imPERFECTly emPOWERed®
EP 136: Unlocking the Secrets to Flawless Makeup With Celebrity Beauty Educator Marlena Stell
Unlock the secrets to a flawless makeup routine with the guidance of Marlena Stell, beauty guru and Makeup Geek Academy founder. We kick off by cracking the code to understanding your skin's undertone—a game-changer in picking the perfect hues for your face. Our heart-to-heart takes us deeper into the beauty world as we discuss maintaining authenticity amid the pressures of online influence, proving that staying true to oneself is the ultimate trendsetter.
JUMP RIGHT TO IT:
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0:00 Makeup Expert Marlena Stell Interview
12:27 Foundation and Concealer Makeup Tips
20:34 Makeup Brushes and How to Apply Makeup
34:35 Eyeshadow Color Palette Tips
44:31 Makeup Setting Sprays and Techniques
50:13 Skincare Brand Recommendations
CONNECT WITH MARLENA:
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Website: www.makeupgeekacademy.com
Instagram: @marlenaStell
Tik Tok: @themarlenastell
Shop the Early Morning Habit Amazon storefront for all the resources from this video or tap below.
Wild InterestWild Interest is an audio magazine created by kids for curious minds of all ages....
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Contact The Show!
Website: http://www.ahnafulmer.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imperfectlyempoweredpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahnafulmer/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahnadfulmer
Unlock the secrets to a flawless makeup routine with the guidance of Marlena Stell, beauty guru and Makeup Geek Academy founder. We kick off by cracking the code to understanding your skin's undertone—a game-changer in picking the perfect hues for your face. Our heart-to-heart takes us deeper into the beauty world as we discuss maintaining authenticity amid the pressures of online influence, proving that staying true to oneself is the ultimate trendsetter.
JUMP RIGHT TO IT:
------------------------------------
0:00 Makeup Expert Marlena Stell Interview
12:27 Foundation and Concealer Makeup Tips
20:34 Makeup Brushes and How to Apply Makeup
34:35 Eyeshadow Color Palette Tips
44:31 Makeup Setting Sprays and Techniques
50:13 Skincare Brand Recommendations
CONNECT WITH MARLENA:
------------------------------------
Website: www.makeupgeekacademy.com
Instagram: @marlenaStell
Tik Tok: @themarlenastell
Shop the Early Morning Habit Amazon storefront for all the resources from this video or tap below.
Wild InterestWild Interest is an audio magazine created by kids for curious minds of all ages....
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Contact The Show!
Website: http://www.ahnafulmer.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imperfectlyempoweredpodcast
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahnafulmer/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahnadfulmer
Hi you guys. Welcome to another episode of the Imperfectly Empowered podcast. I am here today with women from our early morning habit community and our expert guest, marlena Stell. Marlena is the founder of the beauty brand Makeup Geek, is a world-renowned beauty expert and, in fact, the quintessential makeup nerd, growing her brand from zero to $22 million in only five years, marlena accrued a cult following reaching millions every day with her love of makeup education via her YouTube channel. After 16 years of teaching and features including Forbes Allure, cnn, abc Inc, magazine's fastest growing company Three Years in a Row and the Netflix Beauty Documentary Broken, marlena launched the Premier Makeup Geek Academy, a virtual membership program that helps everyday people radiate confidence from the inside out by mastering the art of makeup. Marlena welcome.
Speaker 2:Yay, thank you so much for having me. I'm so grateful to be here, thank you.
Speaker 1:It is such a blessing having you here. I met Marlena at a virtual conference. We were both there and stuck in like the breakout room. That was all about launching books or programs and we were kind of in similar situations where I was on the early phase of early morning habit and she was on the early phase of makeup geek academy, although when it's all said and done, she was like miles ahead of me.
Speaker 1:She has been such an inspiration to me. She will never tell you this in this type of conversation, but when you hit the type of influence and reach that someone like Marlena has, there are inherent challenges that come with it, especially in this digital age, whether it be gossip forums or whatever it may be. It has a very real impact on businesses. Marlena has shared some of these stories with me in kind of behind the scenes conversations and she approaches it with such grace and generosity. That is the type of thing that just inspires me that if I ever get to that type of influence and reach, she is someone who is very much paved the way in how to respond. She walks the talk. She truly radiates beauty from the inside out and it's been an honor to know her I can't wait to dive into makeup.
Speaker 2:Yay, Anna is so sweet. You all genuine in-person. I was very surprised because, after hearing your podcast and seeing you on social and all that, and then getting to meet you in person, I'm like she's actually the real deal. Sometimes you meet people that are in a public eye and you're like, okay, is this a front? Are they going to be like that? No, you definitely are exactly the same in real person. I really respect that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, thank you for that. Thank you, I would say that feeling is mutual as we dive into makeup stuff. I'm curious. Just throw in the chat rate yourself on a scale of one to five. Five being like I'm a master of makeup. One being like what is makeup? Three being I sort of think I know my way around it, but I'm not really sure what primer is or what contouring is.
Speaker 1:but I'm interested for being like yeah feel pretty good, but I'm certainly not a master. We've got some threes Christine says three, Pente says a solid two, Three, three, two. Yeah, I would say I'm like a 3.5. Leave it to me to make my own scale ineffective.
Speaker 1:Marlena, I would love to just start it out by kind of taking it from like the simplest you know, we have no makeup on and kind of asking questions as we would layer makeup and some of the more frequently asked ones, ones that I asked. I am by no means makeup expert, but I have had amazing people like you over the last several years help me in my own understanding. So some of these are my own questions, Some are ones that I think a lot of us are asking and, as always, you guys type them in if you think of them in real time. But and feel free to redirect me if this is not the best place to start when it comes to makeup in general, I understand that it's really helpful to be able to know your skin undertone. Yes, that in general when it comes to foundation, that this is a good place to start and talk to us about even knowing what our skin undertone is and how we find it.
