Who Taught You How to Do Makeup?

October 20, 2008

My mom was never one to wear a whole lot of makeup, except for lots of mascara and a little lipstick (her signature look). So, when my best friend in high school had a Mary Kay makeover, I soon learned that "shadow" was something more than a dark image cast upon a surface in the background.

"Your look is a little plain-Jane," she told me. Ouch. She whipped out her shiny new makeup bag, and proceeded to instruct me on the ins and outs of applying makeup — complete with drawings and figures. So tell me, who taught you all about makeup? Was it a friend, a family member, or did you do it on your own?

Source

Makeup Bella Poll

53 Comments

Rose Cullen 4 years 28 weeks

Internet and My Lovely magazines :)

fifthdaughter 4 years 29 weeks

Hey Reading Machine, you can check out the book Teenage Beauty by Bobbi Brown or about.com. I know it's geared towards teens but you can get a lot out of it.

Reading Machine 4 years 29 weeks

my mom taught me mostly, i know most of it, except eyeliner. i think i look like like a "lady of the night" when i put it on. ANyone know any good tips or videos to help me?

suec 4 years 29 weeks

I learned so much from my sisters makeovers on me, she always made me look my best, I will always thank her

norajeans 4 years 30 weeks

youtube

CCee 4 years 30 weeks

My mom let me play around with her makeup when I was still very young. When I was a teen I used to wear only liner and mascara to school and more daring looks when going out. When I was 16 I started buying Elle and got hooked on trends and different looks. Soon after I got a British magazine called Looks. Soon after I got my first Allure it was no longer sold here and was soooo disappointed. I started harassing my aunt to buy me Urban Decay and other goodies in her country and then send them here. Since about 4 years I'm hooked on buying makeup magazines and I bought my three Kevyn Aucoin books. With the Internet now and international shipping the way it is now I get shipped a lot of magazines like Allure, Glamour US, Glamour UK and ELLE UK so I never miss anything. I keep up with the trends via magazines and websites like Sugar. I order way more online nowadays, I love the way that the Internet has made shopping so much easier. My makeup is more professional looking then when I was a teen, I know much more by making mistakes and trying things on myself and friends. I try to not shy away from looks that are daring and if the ladies on my blog on TeamSugar are right, I'm doing pretty well with my makeup so far.

ehknee 4 years 30 weeks

My mom never wore make up, and when she attempts to do it on herself, it's a disaster so she never taught me. But my friend since birth, her mom was a make-up (and fashion) fantatic so she taught me everything I learned. She worked with Clinque at one point but now works with Chanel, so all my make up comes from her. And because of her I want to become a make-up artist one day.

angelfromlsu 4 years 30 weeks

My mom doesn't wear makeup. She kinda told me if I wore too much. My mom-in-law taught me about layering eyeshadows but I never got it correct. xsparkage on youtube has helped me so much. My makeup actually looks good thanks to her!

Autumns_Elegy 4 years 30 weeks

I taught myself. I made a lot of mistakes with eyeliner and eyeshadow before I got it right. Occasionally I still come out looking like I've got a black eye, but makeup remover is always on hand. I've had to teach others how to put on foundation though, and lipstick.

Schaianne 4 years 30 weeks

Mom taught me the basics but she took me to Merle Norman for a consultation when I was finally old enough (16) to wear makeup.

lizlee89 4 years 30 weeks

it's funny how so many people were self-taught - I guess makeup isn;t one of those rituals moms teach their daughters (maybe it's best though not to tell your daughter she needs to improve her appearance) - I was self-taught too. my mom only wears makeup on special occasions, and I have no sisters, so I kind of just faked my way through it. I remember though that I didn't start wearing makeup until the summer after my freshman year of high school - it was only because I got it professionally done for an event and I loved how I looked, so I started wearing it daily. at first I got obcessed with eyeshadow, and I'd wear a different color every day that matched my earrings (I wore uniforms at my high school, so I used every ounce of creativity in me on things other than my wardrobe - like my shoes, I even would wear heels sometimes). now I just do a foundation, powder, blush, eyeline, mascara combo - a basic look that just "enhances my features," which is what my mom always says makeup is supposed to do. I do like doing more crazy looks once in while, because another part of wearing makeup is that it's fun...

SparklinSeahorSe 4 years 30 weeks

my mom has really only ever worn dark purple lipstick my whole life. so i taught myself - and fell in love with makeup. i read every magazine article i could on applying makeup. i practiced on my friends. as i got older, i attended esthetician school and learned some makeup. now i work for mac and continue to improve my technique by practice practice practicing! and i love to watch youTube videos! i'm create art on my favorite canvas - the beauty of the human face!

the makeup blogette 4 years 30 weeks

Self-taught, and I learnt a lot from watching YouTube tutorials, beauty blogs, and along the way, picked up tips and tricks and realised what works for me.

diesdre 4 years 30 weeks

My mom, with the help of a professional makeup artist and an ex Lancome model.

Bolly 4 years 30 weeks

My Mom is a cosmetologist and I have a big sister, but I was still left to by myself when it came to make up. I guess I'm mostly self taught, but the ladies at Sephora have been a big help. There's also this lady named Amy in Australia who's a professional make up artist and she post the best how to tutorials on YouTube. Her videos always fun to take little bits from too.

ElisabethR 4 years 30 weeks

I learned by myself -- and I only learned how to do REALLY good makeup (highlighters, brow bone, crease, smoky eye, the works) a few months ago after getting a crash course in Sephora. I was always a one eyeshadow, blush, lipstick kind of girl in college. I used to beg my more able sister to do my make-up if I was going out...and she never would! I feel really stupid now -- it would have really helped to have someone show me the tricks before I hit my mid-20's.

ModernGraceKelly 4 years 30 weeks

I taught myself... I have always looked at magazines and watched any techniques on t.v. growing up. I've had powder and lipstick since 6th grade.

emalove 4 years 30 weeks

Myself mostly, but I have a cousin who is 7 years older than me. She showed my sister and I some "techniques" and always let us use/play around with her makeup.

verily 4 years 30 weeks

I learned a bit from my friend who was makeup obsessed, and some from my mom, and some from the makeup counter, and I have a favorite trick that I figured out on my own. I still haven't mastered eye liner.

gemsera 4 years 30 weeks

I still have no idea either blackmagicrose. My mother wasnt around, my sister was too busy NOT closing her legs, nanna was too old.. never had any girlfriends to show me. I figured out as much as I could on my own. I'm trying to find a beauty course to teach me a few things, hopefully I can get into one of those soon :)

blackmagicrose 4 years 30 weeks

To be honest I still don't really know how to do my makeup. I was never that interested in it when I was a kid or teenager so I never asked my mom for help. Now that I'm older and wanting to put it on I'm too embarrassed to ask my mom (or anyone else) for help. So I guess I'm on the self teaching road.

bengalspice 4 years 30 weeks

I hated make-up ... until I discovered BE retro liner. Then I taught myself to do crazy things with eye shadow. I still only wear gloss and a little bit of blush, but I've gotten pretty creative with eye makeup.