My Beauty Revolution: Bronzers As Bronzers

Another stereotype about Asians I want to put down: tanning-phobic. Americans have tanning-beds. Asians take whitening bath. But then both are aggressive for our skin. In Asia, whitening makeup and skincare sell like oil and gas and here we have spray tanner and bronzers. It sounds like no-brainer to create sun-kissed (or bronzed) complexion with bronzers. Ultimately, that's why they're called bronzers eh? I just didn't get it. Before you guys call me silly, I must confirm that I'm not afraid of being too pale nor too tan. In fact I really enjoy the tone and depth of my skin color, to the point that I didn't see any reason to warm it up or cool it down. So I used bronzers as blushes :D.

Then I found my perfect foundation match (Clarins Ever Matte, Burberry Sheer Luminous, and Tom Ford Traceless Stick) and realized that my face needed some dimension. The foundations even out my skin tone, which is awesome, yet also flatten my face. Since I'm not up to high-tech contoured cheekbones on a daily basis, faking sheen and bronzed cheeks sounds much easier. Now, I LOVE bronzers, those with satin finish in particular. 

Thanks to a shameful number of hours spent on blogs, tutorials, trials and errors, I finally figured ways to create an over all healthy looking skin. Here are how. 

Warm up my foundations especially for the forehead area. I've found peachy bronze is the most natural looking for this purpose and adding warmth to the high points of my face. Dior Aurora is my all time favorite. 

Add natural glow. I love bronzers with satin finish because my skin isn't completely matte. A matte bronzer doesn't look believable on me. Edward Bess Daydream works like a charm on my the high points of my cheeks. 

Create dimensions for my face. It doesn't necessarily sculpt my bone structures although we could use bronzers to contour the face for sure. Instead, I apply bronzers on to the areas where the sun naturally hits the face, i.e. forehead, sides of nose, apples of cheeks, and high-points of cheeks. Nars Laguna is a classic. For a total bronzed look, I love to layer Tom Ford blush in Savage on the apples of my cheeks on top of bronzers. This gorgeous red-tinted brown creates my natural redness when I got tanned.

I finally GOT IT.

Do you use bronzers at all? What are your favorites? And how do you use them? 

My Beauty Revolution: Peace with Pinks

Asian girls are defaulted to be obsessed with pinks and Hello Kitty. I used to be not able to stand both, big time and in a serious way. No joke. In the past, I hated pinks, especially what so called Hello Kitty pink, ugh. No offense or objection to any Asian/non-Asian girls who love Hello Kitty. Call me a weirdo if you wish. Until now I still dislike the cat and the pink that has become associated with her. At my last university, we even have a hybrid Hello Kitty version of our MALE mascot, in pink with that hair bow. Gosh, that's the ultimatum. Ok ok back to the post.

For some odd reason though, I ended up with buying quite a few pinks, lipsticks, lipglosses, blushes particularly, and even pink eyeshadows. While I was disrespecting them for a long time, I grew to appreciate how brightened my skin looked with them.

Handling pink eyeshadows is way too tricky on my shallow-socketed eyes. I stick with pearly pink or golden pink with a touch of peach and brown here and there. Soft pink eye looks haven't established a permanent place in my look book.  The only exception is Edward Bess Berry Chic (a look here) that features general soft pink and berry color theme.

Edward Bess Berry Chic Palette

Dior Rose Diamond and Edward Bess Berry Chic Palette

Dior Rosy Nude and its sister Rosy Tan also have the warm soft pink that don't show up as opaque pinks on my skin tone. See, I must play safe on the eyes! 

Pink blushes, bright vibrant blue-based pinks in particular, on the other hand are now must-haves in my routine. All started with the discover of Lancome Pink Preview Lipsticks. It's cool and pale and washes out my lips yet it's an excellent blush color. Edward Bess Soft Orchid is a more neutral version of Lancome Pink Preview, subtly mimicking my natural blushing. There are also Edward Bess Compact Rouge in Love Affair, Bourjois le Cendre de Rose Brune, Tarte Amazonian Clay blush in Dollface and one of the more recent procurement Chanel Joues Contrast Rose Innitiale.

     First column: Bourjois le Cendre de Rose Brune, Edward Bess Love Affair, Smashbox Radiant, Tom Ford Narcissist

      Second column: Tarte Dollface, Chanel Rose Initiale, Edward Bess Soft Orchid, 

Lancome Pink Preview

Middle: Make Up For Ever HD blush #6

But not until I swept Smashbox Radiant on my cheeks, the whole new horizon of brightening makeup laid out in front of me. At that moment, I realized my face had some blue, red, pink beside my main skin tone of yellow.  And I look good in those bright pinks. I feel lively, energized, confident. I'm myself when I wear bright pinks. I love to wear them played down. They ARE my natural blushing color. My all time favorite blush is the Tom Ford Narcissist.