Speaker 2:So skin undertone you're going to have a few different options. You'll be either cool, which leans very, almost like kind of slight pink undertone, a little bit of red mixed in there, and then the other spectrum you have as warm, and that's very golden, warm tones right in the middle, is going to be neutral. And then there's kind of this small group of people that are olive, that have just a very slight like greenish undertone. Usually it's Mediterranean, greek type ethnicities are going to have some of that. So you'll be, in general, most brands will provide products that are cool, neutral and warm, and the way to tell that is the easiest one is to look at your veins.
Speaker 2:So if you hold up your arm and you look at some of the veins on your, on your on like underarm, you'll see they're either going to be blue, green or kind of a teal. If they look of really blue, you're most likely going to have cool undertones. If they look really green, then you're warm. If they're kind of a teal, you're like I don't know, they look like mine, look pretty teal. I know I'm a neutral, I'm not really super warm, not too much yellow, I'm not too much pink, I'm kind of in the middle. That's one way to tell. But also if you just take a simple piece of paper and you kind of hold it up to your skin and see, okay, does it next to the piece of paper, do I look a bit more golden or do I look more like rosy on that type of side, and that'll kind of tell you. But what's tricky is a lot of us have redness, like I do today. I'm actually glad I'm not wearing makeup today, you all, because I can give you the full demonstration.
Speaker 1:And you look beautiful without it. By the way, thank you, we should have had her do the skin care. Anyway, go ahead.
Speaker 2:So I have a lot of redness here. I've got dark circles and things, but I have a lot of redness in here and so usually when you go to like a Sephora, old to the like, oh, color match you. If you have redness in your skin which a lot of us do, especially as I get older they'll think that you are automatically going to be cool tone because that's a lot of pink and redness in your skin. But it's not. It's redness on top of warm. So I really like to check the jawline. Don't come up here in the face where we tend to have redness. Try to find a spot where it's just very, just, pure skin. There's no pigmentation or breakouts or anything. So I like to check the jawline.
Speaker 1:So I don't know if that helps at all. Yeah, yeah, very. I always struggle, Like can you see my veins? They look blue to me, but I always. It's almost like I need someone to hold up their teal colored veins to tell the difference. Would you say I look cool tone. This is like Zoom. Yeah, like how on earth do we do I?
Speaker 2:don't I like when I see you. I don't know if it's the lighting. You actually look a bit warm to me, but if you, have okay, that are a bit more blue. You may be a neutral, so when you blushes, this is another way to tell Do you gravitate towards more peach blushes or more pink?
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, I gravitate towards peach, peach, so usually but I don't know if that's right.
Speaker 2:No, it's usually what you gravitate towards, because peach is a more warm color. So I think you lean a little bit more warm. I would say you're a little warm Interesting. When I see your picture or when I see you in this light, you look warm. To me You're like about a W3, like a level three and warm.
Speaker 1:Interesting. Well, that might be half my problem. I've been thinking about. This is my way of people like Marlena. I want to also point out something with Marlena too. So the other this was like months ago I did this musical with my daughter and I was in the sound of music and I played the Fairness and they wanted her to wear red lipstick.
Speaker 1:I have never worn red lipstick in my life and it was like a job. Putting it on, first of all, I was like, so I had anxiety every time I put it on because, like one slip and I'm you know, there's no forgiveness with red lipstick I was like I have no idea how to choose a red lipstick. And I was about to text you and then I thought you know what? Let me first do what I would tell anyone else to do and try to look it up first. And so I went to Marlena's YouTube channel and typed in her channel, marlena Stell red lipstick. And of course, she had an excellent video on how to choose red lipstick. And you did it by undertones. So you're talking about your skin undertone. Well, I clearly chose the wrong.
Speaker 1:I think, I put cool down. Oh did you.
Speaker 2:But if you are also ever wondering makeup questions, I highly recommend searching.
Speaker 1:Marlena's YouTube channel. Just go search Marlena Stell, type in your question and she probably has some sort of some sort of answer there. So that is really helpful. So find your undertone. And then, how do we use that, especially foundation, right, that's probably the biggest yes.
Speaker 2:That's the biggest issue we all struggle with is like how do I find the right foundation? That never matches. If you aren't sure, if you're warm or cool tone, I always tell people just go down the middle, just start with neutral. It's a good middle base, it's not going to be too yellow, it's not going to be too pink, it's a good starting point. Start there and then from there, if you're like, okay, if this looks too yellow on me, then I'm probably the other one. I'm probably the other direction, I'm probably more cool. Vice versa, if this foundation looks a little pink on me, then I'm probably warm.
Speaker 2:Most people are actually neutral and lean a little bit more warm. It's usually really porcelain skin, very fair, that end up being a little bit more cool tone. But a majority people are neutral or warm. But it comes in handy when you're picking out foundation. So you'll see a lot of brands will say like N20 or W30 or something like that. That's their indicator. This is a warm shade and usually their numbers, starting at the bottom, from 10 up to, say, 100, 10 is going to be the lightest, 100 is going to be the deepest. So, like for you on a U would be, I would say like a 20 or 30. I would say let's start with neutral with you If you feel like you lean, cool, but you know I'm seeing warm on your skin. It might be the lighting, but I would start with N20 or 30 as your foundations across most brands.
Speaker 1:Which is so helpful, walking in to even know where to start. And I think this leads to another follow up question, and if you guys have these questions, remember drop them in the chat. Where would you even start looking for a quality foundation for me personally? When people say, because people have seen my makeup journey, people who knew me 10 years ago, they're like, what makeup do you wear? I'm like, well, it's because I'm wearing makeup now for one thing, but foundation, I think, was the one that I really got stuck on, because it was this is literally, it's the foundation, so it feels like the one thing that is probably worth buying a higher quality. It's also what primarily covers your skin. I mentioned this in our skincare video that to me, the products we're spending more money on are the ones that are sitting on the majority of your skin, so foundation would also fall into that. So I would love to hear what are your go-tos? Mine has been it, the CC cream, I think it's called. I have fallen in love with that one.
Speaker 1:I would love to hear your take on foundations for the, for our women, to even start down this road. Yeah quality one.
