Hi, friends! Awhile ago, Nicole wrote a great post describing her makeup routine and it was really fun to be taken through her process (I especially loved the pictures that took her from bare-faced to make-up-faced), so I tucked the idea in the back of my head to do it myself some day. So let’s make today that day, okay?
I love wearing makeup because I feel like it makes me feel more put together and, let’s face it, prettier. And who doesn’t want to feel pretty? I’m not saying that I don’t feel pretty when I don’t wear makeup, but there’s something about having my skin smoothed out and my brows done and some mascara applied that makes me feel good. I’m not a makeup expert by any measure. I could use some help with how to perfectly fill out my brows and I am so bad with eyeliner that I don’t mess with it at all. But I think I do okay for myself. Also, almost all of my makeup comes from Target, and I also been learning about one of the premier botox services in Miami available, so I can improve my face as well. Drugstores FTW, babyyy.
Step 1: Skincare
I have an easy morning skincare routine, but it’s something I skip more days than not because sometimes I just forget about it when I’m zooming through my mornings. But when I do do it, it involves:
- Cleanser
- Toner
- Niacinamide serum
- Moisturizer with SPF with a few drops of vitamin c serum mixed in
Today, I skipped my morning skincare routine because I don’t have any clean washcloths. I really need to do laundry. Anyway, here’s my bare face!
Step 2: Smooth out the face
I don’t use primer in my makeup routine. I have never found one that seemed to make a difference, so I stopped trying. So, my first step is to dab concealer over any dark spots/under my eyes, and then blend it in. Neutrogena’s Radiant Cream Concealer works well for me. Then, I use Revlon ColorStay Full Cover Foundation in ivory. I use a flat-top foundation brush, and I think I’m going to go back to using a beauty blender for putting on foundation because it provides better coverage, IMO. (Real talk: I saw a girl on a reality show using a flat-top brush to put on foundation and it seemed so much easier than a beauty blender.) After I rub foundation all over my face, I use NYX #nofilter finishing powder to smooth it out.
Step 3: Draw on my brows
I have very light brows. Actually, they used to be a lot darker but over the last few years, they’ve lightened up so much that they’re nearly nonexistent unless I darken them with a brow pencil. I use Milani Stay Put Brow Pomade, which is a new product for me. My favorite brow product is NYX Micro Brow Pencil, but my shade is consistently out of stock at Target. I keep trying other brands but nothing has wowed me.
Anyway, I use the spoolie to brush the brow hairs in the direction I want them and then I dip the angled section in the brow pomade and fill in my brows. It’s a much more precise method of doing my brows, and I am not really used to it just yet. After I fill in my brows with the pomade, I use the spoolie again to lighten things up so my brows look more natural. I didn’t do a great job on my brows today, so this is a little embarrassing to show you, but whatever. I blame the product, not the user!
Step 4: Deal with my eyes
As you can see, my eyes are kinda hidden without makeup. I love how just some simple swipes of mascara can brighten up my eyes and make them pop a bit more!
I don’t always wear eyeshadow, but decided to do so today to give you guys the full treatment. I chose the Milani Gilded Gold palette and use two different shades of gold for my eyes. I love the look! (Some people spend a lot of time blending and brushing their eyeshadow to get that perfect look. I do not have the patience for that, so I usually just do one shade on the lid and then maybe brush a sparkly shade near my brow line.)
Lastly for my eyes, I use my eyelash curler and then swipe on some mascara. I recently bought Too Faced’s Better Than Sex mascara, which is the only non-drugstore makeup product you’ll see here! I think paying $30 for mascara is very dumb, but I do really like this mascara.
Step 5: Cheeeeeks
Last month, I ordered a package from Sephora and they sent me someone else’s package. It was a bummer (not for that person, I’m assuming, as I ordered some great products), since they didn’t order anything too exciting. (I was able to keep the package and they resent the correct items!) However, there was liquid blush in the package that has been fun to try out. I am still not very confident wearing blush because I either put on too much or too little. But I do like the little pop of color it gives me. This liquid blush is called Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez and I’m wearing the “encourage” shade.
