I’ll be the first person to admit that I get stuck in makeup ruts. Smoky, neutral and/or brown — any of the above, and I’ll wanna wear it.
I’m gonna fall back on human nature as my excuse/explanation… I think it’s just human nature to do what you think you’re pretty good at and what you’re comfortable with.
Right now, though, I’m on a mission to challenge myself in my life, and not just with makeup, so here’s to trying new things, yay! 🙂
This morning I sat in bed with the new issues of Allure and Nylon and a stack of Post-Its and bookmarked every look that caught my eye; I wrote down all of the little details I like about the looks on the Post-Its.
My plan is to try all of them over the next 30 days. (I recently came to the realization that I do better with projects when they have concrete deadlines… Yeah, the things you learn about yourself in your 40s!)
Some of the looks are trademark Karen Makeup Crack®, like this one with smoky taupe gray, but I also picked some looks that are well out of my comfort zone, like the Chanel look, which seems deceptively simple, but that black line on her upper lash line is so perfectly precise that I can already tell that it’s gonna take all of my willpower to NOT smudge the living crap out of it.
I also took of some colorful looks that I would normally never think to try, like a glittery minimalist cut crease…
We’ll see how it goes!
Maybe this is something we could do together in the future. What do you think? What if we voted in the comments and picked a couple of the same magazines to get, then bookmarked two or three looks? Maybe we could post them somewhere like Instagram or Facebook with a #hashtag? I dunno… I’ll mull it over while I drink this green juice I just made.
If you have any ideas for a group project, let me know. I’d love to do something together. It’d be fun! 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Karen, I think it sounds like a lot of fun! I vote for the ones with:
the grey/taupe smoky lids
purple cheeks and plum lips
one bold, colorful element on really clean skin
the looks that involve precise liner or crease work probably won’t work with my hooded + saggy lids — although I could try them, I might not want to leave the house in them. (whatever goes on the lashline you can’t see very well, plus it also ends up in my crease because of hooded + saggy lids… )
Sweet! Are you on Instagram? I’m trying to figure out the easiest way for all of us to share our pics and Efrain below mentioned doing an Instagram challenge.
I’m not on Instagram (yet) — I need to get there; not sure yet if I want to use my own name or choose a business name or something… need to learn more.
I think starting in January, and doing a look a week, is a great idea. So many people are super-busy or have dress codes at work that would inhibit creativity too much to do it on a daily basis. And the holidays are so busy, but by the middle of January lots of us need something to perk us up through the rest of the winter. This could be really fun 🙂
Hah! This goal sounds fun! I am also stuck with same look everyday! I love this idea, Karen!
Hi Laarni,
Awesome! Would you rather share the pics here or maybe on Instagram? I’m trying to figure out the best way for us to share.
I think we can make it a real 30-day Instagram challenge, for example:
Day 1: Satiny gray/taupe smokey eyes
Day 2: Spikey lashes
Day 3: Smoked lower lash
Day 4: No light reflection skin (I’m not sure if I read it right, is it the same that matte skin?)
Day 5: Minimalist nude eye
Day 6: Thin black liner
Day 7: Natural looking lashes
Day 8: Minimalist glitter cut crease
Day 9: Purple cheeks
Day 10: Killer highlight
Day 11: Matte blackened plum lips
Day 12: Shimmer lids
Day 13: Kitten flick liner
Day 14: Inner corner liner
Day 15: Negative space lower lash liner
Day 16: Messy glitter lips
Day 17: Single bold colorful element
Day 18: Clean skin
(The next days are my own ideas)
Day 19: Bold brows
Day 20: My lips but better
Day 21: Strange color lips
Day 22: Bronzed babe
Day 23: Blue/green smokey eyes
Day 24: Hollywood red lipstick
Day 25: Graphic liner
Day 26: False lashes
Day 27: Contoured look
Day 28: All-over glow
Day 29: Your everyday look
Day 30: Your favorite party look
We can make it a poll to select the days and the hashtag name.
WOW! This is real deal! Thanks Efra for this list… I’m going to copy it and keep it in my notes. Hmm, maybe we’ll do this in January? I don’t know if could do all these things in 30 days (that’s a big commitment), but maybe some sort of modified version to make it a little slightly easier?
This is so great, thank you!
I think this challenge would be for the makeup obsessed or the hardcore fan, so we can tweak it to make it for the average makeup wearer or the one without lots of time.
Another options is only doing one look per week, but anyway it could be fun.
I’d be in with one per week. I still have my office job to work at, I cant pull off one of these every day!
This sounds like a fun way to go out of one’s comfort zone!
I’m trying! The timer is now officially on until January 13. Hopefully I’ll be able to try them before then.
How are you doing? It’s another rainy evening here in Nor Cal. I just put the baby down and now it’s time for me to enjoy a glass of wine a few Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Stars. 😀
Oooooh how original is the glitter cut crease? Not that I’d wear it but points for originality for sure!
I’m in! Let’s do it!
I think this is a good idea! I’m on Instagram, BTW.
I love this idea, both as an individual and as part of Efrain’s challenge! I’m on Instagram, so that would work for me, at least in a modified way. Yay! And January would be better if that helps with the planning.
Longtime reader here but never commented (I don’t think). This post really inspired me. I would love to participate but I’m with Lindalibraloca – I have a day job!