How do you decide what makeup to wear each day? What’s your method?
Once I’ve photographed and swatched products, I put them in clear containers to test. So, I go to those containers and pick out what I hope will work somewhat well together or will reach for items that are more time-sensitive and need to be reviewed right away.
Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
Time is the first factor. If I am seriously pressed, I do not wear makeup. If I have 10 minutes, my look is quick and simple and I gravitate towards a set basic look. If I have more time and I am feeling creative, I enjoy spending the extra effort to pull together a more detailed and full look. During these times I experiment a lot with combining products and building on developing better techniques. One of my latest crazes is cheeks: combining blush products with different highlights in varying textures. Since I spent most of my adult life in the science/high tech world in ultra rush mode with very simple and basic makeup, it is fun now to actually learn and experiment at my much more leisurely pace.
I tend to dress according to my makeup and not the other way around unless I have something special planned and know exactly what I am wearing ahead of time.
I just grab things. I keep one makeup bag with the daily essentials like mascara, eyeshadow primer, most reached for face powder, bronzer, black eyeliner, but everything else is pretty random. I think that’s why I’m partial to eyeshadow palettes, because I only have to grab one thing to have all the shadow I need for a look! XD
If I had any new product I want to play with, I’d find a way to incorporate it into the look, but otherwise, it really depends on what colors I feel like wearing that day.
I wear whatever I have in my Muji drawers…I dont spend alot of time thinking about what to wear. As long as I have some makeup on so I dont look I just got out of bed, ,then I am on the go. Makeup is only a small aspect of my life, although I do like looking at makeup. One time, the Sale Associate said at Macys that I dont look like someone who would buy makeup. I told her I have been wearing makeup even before she was born.
I have a lot of cream shadows (mostly MUFE Aqua Creams). I keep them in rainbow order. Each day, I pick the next one in line and base all my other make up (and clothes and accessories, for that matter) around that color. It keeps me cycling through my collection since I’m wearing something different every day.
Ooooh. I like this idea. I’m gonna try this one. Thank You.
I decide by my outfit I’m wearing, which is chosen to match whatever polish I put on the previous evening 🙂
Often, it’s what I plan out as I fall asleep, but sometimes I get a look (or a series of looks) stuck in my head and then I don’t have to plan – I just do them for work until the inspiration runs dry.
Sometimes it depends on what outfit I’m wearing. But most of the time I look through my lipsticks and choose the rest of my makeup based on that.
I honestly just choose based upon what I feel like wearing that day. I do try to pick things out of my stash that don’t get much wear, but usually I end up wearing the same core products! I’ve been thinking of doing a challenge where I wear every item in my stash once, until I’ve worn every colour I own – not sure what that kind of challenge is called, but I’m keen!!
I try to wear things I haven’t worn in a while, especially when it comes to lipsticks. Sometimes I just find myself going to the same things over and over (ahem, Dior Esquisse, ALL winter…) I’d like to be more creative in experimenting with more colorful eyes and lips together, since I have so many great colors. Christine or anyone reading – any ideas on what fun, unexpected colors to pair with Guerlain Coup de Foudre? I tend to go so neutral on lips!
I like raspberry lipstick with light green eyeshadow. Coral and orange-based lipsticks are nice with khaki eyeshadow. If you’re just using the gray shade it would pair well with red lipstick.
Awesome, thanks! I tend to get scared to pair brights with brights, but I will have to play more – especially now that it’s almost summer!
This may sound like a little bit of OCD, but I list all of my products and then each week wear only what is on the list for that particular week.. That way all of my cosmetics get used and don’t sit around ignored
At first, when I read your method, I thought, “Whoa, that’s too analytical for the creativity that makeup is supposed to be.” Then, after thinking about it, I think it is a great way to ensure that everything that you buy gets used. Thanks for sharing your tip.
If I have to work (I have to wear all black) I look at how my hair is behaving and how my skin looks. I then decide what to brighten (tired looking eyes) and what style of makeup will work with my hair.
When not working I go with how I’m feeling! I let my intuition decide 🙂 and how tired I look LOL
On a daily basis, I always do a neutral eye and nude or pale pink lipstick (I work for a nonprofit religious organization so subdued makeup is usually the best way to go). Most of my eyeshadows are neutral (pale nudes, ivory, browns) or mild colors like gray or pale violet. Once in a while I’ll do a very subdued smoky eye, but those times are few and far between.
Sometimes I lay in bed the night before and think about what I want to put on the next morning. Last night I thought to myself, I’ll use one of my Maybellilne color tattoos and top it with a different color to see what kind of combo effect it would give. It wasn’t as noticeable as I thought it would be so I learned that I should try a more sheer shadow on top so that the tattoo color comes through a little bit more. I think it’s funny that the next day’s makeup is the last thing I think about before I go to sleep but it helps me save time in the morning because I don’t have to just randomly pick something. I think that by thinking it over the night before, I might use products that I wouldn’t think about using with a foggy morning brain.