Speaker 2:So if you're kind of confused on which one to get there's so many out there I like to always recommend what finish do you want to get? So if you have dry skin, I really recommend something that is a dewy formula. So if you go on Sephora's website I think Ulta has it too they have on the left hand side options for you to choose. Is this a dewy? What type of finish? Is it dewy, satin or matte finish? So if you have dry skin, you want something that has a little bit of glow to it and then, if you're oily skin, get something that's matte. It's going to mattify the skin and give you that more flawless look. It won't add the extra shine on there. So I always like to say choose the right formula. But some of my favorite brands I do think personally I like to really save my money on things like mascara, eyeliners, lip liners, even lipsticks. Drugstores have amazing lipsticks. When it comes to foundation, I think that's the one that and sometimes concealers would be where I would spend my budget on Are those items, because you get a wider range of options than drugstore and you have. Usually they're made with better ingredients in there and you can. If you don't like it, you can return it Sometimes I think you can with drugstore, but they can at least match you in person If you go to Sephora and if you don't like it you can return it and get your money back. So I really like.
Speaker 2:I think with foundation I would spend a little bit more money. I love the it CC glow If you like a matte foundation. Estee Lauder Double Wear so good, so good. It's been around a really long time. Everyone really loves it and it works for all age groups. Like I used it when I was in my 20s, I'm in my 40s now and it still looks fabulous. So that's my go-to. One is Estee Lauder Double Wear and I love NARS. The brand NARS makes really good foundations too. The NARS Sheer Glow is my go-to for like a dewy finish foundation and that it cosmetics ones. They're really good too.
Speaker 1:I love that. So, nars Estee Lauder, it is in there and if you missed this, just make sure you know what kind of finish you want. I would have never thought about that. So, if you have that oily skin, that makes so much sense. Get a matte.
Speaker 2:Now what about concealer.
Speaker 1:Let me give you a chance to talk about concealer. When do we apply concealer? Where do we apply concealer? How do we apply concealer?
Speaker 2:So concealer it's honestly, I think a lot of people are like oh, I have to have all these products and at the end of the day, if you were getting the coverage you want from foundation, you don't really need concealer. For me, the only time I really use concealer now is under here, because I have such dark circles going on. So I like that extra coverage. So I apply it under the eyes. I take a brush and just kind of blend it out. But you don't technically need it unless you really feel like you need that extra coverage. But even then you can just add a little second layer of foundation in just the parts of your face maybe a blemish or under the eyes that you need a little bit more coverage. So you don't have to spend money on concealer if you don't need it.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Christine says, is it best to use a foundation with SPF?
Speaker 2:I think so They've come a long way. The one thing I'll say is I like to find SPFs that are mineral based versus synthetic based, because the synthetic ones it's octanoxate and it's an ingredient that can break a lot of people out. Whenever I use a synthetic SPF I get little bumps all over my face and it's not one of my favorite ingredients to use. So if you do get one with SPF, check the ingredients on the back and make sure that it's mineral based, with like a zinc in there, and it'll say on like a natural SPF or mineral based SPF or something like that. But if you see the word octanoxate I know it's a really long word I'll put it in the chat box here. I would avoid that ingredient because it's not that it's harmful, it's not going to cause anything awful, but it can be a skin irritant. So I always prefer the more natural, mineral based ones over a synthetic.
Speaker 1:And the three foundations that we talked about it Estee Lauder and NARS those three are they mineral based or do they have octanoxate?
Speaker 2:I know Estee Lauder I don't think unless they reformated the mother version I have doesn't have SPF in it, and the NARS I don't believe does too, but the it one I think it has SPF, but I haven't checked. I believe it's mineral based, but I need to check it. But me personally, I wear foundations without SPF just because it's easier for me to control, and I just wear my sunscreen underneath my foundation. But if it's mixed in, always more protection is amazing.
Speaker 1:That's helpful. Yeah, I'm curious to look at my it cream. What that one has Um a something that I've noticed recently actually and I'm not sure it's just because my skin's dry or if there's a lack to this. Um, have you guys ever felt like your makeup pilling? You know how it happens on cloth Sometimes I think it's my lotion, how it like pills. I'm not even sure what is pilling If it's my lotion, if it's my makeup, and when I was like researching questions, I saw this as apparently a really common problem that people have. So that made me feel a little more normal. But like what's happening when you see that? So it's like pilling on your face over the course of the day, and how do we avoid it?
Speaker 2:So it's two issues that could be happening. It could be dry skin that your foundation is adhering to and it just naturally is. Your skin, you know, you know wears down, some of the dry bits of skin will start to look like it's peeling on there. The other issue it could be is a silicone in one of your makeup products. As over time because a silicone is kind of a thick, almost gel like formula, it feels very it's like silicone those can tend to move around on the skin. So if you have oily skin and you're using silicone on top, it could slip around and that's when you start getting that peeling is it's moving on top of your skin. So I'll put some ingredients here and I apologize if I'm getting geeky on the ingredients. I want you guys to know what's in your makeup.
Speaker 1:Don't worry, don't. We love geeky stuff, we like research Give us yeah. Give us the all the things. I'm wondering don't primers have a lot of? Did you guys know there's such a thing as makeup primers? Did you guys know that these girls are a lot more educated than I was? I didn't know that was a thing. I was like what primer for your face? That's a thing. Also, it does actually make a difference, go figure, just like primer for paint helps. But don't a lot of primers have silicone? Could that?
Speaker 1:be almost all of them do, almost all of them, oh interesting it could be.
Speaker 2:Try not using the primer and seeing how it does, because primers are almost the top ingredient you'll see will be dimethicone or cyclopentasiloxane. Those are both silicones that are commonly used in either foundations and or primers, so I put those in the chat box too. If you see dimethicone, anything ending in O and E, or oxane, o X, a and E, those are silicone ingredients.
Speaker 1:Gotcha, yeah. Well, there you go. Maybe my primer is yeah.
