Buying Makeup Questions

I rarely buy/use makeup. Right now I use clinique foundation that I pick up from the Macy's counter. I want to start wearing makeup more. But I don't like the clinique line any more.

What I really want to do is get a makeover. I really want someone to make me look good and SELL me the products. Where can I go and get a free, full makeover if buying X amount of products they use on me?

Does Sephora, Mac or Bare Minerals do this? Which place is best?
Do I need to/Can I make an appointment- is that allowed?

this all feels overwhelming to me and I just really want my hand held and some gentle salesmanship to sell it to me!

Buying Makeup Questions

Sephora does it. You have to purchase at least $50 worth of stuff, which isnt a lot and is done quite quickly LOL

Ive done it at Sephora and it was great. The woman was very nice. Not pushy. I told her I what kind of routine I was looking for (ie an everyday natural look)... I let her know I had a budget as well. I told her what I liked didnt like and so on.

The only thing I was disapointed was obvs she is a professional and when I left there I felt like a million bucks! BUT I couldnt duplicate it... AT ALL... Not even close... And for the money I spent I wasnt happy with final outcome of me doing it. I ended up returning most of the stuff BUT I did learn some stuff about application.

I would do it again to try another person. Because the one thing to remember is it all depends on who you get. 1 girl may be great at a certain look but not with others. 1 girl may be a better makeup artist than another... I feel its a little bit of trial and error as well...

And the reason I like Sephora over going to a makeup counter is because there is variety. Where if you go to Mac you will only get Mac cosmetics and you may not like a certain product. At Sephora you can try many brands and see what works best...

Re: Buying Makeup Questions

Blessedmomma hit it right on the money. It completely depends upon the associate you get. I would go during the week to Sephora as that is when you are going to get a career type makeup artist who has regular hours as opposed to a seasonal employee who might work nights or weekends.

I would ask them to perform a color iq and get samples of the foundations they recommend. Then walk out to your car and look at them in natural light with the car mirror. You will immediately be able to tell if the color is right for your skin tone.

This past summer I felt like I was in a huge makeup rut and nothing that I was doing was working for me anymore. I felt like I needed a complete and total makeup overhaul.

It took me a while to figure out what I was doing wrong. I subscribed to reddit makeupaddicts and reddit makeupaddiction and reddit beautydiagrams and have been reading all of their tips. They are supremely helpful and I feel like I have really really stepped up my makeup game.

Since this past summer I have been using all new makeup and it has made such an enormous difference for me.

I would go and ask for the following

either moisturizer (with sunscreen) and a foundation OR a bb/cc cream with sunscreen

I would look for a blush and a lipstick that work well together for your new foundation/bb/cc cream.

Since starting to wear foundation I am also now wearing cream blush and it looks great together.

As for eye shadow, I would get one nice palette that you feel has shades wearable for you. Some ideas for good palettes:
Too Faced Chocolate Bar
Too Faced Neutral Eye
Lorac Pro (being discontinued at Sephora but carried at Kohls)
Urban Decay Naked Basics, 1, 2, or 3
Laura Mercier Artist Palette (if you can find it)

As for brushes:
Real Techniques (Kohls or drugstore.com)
Sonia Kasshuk (Target)
Ecco Tools (Target)
Beauty Blender (Sephora)

Get some make up remover too.
Simple brand makes nice cloth makeup removers.