The Life of A Ladybug

Beauty lover/blogger of color: Grace!

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

My mom has always worn dark pink blush and lipstick. She would never go out of the house without those two items. I used to always play with her makeup from a young age. I think at about age 10 I really started buying my own little kid makeup. Now as a teen I am getting into MAC and other brands. I love creating new color combos and having a little time to myself each day to get ready.

2. What do you love most about makeup?

I love that each look is unique. I love that I can wear a different eye look everyday. I love getting compliments on my make up.

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines?

I tend to go with more fun funky looks. I do what would be appropriate for the setting so my looks for going out are different than my school looks. I do a lot of volunteering so I have mastered the subtle make up look. I love bronze looks with tons of bronzer and bronze eyes. I love to do a navy smoky eye with a nude lip. Lately I have been using a lot of colorful eyeliners and neutral shadow so that my eyeliner really pops. My favorite products are definitely cheek products! I love bronzer, blush & highlighter. I think bronzer makes me look more natural as I can get very tan in the summer and I love the way I look with a tan. Shimmery highlighters are really fun for day or night. My favorite at the moment is L'oreal Glam Bronze Loose Highlighting Powder. Blush is amazing! It really makes me look alive. For other products I love Urban Decay, MAC, L'oreal, Milani and Too Faced.

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?

I think every woman should have a lipcolor that looks special. Lips can be fun or simple and lipcolor adds a lot to a look. Again blush is essential!

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

I do believe the beauty industry is changing but it is hard when you see only women looking certain ways in ads. I think L'oreal does a great job with WOC showing Beyonce, Eva Longoria and others.

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

I have a teen beauty blog at http://users.livejournal.com/__undeniable/ . I try to post daily, have fun reviews and FOTDs. Come check it out!

Beauty Lover/Blogger of Color: GG!

1.      How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

A very warm thanks to Ms. Toya for this opportunity. I can safely say that my mother played an instrumental role in my introduction to makeup. Her role is only highlighted by the fact that I have spent my childhood in a secluded area of the island of Mauritius, which is a fairly well-developed country but access to cosmetics, of the drug store variety or high-end, was limited. Thus, the only makeup I was first exposed to was really a collection of cosmetic knick knacks from different parts of the world, purchased by my parents on their travels abroad. We’re talking about anything ranging from l’Oréal to Estee Lauder to Chambord to Lakme to Shahnaz Hussain to Constance Caroll to Revlon. While I did not enjoy watching my mother cake her skin with all the wrong shades, I relished as I watched her apply her lipstick, always a dark burgundy and always with a lipbrush. Unlike most women of south-east asian descent, she did not line her waterline with kohl. My mother was not about kohl-rimmed eyes but about sinewy lines barely touching the outlines of her lashlines. I believe that colour/makeup is in my blood and have loved it ever since I can recollect my earliest memory. As far as I can remember, I was six years old when I had my mom first apply makeup on me for the Diwali (Hindu New Year) festival. There I was in my yellow outfit, bangs and two ponytails with blue eyeliner on as well as red lipstick, very drastic for my age. Looking back, I can honestly say that I did not look as good as a teenager as I did as a six year-old. My next tryst with makeup was another 6 years later, at a wedding when I loaded my lashes with blue mascara. I’ve also had my share of makeup mishaps : I only remember too well the snickers and remarks my bright, fuschia lips brought on. As the years have gone by, I have come to appreciate makeup first and foremost as a tool of power, as I’ve observed the changes in how people react to me, depending on whether I did not have makeup or had it on and on the style of the makeup. The ability to control how people view you is without a doubt an empowering feeling. Hence while many may argue that makeup is for the vain and/or insecure, the intrinsic therapeutic qualities of makeup is one of the best kept secrets known to makeup mavens. Makeup as a form of therapy is not unidimensional, it is empowering but also fun; it’s not just about colour therapy but also about geometry. Thus a person may use certain colours to reflect her or his perception of a particular season or trend, as well as using specific tools and techniques to play on one’s ethnicity or gender.

2.               What do you love most about makeup?

Interestingly enough as I answer Ms Toya’s questions, I realize that while I appreciate the aforementioned features of makeup, I truly appreciate the virtual friendships I have formed with fantastic people who share my love of makeup. I can honestly say that of my trysts with makeup, this is one unique end result that I will always cherish.

3.                  Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines?

