Hello everyone!!
Wow my first blog post! Gimme a second to take that in… ahhhh… first blog post butterflies!
It feels amazing to finally get all my ideas out there and slowly see my dream and vision come to life (cheesy but true!)
I’ve loved make up for as long as I remember and according to my journal that I kept in 5th grade, I’ve been swatching makeup since August 19th 2000! 🙂
One day a few months ago, I was feeling discouraged about starting this blog and started doubting myself and wondering why anyone in their right mind would be interested in anything I have to say about makeup.
And then right in the middle of throwing myself a pity party, I randomly came across my old red notebook that I used as a journal in 5th grade and found this entry I wrote talking about how I wanted to wear makeup to my mom’s reunion that my family and I were attending that night. And in the margins of my notebook, I smeared or “swatched” my mom’s make up that I wanted to wear!
This was exactly what I needed to keep me going and developing my blog. All I needed was the image of my 11 year old self “swatching” my mom’s lipstick and “eye-stuff” in my little red notebook to remind me that writing and makeup have always been a huge passion of mine. If there was ever a sign in my life showing me to just go and do something, regardless of my fears and doubts, this was it! (Thank you 11 year old Alyssa for the encouragement 😉 !)
This blog combines a lot of things that I love into one little package:
Makeup+writing+colors+family+friends+creativity+connecting with people who love the same things I do!
These last few months I’ve been researching universal makeup shades and how cosmetic companies are embracing diversity in their customers. I’ve been non-stop swatching makeup on myself and people around me and comparing how they look. Overall, this blog and my dream of coming up with a solution to provide the most accurate and genuine depiction of a makeup shade and perfecting the effectiveness of a swatch has seriously all I’ve been thinking about. For more info about Beyond the Swatch and what I plan to write in this blog, check out my about me page!
In the early stages of developing Beyond the Swatch, I sent out a survey to friends and family members asking them about their make up preferences. Here is a breakdown of my answers to give you all a little insight on my makeup preferences!
How often do you wear makeup? I wear makeup almost every day. I try to have at least one day in the week where I wear zero makeup to let my face breathe a little.
Here’s an aerial view of the makeup I currently use on the daily:
How would you describe your skin tone? Medium/tan during fall/winter/spring and medium/dark during the summer
What is your current foundation? Loreal Lumi True Match Foundation in W6: Sand Beige
What struggles have you had finding a shade that looks good with your skin tone? Most bronzers that come in limited number of shades usually don’t work well with my skin tone because it just blends in. It took a while to find a bronzer in the right shade to contour with.
Cool toned eye shadows and blushes are hard to make work with my skin as well.
Name a few celebrities who are beauty inspirations for you: Jennifer Lopez, Ayesha Curry, Kardashians, Shay Mitchell (and realistically all of the pretty little liars), just to name a few! There’s too many to list.
Name your favorite beauty bloggers: Kathleen Lights, Jaclyn Hill, Temptalia, Jackie Riley, Patrick Starr, Jeffree Star….Ok this is impossible to list all my favorites because they’re all amazing and this list grows every single day. I love all of you!!
Favorite go to colors/shades that I believe work well with my skin-tone:
Eye shadow: Golds, neutrals, peach/coral tones, any shade of brown, anything with a hint of burgundy/auburn. I’m also a sucker for anything with glitter
Lips: Nudes, subtle rose pinks, deep burgundy or reds with a purple undertone.
Blush: Medium dark pinks with a coral undertone. Like Nars Orgasm and NYX
Thank you for being here and taking the time to get to know me and my makeup preferences a little better! Now that you’ve learned a little about me, I’d like to hear from you!!
What shades of makeup do you think work best with your skin tone? What struggles have you had finding a shade to work with your skin tone? Comment below! I’d love to hear your answers 🙂
If you have a beauty blog, please leave your URL in the comments below so that I can follow you!
Love,
Aly Mae