Ever since I was allowed to wear make-up I have enjoyed learning about it. It may be because my mother always did a fabulous job when it came to putting hers on and I always wanted to do the same. I was intrigued with what went where and the proper way of putting it there. I still remember when my mom finally told me I could start wearing make-up. I was in the 6th grade when she and my sister to took me for an appointment at Clinique. My mom always wanted us to know the appropriate ways of wearing make-up and a good skincare routine to take it off. I loved it from that moment!

While makeup and I have had out up’s and down’s, usually the downs include me refusing to wear it, I mostly get joy out of putting it on. I always tell myself it is my blank canvas for me to create. And while I was never any good at painting or drawing, this was my art. Because I have an interest in make-up I have recently tried learning all I can about contouring (video on creating the look). If I want to learn something, be it photography, video, a language, etc.,  I always start googling and researching. I am completely self taught in most avenues of my life and make-up is no different. When I wanted to learn more about contouring I ran to the Internet. Over the years I have watched some amazing videos on different ways to create the look.

One frustration I always had was finding the right brightening stick. In the videos all of the girls achieved this beautiful bright look with one product and mine always fell short. I would even buy the items they had and was never fully convinced they were doing what I wanted. Last year I decided to take a trip to Sephora and see what the deal was. Once there I was recommended the Nars ‘Immaculate Complexion’ Concealer. The stick was amazing and gave enough coverage to hide blemishes and last all day. I also bought it two shades lighter than my normal skin tone so it gave me the bright look I was after. If you are also after the contour look – thanks Kim K. – I highly recommend finding products which work for you. A few things I learned from my contouring research is it is key to have the right products, practice is your friend, and to understand that it takes quite a bit of time to achieve (the girl at Sephora said it should take 30 min. to blend), so be patient!