-I tend to experiment with both classic looks and more colourful looks. In fact, I believe that the classic look itself has so many interpretations, that one can spend hours creating different classic looks. Whether I sport an over the top look or classic look, depends on my mood, whether it’s a ‘devil-may-care attitude’ or ‘I want to look natural today’ attitude. The important thing is to carry both looks with confidence and not feel like one has too much makeup or that one should have put more makeup to feel beautiful for the day. 

-My favorite techniques:

a) manipulating the application of the eyeliner to give myself a range of different looks: from innocent, doe-eyed to a vampy, sultry look, to a natural look to a Cleopatra look to the cat-eye look etc.

b) applying my NYX highlighter around the dark eye circle area, sort of a in semi-circular manner, this gives me a more awake look.

c)applying white liner only to the outer third corner of my eye and softening the look with cotton bud for an awake, diffused look.

-My favourite beauty products/lines:

-NYX: cannot love this one enough, amazing quality, amazing prices

-Annabelle:this is a Canadian brand, I love their lipglosses, , eyeshadows, blushes and eye pencils the poor man’s version of mac’s powerpoint. Drawback: not enough diversity colour-wise.

-Jamieson Laboratories: this is also a Canadian brand. I use the Vit E Cream (2000 IU) during the day and a combo of vit A cream and Vit E (30,000 IU) during the night.

-Pure luxe: HG oil cleanser. PL offers the perfect balance of essential oils and rinses right off, you don’t even need a face towel!

-MAC: I will be lost without the studio fix concealer and I just love the uniqueness of the tinted lipglass as a product.

-Mad Minerals: great deals for gel liners and paint pot like products. I also love their anti-aging mineral powder.

-Everyday Minerals: my HG foundation, minimal ingredients, caters to my dry skin, even my blemishes look beautiful with this on.

-Any peach/orangey/apricot –coloured blush and lipstick or  gloss, which I think is a must for any woman of colour.

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?

-Some form of sunscreen (traditional ones or mineral makeup)

-Your choice of moisturizer that works best for you

-Your choice of concealer that works best for you

-A good soft kohl-type liner, slightly jumbo-ish in size with a tip that can easily be softened or sharpened, in brown (the darkness and undertone of the brown will depend on your skintone) would the tool to have if one did not have any other kind of makeup. Brown is fairly neutral, so you could use it to line your eyes, contour your face and blend it in to act as a blush and use it as an eyebrow filler as well as a lipliner or lipstick by ‘spreading and blending’ the liner.

-NYX mosaic blush in ‘Highlighter’, the highlighter to end all highlighters. This baby goes with every skin tone, just make sure to really blend, blend, blend to avoid a chalky appearance. I’m not talking shimmer or glitter, I’m talking real “éblouissance” – light from within, saintly halo.

-A good quality lip conditioner: guaranteed to keep the need for botoxed lips away. I speak from experience, because I have very schizophrenic lips, one day, they want to look full, one day they look like they’re ‘a- twenties lips’, à la louise brooks. Applying lip conditioner (I used NYX lipspa during the day and night or sometimes I’ll slather on vitamin E cream on my lips before bedtime), ensures they stay full and plump.

-A stress-free environment

-Sleep

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

As a woman of color, one has to be wary as one is exposed to the messages sent by big beauty companies. One has to always question: what is the message they are trying to send me? Why is it that they want me to believe that message? The beauty industry is global and in today’s world, as different ethnicities populate different parts of the world, one has to go back to one’s roots and really examine how consistent is a company’s stance towards its consumers of color. For example, many have appreciated and applauded Dove’s “Be yourself, love yourself” echoed in its newest ads, here in Caucasian-driven North America. However Dove is a brand owned by Unilever, the very same company that manufactures “Fair and Lovely”, a fairness cream, marketed in African, Asian and Middle Eastern countries, capitalizing on the populations’ unfortunate obsession with being light-skinned, an obsession stemming from the legacy of colonialism. The mainstream beauty industry is getting more and more aware of its consumers of colour, however not because it sympathises with the lack of options but to squeeze out, buck-wise,  all it can from this segment of the population. Sure enough, marketing is a big part of it and the models chosen to represent the company are what I classify as “borderline”.

One such illustration would be for example l’Oréal’s choice of models to appeal to different ethnicities, Beyoncé, and …. are partly of African descent but were most probably chosen for their light-skinned appearance, similarly Aishwariya rai was chosen  to represent the south-east asian segment of the market, and she definitely ain’t representative of the average Indian/sri lankan/Pakistani/ west- Indian Indian. Aish could pass more for a Russian/Slovakian model. Sure, well-noted personalities are a necessity but why not Alek Wek, the gorgeous Sudanese model or Ujjwala Raut/ Vidisha Pavate, the true Indian supermodels.

