My Makeup Timeline

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I started learning about make-up back in 2006 and posting in make-up communities to learn how to improve. For years, EyeshadowSluts on Livejournal was my port of call for everything makeup, before Youtube gurus got big and when beauty blogging was pretty quiet. I was about fifteen at the time and have been hooked ever since!

Since you guys were interested in my hair post, I figured this might provide you with some entertainment, too! I can see my photography improving through this too, some of it is shocking :S

All under the jump, pic heavy!


2006
 A couple of the first makeup things I ever bought for myself, 17 'Green Glimmer' and a silver from a Collection 2000 trio. Probably Rimmel eyeliner. Needless to say, I was clueless. 


Sticking with that Collection 2000 trio here, for all of you who have said you're jealous of my eyeliner skills - look at how shit I was! And check out my eyebrows, too! I also refused to wear any foundation because I thought it would make me orange.

2007

 Clearly had no idea about eyeshadow base! Eyeliner is pretty poor, farty little eyebrows, no foundation...

I don't even have the words.

Aaaand this is what I thought was meant by darkening the crease - it isn't even in the crease!

 Got far more experimental.

HAD to show you how long my hair used to be! I can hardly believe it!

2008

2008 was clearly the year of the skin. Plucked up the courage to wear foundation and concealer, blush and started playing with highlighting, too. I remember MAC 'Vanilla' pigment and 'Nylon' eyeshadow were such revelations!


Got some eyeshadow primer and LOVED it. Also got better with blending and eyeliner. My eyebrows finally got some attention with an angle brush and eyeshadow, too!

2009
This was about the time I got my latest camera and long time love, the Canon Eos 450D. I started to play with photography and effects a lot more than I had in the past. 

2009 was definitely the year of blending! Falsies also made it into my FOTDs more often and smokey eyes were always on the menu.

 I got more experimental with the materials I used in makeup and how I used makeup. Here we have latex coloured with black loose pigments and a mascara brush used to make prints.

 Having done a touch of SFX in college but not really being happy with how it was taught, I decided I'd teach myself instead.

2010

The start of the year saw a lot of me working as an MUA and playing at photography in my spare time. My photography skills have blatantly improved, it's mad! I'm no pro, not even close, but I understand light and composition a lot more these days.


 However, my makeup has stayed pretty neutral most of the time...


 Hey, I did only say most of the time!

I think this year I have generally gotten a grip. I mean, 2009 was a good make-up year, too, but this year I think I understand colour theory, blending and texture a bit better. It's so odd to look back, there are evident 'trends' in certain years, like skin in 2008 and smokey eyes in 2009. I have so many FOTD pictures dating back to way back when, but chose the ones which displayed changes the best :)

So what do you think? Mental? How has your makeup changed to when you first started?

33 comments:

  1. I love this post! It's so cute. I know I look back a few years and I'm shocked at how different my makeup- specifically blending- skills are.

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  2. I loved this post! I remember only about a year ago i had one of everything ie one blush, one foundation,one mascara etc now i have such a selection of each it can be overwhelming when making choices of what to use each day. I think my makeup has changed over the years as i have come to understand what suits me more x

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  3. it's amazing how much you've changed over the years! i've been the same, i love how clueless we all used to be xx

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  4. I love this post!! I don't think I could pluck up the courage to do something like this! LOL

    Absolutely love your eye brows!!

    Kaushal xx

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  5. So amazing! I love this post, it's actually really motivating! :)

    http://imacurvyredhead.blogspot.com

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  6. wow this is such a transformation, great post! love the pics from 2008. i totally cringe when i think back on the looks i used to try out haha.

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  7. I really enjoyed this post!
    We all have make up disasters when we first started. It's all a learning curve...I guess everything in life is.
    Love the purple look (of course).
    :-)
    XXX

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  8. Love this.You're so brave to post some of your older photos. And WOW to your make up now,it's flawless. xx

    http://beautybypaula2010.blogspot.com/

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  9. Oh my god I hope one day I'm as good as you! I loved this so much!
    xxxxxx

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  10. This is a great post! I would say my makeup journey is somewhat similar. All I need is the camera and to learn good photo techniques. :)

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  11. Love this post! You're gorgeous x

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  12. Haha, this is a great post (and funny too). I don't think I'd be brave enough to post pictures from years back. Anyway, I love your makeup as it is today, it always looks flawless.

    xo

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  13. Look at that amazing progression! It's true, practice makes perfect! <3

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  14. I love this post! :D I can see the changes over the years. It's fun looking back when we first start to get to know make up ^__^ I can't say I have improved a lot but some :) And I need that camera! ;) Great post!

    x0x0

    lifelittlesurprises.blogspot.com

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  15. Wow! I wish my journey was long enough to see the improvement! Even looking back at when I started my blog, I can see improvement - mostly in my brows and skin. I was a blush-o-phobe when I started blogging and now I can't even imagine living without it!

    Also with the latex coloured with pigments... is it a pain in the arse? Because I wanted to try it a while back and was scared it would just dry too fast to mix the colours!

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  16. Heh, I think I'm right in between your 2007/2008 stages. This is awesome, thanks for sharing such old photos!

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  17. This was such a good idea for a post! Nice to see i wasnt the only one who was a little clueless when first getting into makeup! Lol i thought super thin sperm eyebrows and thick black eyeliner under my eyes was a good look and that foundation was supposed to be 2 shades darker than your actual skintone. Crrrrrrrrrrringe!

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  18. You are definitely proof that practice makes perfect. :) I play more with color now than I use to. I use be the one color wash queen, but I have actually worked my way up to 4 shades at a time.

