In today’s section of the experiment, we have:
- BETTER LIGHTING
- BETTER RESULTS
- PROMISE OF A BETTER TOMORROW, TODAY!
To quote the millenial’s Walter Cronkite, “Let’s just jump into it.”
Today’s look was inspired by this Snitchery video in which she presents a “no-makeup” look. She provides the context that the makeup looks she usually put together and shares on Instagram looks great on camera when filming, but a lot of the time it looks too caked to look good in person. In this video, she explains how she does her makeup when she’s going to be with people, hanging out at home. This is her version of “Hello, I am awake.”
I would say this version of “Hello, I am awake” is a better version of what I do when I want to say “Hello, I am awake.” The purpose of this experiment/series was to elevate my “Hello, I am awake” look, without looking too caked or taking too long, so this video felt like a good way to focus in on this overall goal!
Materials:
- Moisturizer (the brand I used)
- Concealer (the brand I used)
- Small makeup sponge (I couldn’t find the exact sponge! This is kind of like the one I used, and I suspect it might be a better version, too)
- Makeup Sponge (the brand I used)
- Foundation (the brand I used)
- Setting powder (the brand I used)
- Brow pencil (the brand I used)
- Brow gel (the brand I used)
- Fluffy powder brush (this is not the exact brush, but it is the exact brand I used and the brush head looks fairly similar)
- White eyeliner pencil (the brand I used)
- Matte bronzer (the brand I used)
- Black eyeliner pencil (the brand I used)
- Angle brush (could not find the exact one online, but Posh cosmetics was the brand I used)
- Crease brush (the brand I used)
- Pony tail brush (the brand I used)
- Fake lashes (the brand I used)
- Big powder brush (the brand I used)
- Reverse contour color (the brand I used)
- Blush (the brand I used)
- Blush brush (this is the brand I used, but it looks like the shape of the brush and the brush I actually used are different. Proceed with caution)
- Lip Liner (the brand I used)
- Lip moisturizer (the brand I used)
- Liquid lip (I used a lipstick pencil instead, the brand I used)
Notes On My Procedure:
Yesterday, I was having a blissfully quiet day at work when my coworker informed me there was a Zoom (videochat) meeting in an hour. For this meeting, we were REQUIRED TO BE ON CAMERA. My bare face (complete with breakout) and messy wet hair would not do. I decided to play around with the Bella Hadid tutorial steps, since I felt it would be the most dramatic look that would translate well on camera. I put together this look looking in my webcam! It was then that I discovered that the natural lighting of my workspace and the camera of my computer were a much better environment for makeup application. My makeup looked great, so great that I almost wanted to go to dinner that night just so it wouldn’t go to waste. Naturally, of the eight people on the videochat, only half of us were on video, so it wasn’t even necessary. Hmph.
Today’s look was put together with much better lighting than usual!
Procedure:
- The base: moisturizer only. No primer!
- The face: apply concealer/foundation only where needed (a process called “spot concealer”). Apply where there is discoloration! To conceal under eye discoloration: Just put a few dots of concealer in the bottom outer corner of your eye. Blend out and up, towards your hairline. YOU DO NOT NEED FULL TRIANGLES UNDER YOUR EYE. After blending out and up, blend into the corner of your eye. I used step 9 from part 2 of this experiment to “spot conceal” conceal my acne. Stipple in setting powder after applying foundation (as opposed to after the entire face of makeup).
- The brows: Go for natural, hairlike strokes! Pencils over pomade for this look. Add a bit of clear gel to keep the hairs in place.
- The eyes: the footage from the video was lost, but Eleanor (Snitchery’s name IRL) explained that it was a “watered down version of her Bella Hadid” eye look. I’ll go more in depth on this process in part 5 of this experiment.
- The lashes: fake lashes come into play in this look! The video was sponsored by Glamnetic, so she used (and praised) their lashes. I did not use Glamnetic lashes, but I don’t have the words to say how much magnetic false lashes are a GAME CHANGER.
- The contour: Using your fluffiest brush, stipple bronzer along the outer part of your forehead. As opposed to going all the way into the middle of your face, go gently all the way around the perimeter of your face. With a dense brush, add some light color beneath where you typically contour (think of it as inverse contour).
- The cheeks: Choose a blush that’s a pinky/orange version of your skin tone. Apply from the inside going up from in to “snatch” your face like Bella Hadid, or go all the way across your face (cheek and nose) to get that “e-girl” look. I applied up from in, with a dash across my nose to give me a sun-kissed glow.
- The lips: Using a demi-matte lipliner, fill in your “gaps” (the space between your lips and where you overline your lips). Moisturize your lips. Add your corresponding lip color (liquid lip was used in the video, I used pencil lipstick) in two or three dots on each lip, and then pat it out with your finger.
- The highlighter: Choose something that isn’t very reflective. Rather than using a pointed brush, use a fluffy brush and gently fluff in circles where your highlighter needs to go.
The Results:
| The Person | The Before | The After |
| Eleanor Barnes, aka “Snitchery” |  |
 |
| Me |  |
 |
Analysis:
Aaron mentioned multiple times that I looked pretty today! That said, I feel like this look didn’t look all that natural. I think you could tell that I put on makeup. Despite using a lot less foundation, I still look like I put on a lot of foundation. It definitely succeeds in an “elevated” version of the “I am awake” look I was going for, but I wonder if I can go even further. This was the best my lashes have looked, and I wore them for roughly ten hours today without smudging and getting the lash applicator liner on my eyelid!
Conclusion:
I am prepared to do more with less! I am excited to keep improving my technique. I will for sure be employing false lashes on the regular. I’m comforted that I can still repair the “uneven” skin tone I have with less product. I think I’m slowly getting better at making my lips look fuller, but while my lips looked great on camera, I feel like in person I looked like Jynx from Pokemon. Overall, I’m making great progress, but I still have a long way to go.
Coming Up Next:
While out and about with Aaron today, I stopped in at Ulta and picked out a few products… chief among them being a certain makeup brush that is necessary to pull off the Bella Hadid makeup look. Oh yes. Part 5. Let’s get snatched.