Makeup For Young Teens...When to Start Wearing It and How Much is Appropriate?

I recently did makeup for a junior bridesmaid who just turned 12...she was adorable!!  She wanted a full face of makeup, and of course her mom wanted it to be light and age appropriate.  Here's the final result...a perfect blend of pretty polish that is subtle enough to make mom happy....

I wanted to shape her brows, but she'd never had it done before and was nervous, so I skipped it. Tweezing really hurts, especially if you're a newbie!!  I didn't want her to have redness and watery eyes on her aunt's wedding day...she can learn to "suffer for beauty" another time.

Notice that even with subtle makeup, you can still really see how definition with a bit of shadow makes her eyes look bigger, and how blush on her cheekbones slims her face?  The magic is that it doesn't look like a lot of makeup...love that. To me, this look is perfect for a 12 year old, especially considering that for weddings, even flower girls are usually allowed to have a bit of gloss, blush and mascara!

All of this got me to thinking...

At what age do you think girls should start wearing makeup? How MUCH makeup is appropriate?

How old were you when you started wearing makeup?  I'm not talking about play makeup or just for a wedding, but daily wear.....

According to Yahoo and over 500 women polled, the average age to start wearing makeup regularly is about 13. Does that surprise you, or sound about right?  Personally, I started playing with makeup around the house when I was 7 or 8, but didn't start wearing it daily until 8th grade... mostly just mascara, gloss, powder and blush.  I added liner and eyeshadow the next year when I started high school....and probably wore a bit too much, but hey...it was the 80s!  I think EVERYONE was wearing too much.  I remember arguing with my mom over it, but she knew about my passion for makeup....she eventually gave up!  I never felt like I NEEDED it so much as I just wanted to wear it, it was the current style then and it was a form of self expression.  The love of makeup was already in full force for sure.....

 Last year, I was hired to do makeup for FOURTEEN 14 year olds......you heard that right!  That is a whole gaggle of teen girls, people. Check it out....

This was at the end of their 8th grade year, and most told me that they wear at least a little mascara and gloss to school daily.  For their dance, they chose to get (and were allowed to get!) a bit more glammed up with foundation, blush, shadow, etc....but still soft and age appropriate.  No harsh liner, no contouring....just light makeup to enhance their natural good looks and make their features shine. I focused on covering any skin issues, warming up cheeks with a healthy glow, a light shimmery wash of color on eyes (golds, taupes), mascara and gloss in pink and peach tones.  That is all they need...aren't they gorgeous!?!  PS...I had to move lightning fast to get them all ready in just a few hours...not easy!! (#engergizerbunny #superfast!)  I have never been so glad to skip brow grooming and false lashes...I literally had about 10 minutes per person.  Each girl was polite, sat still and gave me her full attention so that everyone could get makeup before the dance. What a lovely group of young ladies...their moms should be proud!

What about you....were you allowed to wear makeup for special occasions growing up?  What about wearing makeup regularly as a teen....and a what age? Did you and your mom argue about how much makeup you could wear?  I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories in the comments below!

A lovely 8 year old getting just a touch of makeup for a special occasion...her mom's wedding!

Rules of Engagement

Wanted to share pics of two lovely and super sweet girls from the past week...in each case, they had already booked me and we'd emailed, but the first time I met each girl was when I showed up to do their engagement makeup!  This is part of the modern age we live in....way back in the day, I had to meet with each bride in person in order to book...there really wasn't a way for them to see my work or get a feel for my personality otherwise!  Now, brides can get referrals from vendors and friends, then scope out facebook, this website and instagram to get a feel for whether we're a good fit.  So, last week, I met Ashley....she and her sweet fiancé Colby had me laughing the entire time I was getting her ready to go!

Ashley has big blue eyes and nice full lips...a lot to work with for sure!  I created a soft smokey eye using taupe, gray, navy and bronze (looks plum in this photo, but it's not)....this gave her lots of impact, while still using neutral colors that made her blue eyes really shine.  Neutral tones on your eyes works well for engagements, because there are usually several outfits...and FYI, it's not about MATCHING the clothes, it's about not CLASHING!  Her first outfit was this amazing fuschia dress that you can see in the "after" photo...it was stunning!  When she looked in the mirror when I was done (my favorite moment of  makeup artistry, by the way), she LOVED the look...she felt glamorous, but still like herself.  I dubbed her "Sophisticated Barbie"!  I know her engagements are going to turn out great, those two were having so much fun.

Yesterday, I finally got to meet Aimee, a May bride who seriously has some of the best skin I've seen in a while!  It was a last minute appointment, but it all came together and we chatted like we've known each other forever....

Since Aimee was wearing mostly neutral outfits for her engagement shoot, I decided to highlight her gorgeous hazel/green eyes with shades of soft plum...nothing makes green eyes pop more! She said she feels like whenever she does eyemakeup herself, her eyes look smaller...I showed her how really blended eyeshadow, plus fluttery, yet realistic lashes actually make her eyes look HUGE.....and really lovely.  Aimee is a great example of someone who looks pretty great with a bare face and truth be told, most days she does a little mascara and a little gloss and that's it.  For your wedding and when you're having your picture taken, you just need a bit more. She was happy to still look like herself, but just an amplified, more "special" version....perfect for engagement pics that will photograph really well.  I didn't get to meet her sweet fiancé this time, but boy did her face light up when she talked about him!

Not every bride does an engagement shoot, but it is a great way to get to know your photographer, to capture the fun, lovey-dovey beginning of your new life together as a couple and try out your makeup look so you know how it will photograph.  This is helpful when you do your bridals and for wedding day so there are no surprises, especially if you're not a big makeup person ordinarily! 

I'm out of town for a few days and probably won't be able to blog, but be sure to check out facebook, instagram and twitter for daily before/after posts!  See you soon....JT

You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman...

Sorry, had to go there!  Ok, now that that song is all in our heads...
I wanted to do a quick post before I embark upon a CRAZY weekend!  Three trial runs, a wedding and a photo shoot...so definitely, no time to post in the next couple of days.  Clients ask me a lot about natural makeup....they want to look like "themselves" and think that adding makeup won't look right.  Wrong, 100% wrong!  Often when "natural" people attempt their own makeup, or look around at other people wearing a lot, what they don't like is a lot of COLOR.  This is makeup that I did recently as part of a commercial photo shoot for Smart Barre, a local chain that offers a barre/yoga/strength training workout experience, mostly led by former dancers.  So cool!  I'm getting ready to take some classes there myself.  At any rate, the vibe of the shoot was polished, but natural....red lips or teal eyeshadow would've been totally out of place, so I kept it all soft and neutral, but still sophisticated.  On this instructor, I shaped her brows, corrected and evened out her skin (but notice...freckles still show a bit!), added peachy pink lips and blush.  For eyes, there's a bit of vanilla and camel shadow for definition, and then I used a black/brown shadow applied with a pencil brush...I buffed that into her upper and lower lashlines for a soft, but still defined look...love this trick!  I never, ever draw a pencil line on the lower lashline...too harsh.  This gives you the thick looking lashline in a much softer way.  So, here's the before and after....

She looks polished, pretty, but still NATURAL.  With a bunch of makeup on.  It's all in how it's applied and what colors are used!  This look is a popular one for brides who don't normally wear makeup, except for a bride, I'd add false lashes for a bit more impact and probably more blush...both are needed for wedding photography against a white or ivory dress.  So, are you convinced that makeup CAN look really natural?  Let me know what you think in the comments!  I hope everyone has a GREAT weekend, I'll be back next week to post pics from all the stuff I've been working on....I have THREE fun photo shoots to share!  See you soon!  JT