Everyday Makeup

There's a formula to my everyday makeup routine. The only thing that changes on a daily basis is the color of my eyeshadow (even that is limited to a few color palettes), blush and highlighter olor (again, fairly limited), and the shade of my lipstick. There's certain steps that I've been following for years, but more recently, for the past few months. I use the same face products, I do my eyeliner the same, I have a step-by-step process that I live by to expedite my morning routine. There's no surprises when I'm going my makeup in the morning because that's just how I keep my mornings from being insanely hectic. It already takes me long enough to try to pick out an outfit. There's no need to make it more difficult for myself!


My morning always starts out with washing and exfoliating my face. I'm still using the Origins cleanser, the Ole Henriksen exfoliator, and Moisturizing Bomb I talked about in my winter skincare routine. Once my moisturizer sets in, normally I would put on a face primer, but I ran out of my Hourglass primer recently so I've been going without it while I try to decide what primer I want to try next.

I apply my NARS All Day Luminous foundation with a Real Techniques stippling brush. I wear the shade Mont Blanc and I tend to use three pumps, two if my skin is being nice that week. I pump it onto the back of my hand and dot it around my face, focusing more towards the center of my face. I blend it out in circular motions with my brush until it's applied evenly around my face and blended down my neck to avoid any harsh lines. Then, I apply my Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer in the Fair shade in a triangle underneath my eyes. I use the tip of my Real Techniques beauty sponge (Pro tip: Make sure your sponge is damp when you use it) to tap the product underneath my eyes until it's blended out. I use the same sponge on the flat edge to blend in my Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer in Light Warm wherever I have blemishes or redness peeking through my foundation.

While my foundation and concealer set in, I move onto my eyes. I prime them typically with my MAC Painterly Paint Pot or my Lorac Behind the Scenes eye primer. Since my eyeshadow changes daily, there's no singular product that I use, but I do follow the same steps. I place a light shade all over my lid, a medium shade in the outer corner and a darker shade into the crease. I use a fluffy blending brush to buff out the harsh lines and edges and call it a day. I never do anything too dark or dramatic, mostly because I don't trust myself to not make myself look like I got punched. I tend to stick to golds, champagnes and bronze shades. Or, when all else fails, that's why matte browns exist. My final eye step for now is applying my signature winged eyeliner. I've worn winged eyeliner almost every day for nearly two years now and I don't know what I did without it.

At this stage, I go back to finishing my face makeup. I start by applying my Laura Mercier translucent setting powder all over my face with a big fluffy brush. I then go in with my Real Techniques sculpting brush to contour my face with my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer. I apply it lightly to the hollows of my cheek, on my jaw, temples and on the sides of my nose (nose is probably optional, but I have enough nose for two people, so I like to slim it down just a tad). I then use the same fluffy brush to blend the contour out just to be sure there's no harsh lines on my face. The last steps are applying blush faintly to my cheeks and placing highlighter on the tops of my cheekbones, forehead, chin, down my nose (only lightly, to avoid looking too greasy), and on my cupids bow.

The last few steps involve my beloved eyebrows. I brush them up and fill in the sparse areas lightly with the shades Faint and Crave from the Urban Decay Naked Basics palette. To set them, I use the Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel in Espresso just to ensure the hairs stay in place. Then, I put my contacts in right before I leave for the day and apply a few coats of mascara to my top and bottom lashes. Right now, I'm using my sample of Stila Huge mascara for my top lashes and MAC False Lashes for my bottom lashes.

The finishing touch to all of my looks is my lipstick of the day. I don't have an everyday lipstick, so this is where my makeup routine gets extremely fun and occasionally stressful in the morning. There's too many to choose from!