confessions of an unapologetic makeup junkie

i first found love in makeup when i was about three or four and i would steal my mom's red, red lipstick and grey eyeshadows, as it was a fad then. i think i even steal her makeup more than i do her shoes. :D she would always be sooo freaking mad at me but come next day, she would find her brand new lipstick ruined again. if i couldnt steal hers, i would steal my aunts. i remember having a penchant for signature makeup even then, as i used to steal (and ruined) my aunt's clinique makeup set. then when i was 5, we were at toys R us in hongkong (my second visit of many) when i cried rivers inside the store as they would not allow me to get the kiddie makeup set i soo wanted. the label said ages 8 and up you see. so when i finally turned 8, i again asked for it and they bought it for me. i was over the moon with glee! it was not some little e/s trio or quad you see. it has all colors imaginable (around 40 eye shadows, 10 blush ons, 10 lip glosses and 2 tubes of lipstick). it was nothing fancy tho.. it was just some colored powders kids could play with. i remember harassing all my aunt's legal aids and messengers in her hk based law firm for a makeover. since i was the boss' only niece then, they had to indulge me. that was when i first realized i wanted to be a makeup artist.

as i grew up, i became passionate about other things such as literature, boys, and swimming, but my love for makeup stayed. by the time puberty hit full blast, i was too scared to wear eye shadows for fear of looking like a clown but lip glosses and blushes were always a staple. i was always called by my private catholic school's guidance officer for putting makeup on as it was against the student code, as well as heeled black shoes. but come next day, i still have my heeled black shoes and blush on and it was guidance officer time again. my collection was growing fast then as i would always steal from my mom and aunt's vanity cases, plus the ones they would hand down to me. my lunch money would also be spent on drugstore makeup. it didn't help that we had a beauty store right outside our house.

when college came i had snotty classmates who looked down on drugstore brand and sheer peer pressure made me switch from drugstore to branded makeup. that's when i started hauling The Body Shop. some clinique, mac, estee lauder, and lancome to name a few too but these were all gifts from my aunts.

when i started lawschool, it became a totally different story though. my face broke out real bad i had to stop wearing makeup. i guess the stress of lawschool plus the lack of my therapy (putting makeup on is my therapy) aggravated my break outs even more. fast forward to january of 2008 i had a personal crisis which left me empty handed. no boy, no friends, noone. it was makeup who saved my life. it made me happy. it was also the time i discovered mineral make up. my break outs were still there and i figured it was because of my conventional makeup. so i did the unspeakable. i threw out all conventional makeup. seriously. i threw out around 3 huge supermarket bags of conventional makeup. i know. a total waste of money. most of them were barely untouched but i thought it was all expired cuz most were past the 2year mark. how ignorant i was then! i became soo obsessed with makeup that i even started thinking of shifting careers, from lawschool, to makeup artist. good thing my aunt talked me out of it. well not really. we had a deal. i finish lawschool, pass the bar, and she will fund my passion for makeup artistry.

and at least i have my mineral makeup with me, and that at least made me happy. it was only january of 2009 when i started revisiting conventional makeup stores. i would often go to high-end brands thinking they were safer than drugstore brands. still i had break outs. but it was a helluva lot tamer than it used to be. i also bought bobbi brown's book, but i dont have it with me right now so i can't tell you which one.

around march of 2009, i discovered youtube tutorials and it was very helpful to me. i again started branching out, getting stuff from coastal scents as well for practice purposes. my only problem with youtube tutorials is that most of these gurus are based abroad. climate and skintone differences are really something that bothers me. one thing that works for them may not work for us. but more on that in my next post.

june of 2009, i started my BeloMed sessions, and although i still have a few pimple marks and scars, i am proud to say that i am break out free, save for the occational visits in that time of the month. june 2009 is also a monumental time in my makeup life, as i discovered girltalk with all the tips and tricks. so i apologize if most of what's written here is on girltalk as well, but that's one of my sources. so far this is my makeup backstory. join me as i discover amazing finds here in the little country i like to call my Philippines.