What steps are in your typical makeup look? How long does it take you?
We’ll suspend the idea that typical is really me testing new products, which basically means as many steps as I can cram onto my face, really… By choice, my routine would include: eye makeup (5-9 eyeshadows), filling in brows, eyeliner, curling lashes, and mascara; foundation, light concealer, setting powder, blush, highlighter, finishing powder, and setting spray; lipstick with gloss on top. I tend to skip bronzer (if I use it, it replaces blush for me), lip liner, and contour.
It takes me about a half hour to 45 minutes for everything; the place that can take a bit longer is the eye makeup depending on whether I went a little off the rails in terms of color combo (e.g. knowingly choosing shades that are harder to blend together).
— Christine
1) Skin prep: I clean my face with micellar water, then mix together a face oil, SPF, glowy primer and moisturizer and apply to my face with my hands.
2) Eyes: I prime with eye primer and put on eyeshadow, which is typically 4 or 5 shades, then clean up under my eye area in case of fallout.
3) Face: I put on foundation/BB cream with my hands, and put on concealer where I need it and blend with my finger tips. Next is bronzer, then highlight, with my fingers if I’m using creams. I always put blush on last. Then I finish my lower lash line.
4) Set/finish: I spray a finishing spray on my face, then powder my t-zone.
5) Eyebrows/lashes: I fill in and set my brows, then line my upper lash line with eyeliner and put on a couple coats of mascara.
6) Lips: I don’t put on my lip color until after I’ve finished my breakfast, usually while I’m in the car right before I walk into work.
The whole thing usually takes anywhere between 20 – 40 minutes, depending on how in-depth I feel like going in any given day.
5
“I don’t put on my lip color until after I’ve finished my breakfast, usually while I’m in the car right before I walk into work.” -> And this is the reason why sometimes I’ll forget putting my lipstick. 😆 Nothing beats a full face of make-up but naked lips.
Daily routine: Moisturizer, brows, eyeshadow primer, eyeshadow (1-3 shades), mascara (upper only), foundation, concealer, setting powder, blush, lips. (I usually forget setting spray in the morning. Doesn’t seem to matter, though.)
Going out at night routine: Moisturizer, brows, eyeshadow primer, tightline upper lashline, eyeshadow (3-4 shades), eyeliner pencil on lower lashline, mascara (upper only), foundation, concealer, setting powder, blush, highlighter, finishing powder, setting spray, lips.
My regular daytime look takes me 20–30 minutes. My night look can take up to 45 minutes.
Hi Seraphine,
I was wondering about tightlining upper lashline vs using eyeliner on lid – what do you like better about tightlining? I’ve rarely tried it, but am curious about pros/cons. Thanks!
Hi Gilad. I have hooded eyes and very small lids, so eyeliner on the lid doesn’t really work well for me. Also, my lashes are skimpy, so tightlining the upper lid makes my lashes look fuller. I also like how tightlining isn’t as obvious as eyeliner. And one interesting thing I discovered is that tightlining with navy blue makes my green eyes brighter. No cons, really.
If I don’t have to spend time digging for things, I’m guessing it takes me 10 to 15 minutes, from moisturizer to “done”. Usually, my eye look is achieved with 2 (sometimes 3) eyeshadows, pencil liner and maybe an upper lid “tightline”. Concealer under my eyes is a must for me and that can be time consuming (I have very dark circles and very pale skin and covering those circles can be daunting). Then it’s usually just powder, blush and lipstick. I am trying to remember to do my brows more often but I usually forget or skip it entirely.
I enjoy luxuriating, but find as my skill set has improved, the time it takes to do my makeup has diminished considerably. If I am doing full face, it takes me roughly 30 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how intricate and well-blended I go with my eye look. If I am doing my quick face, I’m done in 10 minutes.
Full makeup:
I never do my eyes first..should, but just cannot seem to get my head around it. So it’s skincare, lip prep, concealer, base, powder set t-zone, spritz, brows, eye prep, eyes, cheeks, H/L, touch up under eyes with creamy concealer, powder set under eyes and buff to blend with large fluffy brush .. without powder for dewy, with a bit of powder if I am looking for longevity, setting spray, lips
I have everything in my vanity drawer that are core products lined up for this progression. I hate searching for stuff in a clutter.
