Makeup Masterclass No. 1

our Resident Makeup Artist reveals 12 tricks

Welcome readers, old and new!

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Not long ago, my lovely daughter-in-law sent me a video of my granddaughter, M, and her father in conversation. M, still in pajamas, sits on the floor; the back of her head is all I can see, her fine dark hair still disarranged from sleep. My son is on the couch above her. Slats of morning light stain the wall behind him. M opens a tube and holds it up for her father to see.

“Eyeliner?” he asks. “Is that what that is?”

M mimics moving the wand back and forth in front of her eyes. “Mmmm, like this,” she says, handing him the wand.

Her father takes it. “Do I put it here?” he asks, positioning it near his brows. “Or on my eyelashes?”

“I think… eyelashes,” M says tentatively.

“So it’s like eyelash thickener?”

“Um, yeah,” she says, her head down, maybe not quite sure.

My son pretends to thicken his eyelashes and then returns the wand. “There you go,” he says. “Thank you!”

There are so many things I love about this exchange. A small girl giving her father a makeup lesson (the makeup isn’t real). And importantly, he is there to learn from her. Also, this vignette gives me an opportunity to recommend a TV show I’m completely in love with: It’s called Sort Of, and it’s so big and open-hearted and gorgeously acted that I find myself tearing up with nearly every episode. There is makeup involved, though not quite in the way you might expect.

Speaking of which, about a month ago I received a spate of reader questions about makeup application, a couple of which are addressed below.

The beauty Q&A in this post is available only to paid subscribers. For full access to all posts—and if you value reader-supported work—please become a paid subscriber at the current rate of $40/year. If you can’t afford a subscription, email me at valeriemonroe.substack.com and I’ll comp you one, no questions asked. 🙏🏻