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

I am a law student at the University of Ottawa, happily married to the partner of my dreams and the author of the following blog www.goldengluteus.blogspot.com . Though I am training to be a lawyer, I secretly dream of being a magazine editor and a successful writer. Thank you once again Toya, for this opportunity and thank you for reading.

Beauty lover (and blogger!) of color: Maxine!

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

I don't remember any specific moment when I fell in love with makeup, but I do know that when I was growing up I idolized my older cousin Rhonda and wanted to be exactly like her and she wore makeup so of course I wanted to wear it too. And of course I was forbidden to wear it until I was about fourteen or so which just made it so much more alluring ( I remember I had one kind of seafoam green eyeliner that I used to sneak and hide in my pockets and put on at school when I was in grade seven, it was hideous!)
I also have very clear memories of my mother's beautiful long red nails when I was growing up; her hands were just the most beautiful, mesmerizing things I had ever seen. That definitely sparked a love affair with nail polish for me. I think I've had nail polish on pretty much non-stop since I was about twelve years old. It's funny; I recently started growing my nails again after keeping them fingertip length for a very long time. Now when I look at my hands they remind me so much of my mother. It's comforting.

2. What do you love most about makeup?

There are a few things I love about makeup. One is of course our ability to transform ourselves with just a few little powders and potions. Makeup is a very funny thing when you think about it. You schmeer all this strange stuff on your face and it makes you look a thousand times better, how odd. I also love the whole cycle of trying new products; browsing around in the store, seeing something beautiful, bringing it home in its cute packaging, and then trying it on and loving how it makes you look. It's like a little love affair but minus the gut-wrenching heartache if it doesn't work out.

Another thing I really love about makeup is how it can unite people. I'm on makeupalley.com pretty much non-stop and the message boards are an amazing thing. (What's up Café ladies!). That whole site just blows my mind; thousands of women from all over the world who are into makeup a little or a lot and share tips and PSA's and tutorials, there is just so much to talk about when we're talking about makeup. And of course that just sparks a whole slew of other conversations, which is great.

The thing I love the most about makeup though is that it truly is art. Just look at the work of Kevyn Aucoin, or Billy B, Sam Fine, or Pat McGrath and I dare anyone to say that these people are not artists. That one series of looks that Kevyn Aucoin did in his book "Face Forward" where he transformed celebrities into other celebrities? That was amazing!

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines? In theory I love experimental looks with makeup, in practice I veer very much to the classic looks. For work I have about three different shadows that I rotate depending on what colours I'm wearing that day; pink or peach blush and I usually don't bother with lipstick. When I'm going out at night I try to be a little wilder, but I usually reign myself in. I do have though a folder that I keep on a USB key with over a thousand different beauty looks that I like and want to try. It's just the strangest thing ever. I've been collecting photos online for about three years now and whenever I'm going out and need inspiration, I browse through that folder for ideas. There's a print version also with pages ripped from magazines, but it's not quite as extensive.

One of my favourite looks is lining my inner eyelids in black. I've been doing that for as long as I remember when I want to look mysterious or edgy. I've heard a lot of people say you shouldn't do that because it makes your eyes look smaller, which is true. But I love it. I feel like it really accentuates the shape of my eyes.

A few of my favourite lines are MAC because I believe they are just the cutting edge in terms of a mainstream company making products for women of colour; NARS for their amazing blushes and Multiples but for the love of God why are they so expensive? I love Dior for lip glosses and shadows, and L'Oreal for mascaras; to me they make the best.

If I had to choose one favourite product it would be highlighter; I use Too Faced Caribbean in a Compact in Snow Bunny all mashed up. Highlighter is to me one of the most slept-on products; most of the women I know don't ever use it whereas I have about 10 different ones. It makes a huge difference.

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?

Concealer for sure. Some kind of blotting powder to just calm everything down. A lip gloss that makes you feel like a sexpot. Highlighter, obviously. And a really really great smelling perfume.

