What Not To Do | Concealer is NOT Foundation
Photo Credit: KrisCarr.com
You’d think this would be obvious but it’s not…
Of the nine drawers at my desk, two are “emergency drawers.” One of them is the most decked out snack drawer my team has ever seen. I don’t like to be hangry + I don’t like anyone else to me either. So you can always find my drawer stocked with candy, chocolate, chips, popcorn, protein bars + Kcups. My team helps themselves + sometimes I get visitors from other teams, even if it’s just to the candy dish. My favorite is when people take one thing + give me $5. I never ask for money but it’s hilarious that they think one Lindor Truffle is worth $5. I turn around + put that money back into the snack drawer + everyone is happy.
My other emergency drawer is for exterior emergencies, rather than tummy needs. This drawer has my lint roller, hair brush, mini straightener Gab got me for my birthday a few years ago + backup makeup in it. You never know when you might need to be refreshed on the outside. But I will tell you, it’s quite frequent. I use the hairbrush + the lint roller most regularly. If you have blonde hair + wear a lot of black, you know why. If you don’t, I’m sure you can imagine. I don’t know what it is about my hair. It’s pretty healthy despite how much I color it but it’s always everywhere. My mom always asks why she can’t do anything without finding my hair nearby. I swear it’s not on purpose! Some strands just like to escape. It’s life. I use the straightener every once in a while but hardly touch the makeup.
This winter I did a much needed (also expensive) overhaul on my makeup. I hit 26 + started a second puberty. Suddenly I was breaking out all the time which I never really did during first puberty. I’d have one ugly mark on my face, usually easily concealed, + that was it. After cutting all the sweets out of my diet + astronomically upping my water intake on top of my pretty rigorous cleansing regimen (all the things they tell you to do), I realized it was time I started putting better quality products on my face. Running to Walgreens, grabbing the first thing I thought would look good or work for me + calling it a day was not going to work for me any more. I needed to make an investment in me. So over a three month period, I started replacing everything I had with better formulated products from Sephora. I’d talk to the first beauty consultant about my skin + what was going on with it + she or he would help me find the right products for me. Even their moderately priced Sephora Collection was better than what I’d been putting on my face. So I started there. If you’re on a budget like me, this is the perfect place for you to start, too! My skin cleared of its random + constant second puberty breakouts + now I just deal with an occasion stress situation on my face.
Often I don’t leave the house without at least a little makeup on, usually concealer, foundation + eyebrows. But this week I’ve been trying to give my face a break because I have a whole stress breakout going on + I’ll be out of town this weekend so I know the next few days I’ll be found with a fully made up face. I left my house REALLY early this morning because I was trying to call Gab who’s “home” abroad + nine hours ahead of me. In my rush to get out of the house + on the phone, I forgot I had lunch plans + a meeting with individuals from another department so I didn’t want to be naked-stress-faced. I quickly consulted the external emergency drawer to find I had NO foundation, just a cheap, breakout-inducing, drugstore-brand concealer (that I’ll leave nameless because I’m not going to bash something just because it doesn’t work for me). I ran to the restroom + committed a beauty felony: I used concealer as a foundation. 
In a last ditch pinch, I guess it works. It’s much too sheer of coverage for my liking + the color wasn’t the best match. But in the pinchiest of pinches, it did the job. I couldn’t tell you how badly I wanted to leave work, run to the Sephora in the mall that’s literally across the street to my office + buy something, anything that belonged splashed + blended across my whole face. Sadly that was not an option + I had to make do. I can’t wait to go home, grab my Neutrogena makeup wipes, remove my concealer face just to put on some real foundation so I don’t look like a broken out zombie at the airport in about three hours. Here are some of my favorites right now from Sephora:
My Diorskin Forever at $50 is the most I’ve ever spent on one piece of makeup (I don’t count my Naked palettes here because to me that counts as several) + I couldn’t breathe for a second as I ran my debit card for it. But every time I put it on with my favorite makeup brush, I’m reminded why I bought it in the first place: It makes my skin look darn good + there’s nothing wrong with feeling good. If you feel best without makeup, that’s awesome! If you feel best with makeup, that’s equally as awesome! In the words of Hailee Steinfeld:
You know some days you feel so good in your own skin
But it’s okay if you wanna change the body that you came in
‘Cause you look greatest when you feel like a damn queen
We’re all just playing a game in a way, trying to win at life
Here on this blog, I’m never going to tell you you should or should not change the way you look. I dye my hair. I make my face up, sometimes with more than 20 products. I’m currently a month into the Beachbody program. What I will tell you is to find what makes you feel beautiful + strong, take hold of it + make it your own. That’s the only way to be happy!
xo.
