When I first started working on my makeup application skills years ago, I would just sit in front of the mirror and play around with my makeup to see what I could create while working on the skills I wanted to focus on. I wanted to get better at apply makeup, but I didn’t bother watching many Youtube videos or checking other resources because I thought that the tips wouldn’t work because of how my disability affects my hands. I know now that was the wrong approach to take. The tips that I learn from other influencers these days can either be adapted to work for me or inspire me to try something that does work. I just finished Michelle Phan’s book full of beauty, fashion, and general life tips, so today I’m sharing a few of my favorites, especially the beauty tips I’ve learned.
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Beauty Tips
A Beauty Go Bag: This was the first makeup tip I read and immediately thought “why wasn’t I already doing this?” I mean sure if you’re into beauty, you’re carrying around at least an extra tube of lipstick among many other things, if you’re not, you have hand sanitizer especially now. I even carry an extra pair of earrings so I can change them if one gets lost, something that happened to me often, but I never thought to pack a mini makeup bag as well as some essentials like a first aid kit as she suggested. I’ve already started putting mine together and it’s actually been a lot of fun.
Clip-in Hair Pieces: Okay, I knew these existed, but I never thought about trying them until recently. I’m planning on getting a few to match my natural hair color and a few on different colors just for fun. I might even test what a certain color would look like as a highlight or try an ombre look. This is one of my favorite tips in the book because it’s so simple and easy to do and you know I love anything that makes my life easier. The simple fact is, Michelle has a simple easy approach to her tips, sure I might need a little help actually completing the task, but it would be easy for someone to help me with this. I’m excited to play around with colors and other clip-ins may give me more hairstyle options that I can do on my own.
Nail Stickers: This was actually a new tip for me and it just might be my favorite of all the beauty tips I learned, once I get the chance to try it that is. I didn’t know that nail stickers were a thing so I’m really excited to try these. I can paint my nails pretty well, but doing any kind of design is out of the question, is that just me? For this reason, I want to give these a try, I’m open to needing help with them obviously, but I’m hoping I don’t so I can get my nails whenever I want and try more things when it comes to my nail looks.
Fashion Tips
Glasses for Your Face Shape: Sunglasses are always a struggle for me to buy because I just never liked how they looked on my face. It was actually rare for me to find a pair of sunglasses that I loved so I’m looking forward to buying a few new ones and seeing if that is a thing of the past for me.
Closet Organization: I like to organize my closet by color, that way whichever color I want to wear has a few options if I need to be quick and choose a monochromatic look. There are other times when I have time mix and match colors and it also helps if I need to have someone help me pick out the clothes. I thought it was a pretty good system, until I read this book and picked up a few tips specifically for storing my accessories and shoes.
I could go into more detail about the tips in this book, but I won’t because then there would be no need for you too read it. Michelle’s book is just my latest read, by an influencer and like the others it is a book I’d recommend especially if you are interested in taking better care of your skin, makeup or fashion.
Although a good portion of this book covers beauty and fashion tips, Michelle also shares some valuable tips as you can use in your career and in life. She writes about ways to discover what career path you want to take through networking and informational interviews. I wholeheartedly agree with this because my informational interview ended up leading to an internship opportunity. Michelle also writes about volunteering opportunities as a way of getting more experience on your resume. Before reading this book, I have to say I knew volunteering was important to help a specific cause and it gives you something to do with extra time you have but reading this book makes me look at it a little differently. Experience doesn’t have to be an internship or paid position to teach you skills you’ll use in aspects of your career.
It’s nice to have a paid position obviously because we all want to make money and be financially secure, but don’t push aside an opportunity simply because it may not be a paid one. This is something I wish I learned earlier in life. I can honestly say I wasn’t prepared how my disability was going to affect my professional life, but I know now that like any other aspect of life, I can get where I want to go, I may just need to take a few extra steps.
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I loved reading the book and I’m definitely planning on trying out some of the tips she mentioned in this book especially since I have more at home. A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of my biggest mistakes when I first started blogging, if I were to add anything to that list it would be to learn from other influencers, not only with the blogging but other aspects too. Some of the tips in this book I already knew and apply to my own life, but there were other things I was unaware of or didn’t even think to try, like nail stickers, I can’t wait to start playing with those and creating new looks on my fingers.
Learning from other influencers is a great way to get inspired and get a new perspective on something. From makeup and fashion tips to general life experience, there is something that we can learn. Furthermore, it doesn’t have to be an influencer, we all have experiences that have taught life lessons that we can share and help each other accomplish goals, from having an informational interview with someone who has your dream job to to teaching someone more about your disability regardless of how old you or the other person is, we all have things we can learn.