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  19. This was a great post. I've been following your FOTD for a few years now. I think it probably would have been around 2007/2008 when I was on Specktra much more. I've always been very impressed by your talents with a brush.

    My progress has been very slow. As you know, I didn't really start wearing make up in a big way until I hit 30. I've still got lots to learn but it's so much easier to get inspiration and information now compared to when I was in my teens and early 20's.

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  20. This is so cool!

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  21. How fun to see the improvement! I also regret so many things from the past ahaha I wish I could go back in time and teach my past self the wonders of the right foundation and blush :D

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  22. You are great and love your post! xx

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  23. You are so gorgeous and your makeup skills are amazing. I love reading posts like this it shows that everyone has to start somewhere and how much you can learn from other bloggers.

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  24. Totally awesome post - I cant believe how much your look has changed over the last few years. And your technique has certainly improved; looks like you're a pro with the old liquid liner now :)

    I went through a goth phase when I was about 16. Now that was some seriously bad makeup!

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  25. It's so cool to see how you've improved over time, and I have to say that I LOL'd at your 'deepening the crease' XD I think it's cute haha

    I can't even look at my blog posts from almost a year ago, they're so unpigmented and blahhhh :|

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  26. you gorgeous thing, you!! What a fabulous transition in a timeline of phoooootos, super cool seeing you gradually discover makeup :D
    *wails* come and do mah makeup n___n'' xxxxx

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  27. @ Dainty darling Digits, I think blending is one of those things which definitely improves with practice! Really helps once you get to know your brushes and products better.

    @ Charlotte, haha, your makeup collection will get bigger - believe me! Mine used to fit in a sewing box...it's now in an industrial tool box about 1.5m x 1m :S

    @ CommunicatingBeauty, you ever wonder what you'd say to yourself back then? Give yourself some tips? Haha, how strange that would be!

    @ Kaushal - do it! There are SO MANY hideous pics of me floating about the internet that I really don't care who sees them now haha :D Thanks, I'm eyebrows obsessed!

    @ Elke, aw thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :)

    @ Caroline, thanks! I wonde if we'll look back in a few years and cringe at pics of us now? Haha

    @ Mercedes, very true! Thank you :)

    @ BeautybyPaula, haha, thanks lovely!

    @ Hollie, aw, thank you! There's still room for improvement I think though :)

    @ Cosmetics Aficionado, thanks, get yourself a camera then, chuck!

    @ Karleigh, aw, thank you :S

    @ Snooze, thanks! I was literally cringing and laughing looking through the photos haha

    @ Makeup Zombie, thanks deary! Practise really does make perfect...or at least better!

    @ a!k0, thanks, everyone will improve given time! My camera is like an extra limb haha. Never without it!

    @ Robyn, how long have you been doing makeup? You'll definitely have improved, we learn something extra every day. Latex dries quite slowly to be honest, so long as you mix it in a cool room you should be fine. Remember it will dry to a different finish as the pigment alone, so do a little test batch first :)

    @ TheCandiedMango, I think I learnt most between those stages so you've probably got some interesting looks ahead of you aha :)

    @ Aoife, thanks! 'Sperm eyebrows' AHAHA - love it! I guess we all gotta make some pretty dodgy mistakes before we get somewhere.

    @ Susan, thank you! You can definitely work the colour, too!

    @ Jane, thanks, I miss Specktra - I had no idea you'd found me through there! We all learn as we go along so it's never too late to start and you always look very polished and sophisticated to me in your FOTDs.

    @ Michelle, thanks!

    @ Thifa, ha, well even if mistakes were made for a while it's pretty funny to look back on them.

    @ Flora.D, aw thank you! Glad you liked the post!

    @ SkinScrubs, aw, thank you! You can definitely learn so much from blogs and youtube - I can safely say I learn more from the online makeup community than I did in two years of college.

    @ AllMadeUp, ha, aw thank you. Aha, goth phases are always fun though - I remember putting red eyeliner around my eyes :S

    @ Silhouette Screams, thanks! I know - what was I doing?! Hahaha. The miracles of primer and decent eyeshadows, right?

    @ Jules, ahaha thank you!

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  28. Haha I remember seeing your posts a couple of years back on Eyeshadow Sluts and basically just passing them by, then more recently (within the past year or so) seeing you post again and literally doing a double take and thinking "wait, is this the same chick?" (Erm... not to be rude. Just honest.) I was blown away.

    I've always been obsessed with makeup, but for years I wasn't allowed (and at the age of 12/13, rightfully so), so I'd actually use those shimmery, cheapo Wet n Wild lipsticks as eyeshadow. Not even kidding. I had a tube of a blue shimmery lipstick and a whitish shimmery lipstick and I'd swipe some on my fingers and wipe that on my lids, because I just *had* to wear makeup.

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  29. Just stumbled across your blog and have spent all morning reading every single post! :)

    Love the transformation as you became more confident/experimental but i have a question!
    How did you manage to transform the shape and size of your eyebrows? All your work or trips to the salon?

    Thanks!xx

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  30. @ Shanna, ahaha, I used to LIVE on that LJ community! What was your username on there? Aw gosh, I bet you're glad you don't have to put lipstick around your eyes these days!

    @ Rani de Leyla, hello! Welcome to the blog :) All my own work, I'm eyebrow OBSESSED! All I really do is pluck them, then let parts grow back if I went a bit crazy and shape them again. I also use a dark brown eyeshadow to fill them in :)

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  31. Oh, WOW! That is amazing!!!

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