Shake What Your Make Up Bag Gave Ya!

      I hope that you all had an amazing weekend like I just had.  This past weekend I had the pleasure of being able to go to my family reunion.  I come from a family of 9 siblings.  3 boys 6 girls.  I am number 6.  Yes we all share the same mom and dad, and No, none of us are twins. We are a big, crazy, and a fun loving group. We all surprisingly get along, for the most part, and enjoy spending time together. (Usually.)  We are all spread out across the country now, and getting together was happening less and less. We decided last year to hold our first, "Cal and Donna Hunter Kid's Reunion."  It was so much fun, and so many memories were made.

     I have two beautiful little sisters.  I should say younger, but when we get together "little" seems more appropriate.  They have been letting me do their make up since I was old enough to get my own.  This trip was no different.  They let me dress them up and just enhance what they already are, beautiful.  

    They inspired this blog entry this week.  I asked them to each bring me their make up bags and show me what they had inside.  I then used what they had, along with added  items that would help their make up work better for them without adding to much extra time and effort to their daily routine. 

First up: Alex 

Alex has gotten a little more familiar with make up over the years, so I didn't really have to add that much.  I just added a light bronzer and an under eye concealer. 

     The reason I added the concealer is because it helps brighten up the face while taking care of dark circles.  I used the bronzer to add a little bit more of a natural glow to her face.

As you can see in this grid I used all of her own products mixed with mine and the results are stunning.

Isn't she so pretty!

Now Emma's turn. 

Emma does not like complicated make up.  She also doesn't like the feeling of it if it is to heavy.  I tried to add things to her already simple routine that will just give her face a more finished or polished look. I added Foundation, Bronzer, Concealer, and blush. What I forgot to show is mascara.

     The reason I added these items: Foundation is to help give her skin a more creamy smooth look.  The concealer again, to help brighten the face and take care of the under eye area.  The bronzer and blush is to give her face more color and definition. Finally, mascara because it just finishes off the look so perfectly. 

Again, all simple, not to complicated steps that made such a dramatic difference.  It also didn't take to much time.  It would have been even less if she wasn't on the phone. Ha ha ha!

Again, so pretty. 

     There you go readers.  Two different girls with two totally different feelings, knowledge and routines when it comes to  make up. The two results are equally stunning.  I hope that this shows you that anyone can do this if you wanted to. 

    Shout out and a major thank you to Alexandra and Emma!  I love them so much and they inspire me everyday .  

Remember readers, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none.

Natalie

A Cautionary Tale...

Hello ladies, I am so happy that it is Monday!  My husband and I have been in two separate states for 5 weeks and tomorrow we will be in the same one!  He keeps asking me if I am more excited to see him or to have him here to help with the kids? I just laugh and say, "Why can't it be both?"  Ha ha ha.  My kids have not been sleeping the best.  Then last night my 3 year old girl got the stomach bug.  We went to bed at 6 a.m.  Then at 7 a.m. my 1 year old little boy woke up.  He had somehow ripped off his diaper.  I will just leave it at that because I would like the block out what I saw when I walked over there.   Mom life is exhausting, stressful, and amazing all at the same time.  

You are probably thinking, "What does this have to do with make-up?"  What I didn't mention is that I have not been taking the best care of my skin or following any of my rules the past couple of weeks and it is showing all over my face.  

I have broken all of my own rules.  

Rule 1. Don't fall asleep with make up on.  Broken: I have fallen asleep with make up on more then 4x this week.  

Rule 2. Moisturize! Moisturize! Moisturize!  Broken: I haven't moisturized at all.  I am always talking about moisturizing and I have failed big time.  I didn't do it in the morning or the evening.  If you look close around my lips nose and cheeks there are lots and lots of dry skin.  It is not great. 

There is a rule that I haven't talked about yet that is so important and should become part of your bi/if not weekly skin routine.

Rule 3. Exfoliate at least once a week so my skin stays smooth and gives it the deep clean that it desperately needs after being out in the sun, dealing with weather change, and just living life.  Broken:  I have have what I need in the shower to do it, but I only have had about 3 minutes to myself. So I have just been rinsing and running.  

When I am living a not so insane life scheduled I am so good about exfoliating because it helps my skin so much.  In the shower I use the generic version of Apricot Scrub. It does a great job of scrubbing off the dead flaky skin.  

