is Maybelline Baby Lips in “Pink Punch” (£2.99 Boots).  It’s light, easy to apply, SPF20, and gives a nice natural-looking tint.
6. Mascara doesn’t have to be big, bold and spidery.  A clear mascara, such as Boots Natural Collection in Clear (£1.99) will help define eyelashes and make eyes look a bit brighter, and won’t get a teenager in trouble at school for wearing makeup.  If you want to include a dark one for party-time and weekends, I would strongly recommend Max Factor Clump Defy (£10.99 Boots).  Max Factor is the sister brand of Covergirl USA, and Clump Defy is the British branding for the venerated Clump Crusher mascara, which is considered to be the Holy Grail of mascara by beauty reviewers all over the internet.  In Ronseal style, it does exactly what it says on the tin (well, tube), and does not clump.  At £10.99 this is the most expensive product on the list, but it is totally worth it.
7. Eyeliner.  It took me years to overcome my eyeliner-disaster phase, probably because felt tip eyeliners didn’t exist back then.  Collection 2000 felt tip eyeliner (£2.99 Boots) is basically perfect.  It’s cheap, really easy to use and lasts for ages once applied.  I’ve tried several more high-end versions and keep coming back to this one, none of the other high-street brands really come close for staying power.  Sadly, they don’t do it in brown, so for a less dramatic alternative, get a nice soft brown kohl pencil like Model’s Own Eyeliner (£4 Boots) – it comes with a smudge sponge and a sharpener.  I’m also fond of the Eye Definer pencils from the Body Shop, as they are the softest eye pencils I’ve ever used, but at £8 they are a bit pricey for a newbie.
8. Blush.  I’d consider this optional as it’s so easy to get blush wrong, but I got one for my little makeup-newbie so she could play around and see if she liked it.  If you’re using a liquid base layer (like a BB cream) you’ll want a cream blush (powder will often cake up and look weird over a liquid base unless you have both the skill and the correct brushes).  MUA Blusher Perfection Cream in “Dolly” (£2 Superdrug) would be my recommendation – it’s a nice gentle peach colour that should suit most skin types.

I haven’t included any eyeshadow in my makeup starter kit as I consider eyeshadow to be a more advanced technique (and specific eyeshadow brushes are all but essential in my opinion).  I’ll probably put a little eyeshadow kit together for my cousin’s next birthday (including diagrams), but for the time being this is plenty of stuff to get started with.  While this was put together with a teenager in mind, it’s just as applicable for anybody of any age who is entering the world of makeup and feeling a bit lost.