Step 6: The Bold Lip
Every great makeup routine is finished off with a bold lip. Can we all agree? (Okay, I know not everyone is a fan!) I recently started using lip liner when I wear lipstick because it really makes it so much easier to apply lipstick, especially liquid lipstick which can sometimes lose the plot when I’m trying to apply it. The lip liner color blends in beautifully with my lip color and it just makes things look neater. Today, I’m using Revlon ColorStay Longwear Lip Liner in red with Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick in “lover.”
And there you have it – my entire makeup routine! I probably only go through this entire routine once or twice a month. I don’t wear makeup daily (I used to when I worked in an office, but not now that I’m working from home), but sometimes if I want to make myself look a little more put together, I’ll fill in my brows and swipe on some mascara. Or sometimes I’ll just do foundation/powder, brow pencil, mascara, and a tinted lip balm. It’s not always this involved!
Thoughts on wearing makeup? Love it, loathe it, are determined never to do it?
I have never been good at eyeliner either, and I generally forget to wear any lipstick. I’m lucky that my lips are naturally kind of pink, I’ve been complimented on how nice my lipstick is, when I’m just wearing Vaseline or something. Anyway, a few years ago I decided to up my game and start wearing lipstick. Then COVID, and my face is behind a mask all day. Oh well. I recently bought some tinted lip balm that I like, though.
I love that you get complimented on your lip color when it’s actually just your NATURAL lip color! Haha, that’s amazing.
Nicole is going to LOVE this.
I think you’ve seen my “routine”.
I don’t use any toner or face wash. Coconut oil and a microfiber cloth for removing makeup and then coconut oil as a moisturizer (though I just started using a different kind of coconut oil and I hate it and need to go back to my old brand!
I use a foundation stick only on my chin, a swoosh of lipstick on my cheeks (instead of blush), fill in my eyebrows a bit with a pencil and when I’m really trying to go crazy – a swipe of mascara on my top lashes. And that is literally it! I don’t own any powders or eyeshadows or bronzers or toners or moisturizers.
This makes me SO happy, but I also love when people take great joy in a makeup routine, too.
OH, and I only own lipstick to use a blush (a. trick I learned from a Clinique beauty artist one time) and never, ever, ever have any colour on my lips. Not even tinted lip balm (I do use my Nivea lip balm throughout the day though and it does give a nice clear sheen).
I am just…not into makeup at all!
I think it is TOTALLY fine to not be into makeup! I have many friends who just don’t care about it. I used to not be able to leave my house without makeup but I’m much better about walking around bare-faced now.
I am so intrigued about using lipstick as blush! I need to learn more about this. A neat trick!
I AM HERE FOR THIS!!!! AHHHHHHH I LOVE IT!!!!
This was so fun to read, I am SO glad you shared your routine! I love that lip colour on you, it is perfection. Just perfection. Love it.
My brows back in the 80s were like Brooke Shields, and if only I knew then what I know now. In the 90s we all plucked the hell out of our eyebrows, and now mine are just weird. Plus as I’ve aged they’ve gotten thinner. Thinner, shaggier somehow, and also, I still have to pluck as I’ll get random hairs around my eyelids. What is that even. I have been wondering about eyebrow product and I think I will give this a try!!!
You look absolutely lovely, very pretty, with and without makeup!
Thanks, Nicole. Your enthusiasm is always such a delight to me! 🙂
I am very lucky I escaped my teen years without overplucking my eyebrows. Many of my friends were doing that but I was just too scared to go through the pain of plucking my eyebrows, haha. It’s really crazy how all of these trends just come back around. It feels like big and full eyebrows are back in style, which means we’ll be back to overplucking in no time. Eeks!
Thanks for sharing your routine – I always love to learn other people’s routines. You seem to have found what works from your from brows to lipstick. You can definitely pull off the lipstick!