Top to bottom: YSL Rouge Couture Fuchsia, Chanel Glossimier Pink Teaser, Nars Easy Lover 

Now pink lipsticks are of more my natural choices and I embrace bright pink lip colors much earlier than blushes. My lips are red-tinted and pinks complement them well. However, cool pinks like Lancome Pink Preview ain't for me. I look dead. To play safe I need brown-based or at least warm-based pinks for everyday. When I need instant boost of color, however, nothing beats a pair of sexy bright pink lips!! YSL Fuschia lipstick for the ultimate drama. Then Chanel Glossimier Pink Teaser and Nars Easy Lover for flirty and glamorous lips.

YSL Rouge Couture Fuchsia 

Do you love pinks? What is the color you've learned to love with your beauty journey?

2012 on The Convenient Beauty

2012 was the year of changes on The Convenient Beauty. After a few months pondering on whether to keep up this blog, I rolled up my sleeves and worked toward building a blog for beauty lovers. It hasn't been a smooth ride yet I've made friends along the way and learned so much about blogging. Below are a few highlights from the year past.

Beauty Blogazons

I usually stay away from anything girl group, especially a group of those who love makeup so much so to talk about it 24/7. You girls know how it goes. But Beauty Blogazons has brought me nothing but positive energy. We got each other's back. I've learned so much from Blogazon sisters like selecting blogging platform, photo editing softwares, how to run a giveaways to blogging ethics. It reminds me why I started my blog in the first place. I love to share my hobby, to learn and make friends with like-minded people. 

Twitter, facebook, pinterest and polyvore

2012 was the year I took a step up in setting up social media channels for my blog. I can connect and interact much more easily and quickly with fellow bloggers and my readers. Viva twitter and facebook! I used to collect pretty pictures from internet. These picture folders grow too big, threatening my computer memory. Now that I can organize pictures on pinterest I save that memory for personal photos only. There's also polyvore where I try and practice different outfits and makeup coordination online. 

No seasonal makeup, really

I skipped most limited editions with a few exceptions like Nars trio Ramatuelle, Chanel Jouse Contraste Blush Rose Initiale, and Tom Ford Blush Narcissist.  I spent 2011 chasing Paul & Joe's, Dior's, Chanel's and Guerlain's seasonal releases. It was fun :)

After a while though, I began to feel saturated with repeated color themes AND designs. I'm not saying that those collections didn't bring anything outstanding (Guerlain Liu or Tom Ford Jardin Noir were phenomenal). I just changed. 

Burberry and Tom Ford

Part of my annual fund goes to exploration of beauty brands. In 2012, I went crazy with Burberry and Tom Ford beauty. Both deliver excellent quality and incredibly beautiful products.  My favorites from Burberry are their sheer luminous foundation and their single eyeshadows, then come their blushes, lipstick and lipglosses. Burberry is my favorite classic chic brand. Tom Ford, on the other hand, executes shimmer/glitter and powder products brilliantly. I love his blushes, eyeshadow quads and lipsticks. I was surprise and so thrilled when discovering that Tom Ford can be wearable and chic besides hot bold sexy. I do think Tom Ford beauty shows its best if you rock it confidently, mixing colors and textures to create unexpected combinations. I can't wait for what these two brands have to offer in 2013.

Le Mertier de Beaute, Becca, Rouge Bunny Rouge, Jouer 

These are the brands I'm dying to try out. I have a local Le Mertier de Beaute and Becca (just found out thanks to Lipstick Boulevards) but the other two are not within my driving distance. So again, I will have rely heavily on my trusted beauty bloggers. If you're reading this post and know anything good from any of those brands, please kindly give me a shout in the comment. Thank you thank you!

What are the highlights from your 2012? Any big plans for 2013? 

Why do I wear makeup?

"You look good already. You don't need makeup!"
"Your nose is too flat, otherwise you'd be so beautiful."
"Try a few shades lighter. Your skin is a bit too tan. You'll look prettier with paler complexion."
"You're short, you know, so don't wear floor-length dresses."
"You're too this or that, so wear this don't rock that."
"bla bla bla"

Does any of these sound familiar to you guys? Or this one is worse to me - "Men don't like women wear makeup. Why do you do it?"

My bare face at Johnson Space Center. Not the best no-makeup shot but I remembered I was happy.

Every girl, no matter how confident, feels insecure at least one time in her life because of those kind of comments. I struggled through out my childhood to accept how I looked. My face, my body, my eye color, and almost every other features of my physical appearance used to bother me. It wasn't because I didn't feel pretty myself but the standards that the culture and society created for people. I believed everybody was beautiful, in different ways. You don't need to have hour-glass figure or perfectly symmetrical face structure to feel it. I believe we, women and man, shouldn't let what so called beauty standards dictate our view of beauty. And yet those "standards" put such a pressure on my younger self. Being different in my culture (I'm Asian in case you couldn't tell) is not encouraged. Those days were unhappy.

