'My name is Sarah Frank [@sarahlovsmakeup], and I am a third-year law student in Washington, D.C. When I’m not focused on clients for my school’s intellectual property law clinic, I write about my favorite beauty products on Sarah Loves Makeup. My mom was a hairdresser, so I think a deep love for all things beauty is in my genes.
As a teenager I had pretty terrible skin. I'd wear full-coverage foundation all day, every day because of it—until I realized that it’s OK to let your skin show in all its imperfect glory. This past year I tried several different formulas, with Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation and Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Éclat Illuminating Foundation SPF 19 being at the top. However, now my approach to foundation is more about evening out tone and using foundation only as a spot concealer—thanks to the brilliant Lisa Eldridge. For the past few months I’ve been using Glossier’s Perfecting Skin Tint in Light, which I apply with my hands, and then to conceal underneath my eyes and blemishes, I take L’Oréal's True Match Super-Blendable Concealer. I have never received so many compliments about my skin online or in-person since I started using this power duo. I love the dewy look, but to control shine around my T-zone, the best and most affordable powder is Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder.
As simple as I go everywhere else, I love to play up my eyes. I always do them first since it’s easier in that you avoid having to clean up any shadow fall-out or need to reapply concealer and whatnot. I have oily skin and eyelids, so I always, always use Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion. For daytime, I’ll sweep a neutral shadow onto my lids using a Mac 217 brush—my favorites are Le Métier de Beauté’s True Color Eye Shadow in Jojo, the shades Naked and Toasted from the Urban Decay Naked Palette, and the champagne-colored shade from the Charlotte Tilbury Luxury Palette Color Coded Eye Shadow in The Dolce Vita. My favorite way to transition my look into night is to take the russet shade from The Dolce Vita palette, blend that well into the crease, and then tap a bit of the glitter shade onto the center of my lids. I wear eyeliner on my upper-lash line most days because I love how it frames and opens up my eyes.
If I’m in a rush, I’ll roughly draw a line with MAC A Novel Romance Fluidline Eye Pencil in Black Brilliance and then blend it out with a finger. If I have a bit more time, I’ll use Kat Von D’s Tattoo Liner in Trooper— it doesn’t budge. A great alternative to the Tattoo Liner the L’Oréal Infallible The Super Slim Liquid Eyeliner, which has a really fine felt-tip that makes drawing wings really easy. I’ll then curl my eyelashes with a Sephora Collection Eyelash Curler and apply Maybelline Full 'N Soft Mascara. One trick and extra step that I do every day is warm my eyelash curler up with my blow dryer before I curl my lashes. I’ll curl them once before mascara and once more after I have applied mascara. This is a little taboo, but nothing works quite like this to create a seriously long-lasting curl.
I could go on for days about cheek and lip colors. For fall and winter I like a more natural cheek color, and both Charlotte Tilbury’s 'Cheek to Chic' Swish and Pop Blush in First Love and MAC Mineralize Blush in Dainty have been staples in my makeup bag. During the spring and summer I can’t get enough of peachy-corals, so Nars Blush in Deep Throat, NYX Powder Blush in Summer Peach, and Le Metier de Beauté Creme Fresh Tint in Coral Nymph are my top picks. For bronzer I use either Charlotte Tilbury’s Filmstar Bronze and Glow Face Sculpt and Highlight or Jouer Mattifying Powder Bronzer in Sunswept mainly to sweep onto my cheeks and temples rather than to contour.
One cannot have too many pinky-nude lipsticks, am I right? Natural lip colors and I have had a love affair for quite some time, and I get so much use out of Tom Ford Lip Color in Pink Dusk, MAC Lipstick in Patisserie, Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Lipstick in Bitch Perfect, and a custom lipstick I had made at the Bite Beauty Lip Lab in New York, which is a beauty lover’s dream-come-true. However, I've been experimenting with shades of a bolder variety recently, and Nars Audacious Lipstick in Liv paired with MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth looks incredible with just a little bit of blush and mascara. Lip gloss, the first in many budding beauty addicts' collection, is still my one true love though. My all-time favorites are the NYX Butter Glosses, Chantecaille Brilliant Gloss in Lucky, Marc Jacobs Beauty Lust For Lacquer Lip Vinyl in Kissability, and Tom Ford's Ultra Shine Lip Gloss in Rose Crush.
Before college, my parents took me to a dermatologist so that I could feel more confident going to a school where I knew no one. A container of prescription pills and a few creams later, I thought I was going to walk onto campus with clearer-than-clear skin. A month into my freshman year, however, I began noticing tiny spots that eventually covered my face. When I returned to the dermatologist he said something like, 'it can get worse before it gets better.' Rather than listening to his advice, I stopped taking the pills, stopped applying the cream, and started washing my face with Proactiv. It was only a little while after that my skin started to clear up. This is why I am always so shocked when people say I have nice skin—I’ve had strangers come up to me to ask me what I use and I still think, 'Wait, is she talking to me?''
—as told to ITG
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