ElaineMiller.com

Eponymous to the last.

MakeUp, a Simple Home Kit

MakeUp for the Real Human (When you wanna buy the basics.)

For folks who walk into a makeup store and feel out of their depth, I offer solace. And advice, even.

For everyone who has ever been snubbed at the makeup counter, pressured into buying six shades of raspberry-hued lipstick, plus $89.99 in assorted cosmetic mumbo-jumbo, I ache for you.

For gents who want to be more ladylike on occasion, for women who want to wear makeup only once a month–or year… here’s some help.

For folks who just wandered into this page accidentally, here’s a bit about who I am. This page was written for a workshop I give along with Silva Tenenbein. Here’s more info on the workshop.

Full Kit, Mess and all

The first thing you need to know is:you don’t have to buy everything they tell you to. You don’t even have to buy much. And (wait for it) you don’t need the high-end makeup if all you want is some–goddess help us–simple face paint. Yes, the expensive stuff is usually better quality. But I’m telling you; It’s OK to go to the drugstore.

The following page contains some pics I took in my livingroom a few minutes ago, of the basic items in my own home kit. Bear in mind that this bears no resemblance to my professional kit!

The makeup pictured here is that which I use every day (every day that I wear makeup, that is). It’s not polished, dusted, varnished, or airbrushed. It doesn’t have a supermodel wearing it. It’s just regular makeup.
With no more than the bits and pieces shown, I can do a no-makeup-but-healthier-looking look, a simple day makeup, a dramatic evening look, and anything in between. I can focus on eyes, lips, shading, contrast or delicacy. Honest.

For the casual surfer: I can’t help with brand names. You might be in Vancouver like me, or you might be in Australia. Who’s to tell what sort of Aussie doohickeys are available? Try stuff on your hand. A lot of cosmetics are heavy on the chalk or grease, and low on colour. Those types will look fine in the pot, or in the case, but the colour won’t transfer to your skin, or will flake off almost immediately. I’ll break my brand name rule just once and say — don’t buy a lot of Cover Girl, OK?

Here’s what you wanna pick up.

(Here’s how much it might cost you in
Canada.)

	Eyeshadows: For a basic kit I favour neutral tones. Here you see white, black, and light brown. I can make any shade of brown with these. So can you. Pick any three colours you like–it’s your face. But make them dark, medium and light. And if you can avoid the multi-packs, do. One will always run out faster than the rest.
I like a blush that’s barely there. Find something that looks natural with your skin tone, just a hint warmer. Cheekbone racing stripes went out in the seventies, and unless you’re attached to them (your face, your choice!), subtlety works best with blush.
	Mascara and Liquid Liner: Black, Black, Black for the mascara, unless you’re a very determined pale blonde. Then dark brown will be acceptable. Liquid liner (black!)can be skipped if you never, ever want a dramatic or intense look. Get the “washes off” kind, not waterproof. It’s not fun having to sandblast your face to clean it.
I’m an eyebrow fetishist; I’ll freely admit it. Here’s a small, firm-bristled brush and a colour pencil to match the eyebrows.
	I like matte (non-shiny) lipstick for flexibility’s sake. A dab of lipgloss will transform a matte to a shine, but it’s harder to make a shine matte. Get these shades (if they jive with your skin tone and likes): pale, neutral, bright, and dark. (Mine are light brown, medium brown, red, and deep berryish brown.)
Lipgloss will add a very cheap and easy effect to your lipstick. Oh god, did I actually say that?
	A big brush is OK for loose powder, but a powder puff is way better (not shown, oops). I use the big brush for whisking fallen stuff off one’s face (loose eyeshadow, eyebrow hairs) and the smaller brush for contour and blush.
Look for pencils that glide on without dragging at your skin, and that give a dense line of colour. Anything you have to flick your Bic to use is too hard to draw lines near your eye. Colours: black, medium brown, red.
	You know how people sneer at you for using sponge applicators for eyeshadow? Screw the sneerers. If you’d rather use these than brushes, go for it. Get the finest, softest latex applicators, though. There’s some bad-ass scratchy things on the market. Notice that mine are high-fashion black. (But any colour will be fine for y’all.)
Lipbrush. Eyeshadow brush. And tweezers. If you’ll never yank a stray hair (or pull out a splinter), skip the tweezers. If you buy tweezers, get good ones. You’ll be able to (ouch) feel (ouch) the (ouch) difference.
	Foundation scares a lot of people. And well it should. The varieties are bewildering. Most home folks use bottled, liquid goo, with a separate pressed powder finish, and perhaps a concealer stick as well. You can do that, if you wish. Match colour to your neck! Masks are for goths and junior high girls. I don’t have dry skin, so I use a dry pancake base mixed with water. Used sparingly, it goes on sheer; applied liberally, it’s stage make-up. I have funny pale skin, so a perfect match for me is a little bit of the pale one, plus a lot more of the really pale one.
Here we find the life cycle of the latex sponge. The pristine one that looks like Cheops’ pyramid is new. The tanned libertine beside it is one use old. This is why we buy them by the bag. They also make these in non-latex, which aren’t as good, but are cheaper and good for folks with latex allergies.
	If you have pencils, get one of these. The special “for makeup” sharpeners are better, because they sharpen at a custom angle that wastes less pencil than a regular HB pencil sharpener.