My "5 Minute Face"

Today I have something different for my blog post.  I thought I would share with you all my "5 minute face" that I do practically every day.  Being at home with the kids now and not having to completely do myself up every day to go into the office anymore my makeup routine has drastically changed.  I very rarely put on my "full face" anymore and it's all much more about simplicity and being more natural.  On days that I know I am staying home and not leaving the house I don't bother with any makeup in order to give my skin a break, but when I'm leaving the house, whether it be to run some errands, meet a friend for coffee, or visit with family, I like to do a little something with my makeup just to make me look a little more fresh and polished.

For simple, everyday makeup I have done away with the foundation.  I now use a beauty balm which has many more benefits for my skin and just gives a nice light coverage while moisturizing and protecting my skin all at the same time.  The beauty balm I have chosen to use as of late is Maybelline's Dream Fresh BB.  It is an 8-in-1 beauty balm with SPF 30.  The price is pretty decent and it is easy to find at any drugstore makeup section.  I love the formula as it goes on nice and smooth and actually feels very refreshing on my face as I apply it.  The lightest shade is the perfect match for my skin tone and it evens out my skin tone just enough for everyday use.

Next I use a pressed powder all over my face to set my beauty balm and give a nice matte silky finish all over.  I'm not too picky about my powder.  I actually tend to buy what is on sale at the time, but I do pay attention to the formula for oily/combination skin as I do have oily/combination skin.  The one I am using currently is just Cover Girl Advanced Radiance.

I then use a brow pencil and fill in my brows just a bit.  The hair on my brows is rather thin (as is my actual hair) and as a result my brows look rather light.  I like to use an auburn/brown shade to fill them in a bit more and make them a little more prominent in order to frame my face/eyes more.  And because I have my hair dyed a dark red once my brows are filled in they "match" my hair colour better.  Again I am not that picky about my brow pencil and I tend to just pick something that is on sale at the time.  I did not take a photo of my current brow pencil as it is getting down to the end and what's left of it doesn't have the brand or anything written on it anymore so I didn't see a point in photographing it and I actually don't remember what brand it was anymore.  Brow pencils last me quite some time.  I then quickly curl my eyelashes with an eyelash curler.

Once those basics are done I then apply a highlight in 3 key places: under my eyebrows, inside corner of my eyes, and on top of my cheek bones.  This gives some dimension to your face and makes you look awake and alive and gives you a little glow.  I like to use a loose Annabelle pigment in Prism which is white powder with a nice iridescent/pearl finish.

Next is eyeliner.  Since I don't use any eyeshadow for my "5 minute face" I like to bring a little colour on to my eyes with my eyeliner.  I like to use a deep plum colour personally.  I love purples and I find that using purple on my eyes brings out the green in my hazel eyes and makes them appear more green.  Plus it gives enough dimension and brings enough attention to my eyes but it's not as stark say a black liner would be but it's more fun than just a plain brown liner.  I actually quite like Cover Girl's Liquilineblast in plum.  It is a pencil but goes on nice and easily and smoothly with the same intensity as a liquid liner.  I run a fairly dark, prominent and defined line along my top lash line only and wing it out just a little bit at the outside corners of my eyes.  The wing gives a little bit of interest and drama to the look but it is still simple and kind of understated.  I like to make it a little more prominent as again I do not use any eyeshadow for this look.

Last on the eyes is mascara.  Mascara is probably my absolute favourite makeup and I don't think I could ever be without mascara.  I have rather long eyelashes luckily but they are rather fine like my hair so they aren't super noticeable.  And funnily enough they actually have blond tips which make them look shorter than they are.  I like to use a very black volumizing mascara which makes my lashes look thicker and fuller and plays up the natural length of my lashes as it covers the blond tips and you can then see how long my lashes actually are.  My favourite mascara for quite some time has been Maybelline Falsies in Black Drama.  I've almost always used a Maybelline mascara.  I've tried mascaras like Dior and other expensive brand names and I find that Maybelline does just as well and for a fraction of the cost.  I've never been disappointed with a Maybelline mascara but since Falsies came out I have never used anything else.

Lastly is just a big of blush to give my cheeks some colour.  I apply it directly to the apples of my cheeks and blend it up and into my hairline by my temples.  I find a shimmery peachy blush works well on me for a natural sort of look and I have been using this blush for longer than I can remember.  It is Nars Outlaw.  It has a nice golden shimmer in it which also adds a nice glow to the face.

Here is what all of this put together looks like.  And it literally does only take about 5 minutes in total to apply everything.  I like the clean polished natural look of it but yet there is just a little bit of enhancement to the eyes.  And with this I usually just wear my EOS lip balm and don't even bother with a lip gloss.  If I do happen to use a lip gloss with this look it is just a pale slightly shimmery pink that I will use.