Nerdy Beauty-Product-Junkie – all time favorites

“If beauty hides the truth, or the lack of truth, I'd rather be ugly but influential.” -- This is how I ended my earlier post about Ha Jin’s book.

Here I am, talking about beauty products that basically serve the objective to hide or prevent the appearance of the ugliness of my real face. The irony is that beauty is powerful. In order to be influential, you need to have “face validity” – as we say in statistical research terminology.

An American makeup artist, Bobbi Brown, has a famous saying -- Beauty isn’t about perfect. It’s about celebrating your individuality. Bobbi believes that "makeup is a way for a woman to look and feel like herself, only prettier and more confident." I totally agree with her. Occasionally, if you enjoy doing it, you do it for fun and can be very creative and bold. Most of the time, I need my basic makeup to look fresh, awake, refined, and sometimes just not to scare people.

Skincare is in a different category from makeup. It is personal and depends on the skin type and the weather condition, so I will only share with you my all time favorite top 5 makeup products here.

Make Up Forever Face & Body Liquid Foundation – This foundation and I go way back. When I was in New York, Make Up Forever had their studio in SOHO. To me, picking the right color is 80% of the job. The coolest thing about this was that they custom blended this foundation for me from two different colors. I now have 2 of them and I blend it myself. In the winter, I add more lighter color; in the summer, I add more darker tone. This goes on smoothly, like water; and is light, waterproof, and can be layered for more coverage.

NARS The Multiple Highlighter – Color: Maldives for East Asian skin tone – This thing is expensive, but it lasts 5 years even if you use it everyday. I put it under the arch of my eyebrows, and above my cheekbones. It takes one second to deliver this very subtle glowing effect. My real secret is now out!

Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner + Brush -- Beautiful colors, super long wearing, and very versatile. Takes some practice, but it’s worth the time. Be sure to get the brush, as it makes a difference. My favorite color is Violet Ink.

Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara – I don’t care that it creates high impact curls or not, this thing stays on FOREVER!! My eyelashes are long and honestly look good without any mascara. I have never used mascara in the past, because nothing stays on my lashes. I have tried all the waterproof ones you can think of but only this one (and very few others that use that new “tubing” technology) stays. Clinigue makes many mascaras, so make sure you get the right one. (Their Lash Power Mascara Long Wearing Formula is very good too, but is more natural.)

Clinique Almost Lipstick Black Honey – This is clinique’s most famous item and color. It really universally flatters every skin tone, and the texture is between lipstick and lip gloss. It goes on smoothly and looks so natural. Don’t be fooled by how dark it looks in the tube, you have to try it on to know what everyone is talking about.

Lastly, my recommendations are worth listening to, not because I am gorgeous, but because I am not. Why get makeup tips from someone who is naturally beautiful? They always look nice. But on my face, you can tell which products really do work or not!