Speaker 2:If you have peeling, try not using your primer and then put your foundation on and see if it helps.
Speaker 1:I might have to do that. So, speaking of foundations, one of the things that was very eye opening for me is, again, my ignorance here. I had not used makeup brushes pretty much in my entire life until about three and a half, four years ago, when somebody was gracious enough to give me some makeup education. I had just either been putting it on with my hands or I was using a you know like a foam pad that was probably a hundred years old and was crumpling every time I would apply them. So, makeup brushes I saw a significant difference in how the foundation went on, not to mention makeup. But again, we're talking. We want to find the balance I think most of us here would probably agree with this between simplicity but also making our dollars work and getting the look that we want. I did find that brushes made a significant difference, but I'm curious in your opinion, like which is do you have a favorite brush for certain things like foundation or bronzer, to contour, like? What do you recommend using brushes for?
Speaker 2:I do. Actually, I'm going to take you with me really quick and I apologize, I'm not in my makeup studio.
Speaker 2:So let me go grab my brushes so I'll take you in here into my closet because I just washed them last night. So I have some recommendations. My favorite brand and it's a woman-owned brand and she's an absolute sweetheart. Her name is Lisa J. She makes it's called BK Beauty Brushes and you may have seen them all over TikTok, all over social media. Her brushes are an insanely good quality. They're the ones that have the red handles like this.
Speaker 2:Brushes can make or break your makeup, so you could have, if you're not getting the results that you want, more chances than not. It can be formula, but a lot of times it's a brush that you're using. So my biggest thing is invest in just a couple good brushes that are good quality. They don't have to be expensive. They don't need to cut you know, you don't have to sell a kidney to get a makeup brush. Just get a good quality one and it will last you years. I have brushes that are 20 years old and I still use them and they give me great results. So something like this from BK Beauty and then Anisa Beauty is another one. They're both made with very similar fibers and they're both women-owned brands that are incredibly genuine people.
Speaker 1:It's BK, like the letters BK.
Speaker 2:Yep, so I'll put it here on the screen if you all can see it. It's BK Beauty. Oh, perfect yeah.
Speaker 1:We'll make sure all these links guys are included in the early morning habit Amazon storefront to any of these recommendations.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So she has one. I think it's upstairs. She has a their 101 brush. It's kind of an angled brush. It looks kind of similar to this where it's angled, but it's a little bit larger and you use it just to buff in the foundation like that. It's an incredible one. And then from Anisa Brand and I don't know if I put it on here, it's ANISA and they have one called a Pinnacle Foundation Brush and this is one investment brush that I will say is worth every dollar. I've had this for many, many years. It still holds up really well and that's what I use just to buff in the foundation like this. It gives me the most insane coverage because a lot of times when you apply foundation it like looks cakey, it looks streaky, it doesn't look like skin. That's the one thing I would say is, if you can get a good buffing brush like this and you're going to buff it in and it's got an angled kind of triangle shape to get under the eyes, I can do my foundation in less than one minute.
Speaker 1:It literally takes me about it literally does make all of the difference for short. Type in the chat. Do you guys use foundation brushes? I'm curious how many of you, yes or no, you're using foundation brushes. I in fact the one I'm using right now. It wasn't it, and the hairs are suddenly starting to fall out, which was surprising me. I keep seeing them on my Really, so I'm like, well, this is a great opportunity to figure out, maybe, which one. It's lasted me several years, but yeah, it's just like falling apart for some reason.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, these are my favorite brands is the Anisa brand and BK beauty, if you can get anything from either one of those two brands, because I know the factory, I know the owners and she I'm telling you, like these brushes I've had years and they've held up and I mean I could pull on them and they will not budge. She's very particular on the quality of her brushes.
Speaker 1:Her product. Yeah, so I see a lot of you. Bentay, no, Candice, yes, Christine, yes, Elcin, yes. So the Anisa, Anisa sorry, Nicole foundation brush and then the BK beauty is there one specifically you recommend from that? So we have the foundation one.
Speaker 2:I really like their one on one brush and I wish I had it with me. I'll show you the shape. It's kind of similar to something like this, is just angled and it's a bigger face brush. It's their number one seller and you can buff foundation with that as well. But then, if you want to, you know, wipe it off, clean and you can use it to apply bronzer here under the cheek, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You can flip it up a little bit. You can apply blush on the cheeks as well, so you can apply bronzer, blush and your foundation all in one. It's a multi-purpose brush. That's their best seller, because you can use it for everything, yeah, so they're one on one, I can see the angle, yeah.
Speaker 1:So what I'm seeing like if I personally how I would use these is the Pinnacle. I love the angle for the foundation, all over. But then I the angle of that one on one. I definitely see the advantage for the bronzer and the I said brush.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Brush for bronzer and blush, because the one that I'm currently using, I don't think, is angled as well, so I have to like angle it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I always like something. I like one brush, I like a good buffer brush, you know, that's kind of really just for buffing in. And then you know something that has some sort of angle to it, because then you don't have to, you can just get it right under the cheekbone and you can just pat it. And then for blush, same thing just kind of flip it up a little bit and tap it here on the blush. Two seconds is done. It's very easy.
Speaker 1:So, while you're right there, something else that I learned was the idea of contouring. I had no idea that was a thing, and I now see the difference. Once you like, start doing it and you stop doing it, you really see how it makes a difference in just highlighting your face, what? How do we apply bronzer to contour in the most simple yet effective way?
Speaker 2:So I like taking and I wish I had my color and I'm so sorry because I should have had my makeup with me on. Oh, that's okay, no worries. So you're going to find a powder and I think a lot of people like, oh, I have to buy all these different products because that's what online tells you. I have to spend money to look beautiful. You absolutely don't.
