If You Ever Wanted to See What I Look Like Without My Makeup, Today is Your Lucky Day

Makeup has become my new hobby... okay, OBSESSION. I spend a totally unreasonable and unjustifiable amount of time watching YouTube tutorials and drooling over the latest Ulta mailer. I can't help myself; it's so much fun. I think my recent obsession has paid off because I look better and feel better than I have in a long time. Want proof? Check out these pics of me before and after my makeup routine.

Please allow me to gather all my courage before I share my bare face with like, the entire world. Drumroll please, because here I am in all my fresh-faced glory.

Like, NO MAKEUP. Age spots, eye circles, and all. I don't mean to sound overly negative here. I still rock it no matter how I look. I come in to work ALL THE TIME without makeup. I go to the store without makeup. I know the Official Southern Ladies Society just clasped their pearls and let out a collective dainty shriek following that admission, but whatever. It's my face, and I do what I want. I love it without makeup.

But I also love it with makeup. I was attempting to explain my makeup obsession/addiction to a friend the other day; I told her that I never feel like I HAVE to wear makeup. I don't buy in to the idea that growing older means I'm no longer beautiful or that having under eye circles makes me a hag. I look fabulous, and my makeup routine just makes me look even fabulouser... like that's a word. ANYWAY. Here's a side by-side comparison.

I like playing around with makeup. It's fun. I like using different colors and products to suit my mood. I understand why professionals are called "makeup artists" now--there really is an art to choosing and using the right products and colors. Here's a list of the products I used to create my look:

• Benefit PORE-Fessional
• NYX Cosmetics Studio Perfect Primer (Clear)
• Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion
• Maybelline Corrector Concealer (Yellow)
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer
• Clinique Stay Matte Oil Free Foundation
• Ulta Minerals Bronzer
• Benefit Dandelion Face Brightening Powder
• Benefit Girl Meets Pearl 
• Urban Decay Naked3 Eyeshadow Palette (I used Dust, Buzz, and Factory)
•  Benefit They're Real! Mascara
• Smashbox Limitless Lipstain  (Berry)

Here's a few more pics of me. I took like eight hundred for this post. I wanted to look GOOD.

For some reason, I decided to reorganize all my (as my husband calls it) "lip stuff." The photo below is what I carry in my purse or the chapsticks/balms I keep on my nightstand. I think it's safe to say, HI, MY NAME IS MEG, AND I HAVE A PROBLEM.