Best products from r/MakeupAddicts

If you have to pluck, only pluck the hairs in the VERY middle (Like only from a space less than the width of your pinky right in the center). Ideally you would just let them grow to get best results from the wax, but I'm the same way where I get self conscious with them as well. Filling in the hairs growing in will also help disguise what's going on.

I've actually also tried the same NYX marker and it definitely pulls red on me as well, plus I found it hard to blend. You can definitely find good products from the drugstore, my suggestion is to buy from one with a good return policy because I've found a lot to be reddish and what you should look for is ashy brown. Drawing in the color like little hairs and blending afterwards with a spoolie brush are vital to getting a natural look. I have really dark brows and light skin, and that helps me fill in patches/my scar without looking too intense. I want it to look like I'm not wearing any brow pencil at all. (When I was about 10, my grandma told me my eyebrows were too black and to stop coloring them in. I didn't even know people filled in their brows!)

I've heard great things about Benefit's brow bar. The girls at my local one have super thin brows, so I never have put my brows in their hands. To be honest, I try to get mine done by someone else who has full brows :P I get threaded. It's cheaper than waxing, the results are very clean, and all the girls have amazingly full brows. Bringing a picture is a good idea. After you have the shape you like, you can tell them you "just want a clean up" and mention you like full brows.

I have never owned Tweezerman but they're supposed to be awesome. This is the pair I use. Revlon offers free sharpening of their tweezers in case they get dull, you just have to mail them in and wait. I've owned a couple other drugstore brands that I hated. They didn't have enough tension, they were too dull to actually pull hairs out, etc. Since I bought the Revlon a few years ago I have loved them. I actually bought a pair from Anastasia to see the difference, and I still reach for the Revlon. For me personally, they just weren't worth $28. I'm on a budget and have to pick and choose where to splurge, I kind of regret the Anastasia tweezers to be honest.

Your questions aren't stupid! This is a lot of information to absorb.

Your skin could be sensitive to certain ingredients. You could search on skincare addiction for posts by others who are sensitive to Cetaphil cleanser for a starting point. I think patch testing would probably be your friend.

http://cosdna.com/ will also be very helpful in determining which ingredients don't agree with your skin.

I'll list my products for you, as well as my morning and evening routines. A good start for you, though, would probably to find a hydrating step and a moisturizer that you like, as well as an exfoliator to minimize the appearance of your pores. Many people find that Stridex in the red box is good for reducing the grayish color of sebaceous filaments. It's nice and cheap and seems to agree with most people's skin. I really would recommend reading the FAQ in both the Skincare Addiction and Asian Beauty subreddits.

Morning:

Cleanse with Cerave foaming or Yes to Cucumbers milk cleanser

The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension 23% + HA spheres 2%

Kikumasamune High Moist Lotion as a hydrating toner

Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner

Cosrx Birch Sap Lotion or Belif Aqua Bomb for moisturizer

Biore Aqua Rich Watery Essence sunscreen

Evening:

Botanic Farm Grain Ferment Cleansing Sherbet for oil cleansing

Second cleanse with Cerave Foaming or Yes to Cucumbers Milk cleanser

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid 7% Toning Solution on a cotton pad

Pea sized glob of Differin

Kikumasamune High Moist Lotion

Klairs Supple Preparation Facial Toner

Cosrx Birch Sap Lotion or Belif Aqua Bomb

A tiny, tiny bit of Aquaphor as an occlusive. A little bit goes a long way for me.

Sometimes I'll use a sleeping pack for moisture or brightening. I have lots of them.

My routine evolves as I try new products. You may not like some of the things I use, or your skin may not agree with some of them. I also use sheet masks (my favorites are My Beauty Diary in various flavors haha) and a couple of peptide serums from The Ordinary for wrinkles.

