The Make-Up Rehabilitation

I’m a lover of make-up.  ‘Been putting it on since I was 15 when I started college.  We start early in the Philippines – college, I mean, not make-up.   I learned applying make-up from my maternal grandmother and aunts who used to work as make-up artists for Avon and Beautifont (oh myyyy, does anyone still remember that brand – Beautifont?)   Anyways, they were very good make-up artists.   They used to do theater make-up for Dulaang Sibol, the high school theater group of the Ateneo De Manila University.  One time, they did a magic on me when my mom entered me in a traditional procession in the Philippines called “Sunduan”.  And right there and then, I discovered the wonders these babies can do.  I was, believe it or not… pretty!  (Holy sh*t, who would’ve known???)

And so it wasn’t a surprise, due to that amazement, I started trying to put make up on when I entered college.  Back then it was hit and miss because there was no such thing as Youtube tutorials, or I didn’t know there were books about how to put them on.  All I remember is that I would ask my aunts and grandma so often how this and that worked.  There were so many days that my mom would tell me I had too much on or my wise-assed sister would give me sh*t because I looked like someone punched me in the eye.  But no pain no gain.  The adage “if you want to learn, you will”  held true.  By the time I started working I was an expert on my face.

My dream team.

I started amassing a collection.  Most specially when I lived in Canada and I could afford all the MAC cosmetics I can get my hands on.  It wasn’t just MAC, it was all the other brands – drugstore and boutique.  But I always went back to MAC.

But despite the knowledge I’ve learned thru the years, some things still didn’t look right on my method – my make-up didn’t stay on long or my eyeshadow would all go to the crease of my eye or worse, I still looked pale in pictures.  In fact, it was only lately that I paid more attention on my eyebrows, influenced by my sisters and all the flack I got from them because I looked bald without those manicured brows.

My Sephora loot

So I started watching Youtube and reading books on makeup.  That opened up a whole new world for me (yes, sing it with me now).  I know I needed to revamp my style.  But I couldn’t do it with so much old make-up in the way.  You’re supposed to throw away old make-up anyway – it’s not healthy for your skin to use stale make-up.  (I read that!).  So with a fresh garbage bag at hand, I said goodbye to old foundations, eyeshadows, lipsticks, rouges, mascaras.  The only thing I had left were my good brushes (which I gave a good cleaning with baby shampoo), my Anastasia eyebrow paste and 2 eyebrow gels, my shue uemura eyelash curler whose rubber I finally replaced, and other items I’ve had only for the past year.  Purging felt good.  So I threw them all out except for the old MAC ones because, do you know you can actually exchange 7 old MAC items for a free lipstick?  It’s their recycle program that they’ve been doing for so long now.  With all the old ones I had, I was able to get 2 lipsticks free.  Two!!!  Which meant, I had fourteen old MAC what-nots.  Imagine that…

Because I needed more brushes and a new mascara. My Walmart buys.

It took me a week of planning which brands were good, which ones I needed to start with.  I’ve watched so many Youtube videos on how to put on make-up, including Pia Wurtzbach’s ever famous make-up ritual.  Armed with a list of the best and brightest, I happily danced my way to the MAC counter at Macy’s.  Aaaaand this time, I also went to Sephora for some items that were given better reviews than my favorite brand.   I probably did about 3 separate trips because replenishing your arsenal can only do so much damage to your bank account.  But patience is a virtue and the fruits so sweet.  So now, I only have half of what I used to own but I’m proud that I have quality rather than quantity.

My new MAC essentials.

I’ve done some experiments and the over-all results seemed to be better.  How different?  This you have to wait for, my sweeties.  I will be sharing them to you as soon as I can take good pictures of myself in the process.  And that will come very, very soon.  For the meantime, I am in search of a very good make-up mirror with very good lighting but isn’t worth both my arms and my legs.


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