Products used:
Face (not mentioned in video):
MAC Strobe Cream
NARS Sheer Glow foundation
Benefit Boing concealer
Benefit Erase Paste concealer
MAC Studio Fix powder foundation

Eyes:
NYX Kohl Kajal Black Liner
Urban Decay NAKED Palette - Buck, Gunmetal, Creep, Virgin
Inglot Liquid Eyeliner in Black
Maybelline The Rocket Mascara

Cheeks:
Benefit Hoola Bronzer
MAC Proenza Schouler blush in Ocean City
MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Blonde

Lips:
NYX Slim Lip Pencil - Natural
Colourpop Lippie Stix - Flawless

-Isis Evangelista

     For any light-skinned girl, it's easy to walk into any makeup store and pick the perfect shade of foundation because most brands have literally 50 shades of beige, while there are only a couple of darker shades for more deep-skinned girls. Not just that, a lot of products by many mainstream and popular brands cater more towards fair skin, which makes it difficult for those who don't have fair skin to find the perfect product for them.

      With this in mind, the following brands created their companies to provide products that will suit all skin tones. Check them out!

     Founded by supermodel Iman, this cosmetics brand holds the philosophy that their products are for all "women with skin of color." It was launched in 1994, and 10 years later, it was announced that they would have an alliance with Proctor & Gamble to reach more customers all around the world. Aside from that, the company actively supports many charities. So not only do they provide for all women with skin of color, but they also provide for people in need. 

Shop Iman Cosmetics!

     Created by an African makeup artist, blackUp cosmetics dedicates their company to catering to the specific needs of women with darker complexion. Today, they're a very popular brand in France, and they're even considered the number 1 ethnic makeup brand.

Shop blackUp Cosmetics!

     Back in 1994, three forces--the Muse, the Chemist, and the Doctor--came together to create a line of beauty products that are specifically designed for women of color. Today, they are known as Black Opal, and they pride themselves on producing quality skincare and makeup products that suit the needs of women of color and that help them discover beauty within.

Shop Black Opal Beauty!

     This brand, which stands for "Basic Luxuries for All Colors," was the creation of Merced Saint Boyce, who wanted to create mineral makeup for people who are not able to find their proper shade in the mainstream beauty stores. All her products are handmade with the best natural ingredients that are on par with the best makeup products out in the market. The brand promotes not only diversity, but also self-love and confidence for its customers. 

Shop B.L.A.C. Minerals Cosmetics!

Before, darker-skinned models had difficulty with finding the right shade of foundation for them, so they had to result to mixing colors to get one that matches. Seeing as existing cosmetics brands didn't seem to see this demand for a wider range of shades, Mrs. Johnson and her husband took it upon themselves to create their own line of cosmetics that will suit even those with the deepest complexion. 

Shop Fashion Fair!

For women of color, it's not just hard to find the perfect color for their skin, but it's also difficult for other products like eyeshadows to show up on darker skin. This brand is devoted to color, creating highly-pigmented products that will look good on every skin tone. 

Shop Magnolia Makeup!

-Isis Evangelista
Art by Anna Marcelo

What is your makeup routine like? 

     My makeup routine depends on my mood a.k.a. how lazy I am. I prime my face with the Body Shop's Tea Tree pore minimizer and then apply foundation. I usually use my L'oreal True Match foundation but when I'm really lazy, like during school days, I opt for my Maybelline Dream Smooth mousse instead, which feels lighter on the skin but gives less coverage. I then conceal with my Maybelline mineral concealer. I use a Cyber Colors flat brush to apply both foundation and concealer. Most times I apply NARS Laguna bronzer with my the Body Shop blush brush to my cheekbones. I don't use blush because I get rosy cheeks throughout the day. I then fill in and shape my eyebrows with the Face Shop's Design My Eyebrow. And when I feel like it, I apply Nooner from the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette to my eyelids and lower lash line. I then apply Maybelline's Hyper Curl mascara to both my upper and lower lashes. Although if I'm going to school, I prefer to wear clear mascara for a more natural look. I finish my makeup with Rimmel's Stay Matte powder using a Shu Uemura powder brush and a nude lip, either my the Body Shop 310 lipstick or my Fashion 21 Aqualicious lipstick in Arctic Stone. 

What is your favorite beauty product?

     Probably my L'oreal foundation because it gives good coverage without feeling too heavy on the skin.

What does wearing makeup mean to you? 

     I would say that I wear makeup because it boosts my confidence and how I feel about myself. I used to wear nothing on my face and judge those people who spend so much time putting on make up, but as I grew older and as I became more familiar with wearing makeup myself, I realized that is does sort of empower you in a way. I'm not gonna lie, I feel prettier with makeup on.