 If I am actually taking time one my face (I try to do this every other week.)  I use water/baking soda/garlic/cinnamon scrub that I make myself after I use a regular cleanser to take off any make up or dirt on my face from the day. It smells so gross, but it does an amazing job.  The garlic shrinks down any unwanted pimple and the cinnamon finishes the job completely and helps take the redness out of my cheeks. It also helps tighten and brighten my skin.    I just do a tea spoon of everything and I use fresh garlic and just regular cinnamon powder then mixed with a table spoon of warm water. (There are so many versions on Pintrest of this mask/scrub. Just find one that works for you.)

If I don't do this every couple of week my make up looks bad. All of my foundation just sits inside my wrinkles and lines on my face.  Not to mention my pores are bigger then normal because they are not getting the love that they need from me. 

I also feel like the make up is high lighting all of my flaws instead of showing off the parts that I love about my skin. 

I also just feel old.  I don't like feeling or looking old. Make up should never make you feel worse.  It should only help you feel better about yourself. 

I am hoping that you readers learn from my mistakes that I have made. I am a cautionary tale.  If you want your make up to work for you then you need to love your skin no matter how busy you get.  

Remember ladies, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none. 

 Natalie

A Stunning Face at the Bottom of Every Makeup Bag...

Most of you know that I have posted 2 time lap photos on my Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  I posted one of myself doing one of my more time consuming makeup routines, and then another one of me doing my older sister Hillary's pretty face. They were so much fun to do and it was also brave for me. (Tooting of the horn!) Mainly because I am so self conscience of myself on video.  Hence a written blog over the video blog.

It was fun to see every ones response to the videos.  I think I am going to start posting them once a week.  

As I was reading I noticed a lots of comments that led to the same conclusion...I am not doing my job in showing you, the entire reason I started this blog in the first place, that you can do everything that I am doing at home. 

You feel that what I am doing is out of reach and I am sorry for doing this.

So this blog is for you.  The readers who see my pictures and think, "I have 5 things in my make up bag. There is no way I can do that look." or " "I would have no idea what to do what to do with all of those products."  

I am here to not just tell you THAT YOU CAN, but show you as well.

I did research on the most common products that almost all women have in their make up bag. (I realized after I was done prepping and taking pictures that I forgot some sort of lip stuff. Sorry!)

Foundation, foundation applicator, blush, bronzer, mascara, at least one color of eye shadow, some kind of eye liner, and a make up brush.

You should have at least 3 to 4 of these items if not all.  That is 6 products and 2 applicator.  I am going to show you how to use these products to their full potential.

Don't mind the palm tree hair.

1. Foundation.  

What is great about foundation is that it can also be used as a concealer.

  As you can see I am not using very much.  I put what I need on the back of my hand. I dab my sponge in the foundation and put the bulk of it on my problem areas.  Under my eyes, my bright read cheeks, and the tip of my nose.  Then I use my ring finger and dab a little bit heavier about on any dark spots or blemishes. I then use the sponge to dab and rub on evenly.  The last picture shows that it did a pretty good job hiding all of the things that I needed the foundation to do. Yay!

2. Bronzer. 

I take my make up brush and put the desired amount of bronzer on it.  Then I apply it to the apple of my cheeks all the way to my temples.  I use a swirl motion while applying because it spreads it out more evenly, and it makes me feel like I actually know what I am doing.  I then take the brush and apply a tiny bit on the tip of my nose, and to my hair line.  Why? The sun naturally kisses that part of your face. My skin now has a simple healthy glow.  I could just add mascara and be done at this point, but I said I was going to use all the products in the picture. 

3. Shimmer 

I have talked about shimmer before.  Most pallets of eye shadows has a light opalescent color in it.  IT IS NOT GLITTER! It is much more fine.  I have had this exact same eye shadow for 4 years.  It is a loose powder shadow so I only have to use what is in the lid of the container.  I take my brush and lightly dab it on the lid.  I then blow on the brush to make sure that I don't end up looking like i ran a half marathon or disco ball.  I use the brush to apply this product to my cheeks, down the length of my nose, above my eyebrow, and chin.  I then take my ring finger and apply the same shadow under my eyebrow, lightly on the entire lid, and then to the skin between my tear duct and nose. Why?  It makes your eyes seem bigger and brighter then they already are.  This is a tip I learned from Camindy, from the show I miss so much, What Not to Wear.  She did this to every women she applied make up to.  It is such a simple step to help enhance your natural beauty.   Out of everything that I have learned from my experimenting, this is my FAVORITE!

