QUARANTINE | POST I

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is well. A long time has passed since my last post. Now that classes are online, I have a little more time to pursue hobbies and read. Hopefully, there will be a book review soon; I recently placed an order for some new books! My spending has been out of control because of social-distancing. What are you guys doing? What are you watching? Drop some recommendations in the comments. I'd love to catch up with you guys. 

I think I have mentioned before that I have a part-time job now. Because of this part-time job, I started wearing makeup and getting more into skincare (I sell beauty products.) I've never worn makeup prior, so I was lost and bought bad products. This is not a beginner's guide to makeup by any means, but it might help you find some of your favorites and tell you what to avoid. 

In this post, I will be focusing on eye makeup/eye products. But first, a little background on my eyes. I am Chinese, and I have double eyelids. Although I have double eyelids, my hooded right eye cancels it out. Not only do I have hooded, uneven eyes, but I also do not have much lid space on my oily eyelids. Hooded, uneven, and oily... lovely! Disclaimer: I have used eyeshadow and primer to prevent smudging, but it doesn't work for me, so I abandoned using it completely. 

Once I found out I got the job and that I had to start wearing makeup, I went to Ulta. First off, all these makeup stores, the one I work at included, are nasty. Second, I have terrible online shopping experiences, particularly with Sephora, but that's a story for another time. The manager said the bare minimum was eyeliner and bold lipstick, so that's what I got. The one thing I like more about Ulta than Sephora is that it carries "drugstore" makeup brands. If you are new to makeup, or you don't want to splurge, I recommend Ulta. 

I purchased two liners from Nyx. It is their "Epic Ink Liner" in black and brown. The liner claims to be waterproof, it's not. Like I mentioned before, I have oily lids so my eyes were smudged by the end of the day. Other than that, I think the product is great. It is pigmented, so you do not have to go over what you drew. The brush tip was a little challenging to get used to, I still have trouble, but I think it is one of the best ways to get a precise line. I didn't notice much of a difference between black and brown, so skip brown and just buy black. It is a decent product for $10. 

I have also tried Stila's "Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner Mini" in black. I don't even want to bother testing the product for a whole day because it's sheer. I want to draw a line, edit the shape as needed, and be done. I do not want to go over what I drew to get the pay-off I want. The full size is more than $20, and I think you can find something better for the price. 

I realized just wearing eyeliner looked weird, so I went to buy a mascara. My sister gave me an old Clinique mini to try, but the brush coated my lashes with too much product, and it looked clumpy. The first mascara I tried was Maybelline's Snapscara. I am not a fan of the applicator, formula, and the effect of this mascara. The applicator is hard and cheap; the curved brush didn't make the application any better. When I paired this with the Nyx eyeliner, I looked like a raccoon at the end of the day. They also can't hold a curl, but that might be my super straight eyelashes' fault. Finally, it's clumpy. I need to throw it out now because it smells weird. To save myself the energy and your time, I had the same experience with Urban Decay's Perversion and Milk Makeup's Kush Mascara. 

Some good news. I like Stila's Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eye Shadow in La Douce, which is green and gold. It is unique, and it saves you the work of using different colors to create a smokey eye. I was tired of trying to make my eyeliner even, and this was the right call. The lights do all the work! I concentrate it on my double eyelid and blend slightly up. My oily eyelids do mess up the look, but my eyes are too shiny for people to care. I have used it as an eyeliner, and I've received compliments, the people were possibly lying... The one con is it's not super blendable, so you have to work fast once you apply it. I have other colors that I am excited to use, but I want to finish this tube first. 

What are some of your favorite products? Do you have a similar problem?