Ten Minute Makeup

Do you know how there are certain people that just radiate beauty? Like it’s a lot deeper than how they look– it goes all the way to the core of who they are, how they carry themselves, how they make others feel, etc. I’ve always dreamed of being described as “one of those women.” When I was in college I started to really think a lot about the kind of life I wanted to have once the “college days” were over. I went to Purdue, joined a sorority, let’s just say– I “did” the whole college thing. It wasn’t until around my Junior year when I really took a step back and assessed the way that I was living and the kind of woman that I wanted to be. I am going to be honest, college isn’t the easiest time in a girl’s life– we are told “these are the best days of your life”, ” YOLO”, “this is the time to make all the mistakes”..and if you are anything like I was, you listen.. until one day you wake up and realize that you don’t like the way you’re living and there’s just GOT to be more to life than barely staying awake through your classes because you were out until 3:30am the night before (on a Thursday, nonetheless) and up until 5am “because you just had to eat an extra large cheesy bread with your roomies.” Yup, been there, done that. I wasn’t taking care of my body the way that it needed to be cared for and I wondered why I felt like complete crap most of the time. I wasn’t washing my face before going to bed every night and I wondered why I just didn’t have that glowing, perfect, skin that I dreamed of. Oh, to be young and naive. Needless to say, after some soul searching, I turned some things around for myself. Everything from how I treated others, to how I treated myself, to how I took care of my body, and so on and so forth.

Here I am at 27, and I am now realizing how true and right my mother always was when she would tell me to wear sunscreen (why I thought being orange was cute, i’ll never know) and to stop picking at my face (so hard when you have acne, if you’re anything like I was– there is a light at the end of the tunnel). So many of my skin “issues” were caused by me– by my diet, my lack of sleep, my choice in products, my “lifestyle”, shall we say? Figuring out what works for you is a very personal thing– but there are a few things that I swear by for my skin and they are all incredibly simple & attainable: water (like more water than you can imagine), sleep, products without a bunch of crap in them and properly cleaning my skin.

As a mother, I am a busy woman– and then factor in that I have passions and hobbies and dreams of my own that I am still chasing– there isn’t a whole lot of time left in the day for nonsense. Most days I like to leave my skin completely bare. In a perfect world my face would be clear and even enough that I wouldn’t even need a tinted moisturizer, but I am thinking that these days are still a few years down the road and post pregnancy, breastfeeding, etc. For now, on the days when I want to “throw my face on”, it takes me about ten minutes. In college, when I had the luxury of time, one eye of eye-shadow would take me ten minutes– my, how the times have changed. Yet, I think that I like this “new face” even better, it’s more “me.”

I have listed out my ten minute make-up routine, step by step. I am working on figuring out how to not only film a decent video, but to professionally embed video into my website. Just know that once I get it down I will link a video of me using each of these products and physically showing you how I do exactly what is listed in words below! I have gotten multiple questions regarding my makeup via IG, so I figured that this is better than nothing! Please let me know if you have questions about products! As always, i’ve directly linked each product mentioned at the bottom of this post for you to shop directly if something catches your eye!

** Start with a clean, moisturized face** If you don’t have a morning skincare routine, you can check out mine here.

I am a firm believer that makeup should accentuate our faces– and the best way to do so is to start with a clean, hydrated face. Consider this the true “step 1”

Ten Minute Makeup For Mom’s and Busy Women

1. Apply Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream all over face, focusing on areas of discoloration or breakouts. I love this product because it is lightweight and it has SPF 30 in it. I find myself using this in place of a facial sunscreen in the summer. It leaves a really natural, almost “naked” appearance. I am not one for chalky, heavy, foundation… if you like heavier coverage, this probably isn’t the product for you. Another that I love and will sometimes mix in depending upon the level of my tan is Dew Skin made by Beauty Counter. The Dew Skin product I have found is a little bit oilier, so I tend to gravitate towards this one in the fall/winter, more so than the summer months. In Bare Minerals I wear Ginger 06 and in Beauty Counter I use 02.
2. Apply MAC Mineralize Concealer around eyes in a “triangle” pattern of small dots from the inside corner of eye, to top of cheekbone, and to outside corner of eye– blend in with finger focusing on entire under eye area, eye lid and up to brow bone.
3. Next up is Urban Decay Naked Flushed Bronzer/Highlighter/Blush Pallet. I typically start with bronzer and I apply it in a “E” and “3” pattern. E is for the right side of the face, under jawline, cheek bone, up the side of temples and sweep across the forehead– repeat this same pattern on the left side of face in a “3” pattern. Next, apply highlight in a “C” shape on top of cheekbone around the outside of eye and up over the top of the eyebrow. Repeat on both sides. Take the remainder on brush and sweep down middle of nose, cupids bow (dip above upper lip) and finally on the inner corners of eyes. For the blush, make a fake cheesy smile– and dab some blush on the apples of the cheek that form! I have this pallet in Streak.
4. For everyday eyes I swear by Too Faced Natural Eyes. I have always been an Urban Decay Pallet girl (which I also linked below), but I have found that this Too Faced option is a whole lot more compact and gets the job done for me! I apply “silk teddy” all over my entire eye lid and nudie to the crease. During the day and for my quick makeup I don’t usually apply eyeliner. Instead, I just get the tip of an eyeliner brush wet, dip it in either “cashmere bunny” or “nudie” and run it along my top lash line, and use the remainder on the bottom lash line, but only from the outside corner to about halfway in.
5. Curl Lashes! It’s amazing how curling your lashes can literally change the shape of your eye and wake up the entire face.
6. Apply Mascara, typically I do about 2-3 coats on the top lashes– make sure that you don’t let the lashes dry in-between coats (this is how you get clumps). Then I use the remainder to just dab on my bottom lashes (because my bottom lashes are insanely long– so I use the mascara more so for the color definition on the bottom and the lash definition on the upper). I have been using Maybelline The Falsies forever, but I am absolutely in the market for a new mascara, so please leave me your favorites in the comments below!
7. Next, I fill in the sparse parts of my brows. I’ve been using Sephora Retractable Brow Pencil in 02 Nutmeg Brown and I really like it. It’s easy to manage and the tip is fine enough that the stroke looks like a natural hair!
8. Finally, spritz entire face with Mario Badescu Rosewater to set the makeup and give an overall dewy finish. I actually spritz my face multiple times a day as a refresher, and I carry this with me pretty much everywhere!

most days it’s tempting to spend these ten extra minutes doing anything other than applying makeup, but I have found that ten minutes can make a massive difference in my approach and outlook on the day. xo, Grace