I never do my eyes first either, I tried but it doesn’t make sense to me. 😀 With the techniques and the eyeshadows I use I rarely get fallout, so it’s no problem. But I do tend to use very few shimmers and glitters, and for my mattes and satins I prefer more packed eye shadows.
So I use Mac strobe cream as a base for my foundation, then add a little cream contour and lightly powder my t zone, then brows, eyeshadow primer, 2 to 4 eyeshadows, then I do face – blush and highlight and then use Mac fix plus to make it look more dewy and together. Then it’s liner and mascara and then I finally choose a lipstick or lipgloss. It takes me around 40 mins as I don’t have a set up where I can just sit down and do everything, I feel like I’d benefit from actually having a vanity and having everything I need in one place, plus I take my time on my base as my skin is annoying, dry AND oily and prone to break outs.
Too many! 😵
After doing all my a.m. skincare, it goes down like this: face primer, foundation, eye primer, set primer, apply browbone e/s, fill in brows with pencil then powder, apply my eyeshadow look (this can get VERY involved and time consuming!), tightline upper lashline, curl lashes, apply any other eye liners, lash primer, mascara, then I do my concealer and set it, apply setting/finishing powder, bronzer or contour, blush, highlighter, wipe off lip balm, apply lip primer if I need to, line lips, lipstick and/or lipgloss, spray face with setting spray if I need to.
Oops, my bad! I forgot to put time involved! For a quicker simple look: 15 or 20 minutes. For what I detailed above, anywhere from 30-45 minutes, sometimes an hour if I get adventurous.
My typical make-up takes 15-20 minutes (excluding the time I let skincare sit), depending how fast I move and how complex my eyeshadow look is. I follow the same steps each time.
*Skincare: cleanser, hydrating toner, azaleic acid booster (+BHA), eye cream, SPF; pause at least 5 minute to let skincare (especially SPF) sync into the skin
1) Base:
-> Face primer: I try to let it sync ~1 minute, in the meantime I usually prep the other make-up items I use
->Concealer: I apply it under eye and other areas I need coverage. I let it dry a couple of seconds and get tacky, after that I blend it with my fingers.
-> Foundation: I apply only one layer, as needed to make the complexion more uniform. I rarely build layers, coverage is mostly taken care of by concealer.
-> Eye primer: I apply a small amount on my eyelids and on my nose bridge (were glasses sit).
-> Powder: I set everything with a pressed powder (I hate loose powders).
->Cheek powder: I apply contour, bronzer and/or blush, depending on the look.
-> Illuminate: Rather than highlighting, I prefer to use a brightening powder on specific areas I want to make pop.
2) Eyes:
-> Eyeshadow (might skip): It depends on the look I am doing (I might use only pencil or liner), but I rarely use more than 2-3 shades.
-> `Colored` eye pencil (might skip): I just tightline the upper lash line, usually with a brown or a mauve like MAC Prunella, pure black is not flattering on me
-> Liquid eye liner (might skip)
-> Nude eye pencil (might skip): I apply it on the lower waterline if I look really tired.
3) Brows:
*Brow pencil (might skip): I have decently good eyebrows and I don’t like very `structured` brows; I barely fill in any gaps to make the brows more uniform. I prefer teardrop applicators, not fine tips.
*Brow gel: set in place my brows (I have long hairs in my brows, I need them held in place)
2 part 2) Mascara
4) Lips:
*Lipstick: I never use lip liners, liquid lipstick, nor glosses
I’m right there with you 🙂
1. Skin care.
2. Sunscreen and wait for about 20 minutes if I am in a hurry I will go straight to makeup but I do know it is suppose to sit for awhile.
3. Spray MAC Fix +
4. Face primer and many times I use more than one primer for different parts of my face. Lip balm to plump the lips while I am doing the other steps.
5. Foundation, concealer and powder. I usually follow this with another spritz of Fix +.
6. I rarely contour or bronze on my typical day so I would go straight to blush at this point. If I am going to wear highlighter I would apply after blush although periodically I will apply the highlighter first and then my blush. I generally like the look of it better when I put the highlighter first and the blush second as I feel it keeps me from having a harsh line of highlighter. Having said that, old habits are hard to break.
7. Strategic powdering. Mostly just around my nose and chin to help with the appearance of large pores. While I like a dewy look foundation, they tend to accentuate my pores so I powder where they are most apparent.
8. Eye shadow primer and either powder down or use a light cream shade from the palette or a stand alone shade.
9. I do my eye brows next to let the primer set for a little bit but also because brows frame the eye and seeing how they are looking helps to determine shadow placement.