4.  Blush

Simple.  Put brush in blush, blow on blush, and apply blush just behind the apple of cheek to ear.  Blush is underrated by most.  I use blush daily because I have a round face.  If I didn't have teeth, ears, or a nose, it would be a perfect basketball.  Ha ha ha.  I have learned to work with it.  Blush has helped me take the nonexistent cheeks and make them exist! Yay!

5. Eyeliner

Eyeliner is something I usually save for date nights or Sundays.  It is not something I use everyday.  Main reason, it takes time, and I am not the best at applying it so it I have to do a lot of clean up. I take my liquid liner and apply a very thin line across my lid.  I have super tiny eye lids.  If I apply a thick line and it takes over my face.  As you can see I had to clean up.  Nothing wrong with a little water on a q tip. I do love eyeliner because it enhances the shape of my eyes.  I love the natural shape of my eyes. (Never be ashamed of loving something about yourself and rocking it when you can.)

6. Mascara

Use the brand you love and apply the desired amount to the top and bottom lashes. Some people don't do the bottom lash. Stop that.  It is an instant cup of coffee for your eyes.  It makes them look bigger and wide awake.  As you can see I needed a clean up on aisle 3 here as well.  If you are rushing out of your house and you can only apply one thing, let it be mascara. It is quick and easy. 

That is it readers!  If I didn't have to take pictures of all the steps it would have taken me 5 minutes.  You can do it!  I know you can.  Be proud of yourself if you accomplish this when you thought you couldn't.  

I would love for those of you who try this to take pictures and leave them in my comments or email them to me at masterofnonemakeupmom.gmail.com

Remember readers, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none.

Natalie

Same make up with different results...

Hello my lovely readers.  I hope all is well and you are surviving this awful summer heat. (It is supposed to get to 103 today.  I am not in the best mood. Ha Ha Ha! Seriously though.)

I am in town visiting my family for the next couple of weeks.  It has been so much fun and so many memories have already been made.  Starting with the first night I was here. I was asked and honored to do my niece's make up for her 8th grade graduation.  It was a great experience and heart wrenching at the same time.  Still blows me away at the beautiful young women she is becoming.  She also happens to be my inspiration of the week. 

I loved the way her make up turned out and so did a lot of my family members and people who follow me on Facebook/Instagram (masterofnonemakeupmom)/and Twitter (@masterofnone17).
I decided to a little experiment...

My Goal: Replicate the exact look 4 different times on 4 different people, and 4 different ages. My 14 year old niece, myself, my oldest sister and my mom. I had to use the exact shades, highlighting, and final touches. EVERYTHING THE SAME. (In case I didn't make my point before.)  Also, to have each of them feel beautiful. 

 I have to say, I was a little nervous on how this experiment was going to turn out.  None of these ladies are big make-up wearers. I didn't want them to feel uncomfortable or feel like the make up was wearing them. They was also the different ages. As we get older there are certain things that we can't get away with anymore, but my goal was my goal and I intended to follow through with it.

These are all of the products/technique that I used with all 4 of us.

Here are the end results...

 14 year old niece

 My 31 year old self

 My beautiful 40 something year old sister. (Seriously though, she is just amazing.)

Last but not least, my babe of a 60 something year old Mom! (I love this lady and hope I am a graceful and beautiful as she is.  I mean look at her! She had 9 kids!)

It was so much fun and the results, in my opinion, are beautiful.  I mean my volunteers were sunning canvas anyway.

One of the most important lessons that you ladies can learn from me when putting on make up is to enhance not cover. There are so many of us that are trying to hide our flaws that we cover up all the wonderful things that make us...us. 

I hoped you enjoyed this weeks post as much as I did.  If you ever have any questions about what I have done just leave a comment.  Also, if you want to me to experiment a technique or product just let me know.  I will gladly be your test subject. 

Remember readers, I may be a jack of this trade, but I am a master of none.

Natalie