I welcome any and all questions. I love talking about this stuff. :)

Congratulations!!!! And brava for doing your own makeup! :-)

I didn't see this listed- but I like the Revlon lash glue! You don't have to wait 30 seconds, but the only downfall is after a few uses the bottle gets a little sticky.

http://smile.amazon.com/Revlon-Precision-Lash-Adhesive-0-17/dp/B003TTB4SG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409060768&sr=8-1&keywords=revlon+lash+glue

Also, for eyebrow powder, I haven't used any powders but I really like MUFE aqua brow with a Sigma E75 angled brow brush. For quick days I use EX Brow Lash (I like the felt tip side).

http://smile.amazon.com/BCL-BROWLASH-Eyebrow-Pencil-Natural/dp/B0025X5X16/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409060923&sr=8-2&keywords=ex+brow+lash

http://www.sephora.com/aqua-brow-P375462?skuId=1441146

For a highlighter, I am loving Becca's Moonstone, and I need to get my hands on Opal but I've played w/ it in stores and loved it too! I have Rosegold but it might not be the best for a highlighter for you.

For a lipstain, I love MUFE aqua rouge! They're the only things that don't rub off when I wear it. For me, lip tars some colors are awesome and some rub off. The only bad thing w/ the aqua rouges is there isn't a huge color selection. The shade you picked out looks gorgeous!

http://www.sephora.com/aqua-rouge-P374940?skuId=1507771

I hope this helps! And also, sorry it's a messy post! I don't know how to condense a website in a nice little format like you did! :-)

Amazon :) I'm an avid amazon shopper. I've invested on my storage slowly but surely over the past year. It used to be such a mess. I think these are the links to all the acrylic storage I have:

• Lipgloss holder, it stores mac lipstics wonderfully
  
  
• Blush, this one is sitting right on top of the main drawers, by the short brushes
  
  
• This is the main one, it's pricey but I love it.
  
  
• I have 2 of these, one on the main table top, and then one in the bookshelf. I keep that one full of restocks
  
  
• Then I have this, which sits perfectly on top of the other one I just talked about, for my foundation and everyday things
  
  
• Plain lipstick one
  
  
• The other one which is cheaper looking, but more compact in space
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  *edit, whoops, I forgot my other two lipstick organizers

Oooh, I've been taking care of my nails a lot better recently too so I love recommending products that helped me.

My favorite thing for my cuticles is this stuff, you can get it at Sally's too. It's really liquidy so I put it in an empty and clean nail polish bottle or eye drop bottle, but it's wonderful at keeping my cuticles moisturized. I only have to use it like once every three days when I used to be using cuticle oil twice a day. I'm hard on my hands and nails too, but this stuff is unreal.

For hand cream I've always just used Bodycology lotions. Cheap, I know, but I can't handle the feeling or intense scents of a lot of the higher end hand lotions I've tried. My skin is very dry too and Bodycology seems like it moisturizes really well for me and their fragrances are a lot softer.

There arent any near me otherwise I would just go look at it just to see WTF is up with the price tag to quality ratio. Cle De Peau is pretty ballsy with their make up pricing but its actually fantastic. But leave it to Karen at make up and beauty blog to take the hit for us. The swatches arent even that impressive imho. I even talked myself out of nude dip because the colors arent that unique. I have no doubt the quality is appropriate with the price but for nudes? Nah Im good. Im using my birthday money to get the mac warm/cool neutral palettes (plus im about to hit up cosmetology school so i may as well start my kit up) Im married now so Im fairly certain if I oppose my husband buying this 109 star wars hoodie an 88 dollar duo would raise more than an eyebrow. (At least the hoodie is clever) But yea some lipsticks are worth it. Ironically, the tom ford 50$ lipsticks are 50$ worth of amazing lipstick. they stay on all day and dont dry me out! Oh well Christmas is coming! So i cant wait for the holiday make up sets!!

In regards to Guerlain fragrance, I would recommend that you sift through some of the reviews on Now Smell This Perfume, which I think is one of the more reliable fragrance blogs out there.

