My goal when doing my makeup is to have a glow from within radiance on my skin. I want skin that looks like skin with added luminosity. I want a dewy natural look that doesn't hide freckles, not too flat, and has an effortless, glowy, skin look. I like high shine eyeshadows that brighten eyes. Spotlighting the center of your eyelid with shimmer shadow, not glitter, is huge right now and goes so well with this fresh skin aesthetic. Very sheer foundation looks are all the rage as well as everyone loves skin that looks natural which means your
skincare has to be good.
I've never had a minimal effort makeup routine, but it looks minimal effort! lol If you were looking for a 5 step makeup routine, this isn't it. lol I don't think the average person really understands how much makeup and layering us makeup addicts are really using. This is what makes your makeup lasts all night and look like celebrity makeup in photos. I've been watching makeup tutorials on youtube for over a decade yet when I look at my pictures from 10 years ago I think where is my blush, why don't I see it? I know I was wearing it! lol If you're doing one wash of makeup and wondering why it's not looking like a celebrity makeup artists makeup, its because you're not layering. The one layer, light handed, is not going to cut it. I'm going to spill all my secrets below.
After I wrote this post I realized all these products are expensive, but I have to tell you I've tried and tested out so many makeup products, these just happen to be the ones that performed well that I ended up liking. I really do save my makeup purchases for the Sephora sale in spring and fall, and then all the beauty brands have their annual sale in July. There's no reason to pay full price for makeup, I don't.
The most important part about makeup is having a proper blend so makeup artists are always recommending to put liquid products on the back of your hand then transferring it to your face. That way, only a little is being applied at a time, because you can always add more, but it's hard to take away if you applied too much. That way you can buff it into the skin first while it's still wet, not getting too much product on your skin; this is important for foundation, undereye concealer and contour. Too many people put too much undereye concealer on and that's why it creases. Blending out your makeup is the most important application step.
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taken outside with natural lighting and no filter
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"My brand makes women happy and gives confidence. Anything that gives you more confidence, you're going to go more further, you will be able to ambulate in a different way, so to me makeup is not futile, it is something that is absolutely part of the wellbeing of a women. " - Laura Mercier
Skin Prep
When I'm wearing makeup, I don't do my multistep skin care routine because that just makes my makeup pill. To make your makeup look airbrushed, smooth and flawless; so it looks like second skin, I follow these steps prior to applying makeup.
I use an exfoliating toner
Lotion P50 everyday which removes texture. You could also use one of these acid peel pads.
Then I apply
Hyaluronic Acid as it gives my skin an amazing glow and plumps the skin. This product often goes on sale but here's an
alternative.
Next I apply
eye cream as my concealer looks better on top of it.
I also apply lip balm to prep my lips.
Then I use a rich
moisturizer, not a gel moisturizer, so my makeup has something to be absorbed into.
For the daytime I put on an
SPF 50 sunscreen and wait 10 minutes for everything to be absorbed.
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taken indoors with no filter
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Eyebrows
I always
pencil in and
shape my eyebrows first, before doing the rest of my face makeup. When you pencil in your eyebrows, the eyebrow hairs closer to your nose should be done lighter than the outer hairs, so don't overfill it. I owned this brush for awhile before I figured out how to find both ends of it. lol This brow sculpt shape really gives your brows a nice fluffy shape and hold. You have to be careful because a lot of those eyebrow pomades in a jar will just melt off your face in heat of the summer. I've been getting my eyebrows threaded for a decade now and you can't wax when you use tretinoin. You see the definition in my eyebrow hairs in the first photo.
Skin Tint
Ilia Super Serum Skin Tint SPF 40 Foundation
It's a dewy skin tint that looks really radiant on the skin. It gives your skin such a healthy luminosity since it has squalene and shea butter as ingredients. It holds up very well throughout the day but I still use a setting powder for my t-zone. It's worth the price point because you're getting impressive skin care ingredients including niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. You get the look of your skin but better without the look of makeup on but you get an even looking skin tone. It looks natural, your skin looks healthy and feels weightless on the skin. I'm wearing this in both pictures.
Shake the bottle well before opening. Never apply it straight to the face from the bottle. I apply it to the back of my hand, then add to my face with my fingertips, you don't need a brush but you can stamp it in with a beauty blender. I wear shade 11 and this provides medium coverage. It has SPF40 but I wouldn't rely on this for your SPF so I still wear sunblock underneath it. It comes in 30 different shades. I wear shade 11 when I'm not tan and shade 12.75 when I'm tan.
