When it comes to makeup, my daily routine is about as simple as it gets- tinted moisturizer, concealer for spot coverage, a little loose powder and a swipe of black mascara.  If I’m feeling really crazy, I’ll pull out some brown eyeliner and a little bronze shadow for a night out.

A little blurry evidence:

That was New Year’s.  ;-)

I know I’m going to want a more polished look for our wedding, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try out a more grown up look now that I’m officially in my mid-twenties.  So I hit up the Bobbi Brown counter at Nordstrom for my first-ever makeup consultation!

My mom started selling Mary Kay about the time I started wearing makeup, and I’m a big fan of most of their products (and the great discount)!  Unfortunately my mom isn’t a makeup artist, just a fan of the products, and I wanted a full-out makeover.  I chose to try out Bobbi Brown after doing a little research beforehand and finding reviews that their makeup artists did a pretty natural look.  Sounded good to me!

Here’s my ‘before’:

And the ‘after’:

I was totally impressed with Amanda, our consultant.  I went into the experience worried that I’d be talked into a look that wasn’t ‘me’, but Amanda completely listened to what I wanted, and I think the result was something I could definitely pull off for the wedding! She even showed me how to take the look from a formal look to everyday which was nice.

A few thoughts:

- I’m not sure that I liked the eye corrector.  It felt a little heavy/oily, but that may also be due to the fact that she applied it with a brush whereas I’d probably use a finger to spread out the product a bit.

- Bronzer does not have to be sparkly and orange!  I fell in love with the Aruba bronzer and ended up purchasing the product.  It gave my face a nice glow minus the oompa loompa look that comes with a lot of bronzers that I’ve tried.

- Using more makeup doesn’t necessarily make you look more made up.  Up close, I could tell that I was wearing a LOT of eye shadow, but I don’t think it translated into the overall look.  It helped to make my eyes pop in the few pictures I snapped, which is definitely what I want for our wedding pictures!

- Lipstick is not evil.  Confession: I’ve never worn lipstick.  Ever.  Besides the fact that I’m terrified of lipstick rings on glasses, I just preferred my lips to be neutral.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that lipsticks do come in natural shades that just enhance your look rather than turning your lips blood red or barbie doll pink.  Unfortunately the shade I used was sold out but I do plan to purchase it online, before I forget how un-scary it was.

- BB creme is my new favorite thing.  A little more coverage than tinted moisturizer but not as heavy as foundation.  I tried Maybelline’s bb creme with a coupon I pulled from a magazine and it just doesn’t compare.  Bobbi Brown’s version is uhhhh-mazing… minus the price tag.

Have you ever done a makeup counter makeover?  What’s your go-to makeup brand?