Speaker 2:You can use an eyeshadow honestly, something that's in your undertones. If you have warm skin trying to warm brown, that's just a few shades darker than your skin. You can even use a pressed powder. That's a few shades darker than your skin, just anything that's going to give you depth and dimension. And I like again that angled brush. You know, you could even use that one-on-one from BK Beauty and I always feel where my cheekbones are at. So I put my finger under here and that's going to tell me okay, I can feel that bone up under there. So I know that that's that angle. I'm going to contour and I start back at my temple and I come down just a little bit and I stop right here halfway. I don't cut any further than that. I put it just under that cheekbone and then I blend it upwards. If you blend it down, you get the beard, and I don't want to be.
Speaker 1:We don't want the beard.
Speaker 2:I learned that early on, in my very young age. I was like I started contouring when I first came out and I blended out and then I was like why does it look like I have a beard going on down here? I'm going to blend it up.
Speaker 1:And that's interesting, you don't go past the halfway. Is that a common mistake people make? Because I'm pretty sure I'm making it. I think I'm going too far with the contour.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because if you come in too far I mean if you're younger you can pull it off a little bit more. But for me, as I've gotten older, if I contour down it drags my face down. I look heavy, so I start coming down. So when I stop halfway it doesn't bring this part of my face down because I'm just trying to contour here to let my cheekbones kind of feel like they're coming up like that.
Speaker 1:So, summarizing and absolutely correct me if any of it's wrong, it's almost like the angle is from the corner of your mouth up to your ear, which most of us can feel, that cheekbone, and then you're starting back at your ear to almost like the temple, almost to like the corner of your eye. Is that right corner of your eye?
Speaker 2:I would say and then blend it up? Yeah, so I just stop halfway down the cheekbone, like there.
Speaker 1:Gotcha.
Speaker 2:And then blend it upwards.
Speaker 1:Okay, what would you say the most common mistakes people are making with what we've talked about so far? Is there anything that you see frequently? Or maybe blush as well, because we're also following a similar.
Speaker 2:A lot of people in the contour. They choose something that's too orange or a bronzer. Have you guys seen like the orange, the oompa-loompa bronzer? So finding? That's why I say, if you can find, it doesn't have to be something marketed as bronzer. You can find an eye shadow and just test it and be like, okay, is this just a few shades darker than my skin? Okay, let me try that.
Speaker 2:So, choosing something that's not too orange and then also just not coming down too far. And then for blush, I like applying it higher up on the cheekbones. I think a lot of people we were taught years ago applied on the apples of the cheeks it's gonna look younger and this and that what happens is it kind of drags your face down. But if you're applying your blush up a little bit higher on top of the cheekbones and blending up this way, it lifts the face up and almost gives you a face lift. It's shocking the difference you can see on my face when I apply blush up high versus here. It's like one side will look down and heavy, the other will be very lifted.
Speaker 1:That is interesting. So the bronzer or the darker eye shadow is going under the cheekbone and then the blush is going slightly on top of it cheekbone, and then you're using that possibly the BK Beauty 101 brush to just lightly blend it together.
Speaker 2:I usually like doing a tapping motion like this to kind of blend it out.
Speaker 1:How high up should it go? Like eyebrow, I'm watching as you do it.
Speaker 2:You can come up to eyebrow. You can stop here. I mean, for me I like coming up to eyebrow because it lifts my face more, but it's up to you, your preference, I guess, of what look that you like.
Speaker 1:And then you're making sure it blends, because I've also seen the like on myself, like the just the line. Yes, oh wait, there's a line there.
Speaker 2:Okay, so take your brush and you're just going to keep stifling it. It's almost like I use it as an eraser, like, oh, we're going to stipple, we're going to erase this color right here to make it blend.
Speaker 1:Got it.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yes, and then I have to ask your number one go to bronzer and or blush. Do you have either product where you're like this is absolutely the best, or are they like ah, you could do a lot of things.
Speaker 2:Um, you know who's really doing well drugstore products and blushes and bronzers right now is Milani cosmetics. They just came out with cream compacts. I have not received them yet, but I have tried them and I need to go purchase them. But Milani has round compacts of cream, bronzers and blushes that are absolutely beautiful. They blend really well. They're getting very good reviews. So how do you spell that? M I L A N I Milani. They can put it in a chat. Oh, I just typed it in for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're cream Perfect.
Speaker 2:Those are really affordable.
Speaker 1:Laguna. What was it? Laguna, nars, I think is what had been recommended to me.
Speaker 2:What do you?
Speaker 1:think about that one. That one's a pretty popular one.
Speaker 2:That one's pretty good. Another one if you have fair skin, is the Benefit Tula. That's the staple. That's if you have fair skin, because it's not orange Laguna sometimes can look very warm, but if you need something a little bit cooler that's very just soft and natural, benefit Tula is a great one.
Speaker 1:So we've got foundation. We are figuring out how to actually contour our faces. We've got blush and obviously we're doing skincare before we're putting any of that on. We talked about some of the concealer tips. Under your eyes, it's not essential. Eyeshadows, I think, for me, are another one that I feel like okay, and then there's the eyeshadows, and I feel like this is where there becomes like a whole art form. Contouring is to probably, but it's the eye stuff especially that you can just really destroy your look, and that's why I think most of us get, I think for everyone's, where I get overwhelmed, I'm like I don't know how to put on an eyeshadow that actually looks good. So many questions that we could ask, but I think, starting kind of broader, what tips do you have for, first of all, even picking color palettes based on our eye color? Because I think when we're looking, that's kind of where we have to start to a degree.
Speaker 2:I think if you have, if you want your eyes to pop, you're like choosing something opposite of the color reel. So if you have blue eyes, browns, golds, coppers look beautiful. They just make blue eyes pop because they're opposite on that color reel. If you have green eyes, I really like plums, even purples are really pretty. And then if you have brown or hazel eyes, anything that's a little bit of color always makes them pop. So like a navy color purples, plums, any like jewel tones, like really pretty on brown eyes because it's that opposite of brown, it's not a neutral, so it's adding a little bit of color to the face, but something that's dark and understated. So it's like a dark navy or a muted purple or something like. That's just enough color that's still wearable.
Speaker 1:And I am guessing, if you're like me, you hear the colors and you're like it's very.