10. Eye makeup.
11. Buff Guerlain Meteorites into the skin and spray a final MAC Fix +.
12. Lip liner, lipstick and maybe a gloss.
If pressed I can do it in about 20 minutes but I generally spend about 40 minutes.
I usually take 45-60 mins, depending on how intricate my eye makeup is that day. I’d say 45 mins. is the average for me.
Usual routine:
1) Eye primer
2) Face primer
3) Green color corrector, if needed on my nose and cheeks
4) Foundation
5) Powder
6) Contour lightly: Cheeks, around chin, and nose
7) Conceal blemishes, if needed; powder when concealer sets
8) Brows
9) Eyeshadow and pencil liner(s)
10) Blush
11) Highlighter(s)
12) Setting spray
13) Mascara and liquid liner (if using)
14) Lips (If I use lipliner, I do so after applying lipstick)
*If I’m working with really messy or staining eyeshadow/pigments, then it goes:
1) Eye Primer
2) Powder heavily around the eyes
3) Brows and eyeshadow
4) Clean-up around eyes
5) The rest of the face in the same order as above
I’m trying to streamline. So lately, in order, it’s been: skincare, lip plumper, CC cream, cream concealer, cream contour, cream shimmery blush. Creams are faster for me – ease of blending & fingers instead of brushes. If I have meetings/hot day I might do a very light powdering of nose & chin to help concealer last.
Mascara (curling lashes if I’m working outside the house), eyebrow pencil most days,
1-3 shadows, usually eyeliner on outer 1/3 top lid & outer 1/4 of lower lashline, angling up to meet top line. Sunscreen patted over which also blends everything a bit more. Lipstick. maybe a touch of gloss on top/center.
(What’s she leaving out!!! ? color correcting, primers, separate highlighter, lip liner, powder, not always lining, not always curling lashes, fewer shadows, no setting spray, the occasional au natural brow)
I’m probably down to about 20 min which is where I’d like it stay. My makeup lasts as long as I need it to – I rarely need the extra boost that primers/sprays/powdering gives.
The steps in my typical makeup look involve:
1. Cleansing and moisturising
2. Primer and/or sunscreen
3. Foundation
4. Eyebrow pencil
5. Mascara
6. Lipstick
7. Blush and setting powder
8. Eyeshadows – between 2-4 shades.
It all takes about 10-15 minutes.
I do skincare first and then primer. I do my eyes sans mascara, then my foundation, blush/bronzer and highlighter. Then my brows. I give it a good coat with setting spray. And my last two steps are mascara and lipstick.
My glam looks take about an hour. My regular daily look takes 10-15 minutes and my rushed look takes 3 minutes (just powder foundation, blush & brows).
1) Skin: Korean 7-step method + SPF 50 + Pure Lanolin on lips.
2) Eyes: Prime, powder, shadow.
Shadow could be bronzer, blush, cream shadow, or 1-6 eyeshadows, as the mood hits me.
3) Face: Mix 1/3 heavy duty foundation (Estee Lauder Camo or CT Flawless Foundation) with 2/3 Primer/BB Cream/Moisturizer….apply Mary Greenwell style. Let sit while doing hair.
4) Hair: Spritz with home-made conditioner water, scrunch, add product, scrunch, spray, scrunch, leave it.
5) Conceal: Laura Mercier on face and IT Cosmetics Bye Bye under eye.
6) Blush: Mix 2 shades Daniel Sandler Water color blushes, apply. Add and blend Chanel Soliel bronzer. Add CT Flawless Filter Highlight (or Kosas).
7) Powder: To T-Zone and jaw with powder foundation to add coverage and set concealer.
8) Set/finish: Spray Alcohol-Free Spray on my face, sponge in with damp beauty blender to set.
9) Eyebrows/lashes: Give a good quick swipe to brows with ABH Dipbrow pomade. Curl lashes, mascara coat 1. Add ABH pencil in bare spots, brush to fill. Mascara coat the 2nd.
10) Lips: Quick swipe of gloss or nude lip, then put that in my pocket for touch-ups; if I feel fancy, do a lip liner and red lipstick.
Night look: Boots, jeans and heading out to the barn.
Time: no more than 40 minutes, and that includes eating a couple protein muffins and coffee and checking the dogs water in between all the steps before I run out the door.