Clueless about makeup!

[TheGirlAtTheRockShow]

First time posting over here - I've never been very stylish, just go with whats comfy and I like. I've never been much of a wearer of makeup, neither is my mum or anyone else in my family.
However, I keep getting told how tired I look (hardly surprising with an 8 month old) and I'm getting sick of it. I want to cover up the dark circles and bags but don't know where to start!
What are your essential items for make up? Obviously I'll go try stuff out to get tones right, but if I can have a clue as to what I'm looking for that would be great!
TIA

I sympathise, I have dark circles too and sometimes get asked if I'm ill when I don't wear make up .

Drinking lots of water helps mine, and do you use an eye serum? They really help.

Makeup wise what you need is a highlighting concealer for around the eyes, possibly a BB cream or foundation (I don't use either regularly as my skin is ok except the dark circles) and a powder. And mascara to open your eyes a bit, and some blusher to give you colour. I've tried various high street brands of concealer and all work ok, still looking for my holy grail so will watch for recommendations.

Every day makeup I have -

E.L.F concealer palette (comes with 4 different shades so you can change as your skin tone changes)

No. 7 perfect finish foundation (i get their colour match every time and its brill)

No. 7 pressed powder.

Laura Geller blush in baked apple.

Dior mascara

E.L.F eyebrow palette :)

the concealer i find great for the undereye shadows, suffer from roseacea so hate not wearing a foundation, but have found in summer body shop BB cream is amazing :) powder as i don't like a shine. and have tried soooo many mascaras but always go back to the Dior one! :)

Starting out from having little or no knowledge must be daunting; I think you should stick to drugstore brands for the time being, play around which what formulas and applications you like and see how it goes from there.

For undereye bags this correcting concealer from w7 is very good- make sure you get the yellow! And for £2.50, can’t beat it.

A light base like this L’’Oreal BB cream could be a good place to start with foundation, you don’t need to worry about looking cakey or not getting a precise shade match. This stuff provides fairly decent coverage considering how light it is.

Blusher is important to avoid looking like a corpse. Something like this from seventeen might be good- it’s like a little stampy sponge so relatively easy to apply. Just don’t apply too much in one go or you’ll look like Aunt Sally- that advice applies to any blush.

A little touch of eyebrow definition could also be useful, especially if you’re fair of brow. This could be useful, apply with a light hand.

The good thing about all of these is that you don’t need brushes to apply them; use your fingers to start off with and see how you get on.

use of the old 'did you mean to be so rude' would be cheaper than all this!

if makeup makes YOU feel better, fine. But unless applied with a trowel it won't hide anything. And people without blusher do NOT look like corpses.

If it's just dark circles that are getting you down try Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. It's cheap but it knocks much more expensive concealers into a cocked hat.

Thanks for all the advice? Keep it coming :-)
specialsubject I could do that, but it gets me down anyway. I also work with the public so I'd be saying it more than 10 times a day!

If you are not used to much make-up, then a tinted moisturiser could work for you. I don't really rate BB creams, I think they look too cakey.

Wee bit of mascara to brighten your eyes, and shaped eyebrows. Some natural looking lipstick too.

I look better if I wear:-

• undereye concealor (last one was Maybelline)
• foundation - again I think Wake Me Up Rimmel
• Mascara - Rimmel I think
• blusher - cream from MAC
• lipstick - any colour which suits - I like Cosmo and Syrup from MAC very much Your Lips But Better.

Add bronzer in summer with tan or if olive skinned.

• eyeliner also can look nice - navy/grey or other.

Also what can be nice is coloured mascara eg plum or purple for I think green eyes and navy for blue eyes.

Don't shy away from eye shadow for day or brighter lipsticks.

Would really help you to see a MUA (makeup artist) in say Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier. BB don't make you buy stuff though, I think.

As you can see from my name I'm permanently tired also as I have a 2.5yr old who has never slept

Make up is my "thing" and I often get told I look radiant, even though underneath it I look tired and old!

Here's a few things that help me...

I apply Becca Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector in moonstone under my foundation all over my face.
I'm NC35 in Mac as am normally tanned but use a cream concealer under my eyes (in a large triangle shape from outer eyes to nostril back up to inner eyes) in a much lighter shade, atm I'm using Nars Creamy Radiant Concealer in Custard or Vanilla. Then before blending I apply some brush strokes of Mac Prep and Prim Highlighting Pen in Light Boost straight on top of the concealer to reflect the light. I blend it all in together using a damp beauty blender and as soon as I've finished blending I use the same beauty blender to apply a translucent loose powder. It's important to apply the powder straight away as it helps avoid creasing into fine lines under the eyes.

Then I use at least two different colour blushes. And finish my base with a light dusting of Mac Minerlize Skin Finish in Dark Golden (quite light) for a subtle glow.

I do spend a lot on my base but then all I apply to my eyes is mascara and only Vaseline to my lips as I don't like to look heavily made up, but enjoy looking fresh and glowing

I was clueless until recently
watch Lisa Eldridge (on recommendation of Mumsnet) youtube channel and
Matthew Goss.
Sleek makeup is great, No7 do a fab skin matching routine.
Boots Seventeen Perk & Paint is brill for the pink crayon you use for brightening around eyes.
Hope this helps, we've all been there once.

I'm not a wearer of makeup until recently where I was getting told how pale and tired I looked...thanks! I don't like foundation but I did buy Maybelline new baby skin instant fatigue blur and miss sporty cream blush for cheek colour, with a little eye liner and mascara I've been told how radiant I look (not sure it's true but a compliment is a compliment!).

Thanks everyone!
I'll be going down to boots to get searching tomorrow.