Speaker 2:I hear purple and I'm like I already went up a little bit. I'm like I don't know. So the best trick to pull off color. Here we go. Follow up question yes, okay, so if anyone wants to wear color, I know everyone's like I don't wear color Like I'm not. You know I'm not 18 anymore. Like you know, I work in a professional field or, you know, I'm with my children. I'm not going to be wearing crazy colors. It's like the red lipstick.
Speaker 1:Yes, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:I'm missing. I've been doing makeup for a year, since I like 25 years I've been doing makeup and still to this day, I my comfort level of wearing a red lips. It stresses me out and I've been doing it a long time, so you were rightful to feel.
Speaker 1:I feel seen.
Speaker 2:Thank you. And then it's like when I drink my coffee, or or, yes, it's everywhere. Just mirror my face. Is it going to be lachi? Is it going to be missing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I have clothing with red lipstick marks. Now, because I wasn't even like used to the fact that I had this bright red of like painting myself with lipstick.
Speaker 2:And then my daughter comes to his four and she's coming. What's this moment? She's touching it and smearing it. It's just like yeah.
Speaker 1:So it's, on time.
Speaker 2:But for eyeshadow, if you want to wear color, you can pull it off. The pick one spot on your eye. This is my go to. I call it strategic placement. So if you are afraid of purple, I really recommend smudging it along the upper lash line. That's your spot, that's it Everywhere else you can wear it.
Speaker 2:You can wear browns, whatever, but to pick one spot. The other spot I like to take is the outer corner of the eye, and I apologize that I'm not doing it right now. But if you were to take a little bit and just put it a little bit on the corner of the eye, just very softly, and just blend it out, that's one spot, and then again the rest of the eyes, you can put a nice brown and the crease and nice champagne on the lid, you're good. But one spot, one color that will make it wearable.
Speaker 2:And this intimidating.
Speaker 1:I love that. So the muted tones everywhere else, so whatever, like you guys are typically doing, which you could even probably give us some tips on, just generally how to apply a makeup look, even with the neutral tones. But she's saying for the color according to your eye, and you can always write. This will come up onto the curriculum and the thread and it'll be a podcast episode. You can rewind and listen to what color she said for your eye tone. But if you want to add a little bit of pop along, the upper eyelid or in the corner.
Speaker 1:And then how do we apply neutral, like your typical eyeshadow palette? It has, like the light and right, the more colors, the more stressful I'm like. Oh my word, what do I do with all these colors? I know it's like the fusing too.
Speaker 2:I think I have a palette here. I have a sample one, so I'm in my office so I do actually want to show you all. So I have a sample neutral palette here. The most beautiful look that looks good on everyone is to take a medium color that's a few shades darker than your skin and apply it in the crease. So for me, if I'm looking at this color palette, I have this kind of tannish color here and just kind of a dome brush like this. I'm going to put it just in the crease and swipe it in. So it doesn't matter if you have hooded eyes, protruding eyes, almond eyes. It doesn't matter your eye shape. And I do have a syllabus that everyone's getting today too that I'll email out, and it's a full, complete guide with lots of visuals and things like that. That'll be really helpful.
Speaker 1:Amazing.
Speaker 2:So if you put that kind of medium tannish color in the crease and then just take a soft shimmer like here's a gold color If you want to go for blue eyes, something like that with that gold would be really pretty and you just tap it on the lid and then, if you want to incorporate color, you can take a little bit and smudge it under the lower lash line and there's your colorful look. I used three shadows, took less than two minutes and this technique of having shimmer on the lid, a nice medium color in the crease, and kind of blend it up works on every eye shape. It makes the eyes pop more. It's kind of like what you have on now and it's really pretty. We have light shimmer here. It just works for every shape. It's my go-to, yeah.
Speaker 1:I love that so simple and helpful. And then, if you want to like spice it up a little bit, the cat eye is one that's also a question. Oh my gosh, my first attempts at that were horrendous.
Speaker 2:I like gave myself nightmares.
Speaker 1:But if you want to like, elevate the look a little bit with that, you know you have a fancy night out and you just want to kind of look it up a notch. What are ways to do that? I love the basic everyday look that you just shared. If we want to just kick it up a notch, what would be like a simple way to do that?
Speaker 2:So I like to take either tape or a sticky note, and I have a sticky note here and I use this as a guide and this is super easy to do and you just tear it. So here's a little bit of the sticky part here and I just like sit on the eye there and I know it's going to look crazy. So you're going to line it up with the outer corner of your eye, past the brow, so it's almost following like whatever the cat eye shape that you want, and then you can just take your dome brush and a little bit darker the shadow and you're just going to I'm going to move this here You'll smudge it along that tape and you can use scotch tape. You can use you know that's tape for injuries the little skin tape that you can get, and I just run it along that tape with a brush and I'm taking the brush and I'm kind of sweeping it in like this and I already see how nice it looks.
Speaker 2:See how I'm just doing a sideways motion to just add that darkness color and then I take it off and there's the cat eye shape and it's just super fast and that's it you apply. If I had mascara on and maybe I smudge a little liner along the upper lash line, that would be a really beautiful look if we're going out for a date night. That didn't take much time and I just used a sticky note or some tape to kind of line it up for me and just put the shadow there, peel it off, you've got a straight line.
Speaker 1:And is that? What would you do that on top of? Like the simple day look that you just said the shimmer along the eyelid and then the medium, and then you would do that on top.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So if you want to like, if you have a daytime, look where what you have now and then you're like, oh, I'm going out for a nice dinner with my husband and then just put that on, add some dark brown, and I went in with just a little bit darker color, something like that in there, or that could be where you incorporate your color. If you're afraid of purple, the purple, you can run here and just that little pop of color is enough to to enhance the eyes. But it doesn't. It's not dramatic.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, there is how you simply use all of the colors in your eyeshadow palette or like that one that you had no idea what to do with. Now you know where you can put it and play with it. I love that and it doesn't pull off your. I feel like tape would would pull off my bronzer. Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you use tape.
