#makeup recs

Some of my favorite smokey eyeshadows

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Eyeliner & Lashes

In order : ruthillea, cocoaswatches and skybxyy.

It’s mostly for women with warm-leaning neutral or olive undertones of medium-tan skintone unless stated otherwise.

For the Desi beauty YouTubers’ list, go here.

Ruthillea : a suggestion from a mutual, run don’t walk. You’ve got education and excellent makeup tutorials. From historical analysis of makeup trends, social commentary, transparency about brands, hilarious dating skits from an unapologetic baddie… also if you’ve got hooded eyes, love seamless eyeshadow blends and glittery makeup, like lip combos from nude to bold reds, want to know how cover hyperpigmentation and love Mac face charts…. Follow her on TikTok and IG. Also important but she POSTS PRODUCT LISTS. She doesn’t stand for queerphobic, transphobic, nonblack, sexist or uneducated stances!

Skybxyy : for those of you like pink, brown makeup looks, you love douyin as well as Korean style makeup with aegyosal. She also has excellent false lashes tutorials, perfect hydrated base makeup for dry skin girls. If you like pastel/slightly ashy makeup, she makes it work quite well and she does face swatches of many Asian Beauty staples (notably the lip glosses!!).

Uche Natori : the base queen herself and the UK baddie. No introduction needed. She had lots of lid space but keeps the focus on complexion, which I love.

Deborah Wanjala : she’s the silk press queen on type 4 hair, but she has makeup looks for that cute, coquette, douyin on dark skin but slightly westernised look. She looks phenomenal.

Just Jem : she swatches a lot of indie brands, and does beautiful, colorful looks as well as many pastel makeup looks on darker skin. She’s straight to the point and has a calm, analytical approach that I enjoy quite a lot

JustShanygne : Australian baddie who tests a lot of foundations! She has high cheekbones and does videos in a pleasant Vlog style and she looks beautiful every time

OHEMAA: another dark skinned beauty reviewer with cool red undertones that loves Danessa Myricks and modelesque, Hollywood looks. She tests lots of complexion products so you will never look ashy and she’s funny!

CocoaSwatches (Instagram link): the OG. I prefer her instagram but she will swatch makeup in 4K in the most beautiful and useful way. She does the most perfect lifted cat’s eye makeup and loves brown makeup as a whole so you will never be left wanting. She also loves bold, colorful makeup in intense shades so you can have fun. She swatches everything from lip pencil to blush to eyeshadow and her lip combos are gorgeous.

Danessa Myricks : I know she has a brand but on Danessa (the woman)’s page you’ll find her own personal daily makeup. She’s darker skinned, older and likes to be ready in 5. Her own makeup is natural a la Pat McGrath but she loves her glitter and creating bright, saturated colors that go on all complexions as she’s a professional MUA and photographer! Danessa loves a perfect, glowy base and colorful everything else. Matte, satin or very glowy (her favorite) welcome. She loves hot pink and so do I. You can find those bolder looks on Danessa Myricks Beauty (the brand’s) page (IG). She has tons of educational content on her website and during her TeachMeTuesdays moments, and her skincare/skin prep and makeup are unbeatable. She deserves her own page.

Luxury beauty reviewers (often with swatches):

Mo Makeup Mo beauty

WendyWise Beauty : a german queen who also reviews fragrance.

Alicia Archer : luxury makeup but she has quite an eye for color, does lengthy detailed reviews of products and wear tests for makeup in an active lifestyle (she’s a gym coach I think). She compares lots of similar shades so it’s good for dupes and checking if you don’t have the same mauvy brown lipstick or “blonzer” in different brands….

GlamGirlChelsea : she swatches most of Danessa’s makeup, does actual face swatches and that’s why I follow her but she loves a natural base with colorful lip or glittery eyeshadow looks. She’s a freckled girl if some of you want looks for those with varying degrees of coverage. She also does lifestyle posts and blog style things.

Anything by Besame; it's by far my favorite brand and I could make an entire ranking of their lipsticks alone. I think Red Velvet is the one I use most often, followed closely by Red Hot Red, Chocolate Kiss, What a Peach, and Sleeping Beauty Pink (the last two are both discontinued).

Indian Rose by Tom Ford, a fabulous warm pink that is (tragically!) worth every penny of its price tag.

Givenchy Le Rouge in Framboise Velours, specifically the satin matte kind.

Armani Lip Maestro, which I rarely use but I adore the silky satin liquid formula.

I'm gonna post this all together, for your viewing pleasure

Bonus makeup rec from the expert

Sometimes I find a diamond in the retail rough and since I don’t have friends to share my discoveries with, I decided to throw them out into the indifferent abyss of the internet! 👍

At work I usually don’t have time to reapply makeup. My lips were looking really dry so I picked up Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm (in Sweet Violet) from Target. And it is GOOD.

WITHOUT:

My lips tend to peel. So sometimes when I put on chapstick or lipstick, the peeling becomes more noticeable. Not with this stuff. It glides on super smooth, doesn’t feel sticky, and has a very pretty, noticeable color.

WITH LIP BALM:

I just ran it around my lips about two times. At work I can do that discreetly behind the register and feel refreshed and moisturized.

HELLO FRIEND! This is answered late (I apologize)

thank you for the compliment hehe, you’re so sweet!

only until last year I started using more high-end products (which is crazy!!! but I dont regret the change, I think $40-50 foundation over $20 is worth it imo) so here is my list but keep reading for my drug store recs!

1. foundation / fenty beauty foundation in shade 260- Inexpensive option compared to other foundations, it’s $35 for 1.08 fl oz compared to when I spent $43 for 1 fl oz for Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation (I didn’t see a difference in performance for either?)- Comes with a pump so I get to control how much I use- WIDE RANGE OF SHADES! I think this foundation line had a shade closer to my skin color than Estee Lauder, which was more orangey?

2. concealer / tarte shape tape concealer / (now trying) fenty concealer- I liked the tarte shape tape concealer, but it was too thick for me? Like it definitely was high coverage but I never used the doe foot applicator cause it applied too much, I used my sponge to take the LITTLIEST bit and put it on the CREASE of my eyebags, never the entire thing cause I just want to remove the ‘sunken bag’ of my eyebags LOL- I havent used fenty for long but it feels lighter and the concealer performs as well as tarte :’)

3. baking powder - laura mercier setting powder (translucent)- HOLY GRAIL! I love using this, it removes creases and just sets the foundation in place so it stays the WHOLE day!- Even if you dont use high end foundation, I think setting it will make the different

4. eyeshadow - Huda Beauty Palette (given by @hannies​ i love u thank u)- I love this palette :( i love pinks so this is literally all I use every time I wanna add some sparkles- I love how there’s numerous textures in the palette! I go for the crushed glitter because it reminds me of chungha’s look and how she adds glitter pieces to her eyes??- I dont do crazy looks but this palette can go dramatic or daytime and I love that!

5. Setting spray - urban decay spray- i JUST started using this???- I think it does something.......like.....it prevents my makeup from moving around especially when I sweat!! (something the powder DOESNT do)