Hi All,

This is my first "official" B & A... though I posted a "before" pic on the FOTD once. I took this in natural sunlight in the same spot on my porch.

I was curious to see how much difference make-up can make... I mean I always thought it did, but wasn't sure how much. Now I can really see the difference.

Here's before on a clean, moisturized face— (one cup of coffee!)




Today's colors are Entangle (EL) + Still in Hollywood (Rocks!) on lid with Calliope (EP) to highlight. I toplined with Eggplant (PEM) The blush is a combo of Wildflower (Rocks!) + Kinetic EL Cheek Glisten. I did finish with Metamorphosis powder. The lippy is Smitten EL color creme.




I'm glad I got Entangle! (Thanks Cin!) It is a rich, shiny, happy color!

I am so glad I did this experiment, it was very enlightening to me at least. Thanks to all of you ladies for giving me the courage to post on this forum and for all of the great and creative ideas. I have had so much fun playing! (gush)

-Melissa

You are totally gorgeous! What I wouldn't do for your skin.

I love your before and your after. You are really blessed to not need much makeup at all, but it really enhances all the natural beauty of your features.

And i'll be stealing this look. It should be a FOTD. Smitten looks awesome on you.

Aww. Thanks!

I literally tore open and scraped the inside of my sample baggie of Smitten to get enough of it for these shots. I love that color!! I need to get another one, and I just missed the sale. I am curious about Limbo, too. I just don't know if I can love it as much as Smitten.

I agree that you have great skin, and lots of cute freckles! When I am bare-faced, all my spots are red acne, not cute little freckles

And I love these shimmery neutral eyeshadows on you -- Entangle is one of my favorite neutrals!

PS: We appear to have fairly similar haircuts

Gorgeous! The makeup you've chosen really gives your beautiful skin a great polish, a nice finished look.

You are such a natural beauty! If only I looked that pretty and fresh after just one cup of coffee! I love your choice of colors. They do a great job playing up your features. I agree w/Girl Geek, I am a big fan of your freckles. That's one great thing about AL foundations, they don't completely mask freckles (unless you want them to, of course!). I like to let mine peek through my foundation. That is such a cute top, I really like the color.

You look beautiful, before and after. Just a bit more polished after Your skin is amazing! I really like Entangle on you.

You are lovely before AND after!!!
And I am again green with envy over your perfect skin!

Thanks everybody! You have made me feel better about posting. You all are so beautiful that I felt a bit intimidated. You really are such a supportive group!

Really... I have been through a lot with my skin and I tried my best to take care of it. It hasn't always been the best. The teens and early twenties were not pretty... lots of breakouts. And then there were my three pregnancies in my late twenties and early thirties, that brought new skin challenges with each one.

But one of the biggest blessings that came with the pregnancies, besides my darling children - of course, was changing my skin cleansing routine (I was treating my skin as oily when it is dry and was over-cleansing and not exfoliating.) It was at this time, too, that I switched over to mineral make-up. Dry patches and redness occurred until I added Nocturne to my regimen. I swear by that stuff! I use it at night after my moisturizer sinks in and under my foundation in the daytime. It does give my skin a certain glow.

And the AL foundations are amazing! I was using a different company's brand before AL and thought I had match until I sampled the AL. Even my husband, who normally doesn't notice stuff like that remarked, "Yeah... before your skin looked sorta brown and powdery. Now it blends in."

Now I am having a lot of fun playing with eyeshadow and even blush, which is something I NEVER used to wear. Thanks again!

-Melissa

Entangle looks lovely on you

I love your before and after shots. And like everyone else, I think your freckles are great. Entangle was my first Elemental Lustre. It's such a versatile color. It's great for everyday but just a bit more special. Thanks so much for sharing your photos with us.