Beauty Bag RX

Professional Make-up Artist Jennessa Herde offers up a little “Beauty Bag Rx.”

OK, ladies, when was the last time you cleaned out your makeup bag? Admit it. It’s been awhile, hasn’t it? This is your cosmetic call to action! Go get your makeup bag and let’s clean it out. Will it be painful? Yes, but trust me – in the end, your makeup bag will thank you.

First thing, take everything out of your bag and separate it all into 3 different categories, eyes, face and lips.

Beauty Bag RX: Eyes

Look at the shadows. What do you see? Various shades of the same eye colors, fun and wild colors that the sales girl said you “had to have” because it was the season’s hottest color, empty containers to remind you that you need another shade of brown or colors that you love but have no idea how to wear them. Eye shadows are easy. Keep it simple. Choose a maximum of 5 colors and a brow color that you know you will wear. Choose colors that coordinate and can give you many different looks. You want a base color for your whole lid, a crease color, a highlighting color for below the brow, a dark color for a dramatic look and a softer color for a more natural look. Set aside the extra shadow. What about your eyeliner? Do you prefer liquid or pencil? I have and love both in my bag. Look at your pencil liners. Do you have similar colors just in a variety of brands or do you have multiple colors? I recommend choosing 1 or 2 coordinating colors that work well with your eye shadow. Put the extras with the eye shadows you set aside before. If you use liquid eyeliner, it needs to be replaced often, just like your mascara. Also, if you like the look of liquid but don’t wear it all the time or want to save money, you can use your eye shadow as liner with just a drop of water and a small brush. Finally, let’s talk mascara. As a Makeup Artist I hear the same compliant all the time: “My mascara is clumpy”. Clumpy mascara is a sign that it needs to be replaced. I know we tend to want to get our money’s worth and make sure we use all of it; however, mascara should really be replaced every 4-6 weeks, 8 weeks if you really want to stretch it. The same goes for liquid eyeliner. If mascara isn’t replaced often you run the risk of getting an eye infection. I also recommend a lash conditioner; my favorite is Oscillation PowerBooster from Lancôme. Not only does it prep your lashes for your mascara, it also helps your lashes appear fuller, thicker and look longer. Eye infections are bad, clumpy lashes are worse.

Beauty Bag RX: Face

Some of you may have liquid or powder foundation. I have both. If you wear liquid, take a look at the bottle. What do you see? Is your foundation separating? Does it look a little grayish in color? Now take off the lid. What does it smell like? Old foundation may smell rancid or dirty. It will also appear to separate in the bottle and on the skin. The color will have also seemed to change. Liquid foundation should be replaced every 3 months. If you buy your foundation in bulk then I recommend storing it in a cool dry place away from any heat and humidity. Powder foundations are very popular. They’re easy for traveling and for a quick touch up. Open up your compact, do you have a latex sponge sitting on top of your powder or is it in a separate compartment? If it’s on top of the powder take it off and look it. Latex sponges are very porous and will absorb oil. When you take that sponge and rub it into your powder foundation and your back and back and forth again, you are transferring oil, dirt, dead skin and bacteria from your face onto your foundation, which will end up back on your skin again. This transference can cause irritations or breakouts. If you notice a hard film on your powder, then you have some transference from your latex sponge. If you get to that stage, don’t scrape it off, it will only come back. Toss it and buy a new one. To avoid this in the future, store your latex sponge in a separate container and replace it often. When you notice the sponge is covered in produce, replace it. Also, try using a brush instead of a sponge to keep your foundation clean. Blush is an easy one. Most women have 1 color. That 1 color has been your staple color and the only time you change it is when your favorite color has been discontinued and you find a new favorite color. I like to have a couple different colors of blush in my kit, and like eye shadows, I rotate them so I don’t get stuck using the same color. I recommend both a cool color and warm color blush.

Beauty Bag RX: Lips

Do you love lipstick and lipgloss and find yourself collecting it, but you only wear 1 or 2 shades; however, you can’t seem to part with the other colors because they are so pretty and one day, just one day, you might actually wear it? The truth of the matter is most of us won’t, and that’s ok, we’ve all been there. If you collect lip color, pick a couple that you know you will wear. A personal little trick that I like to do is to make sure that I’m wearing the same tone (warm or cool) of blush and lipstick. This will give a finished looked. To determine if the lip product has gone bad, take off the lid and smell it. New lipstick and lip-gloss smell fresh, old lipstick and lip-gloss will smell rancid. If that’s the case, then it’s time to toss it and move on. Next, look at the packaging is it dated and old? If the answer is yes then throw it out. Don’t try and justify it, just throw it out. Trust me. The same goes for your lip-gloss.

I know you are looking at that pile and thinking that you don’t want to part with all of that product, however, you know you will never use them. Instead try donating them to your local drama department or cheer or dance team. If you have girls let them play dress up with them. Nothing is more exciting than getting some of mom’s makeup to play with.

I like to go through my makeup often, clean it off, clean out my box and rotate colors. If you have colors that you love and want to learn how to use them for a new look, look online or in magazines and play around with them. Love your makeup and have fun with it, rotate colors and get yourself out of a rut.

In today’s “Beauty Bag Ambush,” the products Janessa selected for Angie were:

• Foundation: Jane Iredale Dream Tint in Medium Light

• Blush: Bare Escentuals, Tropical Radiance

• Mascara: Lancôme’s Oscillation PowerBooster

• Lips: Fever Gloss in Sunbaked Coral and L’Oreal, HiP Plum Liner

Born and raised in Orange, California, Jennessa Herde’s love of makeup started at a very young age. Jennessa would often sneak into her mother’s or grandmother’s make up bag and play for hours, trying on various shades of lipstick, eye shadow and blush. As Jennessa got older she found herself assisting her mother, a drama teacher and director, with theatrical Makeup and Hair for Theatre Productions. It was when helping her mother that Jennessa realized she wanted to be a career Makeup Artist.