I know a lot of people obsess about their brows, I honestly never paid any attention to mine (maybe because I find them okay just the way they are? I don’t fill them in, I don’t pluck them – only the very occasional stray hair). Eyebrows are not part of my makeup routine, ever. LOL
I think I fall in the middle. I have phases where I think I want to like makeup but whenever I try to do a bit more than usual (e.g. colored eye shadow), I feel like someone painted my face. Not natural at all.
So usually I will use a bit of tinted moisturizer or foundation (because I am pale), I think blush does wonders to make you look awake and healthy, and I am a fan of mascara.
Lipstick is not my thing, at the most a tinted lip gloss.
I am honestly very intrigued how Elisabeth gets away with just coconut oil and lipstick as blush. Haha.
You have great eyebrows, San! Someone once commented on my eyebrows when I posted a selfie on Instagram and it’s made me self-conscious of my eyebrows ever since. Ugh.
This is SO interesting because we have different philosophies about makeup! You look great, of course, and it works for you, but I’m wondering if it’s our different ages that have us with these differences?
1) Primer is the most important thing, I think. Not using primer is unthinkable to me. If I don’t use primer, my foundation will literally just melt into my wrinkles in like thirty minutes. And if I don’t use primer on my eyelids, all of the shadow will be in the crease before I leave the bathroom.
2) Sometimes I just use eyeliner and mascara. Eyeliner is crucial. If I don’t use eyeliner, it just looks like I have no eyes.
3) I don’t even own lipstick. A bold lip is not my deal. (I read once that you can have a bold lip or a bold eye. It’s clear you’ve chosen bold lip and I’ve chosen bold eye.)
It’s crazy! We’re so different And yet we’re both gorgeous, obviously!
That is super interesting that you swear by primer! I wonder if it’s because I have a naturally oily face? Putting yet another liquid on my face just feels like overkill. I’m also in my 30s, so maybe in another decade, I’ll find that I need to use primer. For now, it just doesn’t do anything for me.
I like the idea of using eyeliner; I just need to figure out how to use it correctly so I don’t look like a raccoon, haha.
But yes. I’d much rather have a bold lip over a bold eye!
Well, this was fun to read- even though I NEVER WEAR MAKEUP. Like, I mean never ever. I just never started, so never learned how to do it. And it’s not like I don’t “need” it. As I’m getting older, there are definitely some areas that could use help. But… I wouldn’t even know where to begin. Sometimes I think I’ll get someone to help me with this, and then other times I think… i might as well just continue on as I am. Life is complicated enough!
Needless to say… you look beautiful!
Life *is* complicated enough! Makeup is a fraught topic sometimes. If it’s not something that appeals to you, there’s no reason to spend your time and money on it! Enjoy your bare-faced life. 🙂 We’re all beautiful with and without makeup!
So interesting to read. For me that does sound like a lot of time to put in. I am wondering. how long it takes you…. I usually just pend 5-10 minutes in. my make-up routine. Face cleaning, serum, brows and mascara. That is the bare minimum I do almost every day. If I have more time and not have a meeting to attend I am late at I always use eyeliner. It’s my signature move to have it match my sweaters. And I love myself some lipstick. Specially on days I feel tired because everyone looks their instead of my eyes. HA:
I would say this entire makeup routine takes maybe 10-15 minutes tops. Nothing too crazy but it’s not something I do too often. Usually I just try to fill in my brows and swipe on some mascara – that’s about the extent of my routine these days!
Thank you for sharing this! First, your eyes are beautiful – how have I never noticed their color before? And, your spf routine clearly works – your skin is in amazing shape, too. I am fascinated by people who have a clue what they’re doing with makeup. I used to know but, well, it’s been a long time and things seem to have…advanced, I guess? I didn’t know one could fill in one’s brows with a specific makeup item, for instance. Huh. Color me clueless. 😉
(In case you couldn’t tell, I, um, wear spf + moisturizer and call it good. I don’t even bother with tint anymore. My face gets very red despite my best efforts, and it just annoys me to try to cover it up a bit and still have it be as obvious as it always is…)