I have been fascinated with makeup since I was a little girl. I would watch my mom get ready in the morning, and I would snoop around her makeup case when she would be busy with the house chores. She would occasionally let me play with her makeup from time to time, but she didn’t really encourage it because makeup was only for older girls.
Fast forward to Grade 7 and most of the girls were wearing makeup, so I bought some N.Y.C. eyeliner with a friend one day and put it on at her house. I think I did a pretty good job considering I never put on eyeliner before. I felt kind of guilty when my mom came to pick me up and asked me about it and I confessed that I bought some; she confirmed I applied it well but would have preferred I asked her first. I really valued my mom’s opinion, and still do, so I asked her if I could continue to wear it, but she said no and that I could only wear makeup when I turned sixteen. But, she did buy me concealer to cover up my cystic acne…
I gradually moved onto wearing mascara, and then when I turned seventeen, my aunt took me to Sephora to buy some makeup for my birthday. She bought me a Cover FX powder foundation, NARS Laguna bronzer, and a Sephora angle blush brush. A girl can’t forget her first major beauty products. My aunt is a fellow makeup lover and we once spent 2 hours at the Sephora in Time Square a year later… And no, it was not time wasted, it was time well spent.
I have tested a bunch of products over the years and I don’t even want to mention the amount of VIB points I’ve accumulated at Sephora but, I’ve figured out what works and what doesn’t work for me, and I do end up going back to my old favourites.
One of the products I have the most difficult time shopping for is primer. I don’t know about you, but primer is always great on the first and second use, but after that it’s kind of meh… But I finally found one that works great for my skin, it’s the FENTY BEAUTY Pro Filt’r Mattifying Primer.
The primer is specially formulated for those with combination-to-oily skin. It works for me, but my T-Zone does get a little oily towards the end of the day. I have repurchased this primer twice already and will repurchase it again.
During one of my cystic acne flareups in my late teens, a Sephora employee suggested the Make Up Forever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation in Ivory, and I really liked it then, and so now that I ran out of the Yves Saint Laurent TOUCHE ÉCLAT LE TEINT, I decided to repurchase it.
I like that the foundation is medium coverage, I never liked the cake-y look. Makeup should enhance your natural beauty, not mask it. So this foundation provided enough coverage hide the redness of my acne flare ups at the time, but also helped with my oily complexion. And now, almost ten years later, it helps with my combination skin. I apply my foundation with a Sephora Complexion Brush from the Ready to Roll Brush Set.
I have gone through a fair amount of concealer over the years, and now that my acne has subsided and I only get the occasional breakout, I mainly focus on covering up the purple bags under my eyes. I use the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla.
It provides a medium coverage and isn’t chalky or cake-y, and I apply it on the occasional blemish. I have repurchased this concealer quite a few times now and highly recommend it.
Next, I apply blush. I have gravitated towards cream blushes over the past few years since I find they are easier to work into the skin. I am currently using the NUDESTIX Nudies Matte All Over Face Blush in Body Language from Hilary Duff’s Daydreamer Collection.
I apply some on the palm of my hand and use the Sephora angle blush brush to apply it to my cheeks. This blush provides a natural flush to the face.
After the blush, I apply bronzer. It took a little while for me to warm up to bronzer since the first couple of times I applied it to my face I ended up looking like a ventriloquist puppet… I’ve come a long way since then. I use the NUDESTIX Nudies Matte Blush & Bronzer in Sunkissed. I apply the bronzer on the palm of my hand and use a contour brush to apply it to my cheekbones and gradually add more if I want to.
Now, I sometimes will apply my bronzer first, and then my blush, but it really depends if I want more of a bronzed look or a flushed look. The cool thing about the NUDESTIX products is that they are so versatile and can really be used all over the face (lips, cheeks, eyes).
Then I set my makeup with the FENTY BEAUTY Invisimatte Blotting Powder. This powder is meant to reduce the look of pores and it definitely does.
Focusing mainly on my T-Zone, I apply the powder with a Sephora powder brush. I will be repurchasing this product as well, I’m really happy with it.
Next, I fill in my brows with the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in Dark Brown. I only fill in the sparse areas of my brows since I prefer a natural look since they’re already quite full but, I’m missing some hair right after my arch and before my eyebrows end.
Once I’m satisfied with my work, I brush over my brows to set them in place.
Next, I curl my lashes with an eyelash curler and apply mascara. I have tested out my fair share of mascaras over the years and I’m not really picky unless there is fallout, so I don’t really have one favourite but I do keep going back to the same few. I’m currently using the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara.
This mascara adds volume to the lashes with it’s collagen-fuelled formula and really makes my eyes pop. I usually add two coats of this mascara.
My last step is my lips. For an everyday lip I usually apply a tinted lip balm or a light gloss. I have currently been using the LANEIGE Lip Glowy Balm in Berry.
I love this formula. It’s not too sticky but provides just the right amount of moisture with a soft tint.
There are quite a few steps but this doesn’t take more than 10-15 minutes to apply. But, if I’m going for a full on glam look, then it’s going to be about 30 minutes or more when eyeshadow and/or a bold lip are concerned.
And voilà! This is my everyday makeup routine; its’s quite simple and natural which is what I prefer for everyday.