Hello!
Well, being new to the world of modeling and having used drugstore makeup my entire life, I have no clue where to begin when it comes to building my first personal makeup kit... So hopefully some of you can help me. Although drugstore makeup has worked fine for me in the past, it's not very professional and definitely not what I want to do shoots with. I have money to spend, and I think it's time that I invest in building a really nice kit... I have browsed through dozens and dozens of topics here regarding makeup, but I figured it would be much easier to make my own topic for my own questions.

For a personal makeup kit, what do you think you should include? What do you all have in your personal makeup kits? I think seeing what everyone else has might give me some better ideas, especially when it comes to brands... Where do you guys like to shop too?

I've never purchased makeup online, but I can't seem to find any really great quality makeup locally and I am super hesitant about purchasing foundation online - what if the color is wrong? But how do you determine what your color is if you can't find those brands locally? Does anyone have any tips?

Finally, what are everyone's favorite moisturizers and skin care products? I've used a couple but have never been really satisfied. I want something that will clean my skin but leave it looking and feeling soft and fresh. What does everyone here do for skin care?? And what do you use to get makeup OFF at the end of the day?? Any good makeup removal products??

Thank you!
Lauren Elizabeth

There are tons of good products on the market and of course a lot of it is based on your budget.

For a full makeup kit try .... www.camerareadycosmetics.com  Mary is a pro artist and puts together and awesome kit.

Also check out  ... www.inmykit.com  and the faq. section at the top of this forum has tons of good info. Remember ... it doesn't have to be $$$$ to be of pro quality .. it just has to work on camera

I wish you he best !!

I love Illamasqua - it seems expensive but you only need to use a tiny bit as it is so heavily pigmented.

I would start off buying makeup that you know that you will use and then branch out to the 'whackier' things. There really is no definitive answer to your question as everyone prefers different things and mistakes can be expensive.

Good brands are Makeup For Ever, Ben Nye, Illamasqua, Calvin Klein, Graftobian.... the pro products deliver exactly what you need and are more of an investment. Try and find websites that offer makeup at a discount so that if something doesn't work, you haven't lost a fortune.

Sorry for the vague answer. Try various searches on the forum and see what else you can find.

the best guidance i can offer is you need to play and feel around with product in a store then purchase it online otherwise its a bit hit and miss. some retailers online have great return policies or can even send out samples for colour matching.

I wont tell you what products to buy thats a personal choice what i will say is though

What products are essential and used in pretty much all your shoots? Get them first then worry about the rest.

get a good foundation with an exact match
an amazing black mascara
a brown and a black eyeliner that smooth and creamy
4 great lipsticks in a range of colours from nude to a smoking red.
a great bronzer or blush thats a safe colour

then work your way with a nice palette of colours that compliment you.

It takes time to build a collection but start with the basics and then go crazy.

It really depends on what you do for instance someone who does a lot of print work wouldn't need something a SFX artist might use

the best advice I can give is start with he basics and thats good skin so find a line what works i cant give specific brands cause their all so different. If your unsure start with the basics like clinique for makeup try

Yaby - Great product, SUPERIOR pigmentation, cost effective and pallet friendly
Kryolan - Broader range but if your in a remote location might be hard to actually try products out yourself leaving you buying online
OCC- Fantastic lol my guilty pleasure and the color you see is what you get.
Ben Nye makes great shadows and blushes

if you are near a mall see if their is a MAC counter its good product esp since not only can u play with the product but they can help you find your shade.

In my kit I have 4 MUFE HD foundations and thats all I use, by mixing them I can get any shade I want


and as always go to camerareadycosmetics Mary who works there is the bomb.com lol

If your stuck doing your own makeup on a shoot these are the items I will suggest so that you have quality and affordable products.

Eyeshadow - BH cosmetics 120 palette 5th addition- offers bright and neutral colors.
http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/eye … h-Edition/ 


Concealer - BH cosmetics Camouflage and concealer - allows you to blend with other foundations that match your skin tone but you may need a little darker in the summer or you may need lighter or darker shades to contour to create a certain effect.
http://www.bhcosmetics.com/products/fac … r-Palette/

Blush - NYX blush. Find shades that work best for you.

Eye Primer  : Too Faced or Urban Decay

Exfoliate regularly. Moisturize your skin with Hypoallergenic  products. Always use a toner for your skin type as well.

Good luck

I love Yaby, I have one of their freestyle palettes with all my fave colours for personal use. I can jam cream foundation, powder foundation, highlighter, contour, 2 blushes, and enough of their teeny eyeshadows and eyeliners to create a variety of looks into that little palette. Love it. The tiny size of the eyeshadows is great for personal use. It's about $3 for one, and the pigmentation is fabulous. For personal use I hate spending the dough for say a MUFE eyeshadow that's ginormous and I know I'm never going to use up ever.

Edit: Don't confuse Yaby with the other cheapo palettes of dime sized shadows... There are a bunch of brands but they're all basically the same poor quality product. I've bought several of those and while they're fine for personal use the pigmentation just doesn't come through if you're using it for photography. You're also stuck carrying the whole thing of a million colours (most of which, lets face it, you'll never use) whereas Yaby's system is magnetic and you can mix and match.

Edit #2: As to your colour match concern, camerareadycosmetics.com offers a foundation colour match service. If you can find a drugstore foundation the right shade you can mail a sample in and they'll find a match for you out of their pro foundations. You can also purchase sample sizes of most of their products to try out and check the colour before you buy the full size.