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

Well to give credit where credit is due, things have definitely changed in the industry for sure. There are a lot more options out there now than there were when I was coming up. Again I have to give credit to MAC because when I was a teenager, they were pretty much the only line that was selling anything that would work on Black women. From a marketing perspective it was pretty ingenious because now 10 or 15 years later there are tonnes of Black women who only use MAC because they're still of the mindset that they're the only ones making colours that suit them which of course is no longer true. But you can't buy that kind of brand loyalty.

We still have a way to go though, I go batty every time I hear about a product that works on all skin tones and then you look at it and it's the colour of bandaids. What black woman is that going to work on? Also being Canadian, your choices are a bit more limited; not everything that is out there is available here (Cover Girl Queen Collection being one example). And depending what neighbourhood you live in, your drugstore choices can be a little or a lot limited and you often really have no choice but to go department store; which is a bit unfair. To paraphrase SJP, I think great beauty products should be universally available.

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

Well first and foremost thank you so much for giving me this opportunity Toya and sorry for rambling on… this was so much fun! Also I have to shamelessly plug my own little blog (http://willitworkforme.blogspot.com). It's no competition for you, don't worry. I've only just started and have literally zero readers right now. But the idea of it is that I try out products that weren't necessarily created with Black women in mind and try to see if we can make it work for us.

(Don't worry, Maxine!  I'm not thinking in terms of competition - the more, the merrier!  Women of color deserve as many options for beauty information as we can get!  Welcome to the beauty blogosphere! - T.)

Beauty lover of color: Jacalyn!

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

I saw others wearing black eyeliner and just like every other pretty Asian girl, I wanted to look pretty, too. Throughout my first couple high school years, I've only branched off to some simple shades of brown from a few Covergirl eyeshadow palettes, which was all I ever used. Summer of just last year (before my senior year of high school), I discovered Pursebuzz and from her, I discovered MAC and various makeup tips and techniques and that's when I fell in love. There were so many ways to play up my eyes and I just love colors! Besides having fun with creating different looks and playing with colors, makeup can really enhance one's natural beauty.


2. What do you love most about makeup?

What I love most about makeup is that I get to use loads of colors and that I can use them in different ways. I adore colorfulness and makeup is another thing aside from clothing that I can be colorful with. Makeup makes me feel pretty and feminine and I just love that.


3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or
looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines?

When I think traditional, I imagine black liner and red lips and simple stuff, but when I think experimental, I imagine crazy unwearable runway makeup (most runway makeup will look crazy if it's off the runway). I do like to experiment a bit but with more wearable, any-day looks.
I'm quite new to makeup still so there's still more for me to discover which is probably why I don't have a favorite technique or look just yet. What I like to do often, though, is colorful/colored smoky eye without it being too dark so that it's wearable during the day and into night without too much effort. Making the smoky eye more dramatic for the night wouldn't be hard if I wanted to do that.
I'm really into MAC right now and it's doing me no good because they're coming out with way too many collections but some of my favorite products are from them, as a matter of fact. Strawbaby lipstick from MAC's Fafi Collection is my favorite right lip color right now because it's such a pretty and flattering shade! MAC Paint Pots and Shadesticks are also my favorites because they're multipurpose products. Both can be used as bases but the Paint Pots are notorious for that. Shadesticks are great as liner under the eye because they give me the perfect blend there so I don't have to tug and pull with a smudge brush as I would after using a regular pencil liner.


4. Which products do you think every woman should have?

Every woman should have MAC's Prep + Prime Lash as their mascara primer. I don't care if you were born with the most gorgeous eyelashes ever or if your mascara alone already gives you the false-lash look, you'll never go wrong with a primer. No matter how long your lashes already are, the longer the better. A great concealer and foundation in the perfect shade should be on hand for every woman especially for special occasions; concealer should be with you everywhere because you'll never know when you'll need it. Every woman also needs a moisturizer with SPF and a lip product with SPF for everyday-wear - and I mean every SINGLE day. I love to use Rosebud Salve as my regular balm but I'm a bit sad because it doesn't contain any SPF and because I have to use my fingers to apply; it's also a wonderful lip primer. The MAC 217 brush is my favorite brush because it's multipurpose and as you can tell, I love multipurpose products! This brush is great for applying eyeshadow densely or lightly, and blending.


5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

I think that the beauty industry has become more involved with women of color in the past years. I've never actually pondered this subject but after doing so, I can recall seeing ads and commercials featuring women of color. Various advertisements, I believe, usually portrayed white women, but women of color as well as women of other ethnicities have recently sprouted into such advertisements, as well. It's a good thing that the beauty industry has started to target women of many different backgrounds to allow them to feel more comfortable with makeup.


