When to wear makeup: I need to use my makeup but don't know how

Question

this summer, I've been trying to become girly (I am in my early twenties, college student). So in two months, I went from a makeup collection consisting of expired bare-minerals starter kit (thrown out now), 3 smashbox lipgloss (costco a long time ago, probably gone bad, but very slightly used and doesn't seem wrong. >.>), and like one eyeshadow palette from ebay (48 colors for $15), and a $5 mascara to pretty much makeup for every season.

The problem is, for me its pretty much impulse buying, because my entire makeup collection from before this summer totalled around $100, and most of it was left unused and even though haven't gone bad, I don't think I'll use it. However, now I have a stash of makeup consisting of Stila, Crownbrush, Essence of Beauty, and Shu Uemura brushes, Stila, Shu, Smashbox, NYX, MAC, Lancome, Shisiedo Shadows, Shu, Smashbox, Kevyn Aucion Blush and Bronzers, Benefit Foundation, and the list just goes on and on. My problem is I see something that I is a good deal and I don't own anything similar, I'll want to buy.....

Ok so now you get the idea, but my QUESTION IS: I ended up not using makeup that I bought, so to prevent that from happening again I need to use my makeup. For those who wear makeup often, how do you determine when to have makeup on, when not to, and what colors, occasions, day and night difference guidelines can you give me? thanks

Answer 1

Since I'm just a little bit older than you (ahem!), my answer for when to wear makeup is probably different from yours.  When I was your age, I wore it to look professional (job interviews, job, things like that) or when I really wanted to look my best (dates, nights out, that kind of thing).

As for colors - hon, we all go through the "impulse buying" stage.  To be honest, I still do it from time to time.  That's part of how you get to know what colors look good on you and what you enjoy.  You might get opinions from other women you trust, or even occasionally from salespeople, but keep in mind with the last that they really want you to buy something.  Just experiment (preferably using cheap stuff) until you find a palette that you like.

As for day/night, daytime looks should be a good deal more subtle than nighttime looks.  My general rule is that, during the day, I should appear to be wearing little or no makeup.  At night, I can have as much fun as I want.  Do keep in mind that, as you get older, the more "dramatic" looks will become more problematic.  If I wore some of the heavier eye makeup now that I wore when I was your age, I'd end up looking 20 years older than I am.  You can get away with a lot in your twenties.

Again, for me, the key is do you feel more confident?  Do you like the way you look?  Do you feel prettier?  If the answer to all of those questions is "no", then lose it fast.