Speaker 1:I, like you, know it's brilliant.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think honestly the sticky note, just a little sticky pad, those are better because they're not overly sticky. But if you do tape, put it on the back of your hand and then peel it off so it's not as sticky and then put it on the eye. But personally, my favorite is honestly just a sticky note. Yeah, little ones.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I love that. What if you would say that there is this like top makeup hack, or the number one thing that you could communicate to women about makeup that they are living without and don't realize? What would it be?
Speaker 2:Um, it's usually I don't know. I feel like I should ask all of you on here what would be your top one, because I get so many different wines foundation based. I think the main thing is like why does my foundation look like I'm wearing makeup, like I don't want to look like I'm wearing a lot of makeup. I want it to look like skin. Um, so not using a lot of powder to set and using the lightest amount of foundation that you need just to cover up the pigmentation. So I think a lot of people put too much foundation on and then when they go to set it with all this powder, powder will always look not like skin because it's flat and matte and it's not a natural kind of sheen to the skin that we have naturally. So less powder, less foundation.
Speaker 1:What do you think about the setting sprays? One of the most like my go to that I was like oh my gosh, I didn't even know this existed was Urban Decay. All Nighter setting spray Is what I use where your makeup doesn't move and it's just so nice and I get it in like the big bottle to try to maximize my dollar, Is that? What are your thoughts about the setting sprays as opposed to powders?
Speaker 2:Mm, hmm, I think setting sprays actually for me I prefer those over just powders. You might have to set a little bit under the eyes with a little powder just because it will tend to crease, because you naturally have lines and movement under the eyes. But setting sprays are really amazing. I like that one. I really like the one size. Beauty setting spray is really good and you can get that at Sephora. But it locks the makeup in for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that you guys, I don't know. You can type in the chat if you've ever used a setting spray. I didn't know that was a thing and I mean it's one of my go to. I'll let you type in that other setting spray that you said. To me that is like well worth the money, because there's nothing more frustrating than you take the time in your busy life to actually put on the makeup and then a couple hours later you know your makeup is sliding off on this side or like a kid. You know, swipe their face, their hand over your face and now your eye shadow is all bunched up and it's just like why don't I even bother? The setting spray has been amazing in my experience.
Speaker 1:Oh, Melanie Mills, that's another awesome. I love all these recommendations. You said one other thing that I would love to hear your thoughts on. You mentioned the creases under the eyes. What are your tips? You kind of touched on that, but we put the concealer under our eyes or we put the foundation under and then it does sort of do that like creasing thing or like settles in there and has like the streaky look. How do you avoid that?
Speaker 2:So I like to. They have on Amazon and I do not have it with me. I will send you a link. There is a picture of a little triangle sponge and I will see if I could find it for you really quickly. If you set your powder with a sponge even a beauty blender, those kind of eggs, those work really well. I'm going to put a link in here and I'll do. I type sponge and it gave me makeup sponge. It gave me kitchen sponge. We're not using that.
Speaker 1:No kitchen sponges, ladies.
Speaker 2:I know no kitchen sponges.
Speaker 1:I'll put a link and then the powder. So I'm trying to envision you have you have your concealer? Does the concealer go under over your foundation?
Speaker 2:It can go either way. It really is. If you're trying to brighten the eyes and you need it to be highlighted, I would say put it on top. If you were using, like a corrector, an orange, a peach to counteract blueness under the eyes, put it under the foundation. So it could be either one. I personally, if I'm using it just for extra coverage, I just want to brighten up, I like putting it on top.
Speaker 1:That's really helpful. So you do that, foundation your concealer, and then you're saying the powder again. Real time learning here for me. What powder are you using? I've never done that. What powder are you using to set? Oh, that is nice, to set your concealer foundation.
Speaker 2:I really like the One Size Beauty setting powder. It's a finely milled one, it's very soft, very lightweight. And these sponges from Amazon, they're very inexpensive I think it's $5 for 15 of them and it's a flat sponge and you're literally just going to pick up the powder, get the least amount possible and just press it under here with that sponge and that's going to lock in that concealer with that powder and it's not going to add so much that it's going to make you look cakey.
Speaker 1:So that's really, really helpful. Ladies, can you think of any other questions? I've been all over the place because Marlina is amazing and I'm trying to get all of her knowledge here in real time. But any other questions that you can think of, please throw them in the chat. Marlina has not only generously offered tutorial I don't know if you want to talk about that tutorial a little bit but Marlina to the early morning habit community exclusively. That will become part of the curriculum, there it is. She has dropped it here in the chat for you guys, and we will also make sure it gets embedded into the early morning habit curriculum for future members.
Speaker 2:I think I get to the wrong one, I apologize. No worries, that's an advance. You can have that one as well if you would like. I'm going to get you the right one. This is the one. The art of customization, so enjoy the bonus.
Speaker 1:I love the help I can get.
Speaker 2:I bless you, so that's what I just put. That's the one. It talks about everything from choosing the right color palette what are warm and cool eyeshadow textures, your skin undertone, what blushes to pick face shape, and I even give you some looks in there. It's all in one, just syllabus.
Speaker 1:That is amazing. I cannot wait to go through that, and our community is going to benefit from that significantly. Before we wrap up. And then we have a giveaway announcement. Christine asks do you have go to skincare lines to recommend?
Speaker 2:I do so. I have three levels. So I have my budget friendly one, I have my mid-tier and my high-end one.
Speaker 1:Can you tell she gets this question a lot?
Speaker 2:I do so I will put this in the chat. So my favorite brand it's a French brand. I discovered this when I went to school in France years ago and now, fortunately, it's mainstream in the US. It's come over here but you used to only be able to get it in France. It's called La Roche-Passée and you can get it at drug stores Walgreens, cvs, target, anything from that line. Fabulous.
Speaker 2:France is really known for using clean ingredients that are really safe. They're very pure. They don't add a bunch of fragrances or things like that. They're just very simple, clean ingredient ducks and they're effective and they're not expensive. So I really love La Roche-Passée. So that's the budget friendly one and Target has it and Amazon Drugstore For mid-tier that it had a little bit more actives in there, like Lactic Acids, things like that.