6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

I live in Philadelphia and I just like having fun with makeup and looking pretty. Whenever I have money, it goes to MAC which I have extremely easy access to. MAC and Sephora are way too convenient for me which is why my makeup collection has bloomed since I've last started experimenting. Makeup is always on my mind and I never pass up a chance to doll myself up; I think it's so much fun! Stop by my newly created blog and say hey: http://whos-thatgirl.blogspot.com/

Makeup Artist of Color: Angie!

Today's makeup artist of color is Angie Vargas, owner of EyeshadowCult.com and professional makeup artist.  Her site is awesome and informatve, so go give it a look! 

1. How were you introduced to makeup? When did you fall in love with
it and why?
First of all, thanks Toya for the spotlight : ) I always had an interest in make-up because I grew up with cousins who were much older than me. There would be times when they'd all get together in a room and start getting ready for a night out and watching all of the dressing up and primping was fascinating to me. I'd always experiment on myself, but it wasn't until three years ago that I decided to dive into make-up artistry and became a professional.

2. What do you love most about makeup?
What I love most about it is that it can be an instant pick-me-up for just about anyone who uses it. I also love that everyone's face is a beautiful canvas waiting to be creatively enhanced. It's fun, allows me to be creative, makes me feel good and I can make someone else feel good as well.

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are
you more experimental? What are your favorite techniques or looks?
What are your favorite products/beauty lines?
I tend to dab into everything and I think I go through phases. I can't discriminate because there are just so many different possibilities and looks when it comes to make-up! One day I may be feeling funky and I go for my products by Make Up For Ever or Urban Decay, and then the next I may want to look more soft and natural and go with "safer" colors like the ones by Laura Mercier or Bobbi Brown. I don't have a favorite line because I think each one I've used (and that's many!) has a unique product that I love.

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?
I think every woman should have foundation, a blush and a tube of mascara. Why foundation? Just to place a veil of color over the skin to even out its tone. Most women of color have many different tones on their faces. Our chin/jawline area might be darker than, say, the apple of our cheeks. So I feel like it's important for us to even everything out. Blush? Because after evening things out, we may look a little bland or "sick". Brushing a bit of blush over the cheeks instantly transforms the face. And finally, I say mascara because it just adds a little something extra. I think that eyeshadow, concealers, bronzing powders, lipgloss, liners and highlighters can all be optional. Foundation, blush and mascara pretty much cover every part of the face that can enhance your beauty without looking too made up.

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to
women of color?
I feel like there just isn't enough. Although I love their eyeshadows and cheek colors, brands like Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, for instance, offer very limited options for women of color in their line of tinted moisturizers and foundations. Bobbi is known for having a lot of yellow in her foundations and concealers, while Laura Mercier just has me confused. There is a range of colors in her foundation collection, all which seem to follow each other perfectly up until the last shade which is insanely chocolaty. There is no in between... just light shades and then WHAM, that dark one. Even drugstore brands like Almay limit their products for women of color. I don't know of any, but I sure wish there was a reputable line made solely for women of color and our many needs.

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your
business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.
I currently work as Inventory Specialist at a very beautiful apothecary and spa in New York City. I was a make-up artist before that, but now that I am behind the scenes I feel like I'm learning more about the many different products that involve beauty. I started EyeshadowCult.com in November 2007 so that I can share my opinions and help other women use beauty to their greatest potential. I have great plans for my website in the future and hope to be running it for years to come.

Keep up the good work on your site and thanks for showcasing other women of color!

Thank you, Angie, for volunteering to be interviewed on The Life of A Ladybug!  Continued success on your site and in all your beautiful ventures!

If you would like to be interviewed as a beauty lover or makeup artist of color, please e-mail me at lifeofaladybug@gmail.com.  I can't wait to hear from you!

Beauty lover of color: Laurie!

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

-I was introduced to makeup as a young girl.  I looked up to my mother, and admired her applying

it when she would entertain or go out.

2. What do you love most about makeup? 

- I love that make-up transforms you.  Sometimes I feel matte.

sometimes, like the mineral finish! I love the options!!!

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines? 

My favorite beauty lines are Dior, Armani, Make up forever, Mac and now Calvin Klein color.

I don't have a "technique" it is all either love it or hate it.