Here is a collected list of reviews with Guerlain's grouped under the G's if you scroll down, plus some fun facts about the Guerlain house.

I also ADORE the Perfumes: The Guide by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez, if not for the helpful reviews but only for the entertainment.

Turin lists Guerlain's Mitsouko as his favorite fragrance of all time, while Sanchez says in the introduction to the book that Guerlain l'Heure Bleue was the first perfume that really got her into perfume. I think many of us have tried Shalimar at Sephora or department stores, but it's not something I've felt bold enough to wear myself.

My favorite way to discover perfume is to read, read, read, read first and then pick up decants from The Perfumed Court. You can order from specific perfumes, or try one of their sets (these ones feature Guerlain fragrances).

Anyway, that response specific-suggestion skimpy, but I hope it illuminates your quest!

For foundation, I would suggest an Asian bb cream! I think you'd dig Missha Perfect Cover, and you'd probably be either shade 21 or 23 if you were using NC25 foundation before. Here's a review of this product by someone who has acne issues. For comparison, check out her before pictures. This product does a good job of providing coverage, but it doesn't have that heavy feeling. You can find samples quite easily on Amazon, trusted ebay sellers, or on the Missha site itself.

Brushes, I'd definitely check out real techniques. You can go no wrong with their brush sets, or if you just wanted to start out with a good foundation brush, pick up the expert face brush.

If you need concealer and powder after applying bb cream, I'd check out NYX's and Rimmel's offerings. They make great concealers and powders for their price range.

Oh! LORAC Free Spirit is very close to this! It's a very cool toned grey-purple!

Edit: Found it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/LORAC-Alter-Lipstick-Free-Spirit/dp/B00H90X5GU

And it smells so good! Kinda vanilla like? Definitely a string sweet smell, so if you don't like fragrance lipsticks, you probably won't be a fan. But it's an awesome soft wearing matte lipstick.

I'm very particular about how I like things and if given the choice I would want my vanity to match the rest of my decor. That being said, if your girlfriend has a lot of makeup she might need more storage than that vanity can provide. I would want a lot of counter/storage space to do my makeup so here's what I would do.

This since there's a lot of surface area to do my makeup and there's a big drawer in there for storage and then I would go out and buy a big lighted mirror since good lighting is essential for good makeup with an extension mirror for detail work. That being said, the first option is nice too. Please update us with whatever you decide to go with, we'd love to see :)

I like skindinavia finishing spray. Since getting the spray I've noticed my makeup lasts through out the day pretty perfectly, and I can go to the gym and sweat like a pig and my makeup will still last well. Also if you accidentally put on too much powder it helps to take away the powdery look and makes you look dewier :) Oh and it doesn't break me out or cause an eruption of oil!!

I'm not lusting over a product, but rather a tool. I was really inspired by Lisa Eldridge's video on how she uses lipstick palettes to inspire her and I'd really like to get my own lip palette for personal use. I have so many lipsticks I forget about and don't wear, and I hope that seeing them all in a single palette will encourage me to wear some of my lesser-used lipsticks.

The palette I want: Japonesque 35-well palette

Edit: can't spell

Wow, TIL there's such a thing as a beauty spatula! I just added [this] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069VYSFM/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3RW1WU31M2I07&coliid=I3ZQMZH21DJR6) and [this] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6JX3HE/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3RW1WU31M2I07&coliid=I3N6INE648ZJ1D) to my wishlists. Nice!

I asked this over on r/makeupaddiction but wanted to get your thoughts too.

I purchased this lighted mirror from amazon and while it's nice and all the lighting is just too dim. It's unfortunate because it had good reviews. Does anyone have recommendations for lighted mirrors that are actually bright? $50 and under would be preferable.

I use this one. I really like it

I haven't tried the product, but amazon also has a bunch of options:

http://www.amazon.com/Every-Drop-Beauty-Spatula-Squeezers/dp/B0069VYSFM/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1412947781&sr=1-1&keywords=beauty+spatula