Until I decided I can't be anyone else but myself. So heck, I'll do what make me feel happy.

My love for makeup started at very early age, probably 7. I still remembered eyeing my mom's lipsticks.   I was thrilled when discovering how to use mascara. I used to want to grow up fast so that I can wear makeup too. With all those insecure feelings about myself, strangely enough, I never thought of makeup as something will make me look prettier or more up-to-date in someone's eyes. It has always been a way to express different aspects of myself. It has always been fun. It has never meant to please anyone but myself. I also have faith in a healthy lifestyle, healthy diet and proper exercise. I believe they work better than an anti-winkle serum or a dark-circle eraser.

Do I look more/less beautiful with makeup? You guys decide.
Do I feel more/less beautiful with makeup? I decide.
Do I feel more/less confident with makeup? No. Makeup is one of my hobbies.
Do I listen to my man if he says he doesn't want me to wear makeup? No. In fact, he has told me more than a dozen times that makeup is redundant for me. But he understands it's something that I want rather than a necessity.

Now, I don't undermine the power of makeup nor advocate for inappropriate makeup. When people compliment on my makeup, I am certainly flattered. Makeup helps me to express how I feel. And I truly appreciate people's recognition of my feelings. How do I define inappropriate? Say, I wouldn't bring red lips to work. But if I had the same "job" as the Kadashians, I would need to wear a heck lot more to stay employed rather than just smokey eyes or red lips. I think when makeup is done in the way that fits your personality and your purpose, it can change the way you feel about yourself, and therefore your life.

That's my story. I would love to hear about your opinions on wearing makeup. I understand everyone's different. So please don't argue over what's right or wrong. Please just focus on what you think.

Joanne xx

My Beauty Revolution - Back to Basics

Many makeup beginners start from natural to more dramatic looks. I've found myself wandering from the opposition direction. The more I wear makeup, the more I appreciate clean fresh outfits for my face. You've probably realized my taupe craze, my huge haul of neutrals or seamless highlighters on this blog. I also love a pop of color on my lips or cheeks or inner corners of the eyes. It brings modern twists to the classic chic of neutrals.

Hence comes my latest inspiration...

When it comes to flawless complexion, subtle eye makeup yet phenomenal transformation, no one does it better than Koreans, IMO. Recently, I've been obsessed with celebrity makeup artist Jung Seam Mool makeup style. Below is one of my favorites. Her youtube channel provides great makeup tips for almost all types of facial structures, especially different eye shapes although it does feel a bit repetitive after a while.

My Beauty Revolution - Drugstore Revisited

I took a 5-year break from drugstore cosmetics. The cheap quality, poor pigmentation, short wearing and unflattering colors of the products drove me away. I tried and tried and ended up with loads of makeup that I literally hated. If only I had the source of information I do today, I would have saved a fortune. And those makeup weren't inexpensive once my collection grew out of the 3-drawer desk. That was when it clicked: enough junk, time for (much) less quantity but great quality.

So, I gifted away or tossed out (most) things and rebuilt my collection. Started with Smashbox, Stila, Laura Mercier, then Dior 5-color quints really got me hooked with the higher-ends. As soon as I experienced the high quality (i.e. pigmented, long-wearing, soft, smooth, wearable colors), I wasn't able to come back to any drugstore makeup. Over the time, I developed a prejudice that gradually turned into indifference with drugstore brands. I never browse through the beauty section at my local Target. That seemed to settle it, a big no-no to drugstore. Until recently....

Lisa Eldridge, a talented (and elegant) makeup artist, who is also the creative director of Boots No. 7 uses quite a few of drugstore brands in her tutorials. I got inspired to try out Physicians Formula organic foundations and Boots No. 7 lip pencils. Then I overcame my skepticism with these brands and went on a little journey. So far it's been a great return to beauty counters of Target, CVS, RiteAid, Walmart, Walgreens. The products that I've tested exceeded my expectation although there's been flinch here and there.

The project has been fun and rewarding. I've found quite a few items that come incredibly close to my favorites. And to be fair, quite a few high-end makeup deliver mediocre quality and ridiculously overpriced. However, I don't have to work my way as hard through high-end market to find a favorite as I do with drugstore.

Now that I know how almost any beauty products on the market function on real customers (thanks to thousands of beauty blogs nowadays), I envision my ideal beauty collection that include a little bit of everything from both worlds but none would ever be disappointing as the past.

Do you have a preference between drugstore and high-end brands? How have your favorites developed over time? Any recommendations for great drugstore makeup?