Reddit reviews Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge Makeup Blender, Set of 2 Beauty Sponges

Posted this on other account but it got moderated, had a bad word OOPS :(

I'm going to be blunt but it's in your best interests. This may also be long.

I don't think you have a large head as someone else has said, and there is nothing wrong with a square shaped head, it is not exclusively a masculine shape. In fact I see quite soft features when I look at you, which certainly would be improved and amplified with HRT.

The wig - It is very obvious and I would not recommend wearing it out in its current state. Depending on finances, you can do incredible things with hair extensions with just 4 inches of hair, which for most people is about 8-12 months of growth from a buzz cut.

Extensions - Depending on finances, as I said with 4 inches of hair or more you can get incredible extensions from a salon, they know how to make them look great (check reviews for your area though).

A cheaper option is clip in extensions, for a full head I recommend no less than 230 grams including the clips at about a 20" length. These can also be clipped in to very short hair an example video being here. I have only 2" of hair on back and sides and about 6" of hair on the top and using this method I get a flawless finish, I curl the top length of my hair and the extensions so they blend a little easier. This will also depend on your hairline but there are hairstyles you can use with extensions to cover that as well, and they look much more natural.

Makeup - I'm going to be very blunt in saying everything about it is wrong. Wrong shade, wrong tone, wrong finish and application.

Wrong shade - Your makeup is way too dark and it definitely makes you look like you're wearing a mask.
Wrong tone - Though hard to tell with pictures it looks like it is a yellow based foundation, so a warm tone (or cool tone if you go by macs definitions). Your skin to me looks pink based, so cool toned but I would never recommend a cool toned foundation to anyone so you should look for something in neutral tones to be safe.

Finish and application - You have applied it way too thick over your entire face, and the finish is too shiny, it is highlighting on ALL the wrong places to highlight.

How to fix it!!! :D

For beard cover I recommend Maybelline Dark Circles Eraser in probably the shade 'light'. I use this personally myself and it is incredible at covering beard, as it has a slight orange tone that does not require heavy foundation to cover but does neutralize the blue tones in beard shadow. It is a liquid concealer and doesn't look too heavy on the skin. I apply a layer all over with the sponge tip applicator and powder over it before putting foundation on (I will recommend a powder shortly). This product also works great for its original purposes as an under eye concealer :D. You may want to eventually buy a second in the shade 'fair' to give a little under eye highlight.

IF you find this and foundation are not quite enough cover, as I don't on some days where I have especially dark shadow (perfect contrast to my pale skin) I will use the Nyx Dark Circle Concealer in Medium underneath the maybelline concealer just to enhance the orange tones slightly, it is very sheer however and does not provide coverage on its own, it is purely to add more orange tones.

Foundation - I use Loreal True Match and for you I would recommend the shade N2, obviously test this in store to make sure you get the right shade as I am only going off photos.

I would apply this over the powdered beard area with fingers and a dabbing motion, kind of gently slapping your face with two fingers, this gives the best coverage. For the rest of the face I recommend a Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge as this gives a lighter coverage and a nice texture. Once your beard coverage foundation has has a few seconds to set, you can also bounce this over it lightly to adjust the texture in that area.

Powder - I use Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent. For a pressed powder it's quite fine and doesn't add any coverage (less cake), however it will ELIMINATE that shine on your face!

Some additional things you aren't doing as far as I can tell are blush and contouring, I love Nyx Powder Blush in Mocha for blush and Nyx Powder Blush in Taupe for contouring. They are both lightly pigmented making them hard to muck up, the mocha is not overly pink and in-your-face and the taupe is perfect for contouring as it is not orange and is very neutral. You will find 1 million and 1 YouTube tutorials on how to do both of these things properly.

The final thing I can say is you're muting your lips out and making them almost invisible with your foundation, buy some lipstick to fix that, and you can always overdraw the middle of your top and bottom lips slightly with a lip liner, but be sure to go over your whole lip if you do this, you dont want to be left with those lines if your lipstick wears off. :D

I know this is a long post, but if even one bit of information is able to help you, or somebody else it's all worth it. If you have any questions feel free to PM me, I usually check this account once per day :)

You're not ugly, you do look pretty young though.

You have a chip out of your front tooth. Have you spoken to your dentist about getting that fixed?

I like your hair in those photos. I agree that long hair can long a bit weird if it is so thin/fine. I think the length in these photos is good. It's best to keep it straight because it looks like your hair wouldn't hold a curl very well.

You have pretty eyes and I think you can look good with or without glasses, so contacts are up to you. You can always get contacts and just wear them when you feel like it. You don't have to commit full time.

So, make up. For dry skin, it is vitally important that you moisturise your face, then apply a primer, then apply your foundation. I have fairly dry skin and my preferred method of application for foundation is using a Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge. You get it really wet, squeeze the excess water out, pump your foundation onto the sponge and then dab it all over your face evenly. You have pretty decent skin and you are still young so I would recommend a light coverage foundation or even a BB Cream. You can use a concealer or colour corrector to cover any blotches or discolourations you don't like before putting the foundation over it. Your style of eyebrows can be quite difficult to fill in. I'd probably recommend a decent eyebrow pencil in a reasonably light colour. To find the start of your brow, line your pencil up with the outside of your nostril and the inner corner of your eye. To find the peak of the arch, line it up with the outside of your nostril and your pupil while looking straight ahead. To find the end of the brow like up with the nostril and outer corner of your eye. Then gently draw in the shape of the eyebrow and fill it in. I'll see if I can do a rough diagram of what that should look like. I don't know if you are Asian/of Asian heritage, but that type of eyebrow is pretty common for Asian women, so you could try searching on /r/makeupaddiction for Asian eyebrow tutorials to see how other people do them.

Edit: This is roughly what your outline is going to look like, and then you just want to fill it in with a very light hand because you naturally don't have very thick or heavy eyebrows, so you'll want to just gently shade it in.

Are you using your fingers to apply? If so I'd recommend getting a makeup sponge like this, it helped me with flakiness.

Budget Friendly:

• Innisfree No Sebum Powder. If you are oily this stuff is really nice! It has a little bit of a minty smell but it does help with oil control.
  
  
• Real Techniques Sponge. I love this sponge a lot. I have a beauty blender as well but really I can't tell the difference finish wise when I'm using either one. So naturally I love the budget friendly one.
  
  
• Wet N Wild Reserve Your Cabana. I love this! It's called a bronzer but it's definitely a highlighter. I love that with the first layer it's enough to give you that lit from within look but is definitely buildable for much more intense looks. It can be a bit powdery but you get so much product that it's definitely worth it to me.
  
  The splurge items:
  
  
• Burberry Earthy blush. I have a small size of this that I got off of ebay and I love it to contour. It's natural enough that it doesn't look like a crazy contour color or anything. I bought the smaller size for about $22. My only qualm I have is that it's scented but not in a benefit blush way. It's intense so sometimes I sort of avoid using this product.
  
  
• Urban Decay anything. I currently have the naked skin foundation (powder), foundation (liquid), and concealer and they are all great. UD also makes it really easy to figure out your shade if you know your undertone. I also swear by their eyeshadow primer in Eden.