Do Something Good Today

I don't consider myself a beauty blogger, more of a beauty learner. I read a lot of blogs, watch a lot of videos on YouTube and Beautylish, and look up product reviews nearly everyday. I watch, I learn, and write about it here.

While browsing tons of videos it's easy to get caught up in all of my own flaws and start thinking in very superficial terms. And then I stumble upon a post or a project like Gwapa 'Beautiful' - an Inspirational Documentary that puts things in perspective and reminds me what beauty really means.

Growing up, I knew that being intelligent was far more important than being pretty. And so I am by no means a glamour girl, nor do I want to be. I have Vitiligo which effects the left side of my face. I have large white spots all around my left eye and left cheek. I have an eye that is a little droopy, and a nostril that is slightly smaller. But as much as I pretend not to care about my flaws, I sometimes find myself dwelling on them. And so I pick up a makeup brush and start covering all those flaws. A few minutes later, and no ones knows.

When I work on film projects, I do the same for the actors. I take out the redness, cover small blemishes, slim the face and cover tired eyes. I try to make beautiful people more beautiful. A few brush strokes later, and they are a better version of themselves.

But what if it wasn't that easy? What if you woke up thinking you were not beautiful, not worthy of love, or shunned by society because of your appearance?

Gwapa(Beautiful) is a documentary by Thirsty Girl Films that "follows a poor Filipino family’s struggle for a healthy future and a mother’s remarkable journey to help her three kids with facial deformities."

Gwapa (Beautiful) ll Fundraising Video from Meg Pinsonneault on Vimeo.

"Children with clefts are often abandoned or shunned from society. The lucky ones are accepted into their families, but rarely leave home or attend school. Likewise, children with cleft lips and palates run a higher risk of dying of disease and illness. Cleft lip and palate is one of the most common and most curable of birth defects, but surgical repair is almost unheard of on the smaller islands. Sadly, most clefts go unrepaired in poor countries like The Philippines. Just one surgery can change a child’s life forever."

Thirty Girl Films is currently running an Indiegogo campaign in an effort to raise the funds necessary to finish filming this beautiful documentary. They plan on traveling with Faces of Tomorrow on their mission back to the Philippines in January 2012, to spend two weeks filming the Bulabos and Alac families.

This campaign is coming to an end and you only have a few days left to help make this project happen. This Holiday season, consider donating to this project and giving the gift of beauty and hope. "Because every child deserves the chance at a beautiful and healthy future..."

To donate, learn more and keep spreading the word please visit:

Indiegogo Campaign

Official Website

Facebook Fanpage

ThirstyGirl Films on Twitter

Week 4: Contouring and Highlighting

October (But really November)-Fundamentals

Face Contouring and Highlighting

Well I suppose, better late than never. First an excuse, then a confession.

The excuse: I have been super busy. Between the web-series, several networking events and a few other makeup related projects I have been working on and doing research for, I have been too pooped to finish out my 4th week of instruction.

A confession: While that is all true, the real truth is that I hit a bit of a block this lesson. I did the research, and worked on the look over two weekends and hated every picture I took. The contouring was either too heavy or not even noticeable. It's easy to say, "I'll post pictures of all my triumphs and failures." Turns out posting isn't as easy when it's about your failures. So I admit, I waited until I was able to get something I was happy with.

What I tried:



Jlo and Kim Kardashian are by far the "Queens of the Contour." Regardless of whether you are a fan or not, they are both stunning and who doesn't want to look and feel like a glamor queen every so often. It's no wonder there are so many videos and blog posts dedicated to getting that really sculpted look.

Below are some of my favorites:

KandeeJohnson



I mean who hasn't seen a Kandee Johnson video? Here she does a great job breaking down the basics of contouring. Make sure to click on the second video that shows you how to highlight. She uses concealer pencils, and a darker color powder. This one is totally wearable.


GossMakeupArtist



Here he is using lighter and darker cream foundations to sculpt the face and shows us the art of blending.

Pixiwoo



For a more dramatic runway type look, here is Sam's take on it. It is a bit extreme, but if you are new to it, it is a great video to see where the highlights and contours really go. She uses mostly powders for the contours and really explains what color you should use and why.

My first attempt was too light. I first tried with powder but it ended up too diffused and I was not able to blend it out completely. It made my face look dry and dirty, not glamorous at all.


For my second attempt, I used liquid foundation. The darkest shade I had was far too warm and orange. I took too long to blend it, and it ended up looking streaky. It was a little too, "hey look I contoured my face." But I suppose it could have been worse. Sorry Lindsay Lohan. (Allure.com)



As I sat there staring at my face wondering what I need to do differently, Finally an "ah-ha" moment. I noticed the hair casting shadows across parts of my face. I picked up one of my brushes, wondering if I could use it to cast a shadow strategically. Voila!! It worked.


It allowed me to see what color I should use to create the shadows. But best of all, it let me experiment with the shadows on my face without any commitment at all. I was able to move the shadow up and down or change the angle by a few degrees. I held it closer for a deeper narrower shadow, and further for a lighter, more diffused shadow. It was amazing to see what a tiny shadow could do to the shape of my face. I was able to experiment with contouring in a few minutes, what otherwise would have take me hours to apply and remove over and over again. With new resolve, I moved on to the "painting" portion of the evening.

What I Learned:

Big take aways this week - For contouring, you need a brownish color that is cool, not shimmery, and matches the shadows already in your face. There are several different ways to do it but you have to find what works for you. For me, it was cream foundation. Powder was too hard for me to control, but the cream was easy to apply and then blend. Also, I learned I actually work a lot better from diagrams or even just reading than a video alone.

Kevyn Aucoin had this great photo in his book Making Faces. So I copied it here using my Graftobian warm palette. The highlight color is Ingenue, and the contour color is Midnight Mariold.





I just like creams better. I am able to blend them better, and they look more skin-like than liquids or powders. The first picture is foundation only, it is about 4 hours old here. The second look is the look above blended out. I used a wedge makeup sponge for most of the blending here. The contour color was probably a little too warm still, but it definitely brings a depths to my face.


Here is the completed look. I added red lipstick, black eyeliner, filled in my brows and put on a red dress. Mostly I just walked around the house feeling glamorous. While I certainly won't be wearing this look to work on Monday, I really like this look. Now I just need somewhere to wear it.