how to

seeing this question on a makeup forum, i thought i’d blog about it here, as i don’t have a large collection either, i think i’m in a good position to advise (myself included) those who want to expand their makeup collection.

1.  Know your purpose for this collection

- is it for yourself? are you planning on doing makeup for others?

initially i just wanted it to be for myself, but as my collection builds up my friends had been asking me to do their face as well, so i may have to have some backups for just-in-case situations like that. although, personally, i don’t think i could get into makeup artistry as a profession…i don’t have much time and i love it so much i’m willing to do it for free. lol.

2. Do some research on what the other girls are wearing or have in their collection.

- read some blogs:

temptalia, makeupandbeautyblog

- join makeup forums:

makeuptalk, specktra

- get some product reviews

sephora, thebeautyblog, allure magazine

3. Decide for yourself what you’d want for yourself

are you trendy?

or maybe you’re more into neutrals?

4. Buy makeup palettes

- this is the quickest way to expand  your collection. and it will give you an opportunity to try colors you wouldn’t really buy in singles. like that olive green eyeshadow, who would’ve thought they’d bring out the colors of your eyes? you always  thought that they’re just for clowns or monsters lol.

5. Take note or keep a blog of your makeup looks

this is one way of keeping track which looks work for you, then you could buy them in a more expensive brand. i always try everything with cheaper brands first.

6. Make an inventory of what you have

now don’t laugh, buying two of everything is very costly. i so hate myself when i got two brand new black gel eyeliner in a week. i would’ve saved up more if i bought a brown one.

as your collection gets bigger, it’s harder to keep track of things.

7. Record the expiry dates

seriously, we only have one face, what’s the point of being beautiful if you’re gonna accumulate all those bacteria. not to mention, how costly it would be to treat breakouts and blemishes.

8. Check out Face of the Day

this is a good way of experimenting with colors as the other girls would probably be more experimental with colors on their face. they usually share what shades they used. don’t you just love makeup forums?

9. Do some makeup for your friends

you’d learn what colors they prefer, or looks good on them, and it’ll give you an idea what to buy next. like a friend of mine is really good with red lips. however, i kept buying all those brownish or natural lipsticks and i just realized i don’t have a single red lipstick. lol. so it’s definitely a must-have on my next trip to sephora.

10. Check out your closet

- see which colors of tops you tend to have more, that’ll give you an idea, which colors you usually prefer. then buy eyeshadows or blushes that

a. would  match them (means same color family)

b. would complement them (like i always wear really pink blush with my turquoise tops, i have no idea why)

c. would contrast them (like for red dress, i think a gray smokey eye look would look best)

so there you go, i hope you’d have double your makeup collection by the end of this month. bless your pockets. lol.