4. Which products do you think every woman should have? -

eyeliner, gloss and powder - in a pinch (Saturday morning's coffee run)

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?-

I think the High end's from Dior to La mer short change women of color, but Mac makes up for it! I also have a powder from "Make-up forever" that is fabu!

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

I live in Brooklyn New York and Work in NYC.  I am the authority on every gloss and powder for everyone in my circle. 

Beauty lover of color: Karla!

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you
fall in love with it and why?

My grandmother and great aunt always carried two
beauty items in their purses on Sundays: red lipstick
and that weird red oil-absorbing sponge. Sunday was
the big production day, church finery and all. That
was my introduction to it, but I was never allowed to
play with it.

I got involved with the stuff by a friend back in
grade school. My mom would drop me off at her house in
the mornings before she went to work. From there, we'd
walk to school (because she lived very close by), but
we had a half hour or so of playtime each day. She had
one of those typical little girl makeup kits - powder
blue eye shadow, pink blush and red lipstick. It
didn't look great on either of us, but that wasn't the
point at the time, I suppose, though that might've
been why I lost interest in it.

What clinched my disinterest was a little mock beauty
pageant we held about a year later. We'd gotten all
excited about "getting made up," and the ladies used
the same colors on all of us. It might've been a kit.
Of the grown-up variety, but it was the same colors as
the ones in the playtime kit. You can imagine how that
looked on nine year olds of varying colors. After
that, I think I just assumed that "makeup" only came
in those colors, and decided to leave the whole thing
alone.

Magazines re-sparked my interest. As I got older, I
read Seventeen faithfully and noticed that all the
girls weren't stuck in that blue/pink/red makeup
combo. There were other colors? We have GOT to check
this out! When I hit 10th grade, my mom said, "I'll
make you a deal: You can wear makeup as long as I
can't see it." Needless to say, I became the expert of
nude makeup, no easy feat for a black girl in the late
1980's. In the beginning, my allowance was spread
mostly between Posner and Fashion Fair, as they were
the ones that seemed like they were made for me.
Later, I discovered Prescriptives and their
colorprinting system.

I think I really fell in love with it when I got into
a MAC store. Suddenly, it was about potential, there
was no, “Oh, we don’t have shades that would
complement you…” Nothing was out of bounds. You could
look as foolish or as fabulous as you wanted, and it
was all up to you. MAC is still one of my favorite
lines.


2. What do you love most about makeup?

I love its power to transform. I always say that
little girls have crayons, big girls have makeup. It’s
the best part of Halloween whenever you want. Who do
you want to be today?


3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your
makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are
your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your
favorite products/beauty lines?

I tend to go for a more classic look for everyday,
which could be my mother's influence with the nude
face. Most days, I'd prefer to look like me, only
better. I am, however, attracted to pretty colors, and
I like to wild out on special occasions. With those, I
tend to go more dramatic, especially with the eyes.

I still like to keep it mostly natural for the day,
with maybe  a pop of color on the eyes. I wear
glasses, so I can experiment there and it’s not very
noticeable.

Mary Kay hooked me with the skincare, and I love the
makeup, too. Even though I’ve flirted with just about
every brand, I was married to MAC until I discovered
Sephora and NARS. When I get a sugar daddy, I need
every single product in the NARS line, just to play
with.



4. Which products do you think every woman should
have?

The alpha and the omega are essential. Every woman who
wants to wear makeup should have a good foundation and
(at least) one lipstick or gloss that she loves. In a
pinch, that's all she needs for a finished face.
Anything else is optional.


5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its
relationship to women of color?

I think it’s a bit like the relationship between the
clothing industry and its relationship to women of
size. As a Lane Bryant customer, I know a little about
that, too. As a whole, they offer limited choices, and
then use the lack of sales to claim lack of interest.
It’s a media thing. As a little girl, I saw very few
black models in magazines, so the messages didn’t
really filter through to me. In a way, that’s good,
because I also ignored a lot of the negative body
image crap that damages so many young girls of every
generation.

I was just reading an article about a beauty editor of
color, and she had many of the same complaints that I
did. How often have we heard the promise that a line
is going to be adding colors for us very soon? Of the
ones that do offer shades on the darker side, they’re
very limited. And why do I have to use “bronzer” as
powder? It’s a vicious cycle, really, because the
beauty industry will never be seen as targeting women
of color as a bona fide shopping group until they can
show that they are creating and marketing goods for
us, not just as an aside, and very few have been
willing (so far) to put their money where their PR is.



