What I do now is exactly what I wanted when I was 15 years old. I even switched from the ‘kejuruteraan’ stream in school to the arts stream ‘cause I knew by then what I wanted to do… and it was not engineering. So my job is to handle PR, media and advertising. The idea about working in PR is that its always fun and glamorous— I mean what else were we thinking of, when we took Mass Communications in UiTM?— but it’s more than that.
They don’t call something a ‘job’ for nothing. It’s not just running around in high heels and falling in love! Haha! The movies lied. Not that its a bad thing. I completely love what I do, like I said it’s always been my dream but this is just fair warning to all the would-be PR gurus out there— there are 20 hour days and you always have to have a full face of makeup on. Actually, if I heard that when I was younger I’d probably think that was a dream as well.
I started really liking makeup after high school. I mean I did wear it before that, I just didn’t know a lot about it because of lack of exposure. I only knew drugstore makeup and I’d only wear it for tuition… I know, how lame! And unnecessary. But high school kids, you know? And it was always, always, always lip gloss. Never lipstick. Lip gloss was the in thing back then! Nobody from my generation would have ever bought Kylie’s Lip Kit! How things change!
The first big makeup purchase I ever made was in Sephora, it was a Dior foundation. I didn’t know what to buy but I was thinking ‘my god, I’m in Sephora for the first time I have to buy something!’ so the Sephora people told me ‘okay you need a foundation’ and they gave me this one to try and I loved it!
My Big Theory about makeup is that you have two kinds of girls— The Romantic Girl and The Vamp. Obviously, The Romantic Girl is soft with nude lips and fluttery eyelashes and just soft, soft, soft romantic makeup while The Vamp—obviously— is vampy and she does like ‘out there’ makeup. But you don’t have to be one or the other! I can be both, depending on the mood, but to be honest I’m probably Romantic Girl more often. I think most girls are, but then we like turn into the badass Vamp after getting a promotion or something.
For both looks, however, I always use MAC Studio Finish Skin Corrector, because it’s orangey and good for under eye circles. I use all kinds of foundations, but my favourite one is the Dior foundation that I just mentioned. I prefer setting my makeup with loose powders instead of pressed powders, and for that I like Clinique loose powder. Sometimes I’ll use Etude House Face Blur under my makeup, but that is more for romantic looks since it gives you that shy, pink glow that boys love so much. I like contouring, but most of the time I’m too lazy so I just put bronzer all over my face. I’ve got the sawo matang skin so I can do that! Otherwise, I’ll contour with Marc Jacobs Contour Powder… This contour powder is the best, and it’s always sold out everywhere.
It’s almost cliche at this point, but I love the Benefit blushes. I know everyone hates the box packaging but I don’t care… It’s their trademark, it just wouldn’t feel the same if Benefit blushes didn’t come in a box. I also love NARS Super Orgasm. Basically, I love any makeup which looks like you didn’t do too much. The thing about Vamp makeup is that it’s what you would call ‘selfie makeup’. It looks amazing in selfies, but in real life its like ‘woah’.
Oh, illuminators are REALLY important! Benefit Watts Up! is great, as we all know by now, but Laneige Brush Highlighter is really good too, but it’s pinkish— Korean makeup almost always is— and thus is suited for Romantic Girls, but Vamps may find it not ‘on fleek’ enough for them. As for lips, I just use whatever unless its a special occasion. I actually use Mary Kay lipsticks a lot because it doesn’t have any weird tastes… I don’t remember the name, but there is a Mary Kay lipstick which is this wine colour which is my favourite. I always mix that with a MAC lipstick to create a custom colour.
I always finish up my makeup by doing my brows, which is weird apparently cause that’s usually the first step but I’m so bad with my brows that I want to do it last to make sure everything else is okay first. I choose my brow product based on the rest of the makeup, like I don’t have a permanent thing with my brows. If my makeup has a lot of browny hues in it, then I’ll do Tarte Gel Browliner. But most of the time I use Silkygirl browliner. It is really amazing and is so longwearing, plus its colour really captures the colour of naturally black Asian hair without looking crazy and fake.
I’m really lazy about skincare because I need to wake up early for work so I don’t get to have a super elaborate routine. I work in Melaka, where it’s really hot and makes me prone to breakouts so to counter that I use the Missha Rejuvenating Essence. I heard it’s good for problematic skin. I moisturise with Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum, which I originally got in Korea because my cousin recommended it to me. She said it’s better than anything in Sephora, and she’s right. If you go to Innisfree right now they have this as the HG, it’s the bestseller.
Korea is the best for skincare actually, especially Missha. Besides the Rejuvenating Essence, I also use the Missha Time Revolution First Treatment Essence and their Ampoule. You have to be openminded when it comes to Korean skincare because there’s so much product and you might think it won’t work but it will. Like the First Treatment Essence just looks like water but it is actually magic on your skin and will make it look so glowy and fresh. I like it because it’s hydrating yet is light enough that it doesn’t make my makeup go all cakey which is so important to me since I have to wear makeup for work. When you’re in PR you just can’t not wear makeup to work, in fact one time I skipped makeup and my boss said I looked like I was going to the pasar. How embarrassing!
MY LIPSTICK STAIN 