-Isis Evangelista and Victoria Urrutia

     The decade when most of the current college students are born in; the decade when F.R.I.E.N.D.S. started; the decade of one of my OTPs that never sailed (*cough* Winona Ryder and Johnny Depp); the decade of one-hit-wonders; the decade when Marc Jacobs' career nearly got thrown off the edge of a cliff for supposedly "killing" grunge (but, hey, look where he's at now); the decade of slap bracelets and how it eventually got banned in schools for the possibility of causing injury; the decade that started cable TV and the internet; the decade of third-wave feminism. This is the 90's - or what most older people would call, "the last great decade." The 90's brought about cultural diversity and alternative media. Movements such as grunge and hiphop became well-known around the globe.

     Of course, the fields of beauty and fashion had their own crown of glory in the 90's. Body modifications, tattoos, and piercings became prevalent during this decade, which lead to the revival of the minimalist fashion of the 50's and 70's. Women's makeup during the start of the 90's consisted of minimal eye makeup and dark red lipstick. The popularity of  grunge music influenced the makeup style during this time. Around 1992-1994, the "grunge" look was common among young women. Ladies donned dark red lipstick and smudged eyeliner and eyeshadow for that seemingly "just got out of bed" look. If not the blood of angry men, the alternative colors such as plum were just as bold and dark. To complete the pale-as-snow effect, foundations used were lighter than the actual skin tone.

     The mid-to-late-90's leaned more towards the natural side, choosing nude palettes and browner shades. Matte makeup became more popular, along with light shades of pink on the cheeks and on the eyes. One of the most recognizable trends of this era is the nude plump pout. Thanks to lip liners, women's lips looked fuller, pretty much almost like a Bratz doll's lip. 

     Thick eyebrows also made their way to the limelight during the 90's. Just like what girls today, brows back then were constantly groomed and filled in to create those on-fleek eyebrows sharp enough to stab your haters. Thankfully, those skinny, penciled-on eyebrows have been antiquated.
 

     Overall, the 90's makeup staple was the "no makeup look," which still goes on up until this day. There was a time back in that decade when only moisturizers were applied, and very minimal to no blush to seriously attain that natural look. 

-Daniela Regis
click the photos for their sources

What is your makeup routine like?
     
     I first wash my face with St. Ives Apricot Scrub. And then I put toner and let it sit for a good minute. After it completely dries, I then moisturize my face with Kheil’s moisturizer and apply my Becca toner. Once I'm done with prepping my face, I start applying my MUFE HD Foundation using my clean fingers and then apply my Lancome eye concealer for my under eyes, and normal concealer on specific areas that need concealing. After I'm done with that, I do my eyebrows with two products, NYX Auto eyebrow pencil and my ever favorite Benefit Brows-A-Go-Go. I then put my Maybelline eyeliner for a cat-eye look and then put some Maybelline Falsies mascara. I contour my face with a Wet-n-Wild bronzer using my Elf or Ecotools brush. I then set everything with my Lancome Dual Finish face powder. And for my lips I put my MAC Japanese Maple lipstick and define my lips with MAC plum lip liner. Ta da! My makeup routine is now finished. 

What is your favorite beauty product?

     My favorite beauty product is Lancome Dual Finish because it covers my blemishes well.

What does wearing makeup mean to you? 

     Makeup to me is art. It’s like doing a self-portrait. It’s a very important factor in my everyday life.

Thanks to Julia for interviewing Efrielle!

     Last week we talked about how we should appreciate Egypt’s history more because they contributed so much to a lot of innovations we use and enjoy to this day; one of those notable contributions was makeup!

     Around 10,000 BCE, scented oils and ointments were popular among ancient Egyptians for grooming themselves. They used a variety of natural ingredients for skincare purposes, like softening their skin and hiding body odor, for medicinal purposes to cure problems in the lungs, intestines, and the liver, and for protection against the unforgiving desert climate. The oils and perfumes were also used during various ritual ceremonies.

     Fast forward to 6,000 years later, in 4,000 BCE, Egyptian women started applying a mixture of copper minerals to their eyes not only to decorate them but also to protect them from the sun’s glare. They also used kohl—which was made with powdered lead sulphide and sheep’s fat—to line their eyes, fill in their brows, and darken their lashes. Red ochre is also used to stain their lips and cheeks. Henna, a reddish-brown dye, is also believed to have originated from this time period. 

     In 3,000 BCE, the Chinese also started to use cosmetics. They used a couple of ingredients like beeswax and egg to stain their fingernails with specific colors to signify social class; lower class people were forbidden to paint their nails. 

     At around the same time period, the women in ancient Greece painted their faces white with ceruse—which was a mixture of white lead, and fat, oil, or egg whites. Even though this mixture was highly poisonous, they continued with this practice anyway because the ancient Greeks had the belief that a pale face was a beautiful face (not that different from today’s beauty standards, eh?) They also used crushed mulberries as rouge and oxen hair as fake eyebrows.

     The pale face trend also caught on in East Asia in 1,500 BCE. Instead of lead, though, the Chinese and Japanese used rice powder to cake their face. They also shaved off their eyebrows, painted their teeth gold or black, and stained their hair and faces with henna. 

     During the first century AD, the Romans started using makeup as well. They used wine to stain their cheeks and chalk to whiten their faces and bodies. For hair dye, they used lye, which caused serious hair loss therefore leading them to use wigs. Also, they made acne treatment with barley flour and butter, and nail polish with sheep fat and blood.

