When I was down in Melbourne visiting Tine last year, we spent most of the cool afternoons at home, chatting about various topics from blogging to makeup and we got to reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Thing is, I’ve known Tine quite a while from early blogging and beauty days so we had a lot to reminisce about.
And one of the things we talked about was that “Makeup Lightbulb Moment”. You know that moment when you put on a makeup item and suddenly it was HALLELUJAH! Angels sing, you are amazed at how much better your skin and you look and you go “So this is what makeup can do! I look like me but better!” 😀
You know that moment? 😀
Well I had my lightbulb moment a little late in the day. I’d been wearing just powder or powder foundation for a while with a touch of blush. I was a very simple low maintenance gal… well back then anyway 😉 But one day, I came across an item I’d never thought to use and that lightbulb came on. So, THIS is what makeup can do!
What was it? Ah… take a guess… It’s something I obsess about till today 😉 In fact, it was such an interesting discussion that Tine and I have done a little collaborative post to tell you what our makeup lightbulb moments were.
Did you guess that mine was concealer? You would have gotten it absolutely right! 😀
I don’t have that original concealer anymore but I had never thought to wear concealer. I had worse skin back then than I do now and I was regularly working very long, late hours and getting very little sleep. It’s no wonder I had bad skin to be honest but I had never thought to wear concealer.
One day, I received a swap package and in it was a sample of Benefit Boi-ing concealer. I wasn’t sure what to do with it and on reflection, it was actually a whole shade too dark for me but I tried it anyway with some help from the internet and the first thing I did was to tap some of it on my under eye area and look in the mirror
HALLELUJAH!
That was the sound of angels singing as I stared at the dark panda eye circles that had all but disappeared from view! I actually looked fresher and in a working environment, more bright-eyed and bushy tailed. I did not necessarily feel better but I LOOKED better and that was when I realised just how useful makeup could be to help me look better and put my best face forward in a professional environment.
I have never looked back since and have always been on the lookout for the next best concealer. I don’t have that pan of Boi-ing anymore. It was the wrong shade and by the time I actually planned to get one, I realised I didn’t quite like the texture. It just felt too thick and I didn’t notice it at the time, but it settled into lines and looked cakey if I wasn’t careful.
Being wary of my budget, I went on to use up copious tubes of the very affordable and very effective L’Oreal Touche Magique pen until it was discontinued and later moved on to Make Up For Ever Full Cover, which works well for covering up blemishes and discolourations but is too thick for the under eye area. I have since found the one concealer I don’t think I can do without, but I am always swayed to try others to see if they match up to my ideals.
Concealer was the one thing that changed my outlook on the makeup I used and how it could help me put a better face forward and I have my swappee to thank for this lightbulb moment 😀 If you want to know what concealers I’ve tried, they can be found here.
So, you know mine now check out what Tine’s makeup lightbulb moment was. I’m curious what she picked! 😀
What is your makeup lightbulb moment? What makeup item did you try or use that made you change the way you feel about wearing makeup?
I can’t rave enough about wearing concealer and in fact, if I’m having a good skin day, I am quite willing to skip base makeup and just wear a touch of concealer to keep me looking fresh. What’s yours? Do share!
Paris B
Dawn says
Eyebrow pencils.
I’ve got very sparse “half eye brows” and its amazing how lightly penciling in eyebrows made a difference to my face! Even without eye makeup, just penciling in eyebrows frames my face much better..
Paris B says
Ooh good pick Dawn! It took me so long to learn how to pencil in my brows but the effect is very obvious. As they say, the brows are the frames of your face, if your eyes are the windows 🙂
Victoria says
If I did have a lightbulb moment it was eyebrow pencil. When I had my browns done first at Benefit and then at Kanebo, my beautician who does waxing remarked my eyebrows looks so much better compared with previous times. She proceeded to tidy up my brows and it just looked better. I bought the Guerlain and Shu Umera Hard 9 eyebrow pencils and it helped to shape my brows so well. Eyebrows that are done well really helps to frames the face better 🙂
Paris B says
That’s a good pick! Eyebrows are the frames of the face after all and because I have rather sparse brows myself I like pencilling them in. It somehow makes my face look more balanced, even if I’m not wearing any other makeup 😀
Houdini says
I can’t think of a single product…but the first time I had my eyebrows done professionally, I was just blown away! all “Wow!! How come it took me so long to discover this???”
Recently I’ve discovered bright lips too!!
Paris B says
Ooh I know that feeling when discovering brows for the first time too! It really does make a difference doesn’t it? 🙂 Happy to know you’ve discovered bright lips – it’s so refreshing!
Anne says
i would say its BB cream/ makeup primer..like Ettusias and Cdp…it was like magic “paint” for the skin, correcting the redness around the nose, jaw line area and allow the foundation to last much longer……simply amazing…
Paris B says
Good one, Anne 🙂 I remember the first time I tried primer. Couldn’t believe that was my skin LOL!
Jyoan says
I am not too sure I’ve had that moment. Yet. But I agree with you on concealer. I only discovered its goodness last year because the ones I had before were all too cakey and too light.
Last year, I finally opened my Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda palette (that’s well raved on Youtube), and I found out that the previous concealers just don’t suit me because they were all pink tone. Pink tone concealers make me look like I have reversed panda eyes. But Sonia Kashuk palette has this one that is very yellow, and it suit me perfectly!
The funniest part is that Sonia Kashuk says that yellow tone one is for correction and not meant for concealing because Caucasians tend to have blue veins popping…
The biggest thing I learn about concealer is that the brand matters, because most Western, Korean, and Japanese brands, will only manufacture for cool skin people. And warm skin people like me will have better luck looking towards international, and professional brands like Bobbi Brown and M.A.C. That Sonia Kashuk one was a chance encounter.
Paris B says
Isn’t finding THE concealer just the best thing ever? 🙂 I’m glad to know that you worked out which type of concealer suits you best. It’s funny you mentioned pink toned concealers because I think the Boi-ing one was pink toned! LOL! It might be why it’s too dark because it accentuates the pink in the skin. The Nars ones and Shiseido ones are quite yellow toned as is Bobbi Brown so if you’re in the market for another, you could give those a go? 🙂
Sam Still Reading says
Good question! I’ve had several and weirdly, they all relate to eyes:
– eye liner
– eye primer
– good eye brushes
They make so much difference to how I look and make cheapy eyeshadows look high end!
Paris B says
Nice one Sam! I agree with you on good eye brushes. I thought I was fine using my fingers until I discovered good brushes and the world shifted on its axis 😀
su says
Aah. This.
My beauty aha! Moments… There are a few;
BB cream, the first time I tried a Korean brand one (The Face Shop) and I almost cried as it was what I’d been desiring all my… well, makeup wearing lifetime.
Benefit Brow-zings – when I filled in my sparse Asian brows and realised how much better I looked. (Nowadays it’s suqqu’s brow powder.
Benefit boi-ing! Oh snap!!
Nowadays it’s replaced by the superior yet cheap as chips Missha the style concealer — it’s amazing and shockingly affordable.
Plus stuff like wearing a matte bright tomato red lipstick (it was an old revlon equivalent of NARS Heatwave) for the first time and thinking wow. prior to that it was pale pastel glosses and balms, now I don’t shy away from any shade/finish if I can carry it off that is.
Laneige’s water sleeping pack is one of those profound life-altering things too. Hehe… First world problems n all. ><