#12. Find the "Perfect Red Lip Look" look [Develop an everyday makeup routine]

Happy Friday! Let's talk makeup. My husband is not a huge fan of makeup to begin with [after seeing some photos of what celebrities really look like without it]. He says he likes the fact that with me, what you see is what you get. [In fact, if you look closely at this picture I posted last month, you can see the delightful little section of my head where I accidentally branded myself with my curling iron many moons ago.]

Don't laugh! That said, one of my main goals in developing a makeup routine is to make sure it looks natural. I hate seeing pictures [of women of color especially] where the face looks grey, and then the neck is the person's regular skin tone. Sad day. I attended an event locally with a friend a couple of months ago where I received a pallet of way more eyeshadows that I know what to do with:

Please excuse the blurriness. I need to play around with my depth of field.

During a trip to Houston back in July, I dropped by the MAC counter to get some recommendations as well. Something I had never considered before was a powder foundation. The make up artist I spoke with recommended this foundation and mascara:

 I've got to say that I definitely prefer the powder to the liquid foundation I had been trying. It feels much more natural. Even the hubby noticed that the powder looked better on my skin than liquid foundation does. 

I also recently stumbled upon lip butters by Revlon. I'm a fan. They last throughout the day and add just a touch of color. It's basically a step up from chapstick in my opinion. I purchased the Pink Truffle (#001) and the Red Velvet (#040). Mmm don't those sound delicious?! :)

I'll be honest. I bought the Red Velvet because I hoped it would be just that easy to find my Perfect Red Lip Look, but it is a no-go. Don't get me wrong. I love it and I'll use it in the meantime, but it's not that final look I am wanting. I think the Pink Truffle will work because it's nude enough for an everyday look, but for the Perfect Red Lip Look I want something bold and fun.

Well, here comes the embarrassing part. To get an idea of my most recent experimentation with makeup, check out the images below, which were taken back in August. 

THOSE. EYEBROWS. whew! Step away from the eyebrow pencil, My!

This was a failed attempt to mask the fact that my eyebrows were looking a little rough. Obviously, I just made them worse. Next time, I'll have to just get them done... or learn how to do them myself. I also need to learn to either go much lighter on the concealer or learn how to blend better. 

So, I guess I'll just keep on looking and keep on practicing. What about you? Is there a favorite red lip that you recommend? What other makeup products are you using on your face?