Both, actually. I know the dollar store nearby has make up products (now with 100% less cancer causing chemicals!) that I could mess with, but if anyone's got other advice, that'd be great.
Ah, gotcha! Not to overwhelm you with advice - there are plenty of great responses here already! - but here are a few more tips that might be useful as you're getting started.
Inexpensive makeup always comes with frustrating crappy applicators, so you'll want to pick up some brushes and a beautyblender knockoff - it's a sponge thing that makes applying foundation really easy. (I specify "knockoff" because the name-brand beautyblender costs like $20.) Look for an inexpensive brush set with a large powder brush, a slightly smaller brush for contouring, and several brushes for concealer, shadow, and liner application. As you figure out what brushes you tend to use the most, you can splash out for better-quality versions. Brushes can be washed with a tiny bit of regular shampoo, and you'll probably want to get in the habit of doing this at least every couple of weeks.
When you're shopping the dollar store, try looking for brands that are marketed toward black women - Milani is what I see most often where I am, but there are plenty of others. Eye and lip products from these lines often have more pigmented formulas than inexpensive makeup marketed toward white people, so you can get color payoff similar to more pricey brands.
All-in-one palettes with products for lips, cheeks, eyes, skin etc may seem like a good buy when you're first getting into cosmetics, but they almost never are. You'll end up using one or two colors, and then the rest of the damn thing will clutter up your cosmetics drawer until the unused portion goes bad. Smaller palettes and product singles tend to be more versatile.
On that note, learn to recognize the signs of makeup that's gone bad! This is especially important when you're shopping the dollar store, where some of the products end up there at the end of their lifespans. Obviously anything that's dried up is no longer useable, but foundation that's separated, nail polish that's gooey or stringy, powder products that are clumpy or go on streaky, and lipsticks that are grainy or bumpy should all be tossed. There are various additives that advertise themselves as makeup life extenders, but this is a bad idea because it turns your products into bacterial cesspools.
Cosmetics can look very different in natural light, under artificial light, in photos with or without flash, on cam, etc. As you're playing around with different looks, check them out under a variety of conditions to figure out what works best when. That way, you won't be surprised when, for example, you
know you looked amazing in person but all your pictures turned out ghostly pale (foundation with high SPF and silica setting powder don't tend to play nice with flash photography).
I hope you have fun learning - even if you decide makeup isn't your thing in the end, it's always neat to pick up a new skill set. If you have a chance, let us know how it goes!
