20 Beauty Facts/Confessions

I've been tagged on Facebook by a friend to discuss 20 fun facts about me in regards to beauty :-)  Those who know me know that makeup holds special spot in my heart...so here we go!

1. I was not allowed to wear makeup until I was 15, and even then it was only lip gloss and mascara.  I was and am always fascinated by watching others put makeup on or doing their hair.
2. Growing up, my mom and grandma weren't much of makeup mavens.  My grandma never wore makeup in my presence.  I loved how she described how blush was lovingly applied to her cheeks in two little red circles for her wedding day in the late 40s in China.  My mom's makeup and skincare routine: pluck stray hairs from eyebrows; religiously moisturize night and day, occasional pinky shade of lipstick and cream blush.  THAT'S IT.
3. Although I have proper skincare products, I am not as diligent as I should in terms of moisturizing and protecting (SPF) as I should.  I shall make it a resolution.  BUT, I always take care to remove all my makeup and wash my face before I go to bed.  NEVER SLEEP IN YOUR MAKEUP!!!
4. After high school I wasn't terribly concerned about make, not for a long time.  I had jobs that it wasn't practical to wear, and I couldn't really feasibly be splurging on it often anyway.  Thinking of it now, that was a bit of a sad life.  Not that I couldn't afford makeup, but because of my work schedule, the lack of interaction with friends and such.
5. When I was around 12 or 13, I desperately wanted to shave my legs--they were pretty hairy.  I was embarrassed at gym class.  So, I decided enough was enough...and snuck a new disposable razor from my grandpa's supply and lathered up with some conditioner and shaved it all off.  Mom soon noticed, but it had been done... ;-)
6. I did my own makeup for my senior prom.  Luckily, I didn't have much of a concern in the pimple department.  In the early teens, I had some tiny little pimples along my hairline but they cleared up after a couple years.  I do occasionally still get a couple, but mostly as a PMS thing.  Anyway, prom look consisted of mascara, purple shade, a little powder and pink gloss.  Hahaha.  I think I looked great! ;-)  I loved that I looked natural, but still pretty--not like the full crazy faces like teens today going to prom.
7. When I was a teen, it was wildly popular to pluck your eyebrows into very thin arches.  My natural brows cover a large part of area, but I have cleaned up under the current brows as the hairs there are very sparse.  At the time, I wanted to have thin, skinny brows but my mom said no.  Thankfully I listened to her and never plucked them into two tiny lines!  I know some ladies who over-plucked back in the day and now struggle to always fill in their brows now, especially since fuller brows are in.
8. I was never much of a foundation person.  I always just used tinted moisturizers and BB creams.  I don't really have any imperfections to cover, but I have noticed a little redness on my cheeks and sometimes on my nose and below my mouth.
9. I am not a fan of the full-coverage foundation look.  A sheerer coverage will allow your freckles show, and I feel that it is less work.  The more "perfect" of a canvas is, the more you have to do to bring life to your face: a lot of blush, contour, highlight that looks pretty time consuming to do.
10. Even though I love makeup now, I don't often wear it.  I may wear it once or twice a week, and I like watch YouTube videos to try new techniques.  Sometimes the beauty vloggers/bloggers will convince me to buy certain products but not too often.  I will try to make a particular look/technique work with what I have already, which I think many people would consider it a sizable collection.
11. I use a variety of drugstore and "mid-range" cosmetics.  I would consider the likes of Chanel or YSL to be "luxury" brands of cosmetics.  Most of my higher end products are ones that can be purchased at Macy's or Sephora/Ulta.
12. I was not overly concerned about makeup until recent years.  Now I have more opportunities to do some fun looks, afford some products and have time to experiment.  I feel I am obsessed now!
13. My first "high-end" palette was the Glamour to Go by Too Faced.  Too Faced has remained my favorite brand, I have several of their eye palettes.  The other brand that basically fills out my palette collection is Urban Decay.  Skincare is by Shiseido, love the cream cleanser.  I think I may need to consider a more affordable brand as it is just getting washed down the drain.  I shall consider Asian Biore cream cleansers--I did use them as a teen and loved them but I can't read Chinese so mom had to pick out for me lol.
14. The eyeshadow palette that I reach for most often has to be Too Faced Natural Eyes.  MY FAVORITE!!!  Second most commonly used palette is Urban Decay's original Naked.
15. Drugstore brands I like: NYX, Maybelline for mascara, Revlon.  Since I hardly ever wear makeup, you won't see me buying too many face products--they take me forever to finish!  I love NYX and Revlon lipsticks.  I do have ONE MAC lipstick which is gorgeous, but I love some variety and lots of different reds and pinks to choose from--the Round lipsticks from NYX and Revlon allows for lots of choices at a reasonable price.
16. I'm also a nail polish junkie!  When I was younger, I had a lot of Revlon and Sally Hansen polish but my go-tos nowadays in the nail department are: Zoya, China Glaze and OPI.  I tend to go for fuchsia/deep brighter pinks, reds, purples, deep blues, greens and some black/gray shades.  I do have one orange shade, but no yellow.  I don't think I've found a yellow that I think would look good on me.  Generally I prefer brights and jewel tones.  I try to like pastels, but they don't seem to look right.  Also, I love shimmer and glitter, you'll find that my collection does not have many cream colors.
17. I didn't learn how to curl my hair until I was well into my 20s.  My sister, she got the makeup/beauty bug a lot time ago but she wasn't very forthcoming in helping or sharing her secrets!
18. I love watching beauty videos online, but I don't think I have really found any beauty blogger who has similar features--even though I have some yellow-tones, I feel I am pretty neutral--I tend to choose silver toned jewelry over gold.  Gold looks washed out on me.  Anyway, I love watching Promise Phan, Michelle Phan, Makeup by Tiffany D, From Head to Toe, DulceCandy.  So if there are any Asian beauty gurus to watch who have more of an almond eye shape rather than monolid...let me know!
19. I just had one blush color until recently!  I splurged and purchased a NARS blush in Amour and have been using that for a long time.  The NARS is definitely worth the price, it is very pigmented and a little goes a long way so one compact will last a long time.  I recently ordered some NYX powder blushes.  At a fraction of the price, I feel the colors are gorgeous and easy to wear, you can build it.  Fun, flushed cheeks for $5 each color.
20. I can never justify spending more than $5 on a tube/pot of lipgloss.  I am horrible at not losing them so if I picked a up fancy one, I'd be so sad if I lost it!
21. BONUS!  Makeup faux pas that leave me wanting to wipe someone's face and helping them with their makeup:
1. Messy eyeliner.
2. Any makeup that is not well-blended.
3. Exaggerated and rather unnatural looking brows that have been drawn on.
4. Lips that are overdrawn, horribly exaggerated.
5. Red or bright yellow eyeshadow...don't know what is about them that I can't stand!