Beauty Tips

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; you gotta try harder as you get older.

This motto occurred to me after I first got engaged. I was in the bathroom at work one day putting on makeup when I told one of my coworkers – let’s call her Jane. I liked Jane, she was nice and smiled more often than other dour-faced people I encountered on a daily basis. After I told her I just got engaged, she pointed at my makeup stash and said, “Why bother putting on all that stuff? You don’t have to try anymore because you already got a man.”

Whoa, now that I was out of the dating game, it was time to ditch the smoky eye look and pursue a life lycra-infused leisure wear? What she said freaked me out. I know, I know — I don’t have to equate getting hitched with totally giving up on trying to look put-together, but as I get older truth be told I find myself getting lazy. I keep reminding myself to not give up on keeping up the beauty routine because my godmother, who has plenty o’ children and grandchildren to spare, is pushing 70, and she still gets her hair done, puts on makeup and coordinates her accessories with her outfits. And she looks *good*! She is one of my style heroes and I hope to be as rocking as she is when I’m her age.

While my godmother is the antithesis of lazy style, we all know that you can’t always go out wearing a full face of makeup. There’s laundry to wash, drafts to edit and sleep to be had. But when you leave the house to run that quick errand or hit the gym you want to make the effort to still look good, right? So in the spirit of “trying harder,” I’ve developed a minimal makeup/lazy day makeup/workout makeup routine.

(And yes, I can admit that I have to put on a little makeup before I work out. If that makes me vain, I don’t care. At least I don’t have to stare at my under eye circles when I’m lifting weights or dancing, ugh.)

My routine takes five minutes, less if I decide to skip a step or two at the end. I’ve done this routine in the car, out in the middle of the forest (yes, I wear makeup when I attempt to camp) and at the beach. It’s the bare minimum I need to look put together. Try it on your lazy days, or if you’ve just got to run out to the grocery store and don’t want to go full-on foundation, powder, etc.

Step 1: First I apply concealer (I’m currently using Make Up Forever’s Lift Concealer) underneath and in the inner corner of my eyes with MAC’s 252 Large Shader Brush to cover up any dark circles. If I’m in a hurry skip the brush and just use my fingers. I just make sure to wash my hands first or use Purell.

Step 2: I then curl my lashes with MAC’s eyelash curler to open up my eyes. I skip the mascara because it’s something that I just can’t do in a hurry. Plus, I don’t want to have to take the time to clean up any mistakes.

Step 3: Next I apply color to my eyebrows to fill them out and give them definition. In the cheat sheet above, I put a picture of MAC’s Brow Shader, but I use MAC Eyeshadow in the color Concrete (a dark brown) with the 266 Brush. I don’t like to fill in my brows with anything darker than brown; otherwise, I think it looks to harsh.

Step 4: I then apply cream blush to the apples of my cheeks and blend upwards into the hairline with my fingers. I use Paula Dorf’s Cheek Cream in Cha Cha, a very pretty hot pink that at first looks a little scary in the pan. Once I put it on the color tones down gives the perfect pink flush.

Step 5: Last I blot my forehead, nose and any other oily areas with a piece of Shiseido Blotting Papers.

Voila, I’m done! If I have a little extra time I’ll throw some gloss on, and if I’m feeling ambitious, I might replace the Blotting Papers for powder. It all depends on how late I am, ha ha ha!

This weekend I headed over the MAC counter to try the new Mineralize Satinfinish foundation and the artist who worked on me showed me how to use the Mineralize products to get a glowy, J. Lo look. I like having the added dimension of some shimmer in comparison to a flat, matte, look, but I have pretty oily skin so I’m really picky about what shimmer products I use; otherwise, I end up looking like a greasy disco ball if there’s too much glitter. If you like the foundation and the powder consider taking these extra steps because the finished look is really pretty. It gives just enough glow without being too over the top.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on what she did and the products she used:

1. First she spritzed Fix+ over my entire face.

2. She then used the 190 Foundation Brush to apply Strobe Cream over my entire face. You don’t have to use the brush to apply this cream; if you don’t have one just use your fingers.

3. She then mixed Fast Response Eye Cream with Select Moisturecover concealer, and then applied the mixture with the 252 Large Shader Brush. (Although I liked the texture of concealer mixed with eye cream, I didn’t think it gave me enough under eye coverage, so if I were to repeat this look again I’d leave out dilution of the concealer.)

4. She then pumped some Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15 Foundation onto a Petri dish. (MAC artists sometimes use Petri dishes because the glass doesn’t transfer bacteria. You can pump the foundation onto the back of your hand, just make sure you either wash them really well or use Purell before putting products like foundation — or any other product – on the back of your hands to avoid transferring bacteria onto your face.) She then used the 190 Foundation Brush to apply Mineralize Satinfinish with a stippling motion onto my face. To stipple, you take the brush (hold it towards the end, like a chopstick) and bounce it gently on your skin and give it the slightest pull. Whatever you do, don’t paint your foundation on in long stripes.

5. She then grabbed three shades of Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder: Medium, Light and Dark. She applied Medium over my entire face with the 182 Buffer Brush. She then applied Light with the 168 Large Contour Brush to highlight underneath my eyes, across the forehead, down the nose, on the chin and then across the tops of my cheeks. With the same brush, she then contoured my cheeks by applying the Dark shade underneath the apples of my cheeks and up into the hairline.

Voila! You’ve got the glowy look! Watch out, J. Lo! 🙂