Living off the Land: Do your whole face up in Sephora

  Hello there. While I am patiently waiting to get a real job, I thought I'd write you guys a post about what I'm up to (which is mostly going out all the time without really enough money to do it with).

  So if you suddenly find yourself already on the street, with no make up, and are randomly invited out, go to Sephora where your face can go from "0" to "dirty whore" in about 15 mins. They have testers, they have disposable applicators, it all seems pretty self explanatory right? It would be if the lighting in these places wasn't totally fucking horrendous. Which it is. In every single one of them. I imagine when they're erecting a new one (haha, I said "erecting") that they bring a couple different lights and a mirror and stop only when everyone involved looks like they have scurvy. This makes doing a full face of make up in there very difficult (coincidence? I think not).  Here are some tips that make it easier.

 ~ First off, you need a base that won't end up an entirely different skin color than the rest of you.  Take advantage of the fact that a myriad of moisturizers and eye creams are at your disposal in the same store as the make up, the smoother your face is the more seamlessly the make up will blend with your skin. Use the sheerest coverage you can get away with, preferably a BB cream or tinted moisturizer because if it is not exactly the right color it will be way less noticeable and easier to blend with fingers. If you need more coverage in a certain area, use a concealer. If you're confused about the shade, go one lighter since their overall lighting scheme seems to bleach everything out and that can cause make up that would usually be too dark to look just right.

~ Use a cream blush. They used to have a can of make up brushes everyone could use. While that wasn't the most sanitary thing in the world it was extremely convenient. Now all they have are these sad looking sponge things that will absolutely cake on powder blush. Use a cream blush because you can rub it in with your fingers. I know that if you have any sort of blemish or red mark that you think cream blush is your enemy, but that's not always true. After you've rubbed the normal amount on, mix a little cream based concealer with some of the blush and pat it on any marks. It should blend more seamlessly with the blush.

~ Use an eyeshadow base, it makes things spread more evenly on your eyelid and you are bound to miss something in this light. I personally like Urban Decay.

~ Use shimmery colors. They can be applied less precisely than matte colors. I find it's best to use a cream shadow first because as you open your eye it creates sort of a natural shape and crease and it's much easier to follow that with powder than to create your own shape in bad lighting. Layer a few colors over each other and blend the shit out of it. Try to make it look "smudged and smokey" on purpose.

~ Use a serious mascara (like Dior Show) to emphasize your lashes even though you can't use an eyelash curler. Hold the wand at the base of your lashes an push them up to give them a little lift anyway.

~ Choose a lipstain as opposed to a lipstick or gloss. It will stay on longer. If you need some shine and have at least a dollar, use a lipstain for color and then buy a 99 cent clear gloss from NYC at the drugstore.

~ Most importantly: keep reminding yourself as you're staring at every magnified pore on your face that this is not really what you look like and you do not need to walk with a paper bag over your head from now on. The lighting is just evil. I've gone into Sephora with some insanely beautiful people with flawless skin and they still looked bad. It's a total trap. The upside to this is if you can make yourself look remotely decent *in* Sephora, you will look pretty amazing when you come out. Some of the best make up looks I've ever done were in Sephora. Trust.

Full face done in Sephora. I'm not mooching, I'm "living off the land" ;)