Every so often a makeup tutorial is released that causes a stir.  Drag, extreme, transformative, artistic, you name it, someone will take issue with it. This is a normal occurrence however I want to touch on one particular technique because it sheds light on an age old process that has become the norm in an unlikely market.

The art of drag has been used for years to feminize the appearance of men, this typically involves layers of a variety of products.  They are applied in such a manner that can mask the more masculine features of the performer, giving the artist a blank canvas on which to create a “woman”.   It truly is a work of art and holds up well during stage performances. 

Taken during a drag makeup class given by MAC Senior Artist Romero Jennings a few years ago

The controversy comes in because this method is being used by the everyday woman…sometimes by teenagers.  Nothing inherently WRONG with this but when applying multiple layers of foundation, powder etc to the skin on a daily basis the skin begins to fight back.

Unfortunately I know this story all too well.  Even before I began my freelance makeup artistry journey I was into all things beauty and fashion.  I was my own client.  I would experiment with my look all the time with reckless abandon.  I was never afraid of color but reserved the playtime for my hair, eyelids and lips, choosing to let my skin breathe. 

I have always had rebellious skin (read breakouts), once I had kids and it started to level out a bit, I didn’t pay it any mind.  Foundation and powder didn’t enter my creative realm until after I turned 30 years old and got sucked into the YouTube community, for better or worse.  This also proved to be the next phase of my skin issues.

I became a product junkie but more so makeup and NOT skincare (red flag number one). I would pile on the foundation and powder attempting to emulate what was prevalent in the beauty enthusiast community (red flag number two). Practicing my craft was important and the most readily available canvas was my own skin. Nothing wrong with that except that for all of the practicing I was doing, I was lazy with making sure my skin was completely clean afterwards (red flag number three). The images you see above are the result of that.

One would think I changed my habits and started to take better care of my skin once I suffered the breakouts. Develop a skincare routine, take a break from the makeup, you know, what someone with common sense would do, right? Wrong. I reasoned that there was no way I could go out in public with my skin in disarray and proceeded to just pile on more makeup. DO. NOT. DO. THIS! How many red flags did I need???

My skin did a number on me and quite honestly it wasn’t until I started worked at the spalon (spa/salon) that I took my skin super seriously. On top of serving as the resident makeup artist I also had to up my product knowledge and in turn my skincare regime. I would literally try everything we sold in there, some with amazing results and sometimes not so much but the practice of trying products and learning about them led to an actual routine. My skin soaked up this change literally and figuratively.

Fast forward to today you couldn’t pay me to wear a full face of makeup every single day. On super random occasions I may forget to cleanse my face before passing out from exhaustion but I will literally wake up in the middle of the night/wee hours of the morning in a panic scrambling to clean my face. I take my cleansing and exfoliation seriously. I do not pick at blemishes, I apply tea tree oil repeatedly until it disappears and I pay attention when my skin alerts me that it doesn’t like something that I tried.

I would like to get more into serums, oils, peels and the like but right now I keep it pretty simple. Here are a few of my long standing favorites:

• Eminence Clear Skin Probiotic Cleanser

• Eminence Pear and Poppy Seed Polisher

• St Ives Collagen and Elastin Moisturizer

• Urban Skin RX Clear Skin Cleansing Bar

• CVS 100% Tea Tree Oil

• Dermalogica Pre-Cleanse

• Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel

• Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant

• Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel

• Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen

Do you have a set skin care routine? What are some of your tried and true products?