Make Me Up - My Ultimate Look List

I'm a prolific list-maker. I make lists for EVERYTHING. What to buy, what to do, how to schedule my time. It's all in very carefully formulated lists. I am GREAT at taking out a post-it pad, merrily jotting down a point-form list of tasks that need to be accomplished, things I need to pick up, odds and ends that need to be remembered.

There is one very special list that I made after I graduated from college for fashion items I lusted after. There were no throw-away items on this list, nothing that wasn't carefully and thoroughly pondered. It was "THE" list of investment items. Once I ticked off all the items on that list, it would have symbolized to be that I had "made it."

Now, we can discuss THAT list at another time since this is a beauty blog after all and primarily concerned with all the things from the neck up.  But, just to illustrate what I meant by "investment pieces",  I will say that the  iconic Hermes birkin bag remains at the top of the list. *3 second pause* Sigh. Sorry, I needed a moment to give the bag the moment of silence and reverence that it deserves.

Well, I've created a beauty "it" list to match. After being surrounded by unopened packages of bee-you-ti-ful and shiny new makeup and utterly, utterly confused on how best to use it, I figured I better make a list and let the rest sort itself out.

What I discovered is that the makeup I purchased all surrounded on certain "looks" I was drawn to and going over the videos and pictures I could see that all those looks could be categorized. Voila!  *clouds parting and angels singing* THE beauty look list was born.

1) Smoky, smouldering eyes - the deeply chic and mysterious kind and not the just-got-punched in the face or "Excuse me, miss. Have you been crying?" disasters that my inexperienced hand have created in the past.

2) Perfect red lip - the kind that makes you strut down the street with all that "it" girl 'tude with or without the killer heels

3) Nude lips - For an olive-undertoned and tanned girl like me, all the nude lipsticks I've tried have seriously made me look dead.  Not pretty.

4)  Flushed, Just fuc.....um...just exercised glow - lit from within, healthy, exuberant, youthful, windblown.

5) Contouring / highlighting - I have a round face, it would be great to be able to define my cheekbones and bring more definition to my features. I've tried this once.  Brown stripes on your cheeks do not make your face look thinner. They make your face look like a paint-by-numbers art project fail.

6) No-makeup makeup look - For everyday life. Me, but better. Nothing too done, not trying to hard. Easy, peasey.

7) Flawless face - I have pretty good skin. I have some freckles, only get the occasional zit. I don't really have under eye circles but I have some hyperpigmentation and my olive undertones can make look sallow or ashy with too-pink or too-yellow foundaation.  I want that flawless finish. Dewy. Porcelaine smooth. Cakey-ness be damned!

8) Hip, edgy club-going, downtown look - Okay, this one isn't so clearly defined. But hey, I live in NYC. Fashionistas and hipsters in the Village can't have all the fun. And while I certainly don't have the time, patience or occasion to wear this one everyday, I'd love to master a look that can saunter up to a bar of the newest hotspot with the best of 'em.

Okay, so this is THE list for now. Any suggestions would be welcome. What's your fave beauty look?