Newbie needs help!

Hello everyone, I just joined makeuptalk so treat me well! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I have a problem which I hope you'll help me solve. A week ago my mom visited me in college and somehow needed my powder, so I handed it over and she freaked out when she saw that it was MOLDY! (I live in a very humid and hot area) I told her it was the one I bought in freshman year of highschool (along with my other makeup stuff) and she made me throw them all out saying that I was going to get skin cancer in a few years if I kept using such low quality and cheap products. Honestly what was inside that bulky makeup bag was probably worth less than 40 dollars. So all I have now is two chubby sticks and one sephora eyeshadow -which again my mom bought for me a few weeks ago.

Anyways she offered me to buy me all the makeup I need IF I get high-end brands only and with a promise to change them within a year.

I've been searching the internet for a while now and I'm lost! I don't wear foundation or full face makeup. I think I need a powder, concealer, a mascara and eye pencil/- eyeliner. And that's it. Maybe a matte red lipstick..A few red lipsticks..A lot of lipsticks. OK.

I'm 21 and I don't have any blemishes or scars, I just have hideous under eye circles needs covering. A friend of mine recommended  ysl compact powder because supposedly it's very light and you don't even know if it's there. But I saw the same comment about chanel's powders as well. I have no idea what I'm doing, honestly.

There are hundreds of brands with thousands of products so please someone help me.

I have fair and allergic skin, small eyes and very small eyelashes with big red cheeks. (I'm one of those women who blushes when something -anything- happens)

Thank you in advance, sorry for the long post and I apologize for any grammar mistakes I might have made, I'm not a native speaker.

Dang, if my mom offered to bankroll all of my makeup purchases and required I only get high-end brands...

Here's what I would get, with some brands that just come to my mind first:

• a lighter foundation / BB cream (e.g., Giorgio Armani foundation, Clinique CC cream)
• eyeliner (liquid - Stila, pencil - Urban Decay)
• Eyeshadow - Naked 1 or 2
• mascara (Benefit They're Real!) This you should probably replace at around 6 months.
• blush (cream might be easier, since you don't have to get out a brush. cream - MUFE HD cream, powder - Hourglass)
• bronzer (NARS laguna)
• powder (Guerlain Meteorites, but can also switch to something more mattifying)
• concealer (NARS radiant creamy)
• lipstick - so many options!

If you don't have nice brushes and a brush cleaner, that would also be essential to pick up.

Some of these are more mid- than high-end but are still very good.

Some of these will probably last more than one year (e.g., eyeshadow) and be completely safe.

Chanel and YSL powders are both great. The same for eye shadows, bronzers etc. Dior is another one. I really like Dior powders and foundations. You can't go wrong with any of the high-end lines. Mascara and eye liner I like from Estee Lauder. They don't smudge and stay all day. Guerlain is great too. I second Guerlain Meteorites. It was the first high-end makeup I used when I was a teenager. It's a great all over powder that finishes any makeup and is also great by it's self. If you don't want a full foundation, the BB creams are great. Both Dior and Guerlain have excellent ones. Guerlain foundations are outstanding too. For lipsticks I love Chanel, Guerlain and Dior. Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown lipsticks are great too.

First, I seriously doubt you are going to get skin cancer from makeup, even if it is old and moldy. You might get an infection or irritated skin, but not skin cancer.

I always check beautypedia for reference before I make any makeup or skincare purchases. If I had to overhaul my collection I would do research there first.

As far as my personal taste goes for high end, I love MAC lipstick and eyeshadow.

For mascaras, it's SUPER important that you throw them away and replace them every 3-6 months. They are wet warm tubes and can breed all sorts of bacteria that you then expose to your open eye. This can cause redness, irritation and infection! For brushes such as eyeliner and foundation buffers, you should make sure to wash them with a brush cleanser often as they also collect tons of dead skin cells and bacteria which if not cleaned, will then be spread all over the area you apply with a brush. 

ihavenoideawhatimdoing said:

Hello everyone, I just joined makeuptalk so treat me well! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I have a problem which I hope you'll help me solve. A week ago my mom visited me in college and somehow needed my powder, so I handed it over and she freaked out when she saw that it was MOLDY! (I live in a very humid and hot area) I told her it was the one I bought in freshman year of highschool (along with my other makeup stuff) and she made me throw them all out saying that I was going to get skin cancer in a few years if I kept using such low quality and cheap products. Honestly what was inside that bulky makeup bag was probably worth less than 40 dollars. So all I have now is two chubby sticks and one sephora eyeshadow -which again my mom bought for me a few weeks ago.

