This picture was the beginning of my spotlight. To no longer be the girl who hides behind the shadows of the background. You see, for so long, I really hated makeup. Or more like, I love it, but I didn’t think it looked good on me. Because everyone that did make-up on me would either complain that my eyelids were too small for designs and colors or that my lips were too plump, there was just always something wrong. And so, I stopped letting people apply makeup on me.
Then, one evening, a makeup artist messaged me on Instagram that she would like to use me as a face model for a makeup, I was surprised, because why? What did she see? Lol. I got there and as I’d always heard, she talked about my eyelids being very small. But rather than the usually criticism I was used to, she was excited to work with it. Perhaps for her, that was her way of challenging herself to be even more creative.
Because I’d usually hear that I have plump lips, I used to steer clear of red lips, my lips were already bold, I didn’t need them to be any bolder, that was what I thought.
But this single makeup session with this lady changed everything for me. She made it work. When we took the pictures and posted it, people marveled. I remember I captioned the photos as, “Spotlight ready, the world is my oyster”. Lol. Because that was truly how I felt.
Through that one makeup session, I realized that it wasn’t my features that were wrong, it was the skill, products and technique of the previous makeup artists I’d worked it.
And because even from childhood, I’d always been interested in makeup, I was the one kid that really disturbed my mum on the topic, lol. I would beg her to teach me how to carve and draw eyebrows, apply eyeshadows and all that.
However, after hearing multiple times how bad my features were, the interest just fizzled out. But that one makeup session rekindled the fire. And from them, I started researching and practicing more.
Now, my sister is a professional makeup artist, but even she compliments my makeup ever so often. I would have even become a makeup artist because that’s how much I love makeup, however, I don’t enjoy applying makeup on other people as much as I do myself.
But now, I’m a content creator that focuses on creating a safe space for confident femininity. And when I’m not talking self-love, self-esteem and self-confidence. You’ll find me doing a makeup tutorial or transition, it’s so much fun.
Makeup honestly makes me feel even more confidence, however, one of the messages I always pass across to the ladies is that, “we must not rely on makeup for validation of beauty, with or without makeup, you’re beautiful”. And you’ll agree with me that, that is indeed true. Makeup only enhances your natural features, so trust me, whatever makeup gives you, it’s all thanks to your already awesome genes.
I won’t exactly call myself an expert but I do know quite A LOT about makeup, such as I can confidently do makeup even for other people. Because I researched so much about it, I know the type of eyebrow that fits each face shape from oblong like mine, to oval, to heart, to round shape and so on.
Not only do I know the type of blush, contour and highlight placements that each face shape needs, I also know how to mix colors to get a particular lipstick shade even if we do not have the exact shade, you can call me a makeup mixologist, Lol.
Personally, I have no restrictions whatsoever when it comes to makeup. When I need to feel more comfortable and depending on the environment, I mostly do a simple glam. The no makeup-makeup look.
However, wherever they’re drawing things on the face? You’ll find me there, lol. Like this one time I did this absolutely beautiful pink cut-crease for my eyelid. Oh, it received so much compliments, I had to make a tutorial for it.
Or this rhinestone look, lol. I didn’t even know what I was aiming at for this look, I just went with the flow. Safe to say the ladies loved it but my mum hated it, lol. Said I looked scary, ha ha.
And then there’s this look. I loveeee the flowery Hawaii theme going on here, I didn’t have time this day to finish the look as I needed to be somewhere, but I probably would have done more if there was enough time. This though, wasn’t bad, what’d you think?
And last but not the least, this butterfly glittery thingy going on. It definitely wasn’t what I hoped for, I couldn’t get it right properly because I needed an eyeshadow primer which I didn’t have at the time, so I had to use a concealer as base, and that dulled the shine and precision of the glittery cut-crease.
When I’m not busy getting way too creative for my own good, my usual makeup routine starts with washing my face, applying a moisturizer and then face primer, after which I go in with my foundation. On days when I don’t feel like wearing heavy makeup, I just use a concealer my skin-tone to color correct by dark spots and hyperpigmentation which means skipping foundation.
And then, I draw my brows after which comes my favorite part, applying contour, highlighter, bronzer (if needed) and blush. I go in with my setting spray to set the makeup in place, when I’m not wearing lashes, I apply mascara right after eye-liner. And then for the grand finale, lips. Sometimes glossy, other times matte. Depending on the vibe we’re feeling.
I love how makeup has not only given me a platform on social media but also intrigued my constant thirst of learning new things. There’s always something new when it comes to makeup and no, it never gets tiring.
But most importantly, I love how I make it work for me and not against me now.
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Thank you for reading! 🧸🧡