Mally Roncal: My Makeup Super Heroine

I did not start wearing full makeup until the end of 2002 when I transferred to a 4-year college. At that time, I wanted to look more grown up and more put together so wearing makeup was the way to go. All of my makeup experience so far is self-taught, mostly from reading books, magazines, and watching T.V. However, as a starter, I did not know where to start and what to do so I ended up wearing lots of makeup and looking (almost) like a drag queen. My classmates thankfully were too busy studying to notice. Also, more thankfully there were not a lot of pictures of me circa 2002 to remind me of "the dark age".

Mally Roncal-Celebrity Makeup Artist
Image courtesy of Beauty News NYC

The whole thing finally stopped when I watched an episode of a show in Style Network where Mally Roncal went to the drugstore to get the most comparable makeup to high-end brands. Needless to say, my eyes were glued to the TV for the whole 30 minutes when Mally introduced to me some fantabulous products that I'm still using today. During that time, foundations were mostly peach-tone and I had a very hard time finding the perfect shade for me. However, seeing an Asian woman on TV who is really knowledgeable and down to earth while looking fabulous gave me hope that better makeup would come to minority people. And it did, about a year later L'Oreal launched True Match, my prayer was answered.

Anyways, back to why I love Mally Roncal. Later on, I found out that she is a makeup artist for Beyonce, J.Lo, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and a whole lot of other stars. Looking at Beyonce at the "Crazy in Love" time, you see she started to look more like herself than before, right? That's all because of Mally. During this Style Network fanatic period of mine, I learned a lot and whenever Mally was on, I started to watch and learn. Here are the 10 most important things I picked up from her through the years:

1. L'Oreal Voluminous: this is my go-to mascara that Mally mentioned in that episode. If I need a mascara when dazed and confused, I would pick a L'Oreal Voluminous. Anything that performs less than a Voluminous is not worth mentioning to me. This mascara never fails and if you use the waterproof version, it stays on and on and on.

2. A brown eyeliner: I picked up my first brown eyeliner the next day I saw that episode and it was Revlon Teakwood. I used it for a couple of years and it was the softest, silkiest, and most smudgeable brown eyeliner ever. Until today when I have my Teddy eye kolh, I still miss that Teakwood. And btw, you need a brown eyeliner stat! You don't know what you've been missing until you have a brown liner.

3. Contour to have a high nose bridge: this trick I saw recently and upon application, I stared at myself and said, "Holy cow, who are you?" Her makeup nose job works y'all, and I'm going to post a contour tutorial soon.

4. Smokey eyes: if you see her anywhere, chances are she has smokey eyes on. And she looks good wearing the smokey. Mally and an Australian friend of mine are 2 people contributed to my smokey eyes obsession and I have to say, when you are confused just go smokey. The look works and it's not that hard to do. I even have a category for it (click here)

5. Blushes: they actually grow much slower in me as my usual default cheek color is pink. However, recently I got some peach, tan, and brick tone blushes and they all work for me. Blushes enhance the color of your cheeks and give you that healthy glow.

Beside being a makeup artist, a wife, and a mother, Mally is also an entrepreneur with her own makeup line called Mally Beauty. I haven't tried anything from her yet but hopefully I am going to get my hands on them soon. Also, it is going to be a nice day here when we get to interview her, right? (I'm working toward that part, hopefully it will happen.)

I hope you are having a wonderful day. Now you know Mally Roncal is my favorite makeup artist. So who holds a soft spot in your heart, makeup-wise? Please let me know, I'd love to hear all about them.

Take care,
Your Makeup Blogger

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