Self-Made

I was reading through Forbes today, and I came across a lot of posts about people who were investing in companies, start-ups, and basically building their own fortunes from the ground up. I realized that I've built a lot of what I would call my "career" or my "life" from the ground up, and I decided it would be a good idea to put together a post about what I've taken initiative on.

When I was in 6th grade, all the girls started to wear makeup. I was the only girl who didn't. First of all, my parents would never have let me; and secondly, I thought that if you wore makeup, it indicated that you weren't studious, and I didn't want to give the impression that I was a poor student. To this day, I don't wear makeup to class for those same reasons.

But I'm a girl, and most girls love makeup. We love how it feels to go from drab to fab, and we love the instant "prettiness factor" that it gives us. Being unable to get my makeup fix by wearing it to school, what was I to do?!

My mom bought her powder compacts at Macy's, and they would frequently have sales at the cosmetics counter where if you bought two compacts, you'd get a free gift bag of makeup samplers. One day, I decided to dig through these gift bags, which my mom usually just stashed in a drawer. My mom wasn't (and isn't) the kind of person who dumps layers of makeup on her face; she simply uses a layer of powder, a quick swipe of eyeliner on the lower lash line, and a little lipstick, and she's done.

I knew that if I didn't want to let my parents realize I'd been wearing makeup, I'd have to put it on right before showering so I could wash it off. The first day, I was terrified I'd get caught. I swiped some eye pencil under my eyes and attempted to put some lipstick on, but I looked downright scary. I looked like a vampire, and my lipstick was all over the place! After I showered, I had dark outlines around my eyes from the eyeliner, which refused to wash off easily. I kept my head down for the rest of the day and waited for it to rub off on its own.

I soon learned that liquid liner works much better if you want to wash it off without leaving any traces. But I had no idea how to apply makeup in general. I had a huge arsenal of eyeshadow palettes, lipsticks, lip glosses, mascara, foundation, and blushes at my disposal, but I also had no skill whatsoever in using them.

I turned to the Internet for help. I have always been a resourceful gal, and this is where it really showed. I was determined to learn how to put on makeup, so I visited all kinds of sites to learn how. I watched innumerable hours of makeup tutorials from YouTubers like juicystar07 and allthatglitters21. I read posts on thebeautydepartment.com for endless hours. All in all, if I had to put together all the time I spent soaking up makeup skill, it would probably amount to a month's worth of time. I was determined to figure this out.

I decided to put my skills to the test on a day when I was alone at home. I knew I wouldn't get caught, so I could take my time in applying all kinds of makeup and learning how to use it. I used a sage-green eyeshadow, a white/cream eyeshadow, a skin-tone eyeshadow for blending the edges, a volumizing mascara, liquid liner, a sunset-colored blush, and put my skills to the test. By the end, I looked scary. I clearly hadn't learned it right.

I reconsidered the skills I thought I had in expertly applying makeup. I realized that I'd learned the theory, but it would just take good, old-fashioned experience to do it right, and do it well. Over the past year, I've applied makeup on countless days, still right before showering, and I've improved so much it's impressive. I no longer spend as much time on beauty tutorials and websites, but I still view them sometimes, when I've got a little free time. Makeup is my side passion.

Am I as good as the girls who do YouTube tutorials? No way. I still have lots to learn. I also don't have all the equipment at my disposal -- I don't have any brushes, no foundation, etc. I have limited time and limited supplies. But I'm doing the best I can.

I've turned myself from a hopeless case into something of a decent makeup-applier. I'm still learning along the way, but I've gotten much better. And in that, I'm proud to say, I'm 100% self-made, baby.