It’s quite a satisfying feeling when you wake up early in the morning and take your time doing your make up to perfection. Realistically, not all days can be like this. There are times when you have to choose between having a well balanced breakfast or risk being late because you need to iron your shirt. The last thing you want to do is spend precious minutes deciding what to do with your face.
All of us should have our go-to quick, fast and easy make up looks for those days when we’re pressed for time and need to get going out the door. This should be something simple and, of course, not time consuming. Use products that you know work well and are comfortable with. Try to stay away from anything too complicated like full on contour or winged eyeliner. These are easy to mess up and ruin your whole look.
It took me a little while to finally get this quick routine down because at first I’d be all frantic scrambling around my dressing table not knowing what product or even which brushes to use. Fortunately, now that isn’t this case. I know exactly what to do if I’m ever in a hurry.
Before anything you need to moisturize your skin. No matter what you do or what products you use, your make up won’t turn out good if you don’t hydrate your skin. I spray a little bit of my Mario Badescu aloe, cucumber and green tea facial spray then I apply my St. Ives Renewing Collagen & Elastin Moisturizer.
I normally always start with my eyes. This way if I use any eyeshadow that has fall out I can just wipe it away without worrying about ruining the rest of my face and also it gives my skin time to soak up the moisturizer.
I use a small angled liner brush to sculpt and fill my brows with pomade then with a flat brush I use a little bit of concealer to clean up under them and blend any harsh lines with a clean spoolie.
I place a little bit of concealer on my eyelids to even out the tone and mute the colour of any visible veins then I set it with powder. With a fluffy blending brush I add a wash of colour that is similar to my own skin tone all over my lids. I then take shadows that are a few shades darker and blend them into my crease to add more depth to my eyes. I typically use earthy shades like tans and browns.
It doesn’t matter where I’m off to that day, I always like a little bit of shimmer so, using a flat brush, I tap either a gold, bronze or peachy shimmer shade on my lids. I then take the same shades as my upper lids and use a small blending brush to blow out some colour on my lower lash line, focusing primarily on the outer corner. This will make your eyes appear wider, more awake and have a doe eyed effect.
After finishing my shadow, I take my Elf Poreless Face Primer and apply a little bit under my eyes, on my nose, forehead and chin then I blend it out with my fingers.
I normally don’t wear foundation. Instead I go in with concealer to cover up any blemishes. I use the Tarte Creaseless concealer in the shade Tan on the inner corner of my eyes where I do have dark circles. This shade is perfect for me to do a little bit of colour correction. After blending that out, I then apply my Maybelline Fit Me concealer in the shade 10 Light to brighten up that area. I also apply that concealer to my forehead, down my nose, my chin and on my cupid’s bow then I blend it out using a damp beauty sponge.
To add some dimension to my face, I apply a little bit of my Wet N Wild cream contour stick and blend it out with a flat angled kabuki brush. I use a large fluffy brush to lightly set my face with powder to avoid creasing. Then I go in with bronzer around my hairline, across my cheekbones, down the sides of my nose for light contour and under my lips to create a pouty effect.
After finishing up my face, I use the Milani Make It Last setting spray to lock everything together and melt my make up into my skin so it won’t just stay there sitting on top giving off a fake look.
Then and ONLY then do I go back to my eyes and curl my lashes with a lash curler and apply a coat of mascara. I do it in this order because if I set my make up after applying mascara I run the risk of smudging it and having it run down my cheeks or ending up all over my eyeshadow.
I usually have two separate mascaras for my upper and lower lashes. I like volumizing mascaras for my upper lashes but these tend to clump up my lower lashes so I opt for one with smaller bristles that won’t goop up the product onto my lashes making them all clumpy.
Lastly, I grab whatever lip product I feel like using that day. I typically go for matte or satin liquid lipsticks in neutral shades. Before applying my lipstick I always put a layer of lip balm to avoid dryness and cracked looking lips.
Products I use:
Face
• Mario Badescu Facial Spray
• Elf Poreless Face Primer
• Tarte Creaseless Concealer – Tan
• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer – 10 Light
• Wet N Wild Dual-Ended Contour Stick – Medium/Tan
• Maybelline Fit Me Matte Face Powder – 230 Natural Buff
• Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer
• Milani Make It Last Setting Spray
Eyes
• LA Girl Brow Pomade – Soft Brown
• Morphe x Jaclyn Hill Palette
• Maybelline The Colossal Go Extreme Volum’ Express Mascara – Leather Black
• Lancôme Définicils Mascara – Black
Lips
• Revlon Kiss Balm – Fresh Strawberry
• Colourpop × ILuvSarahii Ultra Satin Lip – 951
This might sound like a lot but trust me when I say that it’s not. You can literally do this in your car. You don’t even really need to touch an eyeshadow palette. You can just use bronzer and a fluffy blending brush to swipe a wash of colour onto your lids and you’ll be good to go.
So the next time you’re running late, don’t panic. Just try this out and you’ll have everyone like “Wow! Maybe she’s born with it.” and you’ll be like “No, it’s my 5 minute make up routine.”
I hope you enjoyed!
Giovanna
xx
BeautyBird Journal 