Friday Favorites: My Makeup Journey

I have never been the type of girl who has to have hair and makeup in place before leaving the house.  And it's not because I'm so comfortable in my own skin. It's because I'm lazy!  And practical.  If you tell me we have five minutes before needing to leave, I'll throw on some jeans, a pony tail and head out the door.

I have no problem walking out of the house looking like this!

I'm also cheap.  Frugal.  Thrifty. Whatever you want to call it.

I've been wearing makeup since 7th grade.  I can remember the first little set of eye shadows and blush that my mom got me from Avon.  It rolled out like a fishing tackle box!  I loved it.

It looked a little something like this. 

And I couldn't help but find other childhood treasures while searching for images of the makeup kit.  This was the exact Caboodle that I had all throughout my childhood.  Loved this thing!

Oh my gosh!!!  My mom sold Avon, so we had plenty of product around our house.  I totally remember this polish!  Wait...excuse me...nail tint!

But I digress.

All through high school and college I'd wear makeup if I felt like it.  Back then the skin was good and I probably was able to get away with it with no problem!  I also remember wearing lots of blue eyeliner and applying my makeup while flying down the highway driving to college.  It's a miracle I didn't get in an accident.  I'm never letting my boys drive!

Then I grew up, got my first job, and still would show up to work with no makeup on some days. Notice I said some days.  I wore it most days.

This trend continued until last year.  This is when I finally started buying expensive makeup.  And I started watching YouTube videos on how to apply the makeup.

This is Jen at From Head To Toe.  She is 20 something years younger than me and super adorable.  For some reason, I enjoy watching her You Tube channel and reading her blog about makeup.

And now I wear makeup each and every day...at least the days I go to work.  Weekends are still a toss up.

The main reason I started consistently wearing makeup was because of a rather large sunspot that developed on my right cheek. Cover Girl foundation wasn't exactly covering the spot.  And by the way, I hate the spot.  It drives me crazy.  It's probably one of those things that other people don't really notice, but it sticks out like a beacon to me when I look in the mirror.

Sun damage.  Although a dermatologist told me that that particular spot was now ultra protected because of the extra pigmentation...or something or other.

I don't have nearly the issues on the left side of my face.

Clean face. Messy hair.  Trying to get ready for the day.

So off to Ulta I went last year knowing I'd be spending an arm and a leg for beauty war paint.

Is anyone else intimidated by going into these types of stores where you feel very ignorant?  I'm always so nervous to tell the sales people what I want and need.  I'm afraid they are going to laugh at me and my lack of makeup knowledge.

However, my desire to cover the spot drove me through the doors.

The very sparkly sales girl led me to the IT makeup line.  (I found out later that she was a direct sales person for that makeup and did not work directly for Ulta...but it turned out okay because I really like the makeup.)

She started swiping several creams and potions on my face, and low and behold, the spot disappeared!  Crazy!

That day I bought all IT products: under eye concealer, foundation, a brow pencil, a brush to apply the foundation and I got some free IT lip stain that I use to this day.

And the makeup made a HUGE difference in my appearance, in my confidence, and in my wallet!  The stuff is definitely not cheap, but it is very high quality.  I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'll be spending a lot of money for makeup from here on out.  That appalls my younger self!

Here is a picture that I took from this past summer wearing my new IT products.

I felt really pretty on this day when I was meeting with my junior high team to launch our iPad program at school.  I felt ready to take on the world!  Funny how makeup can do that for your confidence!

I thought I'd show the difference in bare face to makeup face and show you why I love these products so very much.

No makeup.  Very visible sun spot.  The second picture is after one swipe of the CC+ cream.

This is the stuff that sold me on the whole line.  It is quite the covering little tube of miracles.

This is the heavy duty foundation.  Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.  This morning I only used the CC+ cream and skipped the foundation.

The inside of the foundation compact.  It came with a little spreader puff, but I usually use a brush to apply.

This is after one application of the CC+ cream all over my face.  I think I look a little more awake.  Spot is still there, but definitely less noticeable. Skin tone is more evened out.

Love love love love these makeup brushes.  It's like a kitten paw putting on your makeup!

See? Spot is much less visible.

I just bought this product last weekend.  It is called Bye Bye Under Eye.  Boy does it provide coverage.  One side is the concealer and the other side is a lightening cream.  So far, I've been really pleased with this product.

I even use the under eye concealer on my spot.

This is another new product that I just bought.  It's finishing powder that minimizes pores.  It makes my skin feel so soft.

I tap some into the cap and use my brush to sweep it over my face.

During one trip to Ulta, they gave me this Laura Geller baked blush with the little brush.  It turned out to be another favorite of mine.  I use it everyday.

Spot pretty faded. Blush on.  Next up is eyes.

I asked for this for Christmas.  I like it.  Lots of colors to choose from.  I had to jump on the Urban Decay bandwagon!

Face is done.  Ready for the day.

Add a sassy pony tail and lipstick in the car and I'm good to go!  We have our casual day on Thursday because we all have to dress up for Mass every Friday.  It's a sweatshirt and jeans day for this teacher!

To wrap up this long blog post, my new favorite makeup is pretty much anything in the IT line.  Love the coverage.  Love the light feel.  Love the look.  

What I don't spend a lot of money on: some of my eye shadow that I get from Wal Mart, mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow pencils and lipstick.  I spend the money on the face coverage.  The rest is drugstore stuff.

Some other good makeup days: