Ask Elle (Your Beauty Questions Answered): Best Dupe & Camera Comfort

Each week I'll be answering your beauty questions (feel free to submit more in the comments) as well as personal questions (submit those too!)

Marie J and Kim Pincombe asked me about dupes. Marie asked, "What is your best dupe?"

It's the .99 Jordana Matte lipstick in Tangerine Tango, pictured below:

Look for this online or at Kmart.
Did you know Jordana is a sister company to Milani?

And what is it a dupe for? MAC's Lady Danger, worn in my latest video and below:

They look different in the tube, but on my skin and my lips, they look identical. I guess I am drawn to those orange-reds! Ninety-nine cents vs. sixteen dollars!

From Della Favorite: "How do you feel comfortable in front of the camera?" and Anne J: "Your biggest blogging accomplishment?"

These two go together so I'm combining them. I've been blessed with some blogging experiences, but the accomplishment I'm most proud of is starting a Youtube channel and how far I've come with feeling comfortable in front of the camera.

I'm very shy when you first meet me and very introverted, in part due to social anxiety. I look mad, but I'm not, I promise! Style bloggers show their faces daily and personal blogs tell their stories and thoughts daily so we know them. Being a beauty blogger my focus is more on products and tutorials than my life, so it's hard to mash it all together and prove there's a person behind the lipstick.

I decided to start a Youtube to help show more of my personality and I'm so happy with how far I've come with it. When I first started, I would break out in hives on my chest, my neck would get red, and sometimes I would vomit from nerves before or after filming a video. I wouldn't wear my contacts or use a mirror for tutorials so I couldn't see the camera and get nervous. I used to talk out of the right side of my mouth--I had no idea I did this, but someone pointed it out. I'm not usually this nervous about things like this, so this reaction was a shock to me. But now, it's no big deal at all!

And now a year later, I feel at ease being in front of the camera. The best part is that it didn't take a year to get comfortable! I don't get nervous, and it is fun to me.

Tips to Feel Comfortable in Front of the Camera:

• Practice! It took me talking in front of a mirror and making a couple of practice videos to feel comfortable to really film the the first one. Watch those practice videos to see what can be improved. Do you say "um" a lot? Are you smiling? Any nervous habits you can be aware of?
• Film solo. I am the sole photographer on this blog so it helped in the beginning with not getting nervous in front of others watching me film or shoot. 
• Confidence. You might not be confident filming, but have confidence in your subject matter and it will give you confidence. I am confident in my beauty knowledge, my personality, and being authentic. Allowing those things to show through really helps.

Extra Elle:

• Yesterday morning, I accidentally turned off the alarm and slept in an extra hour and a half. I've never done that before! Oops!
• Remember my Sephora haul from Monday? I dropped the Aligenist Bi-Phase Peel that worked so well and it splattered into a million (slight exaggeration) pieces. I almost teared up over the wasted money. But now my floor is extra clean. Win?