Speaker 2:It's a brand called Peach Lily and you can get that at Ulta. Everything from that brand is absolutely phenomenal. I've not had a single product that I've not absolutely loved from that brand. And then for high end, I really like the brand Elemis. This is the high end you can get, sometimes QBC. We'll have great deals on there. You can get it at Amazon and they just got into store at Sephora. My favorite product from them, if you have dry skin, is their Pro Collagen Marine Cream. It is a very hydrating moisturizer for dry skin I'll put this in the chat and mature skin as well. So, as I've gotten older, I like this because I need that hydration. I put it on at night before bed. When I wake up in the morning I mean today is an exception because I'm not feeling well, but normally my skin's very just, glowy, smooth, hydrated. It's a really good one, but it is pricey. So I like to have a few options based on what budgets everyone has and what they're looking for.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, Candice asked do you have suggestions for children's makeup for dance or theater? It's a great question.
Speaker 2:So this topic I actually want to talk about very slightly, without it be fearmongering because I hate always fearmongering people. I would say there's a lot of makeup that is aimed towards children. You know, like the sets you can get for your kids and it's got all these fun colors and stuff. They are very I'm just going to blunt and say it they're not made at good factories at all. They're made in very inexpensive factories in China that have no regulations whatsoever. So, like even my mom, you know, grab, I was like, oh, have fun. Like she knows I'm a makeup artist and she bought my daughter one and I would not let her use it because it's made it just not amazing places. And so I would say, getting something like ColourPop is made in the USA. It's a great factory, I've been there, it's clean, they treat their staff amazing and it's affordable.
Speaker 2:That works great for kids, for stage makeup, and it tends to last a long time. And then if you need something to last, like you know, all night if they're on stage, lock it down with the setting spray. I know for kids it can be a little, you know just happen like, okay, plug your, plug your nose. Okay, we're going to do just a quick spray for them. It'll lock everything down and you can use any makeup brand that you want. I just um Would it recommend the the kids sets that you get. You know, like I don't see no big colorful sets, they're made at really Shady factories, yeah.
Speaker 1:Not to be sure what? I'm sorry. Yeah, no, but it's helpful. What you're saying is ultimately for kids still getting slightly nicer Quality makeup, just putting on less and locking it in with a setting spray, just avoiding the kids marketed makeup.
Speaker 2:The kids market to make up. Yeah, cuz something like color pop you can get. It's very affordable, it's you know, it's not, it won't break the bank. So I feel like it's still great to use for kids and it's made in a safe factory. But it's not, you know, it's not like a premier brand or anything like that. It's affordable but still safe, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but do you have a go-to drugstore brand? Just in general.
Speaker 2:It depends on the product. I, elf, is really doing a great job with the products lately. Elf has Really come a long way with a lot of their formulations. I had to pick one, it would be that, or Nick's NYX would be my favorite. I'll put these on the chat.
Speaker 1:Oh, bless you. I was gonna help you out and put up.
Speaker 2:Nick's makeup best at drugstore.
Speaker 1:For those of you that showed up live at Marlene has so job. We don't even have to do a spinny wheel because she has offered a five. So normally we type them and we put a little spinny wheel up and then we watch it spin. It's like game show with Anna.
Speaker 1:But I don't know who I think I am, but it's fun to watch it spin. But she's offered five tickets To those of you who have shown up live, which every single person then here is going to get one to her makeup masterclass. Do you want to share with us what that is?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the makeup masterclass is is where I teach education. It's there's on some videos that are in there that show you from start to finish of everything that has to do with Makeup and then, like that syllabus that I put in the chat box, every class that you take it has a customized syllabus that goes with it. So if you don't I know everyone's busy, we don't have time Maybe you can only watch 10 minutes of video. At least you have a syllabus you can read through and refer to and say, okay, I need help with this and I've broken it up. Each class is 45 minutes but I break it up into chapters. So if you don't have time to watch a whole 45 minute video, you're like, okay, I can watch like 10 minutes on this lesson and 10 minutes on this lesson, and that way you can fight exactly what you're looking for In there, what you need, like if you're trouble with contouring, okay, fine, contouring, and then you'll have the, the syllabus as I go with it, and then there's also community in there.
Speaker 2:So there's a forum that everyone comes in. It's very supportive. Like everyone just chats, they post looks, they ask questions. We have giveaways and contests and on Inspirational looks of the week. I do live tutorials. Once a month. I bring in brand owners to talk about what's going on in the beauty space. Just a lot of stuff pumped into that as well. So that's part of the academy, but the classes are there for whenever you want to watch them.
Speaker 1:So is this the, the, the masterclass? Is it different than your makeup? Geek Academy community.
Speaker 2:It's all combined, it's combined in one. So the community is like a forum that everyone can hang out on and ask questions and post pictures and hey, what do you think of this look, or whatever. And then the class is on the left hand side of the community. You'll see, the class is there, that you can then enter in the portal and that you have your, your videos, and on the syllabus is attached that you can download from there.
Speaker 1:So I just included the link people can check out makeup geek Academy, makeup, geek Academy, comm which is where all of Marlena's amazing, amazing stuff is, and I would also encourage you when I get the codes from Marlena for the Masterclass access if you know that I like oh, I like makeup, but I don't know that I will be as interested if you have somebody that you know just absolutely loves makeup. I, marlena just simply loves to talk about makeup. So if you want to give it to someone else if you're like I don't know that I will be as interested. I Can speak for Marlena.
Speaker 1:She just wants people who are interested in Mastering this art form in a way that encourages them to radiate that confidence from the inside out. So if you think there's someone in your life who would really love it even more, feel free to pass it to them instead of using it yourself. If you want to gift it to somebody, or feel free to use it yourself. Marlena is amazing. I'm so grateful for you. You truly are an inspiration and just truly the millions of lives that you have touched and your generosity has been such a blessing to me already. I'm so grateful for having you here, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:It was nice to get to meet you all. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.