6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about
you, your business (if you have one), what area of the
country you live in, etc.

I’m 34 and I work in the customer service industry in
Philadelphia, PA.

Beauty lover of color: Sarah!

Hi, Beautiful Ones!  Sarah is our next beauty lover of color! 

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

Funny story about that! As a kid, I didn't care too much for makeup, but I grew more interested in it during my freshman year. But my first serious boyfriend in high school didn't like me wearing makeup, and gave me the same old "You're beautiful without it" line. When he broke up with me, I slathered the shit on out of rebellion - and that rebellion turned into a brand new love!

And in case you were wondering, the guy that left me? We got back together, and we've been dating for 8 months now. He's even accepted the makeup, and adds to the collection now! ^.^

My favourite brands...well, I have favourite brands for certain things - I'm one of those girls that tends to mix and match high end and drugstore products! I love Revlon, MAC, and Mark for foundations and powders. Then there's Benefit for gloss, Maybelline for mascara, and Aquafina and Clean and Clear for skin care. Japonesque make great brushes and other beauty tools; and Smashbox has some great stick blushers. I also SWEAR by Aquafina's Lip Oil and Lip Balms. I'm never without at LEAST one of each!

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?OY. There's so many! You can never have enough night cream (I love Pond's Cold Cream) and moisturizer with SPF. Hell, speaking of SPF, you can't have enough sunscreen, either - no matter what your skin tone is! If you're a sunscreen newb, buy Sephora Brand Sun Safety Kit retailing at $25. You won't regret it! Also, lip balm is every girl's best friend; so is primer (I prefer Cargo's Blu_Ray Mattifier).

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.Well, my name is Sarah, but everyone knows me as sarahPUFFY. Before I started blogging, I didn't see many dark girls on the net -  just folks like Amy04 and Leesha of the YouTube phenom. And to be honest, I was pissed that everyone assumed that makeup was only for the lighter ladies. I was thinking, "Hello, what about Puffy, with the medium deep tone and combo skin? What works for girls like ME?" So with a push from people around me, I started my own beauty blog, the Puff Reports, and a YooToob account and forum under the same name.

I'm also an intern for WeLoveBeauty.com (check em out, Ben B. is the best), and I'm hoping to find a decent cosmetics school to attend once I graduate - as each day passes, I begin to think that college just isn't for me - because I'd like to be a freelance makeup artist. I know that's it hard for women of colour to get into the industry, but its even harder living in Louisiana - where there's no cosmetic schools in the area or a real demand for makeup artists. But I still hope to turn my obsession into a profession, and to find a school to attend - so I can earn the title of makeup artist, without slinging it around.

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

Huh? What relationship? There's only a few companies that even recognize darker tones - like MAC and Revlon. I wish more companies would expand their lines to accommodate women of colour - they would make a LOT more money. They just don't realize that black women play a huge role in the beauty industry!

2. What do you love most about makeup?

Being able to change my look based on how I feel. Happy? I'll wear bright, vibrant colours! Sad? I'll wear something muted. Sexy? A smoky eye with a nude-pink lip! It's so fun being able to change your persona with a swipe of this or that.

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines?

As you can tell from the first answer, I'm really experimental. I love neutral, classic looks, but then I love being super bold and out-there. Right now, I love a plain face with groomed and filled brows, a dewy cheek, and a matching, sheer lip. I achieve that look with Mark's tinted moisturizer, MAC's MSF Natural, and Smashbox's Tokidoki For Smashbox blusher stick in Bella. To play this look up, I'll add bold black liner, or even a swipe of heavy coloured liner (try Rimmel, they make a large variety of colours, including blue, this season's HOT shade).

Beauty lover of color: Angie!

Thank you to the ladies who have emailed me, volunteering to be interviewed here on The Life of A Ladybug!  I'm so excited to tell the beauty blogosphere all about you!

If you're still interested in participating, please email me!  There's no deadline - I'm going to keep this an ongoing feature, so let me hear from you!

I always ask the interviewees to answer the same questions:

1. How were you introduced to makeup?  When did you fall in love with it and why?

2. What do you love most about makeup?

3. Do you tend to be traditional/classic in your makeup styling or are you more experimental?  What are your favorite techniques or looks?  What are your favorite products/beauty lines?

4. Which products do you think every woman should have?

5. What do you think about the beauty industry and its relationship to women of color?

6. Share anything else you'd like to share: info about you, your business (if you have one), what area of the country you live in, etc.