     The Renaissance period boosted the growing cosmetics industry, especially in Italy and France; but, the only people who used makeup and fragrances were aristocrats. Whitening the skin was still popular, and most of the ingredients they used were poisonous. Another health risk they face was the use of belladonna, found in nightshade, for the dilation of their pupils because they believed that that substance made their eyes big and sparkly. Their red lipstick was also quite gross—they were made out of dried female scale insects!

     Entering the 19th century, zinc oxide replaced lead and arsenic to lighten their skin, discovering that it was unsafe. Around this time, Queen Victoria declared makeup to be improper and vulgar, and that only actors may use it.

     In the 20th-century, Edwardian society, there was a lot of pressure on women to look as young as possible, and they used makeup to do so. They also visited beauty salons, although they went there in secret because they did not want to admit that they needed help to look youthful. 

     Later on in the 1900s, the beauty industry was starting to shape up to how we know it to be today. Eugène Rimmel, a French chemist and perfumer, started packaging and selling mascara that wasn’t toxic. The product also became more accepted globally when T.L. Williams developed something similar and sold them under his company Maybelline, named after his sister Mabel. 

     Since then, trends in makeup have changed almost after every decade. Check out the video below to see how makeup has evolved over the last hundred years!

     Makeup now has come a long way since its beginning in ancient Egypt. Now we have a myriad of products available at the market that are made with non-toxic ingredients, thanks to innovations in cosmetic technology. And though there are still trends that pop up in the beauty world, there's not much pressure to follow them unlike before. It's just up to us as consumers to use the variety of products we have to make us look however way we want. 

-Isis Evangelista
Source: 1, 2, 3, 4
(Click photos for source.)

What is your makeup routine like?

      I wash my face with really cold water and Dove soap then let it sit for a minute or two. After I rinse and dry my face, I apply Olay moisturizing toner on a cotton ball and dab it all around my face and neck. After toning, I apply one pump of Neutrogena moisturizer for combination skin since I’m oily. I start with a primer to let the make up sit for the day. I use Benefit’s Porefessional primer. After primer, I apply my favorite foundation that I've been using for 3 years now haha, it's called Revlon PhotoReady. It has bits of sparkles when u apply it on your face but you’ll look "photoshopped" in pictures, with flawless skin. I use a Real Techniques buffing foundation brush for a more settled foundation look. Then, I use MAC’s NC25 concealer to cover my under eye dark circles and some more imperfections, mainly the redness. I contour parts of my face that need detailing using NYX’s Bronzer Sunny. After contouring, I apply blush only when I feel like it, using Wet n Wild’s Rose Nacre’. To top it all of, I use MAC’s Cream in your coffee cream lipstick, a pinkish red lipstick that compliments the natural color of my lips. If you’re wondering, I don’t use mascara because it takes so much time to remove it and it makes me look like a panda by the end of the day.

What is your favorite beauty product? 

     My favorite beauty product would be my Revlon PhotoReady foundation. I can go out with just that alone. 

What does wearing makeup mean to you? 

    Makeup means confidence. To look good for myself. Whenever I wear make up, I feel more socially accepted. I can also concentrate more on my responsibilities.


Thanks to Julia for interviewing Selena!

     There are a lot of beauty gurus on YouTube who are really good at teaching you how to properly and creatively apply makeup, but there are a select few who take makeup tutorials to a whole other level--literally transforming themselves to look like a certain celebrity or fictional character. Their tutorials are all so amazingly done that you're just in awe while watching them. So if you wanna learn how to transform your appearance using makeup, or if you're just really into people making wonderful works of art on their faces, then you should definitely check out these five amazing ladies on YouTube:

     Russian-speaking and Ukraine-born Anastasiya became known in the beauty community as a "living anime doll" after posting her very first YouTube video where she turns herself into a "flower fairy." She's come a long way since then; not just posting anime-inspired looks but also some celebrity makeup transformations like Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, and even Jared Leto. 

     A Hollywood makeup artist, Kandee Johnson shares her knowledge of all things makeup to all her subscribers. But she is more known for being able to transform herself to various celebrities with the help of makeup. Some of her inspiration choices are a bit... unconventional, which makes every video she posts surprising, to say the least. 

     She's probably one of the most underrated beauty gurus on YouTube, which is super unfair because she does a hell of a good job at making creepy (and by creepy I mean SUPER creepy) Halloween makeup looks and the occasional celebrity inspired looks. 

     Promise Phan aka dope2111 aka the Human Chameleon is probably the queen of celebrity makeup transformations. Despite not attending beauty school, she has mastered the art of contouring so well that it's hard to tell the difference between her and the person she's imitating. 

     MadeYewLook aka Lex Fleming is probably the most creative beauty guru on YouTube ever. She uses body paint and special effects makeup like a master. Watching her videos is like watching Picasso paint a masterpiece. (Be warned, though, some of her videos are super creepy.)

-Isis Evangelista