A woman stopped me at the grocery store and asked me what I had on because my skin looked amazing! I posted about this on Instagram and several of my friends said they wear this too and swear by it. Elf has somewhat of a dupe but it's a thicker formula, shimmery and with a lot less shade choices.
Contour
Mario SoftSculpt Shaping Stick I use contour to add depth to my cheek bones to create that shadow to define and lift the cheek bone. Contours are supposed to be a cool toned color and your bronzer is supposed to be a warm color. I have the shade medium and
use a brush to apply it to my face, I never stripe directly on the face. Then I use a finishing powder to carve out underneath where I applied the contour to get the definition underneath.
Bronzer
Chanel released a new version of their bronzing cream this year with different ingredients. I bought the new version in shade 392. Both versions are still available for sale.
Bronzing is my favorite step when it comes to my face routine, I think it just adds so much life to your skin and makes it look like you were just on vacation. It really takes your makeup to the next level. Bronzing warms up the skin and mimics the sun. It does not go as low on the cheek as the contour and but goes where the sun naturally hits your face. I will sometimes powder on top with
Radiance Baked Powder which is so soft and a stunning formula. It gives a beautiful finish and worth the splurge! If you're using a powder, it will set some of that cream contour. I bronze under my jawline for definition, around my forehead and up my cheekbone. You shouldn't use your bronzer to contour and create shadows because a shadows are a cool tone and bronzers are a warm tone.
Blush
Blush makes a huge difference to give you that sunkiss burnt vibes that makes you look very alive, youthful and healthy. I also brush it on the bridge of my nose to look sun tan. I love blush so much! I don't however like a lot of bright pink on my cheeks, I like muted colors which are really hard to find. These are my three favorite blush colors, and I own more than a dozen blushes. I press it onto the apple of my cheek very lightly, soft and natural.
Laura Mercier blush in the shade Fresco is a brown nude with a shimmer finish. I also have her Ginger shade which is a matte.
To prevent your bronzer and blush from looking muddy together, it's all about how you layer it on. Tap the blush on, don't buff it back and forth. Or use a light
brush.
Westman-Atelier Baby Cheeks in the shade Mimi which is a Tawny Beige. This color is only available on her website and never goes on sale. She sells mini versions of her blushes at Sephora so that's a cheaper way to try them. This creates for dewy wet looking skin, and is so easy to apply and glides on really well. It lasts longer than my other cream blush.
RMS blush in shade Crystal Slipper which is a a sheer, sunkissed buff.
Concealer
This gives light to medium coverage, see it is extremely skin like, you can hardly tell I have any makeup on, it looks so natural. You could use a color corrector underneath so you don't overapply which will cause creasing. The product is so hydrating and great for everyday makeup wearers who want a natural look. Its a ridiculous price but it performs beautifully. I use my finger to apply because of the warmth of your finger it blends in better. It has a radiant finish that blends in seamlessly and is so easy to use because its so creamy and emollient. I do powder it but its so skin-like that you can't tell I'm wearing concealer.
If you are using a liquid concealer, try blending your concealer with a brush. To apply, put a tiny bit of product on the back of your hand, then put it on your under eye, wait 30 seconds for it to dry down a bit then buff it out. You need a lot less product then you think you need. You can always do a second thin layer if you need it. Then finish pressing it in with a wet sponge.
Highlighter
I go very light with my highlighter as I don't want to have high shine beams on my face. The color I use is more of a bronzed shade so it's not like back in the day when highlighters only came in one shade - bright white. Fenty Highlighter in Afternoon Snack/Mo' Hunny, one shade is more shimmery for night and one is more subtle for day.
I also have Hourglass Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder in Radiant Light which is an all over face powder which you don't see when you put on, put other people will see on you. Infused with the innovative Photoluminescent Technology, it diffuses and softens the look of the skin. The micron-size, color-correcting particles refract light and create transparent coverage, filtering out harsh light and refining the appearance of the skin. It comes in 7 shades, mini sizes and in multi-color in palettes. I think since this is an old school brand they don't use influencer marketing so people don't understand how to use their products, but this is an amazing product! It gives a subtle glow and is a finishing powder so you can wear this when you don't want to wear a highlighter and your skin will look healthy.