Beautiful ones, I'd like to introduce you to Angie!  Angie ... beauties.  Beauties ... Angie.  Let's hear from her:

1. I was first introduced to makeup when I was little. My mom always wore makeup religiously and my favorite thing to do was watch her apply it. One Christmas I begged for one of those Barbie heads, which came with a little sponge. Depending on whether you wet the sponge with hot or cold water, different eye shadows, blushes, and lipsticks would appear on the doll after "applying" her makeup. I clearly remember throwing out the sponge and using my mom's expensive makeup to create my own looks. Needless to say, she moved her makeup out of my reach after that. From around the age of six, whenever aunts or uncles slipped me money I would secretly buy drugstore makeup and apply it to myself and friends at school.

I had one of those Barbie heads, too!  LOL!

2. I've always had acne, so when I was "officially" first introduced to makeup, I would create these wild looks to my eyes or lips to distract from my skin. My absolute favorite thing about makeup is making somebody feel more confident about themselves, by simply brightening their eyes to make them look less tired or covering blemishes, etc. I also love how one can convey any mood they want simply by changing up their makeup.

3. When it comes to myself, I'm extremely experimental with my looks. One of the best parts of makeup is that it washes off! If I find things that work well for me, I'll continue to do it on other people who I apply makeup to. For example, I love to put a little highlighter down the top of my nose, on my cheekbones, and on my chin to highlight and slim those features. One of the things I teach people is to put a night aside and just try a lot of different things! You never know what'll work unless you try. Another thing I tell people is that whatever the box says the makeup is for is wrong. Makeup is makeup is makeup, and anything can go anywhere. Eyeshadows make great highlighters or blushes on the face and decolette, and lip glosses can make great eyeglosses. As cliche as it sounds, I do love MAC. They just have such a wide selection and amazing pigmentation. Urban Decay, Makeup Forever, Nars, Dior, and Napoleon Perdis are all favorites as well.

4. As bare minimum things, I think every woman should have a great skincare regime. To clear up my own acne, I found that using natural products from Caudalie, L'Occitane, and Skyn Iceland work best. A good broad-spectrum sunscreen, eyeshadow, blush, lipgloss, and black mascara round out what should be used daily. Some liner is great for night to dress up a look. This is all you really need, because, as I had said, these are all multitaskers. Use eyeshadows to fill in brows and highlight. Blushers are great for contouring.

5. I think beauty industries are trying harder to include formulas more fitted towards darker skins, however I still feel they are lacking. Bare Escentuals has been around for years and only this year are they adding darker colors to their collections so the darkest of dark won't look ashy. There are several lines, such as Black Opal, that are geared towards deep skins, but I feel these are unneccesary. Makeup lines should cover all tones, not just the lighter ones.

6. As for myself, I just graduated from the Elizabeth Grady School of Esthetics and am gearing up to get my license. Personally, I've always wanted to work behind runways and do makeup, but since skin is the canvas, I decided it would be beneficial to understand how it works. I work full time at Sephora, and I live in MA. My eventual goal is to move to NY and start working towards fulfilling my dream. If anybody out there needs a makeup artist, or there are any photographers looking to benefit both their and my own portfolio, definitely email me at ambethoney@yahoo.com

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Angie!  Beauties, if you have questions/comments for Angie, feel free to post in the comments!

Thanks again, Toya!

Follow-up re: tarte rejuvelash

It's rare that I ever get to hear from the people who actually work with the brands I review.  Fortunately, tarte cosmetics is a hands-on company and I was able to hear directly from Candace, who was able to give me some good tips regarding the use of the rejuvelash product, which I'd been confused about.  Here are her tips!  I'm going to try the product again in light of what she's said and see how I like it.

I just wanted to follow up with you regarding rejuvelash—you seemed confused by this product. I want to reemphasize that this product is primarily used at the end of the day. So, for instance your work day ends at 7:00 pm and you’re heading out the door to a dinner, drinks, whatnot—this product uses a blend of emulsifying agents in combination with our patented flexible bristle brush to gently eliminate clumps that might appear from wearing mascara for 8+ hours. We’ve found that no matter what mascara you wear by the end of the day it will not look like it did that morning. That’s really the purpose of this product—it’s clear so you can even out your lashes, condition them and THEN you can re-apply your mascara. Let’s face it; you cannot put new mascara over old, hardened all day worn mascara. We’ve found such great success with this product and the feedback has been outstanding.