( photo alt text: Balenci-Yaga )

Ladies, help!

I’ve really been struggling with confidence around my makeup skills, and I strongly attribute this to a lack of educational tools that cover the true fundamentals of makeup application for human faces.

There are SO SO MANY books and tutorials out there that demonstrate how to execute a particular look or use a particular product, but I have yet to find any resource that fundamentally covers WHY you are supposed to do this particular thing in a specific way. And even if I find something close, it presumes an already feminine face shape (and almost always model-thin).

For example, it took me entirely too long to figure out fundamentals of light and shadow; playing with color to trick the eyes into thinking your face has a different shape. I’m looking for resources that start that basic, and goes on to explain what each product seeks to achieve conceptually along with some examples of what looks good on a variety of face types. Specifically rounder, more overweight faces.

I’ve purchased a few physical books as well; no luck. What do y’all do?

    • neuracnuOPEnglish
      3·
      5 months ago

      I (and many other trans folks) didn’t benefit from supportive parents, sisters and friends to provide initial advice, ongoing feedback and moral support. We didn’t have them when we were growing up, and we may not have them now. As an adult, one is expected to have already been through that experience. And, paradoxically, finding new friends and people you can trust often relies on not looking like a total mess to begin with (not to mention the expectations of employers, or the experience of people not yet out to themselves and just want to experiment).

      It sucks to have to learn this stuff in a vacuum, but that’s the situation some people are in. “Have you tried not?” is not helpful advice.

        • CattypatEnglish
          1·
          5 months ago

          they know theyre not alone, thats why theyre in the TRANSFEM MAKEUP LEMMY COMMUNITY