Not too long ago, I logged onto Facebook and received one of those unfriendly memories notices — you know the kind that makes you question, what was I thinking? This time, however, I wasn’t shaking my head at one of my ignorant college statuses or that brief post-graduate period of social media oversharing, I was looking at a picture of the worst makeup I (hope) I’ve ever worn and replying with a verbal WTF?
Five-and-a-half years ago, I stepped out of my apartment looking like I had just got tone tasting the rainbow with my entire face. I remember the December day so vividly. My had friend asked me to be a part of a documentary she was working on for her graduate film project and I decided, Since I’m wearing black (like I always do), I should add a little pop of color. And then when I put on those feather earrings that I will have you know were very much in style in 2011, I decided, Let’s take this a step further and add a pop of color on your face for every pop of color in these earrings. And that, ladies, is how I ended up with one-note turquoise eye shadow from my lash line to my eyebrow, gold eyeliner on my lower and upper lash line, pink blush, fuchsia lipstick, and an unnatural shade of brown eyebrows on my face at the same damn time.
I don’t know what’s funnier, the fact that I stepped out of the house like this, the fact that my friend, who is eight years older than me I should add, told me I looked great when at least she should’ve known better and told me so, the fact that I then made this photo my profile picture when I returned home from the shoot, or the fact that the same friend, again, told me how beautiful I looked on Facebook. Three other friends lied with her.
When I look at that picture against photos of my makeup now, I’m tickled. I’ve always been into all things beauty, and always liked to experiment — to some degree — with hair and makeup. As you can see, not all of my experiments proved fruitful. Come to think of it, the real problem might’ve been buying that Make Up For Ever Lipstick and not knowing what to do with it because here’s another fail from the same year.
Now that I’ve adopted the philosophy that drag makeup is best left to drag queens and heard of concepts like blending, balance and complementary colors, I could never go back to that look from 2011, unless of course I need a good laugh. I’m not saying everything I try nowadays works, but I know I’m not out here looking like homegirl the clown anymore.
I’m also certain I’m not the only one who “tried it” with a new look and failed once upon a time. Do you remember a major disaster you had experimenting with makeup back in the day? Share!
The post #TBT: Remember When You First Started Experimenting With Makeup? appeared first on MadameNoire.