Make Up Routine

A slightly different post today: inspired by gorgeous Claudia of the beautiful Molto Fashion blog, I thought I'd put together a proper post on my make up basics! Sadly, my pictures aren't as pretty as hers and my stuff is a bit worn down and dirty (haha), but I'm too lazy to take new pics SO this is what you get! 

1. BASICS 
 

When I get out of the shower, I start with a daily moisturizer, preferably with a spf against aging or sun damage. I'm thinking about using a proper sunscreen mixed with my moisturiser, but I haven't found one that isn't too rich for my skin. Sunscreen is so sticky most of the time, so suggestions or tips are very welcome. I also use an anti-wrinkle eye cream because I have deep set eyes, very thin skin and an expressive face, and it's better to be safe than sorry! I generally use the cheapest good stuff I can find in my local drugstore, often Nivea.

2. SKIN

My proper make up routine starts with my foundation. As I discussed in an earlier post, I have recently switched from Maybelline Matte Mousse to a richer foundation because my skin was too dry and flaky. I fell for the light texture and dewy finish of Maybelline Satin Liquid foundation, but the lightest shade I could find was still a teensy bit too dark for my skintone. I ended up buying Nivea's lightest shade (too light for me, strangely appears darker in my pics) and now I just take a drop of both and mix them on the back of my hand before applying. I apply my foundation with my fingers, in a dabbing motion. I find this gives the most natural finish and smoothes out my pores the best. I finish off by brushing on a bit of transparent mineral powder from Hema.

3. BROWS

Now, it's time for my eyebrows. I only started filling in my eyebrows a few months ago, since my own eyebrows are very light while my haircolor is quite dark. I like the fact that darker eyebrows bring out your classic beauty in a retro way, and it totally frames your features. I use a mix of two eyeshadows: a grey one and a brown one, but I'm in the market for a good eyebrow pencil. After filling my brows in with the eyeshadow, I use an old mascara brush to blend it in by simply combing my eyebrows. Just to show the difference: lower photo is before I started filling in my brows, upper photo is after. Much more put together, no? I look so grown up!

4. EYES

 Now, I usually use either some kohlpencil or some eyeliner in the upper corner of my eye. When I go for kohl, I keep the look soft, when I use liner I go for proper winged eyeliner. In the upper picture of my eyebrows you can see what I usually do with kohl (a smudged line), and this is what I do with eyeliner. After pencil or liner, I use mascara. My weapon of choice is Maybelline (yep, one of my fave brands) Volum' Express. I've been using it for about 6 years now and it is my favorite mascara, never came across one that I liked better. Natural yet glam.

5. LIPS

God, I really go for a full face of make up, don't I? I basically always use lipstick. My "neutral" is this fun pink, also from Hema. If I use it lightly you barely see it, if I really slap it on it looks brighter. Here you see me wearing it lightly, but I also love my reds and oranges. My best tip: try stuff on, it always looks heaps different if it's on your skin than when you look at the tube.

6. SCENT

Finishing off with a spritz of my perfume. I'm a huge fan of having a signature scent. Mine used to be Lolita Lempicka, but a few years ago I switched to Viktor & Rolf's flowerbomb. Sweet yet light, not too complex but still sophisticated and it basically smells like sweet flowers and cookies: love!

ANNNNND done! Now, this entire thing takes me like 5 minutes at the max. I find that wearing make up makes me feel very professional, I just really like the control it gives. When you wear make up, you have total control over the way you present yourself to the world. That's what I like about fashion: you choose the image you present to people and you limit their ways of misinterpreting who you are. Confessions of a control freak.

Now: questions? Remarks? Tips? Just put it down in the comment section! Hope you liked my post :-)



PS: just gave my blog lay out a make over. Clean, no?