By ASHLEY STREHL
Feature Editor
Beauty may have an age, but makeup does not. The amazing thing about makeup is that anyone, anywhere, no matter how young or old, boy or girl, has every right to use makeup.
No one does their makeup the exact same way, and that’s why it gives people the chance to express themselves. Makeup trends have changed through the centuries, some are still held, and some have been forgotten.
Different cultures have certain makeup trends, and most countries adopt each other’s makeup trends. Makeup is the paint, and people are the artist, and throught out the years the artists come up with new techniques and share them with others.
Eyebrows are the strip of hair above our eyes that can express how we are feeling, for example, when we are asking a question, one eyebrow raises higher while the other goes lower. Without even asking anything you can tell when someone is puzzled just by the way their eyebrows are formed.
And that’s why for decades people have had their own ways and trends of doing their eyebrows, all different, thin, thick, or feathery. In 2017 ‘feathered eyebrows’ took the makeup world by storm, some people thought they looked ridiculous, or they were just a joke.
Lexi Brixey is a cosmetologist student at the salon professional academy in Colorado Springs, CO. “I think they are awful, I don’t understand why people would take their time to do that, like you might as well not do your brows”, Brixey said. “I was hoping someone was messing around and posted them and people thought they were serious.”
Many makeup brands sell eyebrow color so that people can fill them in and improve the shape. Now-a-days makeup lovers with shape their eye brows to be big, thick, and bold, “I think the way people do their eyebrows are good to a limit”, Brixey said.
“I feel like people don’t customize their brows to fit themselves, not everyone should do the same ‘on fleek’ look that everyone else is doing. Their face shape, and skin tone, should all be taken into consideration when doing their eyebrows. Everyone’s faces are different and so should their brows be.”
Some makeup brands are more expensive than others, there’s brands sold at Wal-Mart that run on the “cheap side” vs. brands sold at nation-known stores like Ulta Beauty or Sephora. The difference is the price, of course, and the quality of the makeup.
Anastasia Beverly Hills is a famous makeup brand that sells everything on the spectrum. The palettes go for $40+ and have made their way across the nation this past year. Why, because famous beauty gurus use them therefore making them a trend.
Most beauty gurus and artists will use the brands sold at the expensive stores, but some drug store brands makeup can work just as well. There are individual makeup sellers that sell brands like Avon, and Mary Kay makeup.
Meghan Ashpaugh is a Mary Kay beauty consultant. “To become a consultant you have to purchase a starter kit and place a order of a minimum of $225”, Ashpaugh said.
When comparing more expensive brands to Mary Kay, there are benefits on both sides, “Before I started using Mary Kay my face broke out in reaction to other makeup brands, when I started using Mary Kay it cleared my face up and the price was much more affordable.”
So what is it that’s making the more expensive brands more trendy? It’s the famous publicity. For example: If Lebron James wears a certain pair of Nike shoes, people are more likely to buy that brand of shoe because Lebron James wore them.
So if world known runway model Gigi Hadid is wearing “Urban- Decay all nighter” foundation, makeup lovers will be sure to buy it no matter the price.
“I don’t prefer the other brands. To me they aren’t worth all the hype,” said the young makeup saleswoman.
“Buying from a Mary Kay consultant you aren’t putting your money into a big corporation. You are helping someone pay their bills and provide for their family.”
Ashpaugh said that her number one reason for joining is that “Mary Kay believes that you should put God first, family second, and career third.”
All millennial makeup lovers can remember a time when they could buy makeup right next to their favorite Barbie. For most makeup lovers they got off to a rocky start, without knowing what colors work best for them or how to even apply them, not everyone looked like a professional.
Lexie Williams of Lawton, Oklahoma has been a beauty guru since middle school, “I started when I was 10 years old, but got really into it when I was 16.”
Williams said, “I guess I started watching a lot of YouTube videos, and that’s what inspired me to work hard at it.”
Makeup lovers love nothing more than when their work is noticed, “I love looking good, and I’m really good at it and I love it when I get acknowledged,” Williams said.
“Cut-crease eye shadow” has been a long running makeup trend for many years. To create this look you must put a dark shade of eye shadow into your eye crease and then use your favorite concealer to create the shape.
Like any hobby, makeup takes time, practice, and patience. “I like doing cut crease makeup but it takes a lot of time and a lot of practice, I failed at least 6 or 7 times before I got it right,” Williams said.
Makeup is not meant to disguise the features of a face, or “cover” any flaws, but rather enhance features.
Karen Rodriguez is a sophomore elementary education major at Northwestern and began using makeup when she was in high school. “I would just put on a little bit of powder, and mascara and eyeliner, and lip gloss,” Rodriguez said.
Contouring has become a trend by famous makeup artists and celebrities. In 2017 Kim Kardashian released her contour and highlight kit to her KKW Beauty makeup line. These crème contour sticks seemed to be like any other but because they were by Kim Kardashian herself, the sales were through the roof.
“I use the Maybelline New York master countor by face studio, I use it because it’s much cheaper than any celebrity brand and it works well for me,” Rodriguez said.
“Drug store products get the job done just as well, you just have to find what works for you and that doesn’t mean you will find it in the KKW Beauty makeup. Makeup is beautiful and everyone should try it,” Said Rodriguez.