Eye Liner
MAC eyeshadow used as an eyeliner, as I like this so much better than eyeliner pencils which just look too stark or harsh on me. The color is
P for Potent mixed into an ombre with
Nude Model. I think using an eyeshadow for eyeline creates for a more softer, feathered, diffused look. It's not a sharp line from a pencil. I bought the case and colors separately from MAC and made this perfect compact for me. Eyes are the focal point of your face and I see a lot of harsh black eyeliner out there.
However there is one eye pencil that does mimic eyeshadow since it's so soft -
Magnetic Eye Color in the shade Queen Olive.
Mascara
L'Oreal Voluminous has been my favorite mascara since middle school and you have to have the curved brush! Sometimes I get bored and try other mascaras to see if there's something better, there's not. On no makeup days I'll wear the
blue mascara for fun and
always get compliments on it!
Eye Shadow
I love a one and done liquid eyeshadow
Huda's Melted Shadow in Drop Top which is a wet look, shimmery orange color. That will go on the lower lid and the bronzer on the upper lid. I think Rare Beauty's
Eyeshadow Stick in Growth looks similar. My favorite eyeshadow palette right now is
Nouveau which has perfect soft shades for the Fall season and a stunning shimmering olive green!
Dupe
Setting Powder
I never really understood how to use setting powder in the past and thus it never looked right and thus I didn't appreciate it, now I do. Powder sets your makeup to last all day but the trick is to use a very thin layer. I use this
puff as well as brushes to achieve that look. Powder mattifies the skin, sets the makeup in place, helps produce less oil, blurs the pores. You have so many reasons to start using powder. Take the time to thoroughly press a thin layer into your skin to set your makeup using a powder puff. You want to make sure its pressed into the skin and not sitting on top.
I face is fully powdered in both pictures. These are my holy grail powders:
For my undereyes and for the skin next to my nose, I use the pink
Givenchy Prisme Libre Loose Setting and Finishing Powder in shade - 3 Voile Rosé . Because of the pink undertone, it also brightens the undereye. Its my favorite to set my eyes and blends in like butter. You can buy the mini size to save money, but if you do the math per ounce, you are actually spending a lot more. I didn't buy this for the longest time because of the price, but this powder outperforms all my other powders, it really is incredible!
You get that perfect instagram filtered look blurring out all your pores!
I had bought the
Huda Easy Bake Loose Baking & Setting Powder in the mini size in poundcake and hate the container and find it hard to use and recommend buying the full size. I love this product for my entire face. My other fave is the
Hourglass Veil Translucent Setting Powder that now it comes in three shades! I use this to buff out my bronzer to create a sharp line and not make it look so muddy.
Setting MistRare Beauty by Selena Gomez Mini Always an Optimist 4-in-1 MistIt has a natural- and radiant-looking finish that’s not greasy or sticky, and it boosts foundation, so it’s less cakey, more seamless, and fresh-looking all day.
Lips
I'm not much of a lipstick person, I go all out with eyeshadow in the wintertime, so I'm just into nude lipgloss most of the time. These are my top three faves in rotation at the moment are:
The packaging is small at .15 oz/ 4.6 mL but I love the color, it's a rosy beige. I'm wearing this in both pictures but not freshly applied. A lot of reviews say the container leaked but I always carry this in my purse and its never happened to me.
It is a medium nude mauve and the color is stunning on me! The problem is the formula is so hydrating that the lipstick is very soft and I broke it the first time I used it; so I had to return it to the store for a replacement. I went on youtube to watch reviews of the lipstick and beauty influncers trying on the lipstick for the first time also broke the lipstick on camera. I then read the reviews on Sephora and most of the reviews say the same thing, that it broke with normal pressure from application because its too loose in the tube.
I now know to keep most of the lipstick inside of the tube and gently put it on my lips. lol I love the color so much and have been searching for the perfect nude for years. It has such a nice satiny finish that you don't need a lipgloss on top of it as it has a balm like finish. It's creamy, shiny and glides on smoothly onto your lips and is very moisturizing.
I also got the Hustla shade which is a true brown nude. I bought these on National Lipstick Day so they were 50% off. There's more colors I like (Money Maker & Rajah) but I don't want to invest more since there's an issue with their quality.
She's wearing Sweet Cheeks
"Being beautiful to people has very little to do with how you look, but everything to do with how you make people feel."
Keep your makeup approachable, be confident and wear a smile and you will always look good. It's always great to smell good too so don't forget a little bit of your favorite
perfume.
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