Lately, I have been finding myself needing a quick, easy, and effortless look, especially with the weather warming up. A lot of times, I either have only a few minutes to get ready or I'm just looking to be able to throw some makeup on to look pulled together before I run errands.
You would probably agree with me that there are far too many products out there and far too many that say you need them in your everyday makeup routine. However, that's not true and added together, it only leaves us feeling a little overdone and beyond confused.
Truly, the goals of an easy makeup look should be to keep it simple, frame the face to enhance your natural features, and make everything look seamless. Bear in mind, I am not saying full-coverage, glamorous, or perfect. With an everyday look, you should be able to have your skin come through the makeup and just look fresh and youthful.
With much trial and error, I was able to compose a 5-minute routine with minimal (just 8!) products but effective impact that I absolutely adore!
1. Light-Medium Coverage Foundation - It's a huge misconception that in order to have a great makeup look you need to have a flawless veil of foundation on. The truth is that, whether liquid, cream, stick or powder, it doesn't matter as long as it works well with your skin type and texture. Some of you may even be so lucky as to just skip this step all together, but not me. The key is to find something that helps even out the complexion but lets the skin breathe. Light to medium coverage that is easy to apply is best and you should feel like you get a "my skin, but better" finish. I prefer a loose powder foundation with built in SPF, like Sweat Cosmetics Mineral Foundation or ColoreScience Loose Mineral Sunscreen Brush, which I use after my concealer just to blend everything together to look seamless.
2. Concealer - This is actually what I prefer to be my first step, and what I feel is the heart of the everyday makeup look. The trick is to have it match a touch lighter than your natural skin tone, but no lighter than that since you are trying to keep this look effortless. This will be a product that you will use all over the face to conceal under the eyes, any blemishes, and to brighten and balance the whole face. Smashbox Studio Skin 24-Hour Waterproof Concealer is fantastic for a quick look because of the blendable and weightless texture. Another one I am absolutely in love with is Benefit Boi-ing Airbrush Concealer.
3. Eyebrow Pencil - It's all about the BROWS, BROWS, BROWS these days! Everywhere you turn, you hear about microblading or a new brow product (so many! too many!) to hide how tweezer-happy we were in our younger years. I'll admit, brows are a hard topic to talk about because everyone's is different and tips and tricks become very personal. Brows are so in depth that it can be a separate post on its own. All I can advise to help make brows something you don't slave over everyday for more than a couple of minutes is to find the best texture of product (thin pencil, thick pencil, powder, pomade, etc.) that works well with what you already have. In addition, be modest with the color. A lot of times, we think the right shade is the one that matches our brow hairs exactly. In actuality, when filling in your brows, try going lighter in shade, but in the same tone of your brow hairs. Doing so will allow you to add a shadowing effect that will make your brows look fuller in a natural way. Also, be modest with your application. A little bit goes a long way. I have fairly decent brows, but they are still tricky to fill in without overdoing it. Easiest for me is to grab a brow pencil in a warm brown/taupe shade and just fill in the sparse areas...and then walk away before I accidentally become Bert from Sesame Street. In my picture, I feature Chella Eyebrow Pencil in Tantalizing Taupe, but Benefit, Hourglass, and Anastasia all do a great job and come in a wide array of shades.
4. Bronzer - I think this is by far my favorite product in a quick makeup look. Bronzer is so transformative! I don't care how much or how little concealer or foundation you put on. Nothing puts the life back into your complexion and take flatness out of foundation and concealer alone like a good bronzer. What's great about It Cosmetics CC+ Radiance Ombre Bronzer is that because it is illuminating and blendable, the bronzer looks like the natural contours of your face, which is exactly what you want. So, I can throw it on haphazardly and I can look sun kissed, but more importantly, like blood is still circulating through my face.
5. Blush - Apparently, the trend these days is not to wear blush. To each, their own. No judgement, but I just love how sweet blush looks. That little bit of strategically placed flush, I think, adds youthfulness to anybody. And it goes so well along the lines of working with the bronzer to keep your skin looking breathable and lifelike. Of course, everyone's natural/neutral blush tone is different, but for my light-medium skin, Milani Berry Amore or Benefit's Sugarbomb (pictured) both have just the perfect amount of color with a hint of healthy glow.
6. Eyeshadow Stick - This part is optional, but I think if you are going to do some sort of eye makeup, you can't go wrong with a shadow stick. It's as simple as "swipe, swipe, blend." Very little skill is required to make your lids look like you spent time blending out a combination of shadows. The creaminess of the stick formula and the sheen (read: not glittery or shimmery like a disco ball) does all the work for you and the staying power is fantastic. I've always loved the Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks, but lately the collection by Nudestix is ruling my world. The shade ranges for both pretty much has something for everybody, so you cannot go wrong either way.
7. Mascara - If you look up what three makeup items people say they could not live without, most likely one of the three would be mascara, and I can understand why. Mascara has the magic of just waking up your eyes and adding that little bit of definition at the lash line. However, not all mascaras are created equal and it is important to find the one that does the most justice to your lashes. The key is to find something that will fan out your lashes and give you just enough volume (not too much) to make you look as if you were just born with the most luscious and healthy lashes. I have wispy, fine, short, and sparse lashes. Therefore, a lot of mascaras that are popular do not work for me. I need something that is thinner in formula so that the mascara defines each one of my little strands without weighing them down or clumping. So, to all my friends in the the petite lashes army, give Arrow Endure Water-Resistant Mascara a shot.
8. Lips - Lip balm, lip gloss, lipstick, lip pencil. This is where you can have some fun and not feel like you put any extra time in. If you want to go bold, go bold! If you want to go glossy, go glossy! However, stay away from fussy. If you know you won't be able to keep up with reapplying your red lipstick throughout the day, or don't want to worry about the wind blowing your hair onto your glossy lips, keep it simple and apply something that will just make your lips look plump, moisturized, and healthy. My favorites are the LaMer lip balm (Feel free to judge me, but yes. It's worth every penny), Nivea, and Sara Happ Lip Slip. Just for fun, I thought the Minnie Tsum Tsum Lip Smacker looked cute in a picture, but if we're being honest, I do grab for that on as many days I can pry it away from my daughters hands.
Hopefully, what I have found that works for me works for you and gives you inspiration to create your effortless and easy look!
- Jen
