Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: EQUIPMENT

    Hello, I'm Giselle Cruz and I decided to pick a makeup book because I love doing makeup but I never learned the proper way to put it on my face, half of the time I'm doing what I think works and experimenting. Sometimes I struggle with finding the right products to use on my face and how to use them. In the book Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual, it goes over various tips helpful to beginners to professionals. It helps you with tips for your skin, face, eyes, etc. I'm excited to see what I can improve on and learn to further my understanding on makeup.


MAKEUP KITS: This chapter goes over the importance of organization and how it sets you up to be successful later on when doing your makeup. It also talks about the basic makeup you need and the right brushes to use based on your needs.



"Being well organized is essential. Whether you're a minimalist whose makeup kit holds more than lipstick and powder or a working makeup artist who routinely totes around a complete collection of cosmetics, it takes a plan" (Brown 10). 



HOME MAKEUP: 

         You should always have your makeup neatly organized, it should never be thrown and left around in random places, this could cause your makeup to build up bacteria which is horrible to put on your face after. Personally, I like to keep my makeup on my small vanity/desk. "Organize your makeup either in your bathroom drawer, on top of the counter, or in a box. Keep basics and items used only occasionally separate" (Brown 10).  From my experience, I tend to make a mess every time i finish doing my makeup and leave it all over my desk so I will definitely use these tips on organization. Here i cleared my desk so I could start fresh and use these tips.

Here is a picture of my makeup organized. Products that I use often (left) and the products that aren't used as frequently (right). 

                                                                                                           

   

  BASICS/MAKEUP CARE

As Bobbi Brown states the basic makeup products include concealers/corrector, foundation, powder (two colors), eye shadow (three to four basic colors), eyeliner, mascara, blush, and lipstick/lip gloss. (10). In this picture I pulled out my basics to put on one side of my desk, because this is the makeup I use most often. This will help me reach them easier rather than leaving them wherever. You also want to make sure you don't keep makeup for too long! They have expiration dates. "Liquid/cream foundation (2 years), concealer (2 years), mascara (6 months), lipstick (12-18 months), eye shadow (2 years), and powder blush (2 years)" (Brown 20). Make sure to check your makeup often and throw out your old makeup, it could be harmful for your face and cause breakouts. 

ESSENTIAL TOOLS

        Brushes are essential to getting amazing and unique makeup tutorials. There are different brushes used for different makeup techniques. Most brushes that come with makeup compacts or kits are too small or they don't work efficiently to create various makeup looks. I personally like to shop for synthetic brushes as pictured because they tend to give me more control since they are more stiff. In this book there is also a tip to use your fingers because nothing beats the warmth to create an easier blending application (15). 

Do you think keeping makeup for longer time than the expiration date is okay? Do you tend to keep everything in order and organized or do you just leave everything wherever and don't care to keep everything in order?

Bobbie, Brown. Bobbi Brown Makeup Manual: for everyone from beginner to pro. Springboard Press, 2011.

The Frugal Gourmet: Cheese and Tomato Omelet

I've always loved seeing people cook; any given Saturday morning my mom is usually chopping onions with ease and turning a few simple ingredients into a masterpiece. Food is a personal thing. Recipes reflect a person's taste. I, myself, am not very talented in the kitchen. Baking is more my forte; but this time, I decided to step out of my comfort zone.

I decided to turn to Jeff Smith's book, The Frugal Gourmet, to help me become better at cooking for myself. Today, I attempted Smith's cheese and tomato omelet.

For breakfast, I tend to turn to cereal. This time I decided to put a spin on eggs, something that I could eat as an alternative for breakfast. Jeff Smith offers his own method to make a basic omelet, and mentions, "Never use milk in the egg mixture. Use only water. Milk makes your omelet watery since it will not blend with the eggs. Water blends and keeps the omelet high" (Smith 106). This technique was foreign to me; I'm accustomed to seeing omelets made with milk. When I did add the water into the mixture, it was more thick than I'm accustomed to seeing. It kept the eggs smoothly together rather than separating apart.

Whipping the eggs

Heating up the pan

I then heated up the pan with oil and butter. Cooking the eggs wasn't challenging, but getting the uncooked egg to drip down the sides and cook was hard. Instead, I flipped the omelet over.  It was fluffy and rose as mentioned, the kind of omelet you usually want. I think the fluffiness is on account of Smith's technique, which mentions to skip mixing salt into the omelet mixture and instead adding salt when the egg is cooked to prevent hard eggs (Smith 106).  When I have made eggs in the past, I made this accident.  They turned out to be rubbery if not eaten freshly cooked. Eggs should be fluffy!

Overall, the recipe consisted of making a basic omelet and adding the cottage cheese, sauce, and then Parmesan. This recipe isn't for a grab'n'go breakfast. It's for days when you have a little extra time. I did like the combination of familiar flavors; cheese and tomato are versatile ingredients that you can whip up into any meal. Overall, this recipe is a nice shake up if you want to try something new for breakfast! It reminds me a lot of spaghetti because of the sauce inside, but it also is creamy because of the cottage cheese and Parmesan.

Finished product-some sauce spilled over

Which dish for breakfast have you made that requires a little bit more prep time? Is a meal for breakfast you would never attempt to make?


















Smith, Jeff. “The Classic Omelet.” The Frugal Gourmet, Ballantine Books, 1984, pp. 105–108.