I would say that 2013 is the year where I’m fully getting into cosmetics full time so I decided to try and make a series of blog posts about my journey so far. Aside from having a constant income that now allows me to purchase them and engage in cosmetic trial and error, this is the year I started to really “enhance” the outer me.

I’ve been into makeup for as long as I can remember but being that kid with the worst acne (separate post for my skincare regime I guess), I was told to avoid them as much as possible. No products would fit my face and it seemed like anything I applied would result into breakouts. I guess I used the wrong products so they had very little influence on me. My mom, on the other hand, is a switcher. Anything works well with her face! She’d use high end products and can switch into drugstore products with no problem so I was always confused what kind or what brands to wear.

In 2010 during my paid internship, a cosmetic sales rep stopped by our office to sell leftover MAC goodie bags from a makeup convention that happened in the building that day. I remembered almost going crazy because a) they were not sample sizes 2) I could finally afford the stuff! I sort of forgot all the contents inside the goodie bag but I remember it had eyeshadow (blah, gave it away) and a Select Sheer MAC Pressed Powder in NC20 (that would then become Holy Grail #2).

I used NOTHING before that. I’d buy drugstore brands with my college allowance back then, tried Maybelline, Clean & Clear, etc but I always either felt like I had cement wiped on my face or it would melt like a chocolate ice cream because I have the most bipolar skin type. Combination doesn’t seem to describe it. Generally it’s oily, but there are some areas where it’s just completely dry. Major combination.

I’m on my 3rd MAC Select Sheer Pressed powder in NC20 and can’t ever imagine wearing something else that suits my face better. I like it because the texture is not too thick to apply and it doesn’t leave my face looking like a frying pan with oil after a while. I’ve tried high end brands like my mom’s Chanel, the really well-reviewed Body Shop compacts but even they don’t cut it. Though there was a point where I took a break from using it because I heavily relied on BB Cream, which is Holy Grail #1.

I never believed in BB Cream. I thought it was just a “myth”. Oh how little I knew. I guess I’m gonna have to dedicate the next blog post about it.