I’m super excited about my first post! And since I’m a beauty blog virgin (but not new to blogging), you’ll take it easy on me, right? Well for starters, let me introduce myself. I’m Jill, and I’m a married momma of two who lives in northern Kentucky, just across the bridge from Cincinnati, Ohio. My husband Chad and my two kids, Sydney and Ryan, are my whole wide world. Speaking of my world, it got rocked in April this year when I lost my full-time fashion and beauty copywriting job since my company decided to shut down my division. Talk about a downer. But on the bright side, I got a few extra months off with my baby boy and my daughter, and I dreamed of finding a creative outlet to continue my writing as a hobby while never having to leave the kids. And while my background and degree is in fashion, my passion really lies in beauty. While I’ve found another job working on the purchasing side of the industry, I’m still driven to “work” in beauty. So, I do freelance makeup and now I have this fabulous space to share my tips and tricks! Am I professional makeup artist? A YouTube sensation? Heck, no. But, I do have years of experience under my belt. As a kid, I started watching whatever I could on style channels and reading fashion magazines. I played in mom’s makeup – a lot. I read makeup tips and learned how to do it myself. In high school, I participated in some local modeling gigs where I got recognized for my stellar makeup skills, so much that it landed me a job in a local photo studio where I regularly did makeup for models (you don’t have to be licensed in Kentucky). After high school, I moved on to college where I studied fashion design, but friends and family would request me for makeup services often. And as a poor college kid, I was happy to oblige when I had time. As time went on even after I graduated from college, makeup requests from total strangers poured in (word of mouth really is great marketing)! No one cared that I didn’t go to school for it, they saw my work and requested me, so I rolled with it. Now that might not make me too popular with the certified artists out there, but that’s just how it went down for me since it was side work. I’d never discredit anyone else’s journey, and I often wondered if maybe I could have or should have found a mentour or obtain that degree, but I honestly thought it was short-lived for me. I still do makeup as time allows, but as my kids are so young, my plan is to spend more of that time with them (as I already have another job) and my free time on the world wide web sharing my knowledge for beauty, momming, and life, so won’t you join me for the journey? Let’s “meet”! Introduce yourself, request some tricks you’d like me to share, ask me questions…whatever floats your boat! I’m excited to be here.
My favorite part is my eyes BUT they are hooded. Any tips and tricks?
Hi Tiffany! Great to hear from you! I assume you are speaking about eye shadow. Most people want to apply their mid-tone color in their natural crease, but with hooded eyes, the placement is a bit different. Look into the mirror, then close your eye, see where your natural crease is. With hooded eyes, you usally don’t see your natural crease when your eyes are open. This means that you don’t want to apply the mid-tone color there because it won’t be seen. Instead, you’ll need to apply just above the crease – and you’ll want to actually put it on while your eye is open instead of closing your lid like most people do when applying. This will help you see exactly where your color will go and stand out. You’ll also likely want to invest in a waterproof mascara (or something that you know won’t run at all) because depending how hooded they actually are, you could have issues where it will want to run into the folds. I hope this info helps!