You should try the Color Tattoos over the shadow. Especially the lighter less opaque ones. I was so bummed about the lack of opacity in the new Summer duochrome ones that I almost threw them out. But I saw someone use them in a look online over powder shadow and gave it a try. They’ll turn your regular shadow into nifty new colors.
I have a limited amount of items in my gym bag to chose from. I have a couple of cream eyeshadows, a few powder eyeshadows for crease and highlight colors, and a handful of eyeliners along with one blush, mascara, TM, powder, and a couple lipsticks. Too many choices will take me forever to decide on what combination I’ll put on! If I notice I’m not wearing a certain color, I’ll swap it out for something else from my stash at home, and I’ll also change up colors according to season, like swapping out darker lipsticks for brighter ones when the weather gets warmer.
being a makeup hoarder/addict/connoisseur and super indecisive… it’s tough
first question is if i have anything new; if i do, i try to base my decisions around this product.
if not, i try to choose a base product from my million and one bb creams, tm, foundations. then i jst try to use something i haven’t lately for every other makeup category..
sad thing is, i maybe have only used most things in my collection only a handful of times. :[
Usually by what I’m wearing. Today i have a pink/raspberry thing going on.
I budget an hour each day for showering, makeup, hair, clothes. My makeup look for the day is 70% what I’m going to wear, and 30% what mood I’m in. On days that I don’t go to work, it’s usually also matched with what circle-lens contacts I’m wearing that day, and it’s going to be bolder and crazier than on work days.
It depends on the clothes I´m wearing, the style of my hair and the way I feel. Also how well the colors suit me together. Really I often go for the classic bold lip, mascara and light blush, since I rarely have more time to spare, particularly in the mornings, so I´m always on the hunt for new colors.
It depends on so many things and they’re different every day. Sometimes, it depends on what I’m doing/where I’m working or even if I’m working or meeting friends or my husband for lunch on that particular day. Other times, it is my mood. The weather and seasons are factors also. It can also depend on how much time I have. Sometimes, it can be motivated by suddenly remembering a product I haven’t used in a while (last night, I suddenly remembered my Nars Habanera duo and realized I hadn’t used it in AGES and so I decided to wear that duo today). Of course, if I’ve just bought something new, that will also be a factor!
My base is always the same. Mascara almost always the same (my eyes can be sensitive so I stick to what I know works for me) and I vary all the rest. Sometimes it is just what I fancy in the moment and what I can be bothered with- other times I will have a particular look I have seen maybe in a tutorial or on a celebrity that I’ll take inspiration from and plan to wear that.
Usually, for me, I have a specific product in mind when I wake up. Then I base the look around that product. During the week I keep things neutral since I’m in class all day, but during the weekends I will pull out brighter lipsticks or go more dramatic on the eyes. I also try to not repeat a look to make sure I am using all of the products I buy.
Great question. I usually go by my gut. Sometimes I start off with a basic look and it turn into a editorial look .. My creative energy take over. For example, today I thought to myself , I have not worn pink in a long time but ended up doing a smokey neutral eye with bold streaks of purples.. lol..
I loose all sense of time… sigh…
gosh i love makeup and all the wonderful creative avenues one can take with it.
Happy Blending Yall.
I’ve got brown hair but light eyes and skin so I can pull off warm, cool or bright colors easily so I usually base my makeup off of what I’m wearing. If I’m feeling brave I’ll pick a certain color from my outfit and do my eyes to match, if not then I stick with neutrals. It also depends on where I’m going and who I’ll be with and whether I want to look like I’m wearing makeup or not. Night (or day) out shopping or to dinner I’ll go full face but if I’m just hanging out casually it’s usually bare face with some eyeliner, mascara and lip gloss. And my hair takes forever to make presentable so sometimes I’m short on time and I just throw a little shadow and mascara on and run out the door.
I try to match it to my outfit. And to the time I have. Though I often use more time than I should and then it’s all a rush… LOL
I only keep a few palettes in my vanity table, and rotate through them often so I actually use all the palettes I have. I usually just try to do a different color combination every day. If I’m tired or pressed for time, then I just do a look that I’ve done so many times, I know I can do it quickly and easily.
Usually everyday I wear at least a primer, TM, under eye corrector, brow gel, mascara, blush and a lip product. If I have extra time, I put on some eye shadow. I saw this idea on you tube of putting the makeup you want to use in a box or basket and rotating products every week/month. So I have a basket stashed with makeup on my counter – so I can reach for it every day. Every few weeks I just change remove some things or add additional items.
Normally, I base it on whatever I’m wearing when I’m going off to work. At the weekend is normally when I come alive and base it on whatever bold lipstick that I feel like wearing.