Beauty Blogger/Vlogger Dictionary

As promised in My Favorite Beauty YouTubers and Bloggers post, I’ve catalogued a few beauty terms that were a bit confounding to me the first time I ran across them.  I may still be a bit confounded so feel free to correct me if I got some of these wrong.  Note: I credit Cari’s Beauty Frenzies blog and Anna Bankester’s Bee Beauty blog with my first exposure to several of these terms.

Haul – acquisitions from latest shopping spree and a word most beauty/fashion bloggers use often in the title of their videos and blog posts.  In most of said posts, the subject seems to limit shopping to either one brand or store.

Tape – something you use to protect your under eyes from eye shadow during application to lids.  Also a great excuse to buy a pretty dispenser for your vanity.  Honestly, I have to admit I’ve taken to practicing this method of eye makeup application and it’s growing on me.  Although, it has been known to freak my sons out if they wonder into my closet during makeup application.

Contour – powder or stick popularized by celebrities like Kim Kardashian that is slightly darker or lighter than your skin color and  used to create a more chiseled look (or for me to simulate cheekbones and a narrower nose – thinking of all the money and time I could have saved had I gotten that nose job my father tried to talk me into at 16.)

Highlighter – Part of a contouring palette , highlighter is a powder or stick with lighter color than your skin used to make part of your face more prominent such as the top of your cheek bone or in my case my chin which recedes.

Surface tone color – Per Perrie Samotin, “the skin color you’d describe yourself as having (ivory, light, medium, tan, dark, etc.).”

Undertone color – Again per Perrie Samotin “Your skin’s undertone is the color underneath the surface. You can have the same skin color as someone, but a different undertone, which are broken down like this: cool, warm or neutral.”  (Click here to read her post about determining which undertone color you have.  I read it and am still clueless, but please don’t let that deter you.)

Palette – powder or cream makeup set in a case with multiple colors.  Can apply to eye shadow, blush, contour, lip colors and probably something else I’m unaware of.

Subs – subscribers to your blog, YouTube channel, or other social media site and something I need more of so please don’t be shy about hitting the “Follow” button for this blog or the “Subscribe button” on my YouTube channel.  Not to be confused with term from recent “50 Shades” book/movie series.  (Yes, I admit I read them… along with the “Twilight” series and once upon a time the “Flowers in the Attic” series.)

Lip scrub – a grainy substance used to scrub chapped lips that gets rid of the excess skin.  Some recipes include sugar, but if I used enough of those to cure my lips, I’d have diabetic blood sugar levels inside of a day.

MAC Pro Card – something I don’t have, and seems to be controversial among beauty bloggers who either do or do not prefer it to a Sephora VIP card.

Sephora VIP card – something I do have, but haven’t quite figured out how to use to the best advantage.

Pigment/ pigmented – makeup product that is not a neutral, but colorful instead such as blue, purple, pink, yellow, orange, red, or green eye shadow.  Silly me, I thought anything not white or clear had pigment…

Mineral makeup – mineral based makeup and skincare products which many beauty professionals claim are better for acne prone skin since they are natural and not chemically based.  I’m always a little confused by this statement since pretty much everything that exists (including our skin) is made up of chemicals of one form or fashion.  After all, H20 (water) is a chemical.  Feel free to educate me with a comment on this point.

Pan – the metal holding your powder makeup.  Beauty bloggers refer to using a color so much, they see the bottom of the pan as an unusual occurrence since they tend to own copious amounts of makeup.  On the other hand, for me this is a regular occurrence.

Closet edit – (actually a fashion term, but what the heck) donating or trashing part of your wardrobe which is either hopelessly out of fashion, doesn’t fit you properly, is worn-out, or inappropriate for your age. Usually on the recommendation of a personal stylist (see What to Expect When Hiring a Personal Stylist post for more information).  Per my younger cousins, most of the contents of my closet meet this definition.  I did learn that much of the makeup I had accumulated over the years needed to be edited because apparently it becomes a breeding ground for germs after its expiration date.  Yikes!

Color corrector – makeup products (usually a cream, liquid or powder) that compensate for dark shadows, yellow tones, or redness which interfere with a flawless looking skin (like Beyonce’s).  For more scoop on color correcting, check out this post on Cosmopolitan.

Please feel free to recommend additions to this post in the comments – if I can think of a way to add silly commentary about them or use them to make fun of myself, I’ll add the term in the main post after.  Just kidding, I’m happy to add beauty terms which are legitimately baffling to the fashion challenged or newbies.  And once again, if I messed one of these definitions up, that feedback would also be helpful and welcomed (as long as you make a minimal effort at diplomacy).  Makeup brush selection and care post coming soon along with personal stylist selection announcement.