by Elaine Zapanta

July is Bookbed’s birthday month and for this month’s FaceBookIt, I’m sharing six makeup essentials for recreating any of your favorite book covers.

Although you’ve seen my face here a couple of times telling you to put stuff on your face, I, too, was once a beauty novice. I know dabbling in makeup can be a little bit intimidating at first, especially if you have no one to talk to about these things. The internet helped me a lot during my time of need~ but because the internet has tons of data about beauty, skincare, and self care, that beauty novice me got so overwhelmed; I was one YouTube video away from quitting.

Now, I don’t want to scare you. I want you to be able to mix your love of books and makeup so I’m sharing this consolidated list of beauty must-haves for recreating your favorite book covers. Know that you don’t have to use the same products I have. These are just samples. In fact, you can share your favorite brands in the comments below so I get to check them out, too. I love recs!

Primer

Applying primer before your foundation helps you create the perfect canvas and makes sure your makeup stays put. Primers smoothen and minimizes the appearance of pores. There are different types of primers available depending on your skin type. There are mattifying primers for those who have oily skin, color correcting primers for those with red spots, and nourishing and moisturizing primers for those with dry skin.

Base

Same with primer, applying a base will perfect your canvas. On lazy days, I narrow down my routine to three steps but I never skip my base. There are several types of foundation/bases in the market. It all depends on your skin type and skin tone. Go to your favorite makeup counter and ask the SA to shade match you. The easiest would be MAC because almost all foundation brands compare their shades to MAC shade names.

Eyeshadow

Here’s a tip: buy palettes instead of individual pans. Why? One, it’s cheaper. Twelve individual pans will cost you a lot more compared to getting a palette. Two, palettes include shades you you need to create any basic look most of the time. And three, brands usually put together shades based on a theme with different types of finish and texture so you get to experiment. You can keep your lids pretty neutral and go crazy on eyeliner (using eyeshadows still, if you don’t have liners on hand) or you can go to town with colors on the lips and keep the rest of the face neutral. The world is your oyster!!!

You can also maximize the use of your eyeshadows by using them as: 1) brow powder (a matte, greyish brown or black); 2) highlight (shimmer); 3) eyeliner; or 4) blush/contour. I even used an eyeshadow as a lip color once.

Lipstick

There are so many products to choose from depending on how natural or bold you want your look to be. There are tints, glosses, matte lipsticks, liquid lipsticks, sheen lipsticks, satin lipsticks for any and all occasions. There are also many amazing shades to choose from. For a starter set, I would recommend the following: a balm, nude, true blue-based red, and one (or several) crazy-colored one you want.

Blush

Blush is a non-negotiable item for me. It just makes the face more put together. It can balance out the heaviness of the lids or the paleness of your lips. It adds a healthy glow to the cheeks and that makes a lot of difference.

Mascara/Eyeliner/Falsies

You don’t have to own all three at once. You can start with a mascara first and then ease your way into falsies. All three open up your eyes and makes your eyes pop. The falsies add drama to the look. I used to be a skeptic, but trust me, these help especially for someone with hooded eyes like me.

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And that’s it! I hope this helps you recreate makeup looks based on your favorite book covers or book characters.

Do you have all these essentials? What are the non-negotiables in your kit? Let me know your favorite brands and products in the comments so I can look them up and add them to my collection. Also, let me know what books you would like to see next on FaceBookIt! 

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