Behind the scenes
August 19, 2013 | Beauty | 8 Comments »
I thought it would be fun to do a sort of behind the scenes type post. So in case you were curious as to how things go down in casa de Midwest Glam, sit back and start scrolling.
So this is how it all started
I started Midwest Glam back in February of this year. I’ve been blogging for the past 10+ years, but I’m fairly new to the beauty blogging world. I won’t bore you with the details. If you were lucky enough to see an old announcement posted on the main page about a month ago, you’re well aware of those details. If not, it’s not that important. To sum it all up, I love trying new beauty products and experimenting with different looks/styles. But mostly, I love blogging about it all. It’s fun setting up for photo shoots with my new pretties and even relaxing on some level. I also love connecting with other beauty junkies and geeking out over the latest IT beauty product. So if you have the inside scoop, holla! We can geek out together!
I love photographing the pretties
I like to take advantage of natural lighting so I take almost all of my photos outdoors. My porch is HUGE so there is more than enough room to accommodate my entire setup. That setup includes my camera (Jack a Canon EOS 400D/Rebel XTi, yes, I named my camera, after Jack Bauer from 24), a tripod, a large white poster board, a tote to transport the pretties, a paper towel soaked in makeup remover to remove swatches, a dry paper towel to dry off my hand afterward, a paper towel dampened with water for wet swatches, and a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated. Sometimes that bottle of water is actually a glass of wine.
Swatching
When I swatch from a palette I always work from left to right and from top to bottom. If I’m not swatching from a palette I swatch in alphabetical order. Otherwise I won’t remember what’s what when I’m blogging the products. I don’t use a primer when swatching, however I always use a primer when I apply the product to my face. My primer of choice is Urban Decay’s Primer Potion.
The dreaded selfie
Right now most of my self shots are taken with a point and shoot indoors with flash. I know, I know. That explains A LOT, doesn’t it? It’s pretty much impossible for me to take selfies with my dinosaur of a camera. The point and shoot gives me a little more control when it comes to angling and such. I am working on getting Jack 2.0 and should have him very soon. That should help me achieve less awkward selfies with much better quality. I’m really not used to taking selfies (hence the dreaded selfie title), but I’m warming up to it little by little. The wine helps.
Organizing the pretties
I store the majority of my makeup in The Original Pink Box which I purchased from Sears. There are wheels on the bottom so that I can move it wherever I need it. I can also lock the wheels so that it will stay in place and not move around. The top drawer is absolutely perfect for my lip products. The other drawers are deep enough to accommodate small containers to store things like blushes and loose eyeshadows for a more organized stash. The last drawer is perfect for larger items like extra bottles of shampoo/conditioner, bubble bath, lotions, etc. Each drawer also comes with a matching pink grip pad which keeps everything in place. So there’s no sliding around when I open and close the drawers.
Organizing the nail polish
I store my nail polish in this nail polish rack from Amazon. It says it can store up to 90 bottles, but it really depends on what polish you’re storing. My Julep bottles are thin so they all fit perfectly. But the bulkier bottles like Zoya and OPI take up more room meaning less fit. I think it’s really cool because it holds each bottle in place nicely with no chance of them falling off and breaking. Before I purchased this rack I had all of my polish stored on a shelf and they slid around a lot. The shelf was also very bulky and wide and it seemed like such a waste to store just ONE row of polish on such a wide shelf. So I ended up using all of the space and that made searching for a polish a bit of a hassle. For me this rack is just more practical. Also, I know it might seem really low to the floor (I hate these slanted ceilings!), but it’s actually perfect when I’m sitting down at my desk. I can easily reach over and grab what I need without stretching or straining.
Stay tuned for my next blog post on how I organize my makeup.
