I’ve never been much into makeup. I used to dress up with friends on occasion, or don some blush and eyeshadow for an odd dance recital, or sometimes try a lipstick on before going out with friends. Until adulthood, however, I never consistently owned or wore much.

When I hit college I began to wear a bit more, mostly on days when I was procrastinating writing papers and wanted to kill time.

But it wasn’t until I got my first “real” job and wanted to look a bit more professional than the 12 year old boy I appeared to be that I invested in a few more purposeful pieces. But where was a girl to start?

The most obvious solution? Copy my momma. She’s the classiest woman I think I’ve ever met. She is graceful, poised, and warm. In high school all of the boys had crushes on her and she turns more heads than a lot of chicks half her age. When I spend the night and see her with no makeup on and her incredible skin and beauty, I think quietly to myself that I hope this is one of the characteristics I inherit, before I tell her how pretty she is to try to make her giggle.

My mom wears pretty simple makeup and uses pretty simple products. I picked up some of my facial/ skincare routine from my mom:

Pretty simple since we have similar skin tone- I barely even had to ask the Clinique salesperson what type my skin was, I knew I was a 2!

Next up? The fun stuff. I have a few qualifications for “face paint.”

1. Eyeliner must be the type that rolls up and refills, not the sharpener kind. I’m a lazy gal. Brown, black, purple or blue- I don’t care. I’m not even brand loyal, it just needs to refill by twisting!

2. I recently discovered Covergirl Outlast lipstick. At 26, I started consistently wearing lipstick because it ACTUALLY STAYS ON. I don’t work for Covergirl, and I think there are competitors with similar products, but I don’t care. I borrowed my mom’s favorite lipstick color- coral. The one I buy is called “mi papaya,” and its lovely!

3. The Shiseido makeup stick is a ripoff of one I used to get from Estee Lauder which was sadly discontinued. I use it only for undereye circles and the odd pimple here or there, so it lasts me about 7 years. Buy one.

There you have it! My makeup raves. I have my momma to thank for doing the work of choosing the right toner and color lipstick for our skin/ coloring. I have my laziness to thank for my love of outlast and self-advancing eyeliner.

Do you wear makeup? What kind of makeup/ beauty products do you use? Who taught you how to wear makeup and when did you start? Do you switch it up or wear the same look for years?

and if you’re a dude… do you ever notice makeup? Or wear it yourself? Meri is cool with that!

Meri