Makeup & Me: I’m Back!

When I was a little girl I would watch my mom put on makeup and I couldn’t wait to be able to do that. And to this day, the time I spend putting on my makeup is my favorite time of day. After my prayer and meditation, after my workout and shower, the time I spend in the mirror creating the look of the day on my face is so relaxing. I play the Rachel Maddow Show from the previous night and for 20 minutes I am so chill. As a young woman out of college I struggled going into the corporate world for a few reasons. One, I was small and extremely youthful looking, often mistaken for a kid. Something I’m highly grateful for now! But back then I desperately wanted to look more adult-like. So at last it was time to advance into the land of some serious makeup. Not the barely there blush, mascara and lip gloss I’d been wearing the last few years of college. Imagine my surprise when I found that there were few products that would actually work on my skin, and even fewer makeup artists that could help me navigate it all. When these well-dressed, and well-made up artists would make my face up, I literally looked like a clown. They didn’t have a clue as to how to properly apply makeup to my eyes, and even less of a clue as to the colors to use on my skin. So, true to who I have always been, I decided to learn how to do it myself. I spent tons of money on products and spent countless hours practicing and trying to figure it all out. I studied the glamour shots on the pages of Ebony and Essence magazine, and mimicked what I saw there. Within a year or so, I’d become so good at applying makeup that my friends were all asking me to do their faces for special events. In 1984 I had my first, real, makeup job, and I’ve been doing makeup ever since.

Recent History…

Fast forward to 2013… Having done two decades plus worth of weddings, photo shoots, anniversaries and reunions, I decided to hang up my makeup brushes. Here’s my Instagram post from back then, announcing my makeup retirement. This is all that was left from that heavy kit I’d carry to and from jobs.

That kit was pretty beat up too! Everyone wanted to know why I was retiring. I was just tired. Tired of fighting with people/clients who swore they wanted to look more glamorous and didn’t know how to “look like me”, while simultaneously telling me how to apply the makeup. I’d actually written a clause in my contract that stated: “In signing this agreement, you’re hiring me because you believe I can achieve the glamorous result you desire. Please trust and allow me to be the expert that I am.” I was also tired of “just” doing makeup applications. I wanted to do something more. Over the last five years, I realized I was more passionate about teaching women how to look and be glamorous, from the inside out, starting with makeup. With the mindset of the famous Chinese proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” I’ve come to believe that it is better to teach someone how to be their most outwardly glamorous selves on demand, than it is to have them dependent on outside help. Unless of course, it’s that rare occasion when you’re presenting at the Oscars and want to bring your A+++ game, haha!!! I meet women all the time who say “I want to look like you when I leave the house every day.” You can read this post where I expound on that. I think women should learn to be their own kind of glamorous; one they can actually pull off, and enjoy the process getting there. I love seeing the results and the change in carriage, when a woman realizes that with practice they really can accomplish their makeup dreams. This is what has moved me to come back to makeup. I’ve worked with just a select few women off an on over the last few years, teaching brow techniques, advising colors, and appropriate amounts and styles of makeup for different events, even though I wasn’t officially “back”. That’s because I LOVE makeup. I love how a woman’s self-confidence instantly comes alive as she gazes at herself after an application; anything from the bare bones of brows and gloss, to full-face, smokey eye contoured looks. Here are just a few looks…

I.B. Beauty

I.B. Beauty is the makeup expertise of Ingrid Bohannon, exercised in a few different ways. My idea of makeup is definitely based on a persons features, skin and lifestyle. For instance, I would never suggest a red lip for a mom who’ll be tending to a toddler who’ll be in her face all day. Or a “full beat” for someone who’s a makeup virgin. One thing I am very particular about for everyone is groomed eyebrows, with or without a stitch of makeup. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a bit fanatical about brows. Many of my friends have named me “The Brow Master.” You can read about how and why I feel “some sorta way” about them HERE. My approach to makeup application is more along the lines of classic. I don’t really get into trends. Except for the occasional “Pantone color of the year” adherence. The makeup I promote and endorse is not what I call the “extreme applications” that seem to be quite the rave these days. You know the looks I’m talking about, seen over and over and over across Instagram feeds. And that’s not to knock those faces or the makeup artists. It’s just not what I do. I’m into more of a glamorous enhancement; drawn to timeless, old-school Hollywood looks. That said, I probably would never recommend the insanely popular fawn-ish lashes, with the uber-trendy neon lipstick for a client look. IJS 🙂 I.B. Beauty is classy, elegant and flawless.

I believe all women just want to feel like they look pretty, beautiful, and sometimes, if the event calls for it, movie-star glamorous. And I believe all of it is achievable always. In just a few days, under “Services” on my home page here on the web, you’ll be able to get more information on I.B. Beauty offerings and pricing as I re-enter the world of makeup artistry. In the meantime, let me know your thoughts and approach to makeup, as well as what burning makeup questions you have in the comments section, and I’ll be sure to provide an answer promptly :)xo