Anyways she offered me to buy me all the makeup I need IF I get high-end brands only and with a promise to change them within a year.

I've been searching the internet for a while now and I'm lost! I don't wear foundation or full face makeup. I think I need a powder, concealer, a mascara and eye pencil/- eyeliner. And that's it. Maybe a matte red lipstick..A few red lipsticks..A lot of lipsticks. OK.

I'm 21 and I don't have any blemishes or scars, I just have hideous under eye circles needs covering. A friend of mine recommended  ysl compact powder because supposedly it's very light and you don't even know if it's there. But I saw the same comment about chanel's powders as well. I have no idea what I'm doing, honestly.

There are hundreds of brands with thousands of products so please someone help me.

I have fair and allergic skin, small eyes and very small eyelashes with big red cheeks. (I'm one of those women who blushes when something -anything- happens)

Thank you in advance, sorry for the long post and I apologize for any grammar mistakes I might have made, I'm not a native speaker.

Click to expand...

Regardless if you're using low-end, high-end or luxury-end brands, they will all go off, bad etc, if they are contaminated with sebum, dirt, sweat, saliva etc.

Remember, if your make-up smells really bad or off, what you're smelling is the fecal matter from the over population of the bacteria building up.

Most people are allergic to foods. Most if not all make-up products don't contain food ingredients. Some if very few people have sensitivities to chemicals, which all make-ups have in their ingredient lists. This is the "general" rule.

Now if you feel a burning sensation and your skin becomes red and inflamed from make-up, chances are your make-up is contaminated with bacteria. Skin care products are a related but a different matter, and will not be discussed here, as it's off-topic.

If you want your make-up investment to last and be germ / bacteria free, follow these simple steps below that we MuA Pros use in the trailer.

- Always decant products onto a palette using a spatula or palette knife whenever possible, and work from the palette to your face. Never work from the bottle to the face! 

- Clean your palette and spatula / palette knife with 99% after you've finished your make-up.

- Never blow on your brushes or your pressed powdered products like eye shadows, because you are spitting on them. 

- Always clean your brushes with a brush cleaner after every use or at least once a week! This includes the Beauty Blenders.

- Never reuse wedgies (sponges)! Throw them away!

- If you use powder puffs, wash them at least every couple of days. (Read the washing instructions on the packaging).

- Always sanitize your make-ups with a make-up sanitizer like Beauty-So-Clean, including your lipstick tubes and palettes (if you don't use a lip brush). Never use any percentage of alcohol to sanitize your make-up as it will change the consistency and composition of some of the ingredients in the make-ups.

- Always transfer mascara from the wand onto a disposable spoolie (they now come in all sorts of styles, shapes, sizes, colours, and materials), or onto a mascara fan brush. Never double dip! Also never pump the wand into the tube, as the air will dry the product out. Always scrape the inside of the tube to get the product onto the wand. Tighten the tube, but don't over-tighten as the top will "lift" causing air to get in.

(That's why manufacturers designed the tubes this way... It was a transition from the old "open" cake mascara packaging, and they also wanted to retain how the MuA decanted or scraped the product... Again "working from the palette"  method).

Your mascaras will last 6 months when using this method. Also assuming you use one coat. If you use more than one coat, your mascara will deplete accordingly. 

- Never store your make-ups in a bathroom or a humid environment. Always store them in a cool dark place away from heat.

If you follow these simple basic make-up care guidelines, your make-up investment will last at least a year or until you need a product replenishment, which is usually 3 months if you wear make-up every day.

Good luck!