10 Items or Less…
For many women, the contents of their makeup bag can occasionally become a big mess. I personally will admit to lugging around products I never use in my makeup bag and am guilty of letting spilled powered cover everything for weeks. Here is a guide to how to keep the contents of your makeup bag simple. You can stop wasting money buying products you will rarely use and invest in the basics that will get you through everything from a day at the office to a night on the town.
Face
In the morning, after cleansing your face or stepping out of the shower, apply a tinted moisturizer. Tinted moisturizers help eliminate the need for other products– they provide enough coverage to skip foundation or powder and many often contain a high SPF. Apply concealer over eyelids (to increase eye shadow’s staying power) and in any trouble spots or red areas on the face. If necessary, follow up with either a lightweight cream-based foundation, face power or a standard liquid foundation.
Eyes
The best way to wake-up sleepy eyes is with an eyelash curler. Eyelash curlers open up eyes, put unruly eyelashes in their place and reduce the amount of mascara needed. Trust me, eyelash curlers are one of the best tools you can use. Next, if you use eyeliner, apply it on your top and/or bottom eyelids.
For eye shadow, keep it simple by limiting yourself to two shades. Purchasing a shadow container that has two or three shadows cuts down on having multiple containers floating around your makeup bag. Have one stand-by lighter shade, a pink, tan or white to use as your base.
Choose the base color you prefer and choose either a muted color, sparkles or a vague shimmer. Using a medium-sized allover eye shadow brush, apply this color over your entire lids, extending it up to your brow bone depending on the occasion (and your eyelid shape). If you used a pale pink or white shade, use an anglular eye shadow brush to apply a little to the inside corners of your eyes, under your brow line and down the bridge of your nose.
Dust off the angled eye shadow brush and use it to apply your top eye shadow color. Choose a top shade eye shadow that is significantly darker than the base shadow such as a charcoal, bronze or plum color. Start with the angled brush pointed down into the inside corner of your eyelids. Then pull the brush up and turn it across as you drag it over the crease of your eyelid. Apply more shadow along the crease. For evening events continue to reapply second shadow until desire look is reached. Finally, apply mascara over all lashes on the top and add an extra coat to the outside lashes. Gentle brush already used mascara brush over bottom lashes if desired.
top eye shadow color. Choose a top shade eye shadow that is significantly darker than the base shadow such as a charcoal, bronze or plum color. Start with the angled brush pointed down into the inside corner of your eyelids. Then pull the brush up and turn it across as you drag it over the crease of your eyelid. Apply more shadow along the crease. For evening events continue to reapply second shadow until desire look is reached. Finally, apply mascara over all lashes and add an extra coat to the outside lashes. –>
Face Part II
I always wait until I have finished my other makeup and gotten dressed before applying bronzer or blush. These steps could also be done before the eyes. Use a large bronzer brush to apply bronzer from about an inch away from your mouth on either side making one gentle swooping stroke up to your cheekbones. This not only is the easiest way to fake a tan, it creates depth to your face. “Tan” the rest of your face by dusting bronzer over your chin, bridge of your nose and center of your forehead.
Some women feel that their face is sufficiently colored with bronzer while other women (including myself) would not feel comfortable leaving the house without rosy cheeks. While I have friends that swear by pinching their cheeks on the way out the door for some natural color, I love blush. Smile and use a blush brush to dust a bit of your preferred shade to the apples of your cheeks. Swipe your lip color, a shiny balm or chapstick over your lips and you are ready to go!
The best thing about this routine is that you can amp it up using the same products—take more time applying concealer and foundation/power. Extend base eye shadow higher, toward your eyebrows and add more layers of your dark shade to the crease. Highlight the inside corners of your eyes, bridge of your nose, brow bones and cheekbones with light pink or white shadow. Coat on another layer or two of mascara on top and bottom lashes. Suddenly, your basic makeup suddenly takes on a new look without needed any other products!
