Brand Experiences

April 2, 2019

When I began my love for make-up in late 2016, I was still learning brands, what to buy, and how to use certain products. In early 2018, I was also still learning how to do the half cut crease and truly learning the best areas to cut the crease on my unique Asian eye shape and overall facial symmetry.

Due to my learning phase, I was all over the place buying different brands of certain products based off of their unique and ostentatious packaging because I am generally attracted to bright colors and beautiful fonts. You can call me a sucker for really good marketing and as a consumer, I am really susceptible to impulsive purchases. With that said, I was not particularly loyal to any one brand or favored another in product types as I continued to learn how to do make-up and develop my own routine.

By mid-2018, I finally had the cut crease down and I also continued to improve my brows. At this point, I created a loyalty for the following daily routine:

  1. Moisturizer: Belif
  2. Primer: TooFaced Hangover Primer
  3. Becca liquid highlight
  4. TooFaced Born This Way foundation
  5. Tarte Shape Tape Concealer
  6. TooFaced Peachy Matte setting powder or Laura Mercier Glow Setting Power
  7. TooFaced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer
  8. Urban Decay Shapeshifter Contour Palette (creme and powder duo) as it’s lightly pigmented, easy to blend, and gives a more natural carve look to the cheekbones
  9. TooFaced Sweet Peach Glow (for the blush)
  10. Anastasia Nicole Guerrero Glow Kit or Sun Dipped Glow Kit (depending on how “highlighted” I want to be that day in my M-F
  11. Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray or Morphe (if watching the budget in that time) Morphe is of course not as good as the holy grail Urban Decay setting spray, but it is very good for its price sold at Ulta or Morphe retail itself.
  12. Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow pomade for carving out brows
  13. Anastasia Beverly Hills tinted brow gel for more color definition while also having the brows stay in place
  14. Eyeshadow Palettes: Due to my obsession, I do not have a loyalty to any one brand for eye palettes. Since I have collected so many, I do alternate between all the palettes I have at least every other day or every week, so each one has had some love and use. However, I will acknowledge that my go to palette while learning different eye-shadow blending techniques was the “Modern Renaissance” palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills. If you are new to make-up, I would highly advise this palette as a good starter if you want to work with a luxury brand. If you are on a budget, I would advise to use any Morphe neutral palette sold at Ulta. The formulas are the same, but both are great to practice with until you are confident to move forward with other color stories.
  15. Eyeliner: Tarte Doubletake (pencil and liquid liner) in black for the most defined look using a wing technique. For the waterline, I use either Urban Decay waterproof liner or Kat Von D’s Anti-precision Pencil Eyeliner. With concealer and setting powder in place, waterline liner with these brands does not budge especially after setting spray.
  16. Lash Primer: Tarte
  17. Mascara: Tarte’s “Lights, Camera, Splashes” Waterproof Mascara topped with Stila “Huge Extreme Lash Mascara” or TooFaced “Better Than Sex.” Depending on the level of activity of the day such as going to Hot Yoga, then I will only use Tarte’s mascara since it is waterproof and will have far less smudge when I am drenched in sweat.
  18. Setting Spray: Urban Decay All Nighter for the finishing touches
  19. Lashes (if on date night or any other special occasion): Lilly Lashes in Mykonos or Miami (following the YouTube gurus that love these for a dramatic look).

With any off-routine looks, I will branch out to other products that I have in my collection. One example would be that if it is a special occasion, I will use different setting sprays, setting powders such as Hourglass, or highlighters for a good switch up. Secondly, if I want a bright and colorful eye look to play with more shades and blends, I will take out the Morphe Jaclyn Hill and James Charles palettes since working with brighter color stories brings me back to my acrylic painting days and it nearly feels the same. From how I view bright color palettes and acrylics from the art store, both help me mitigate my high anxiety levels and OCD anxiety disorder mind-loops.

In any case, I would conclude that my favorite brands are all derived from the list above and I have the tendency to repurchase or brand off to try their line extensions of their brand when they have their bi-annual product launches. From a marketing perspective, I’m probably not 100% loyal to any specific brand and a product line as I am willing to try new brands’ products as they come out. However, I have made repurchases of dip brow, Tarte’s eyeliner, etc until I find something else that might be just a tad better in its product attribute based on price, quality, and if it is cruelty-free.