The Everyday Makeup Routine

As the past couple of week’s have been so nuts (got to love catching the 6.40am train to London!), I have been reaching for whatever I can in the morning. You know the drill. You’re barely awake, you’re watching RuPaul’s Drag Race on your laptop out of one eye and trying to check that you haven’t gone overboard with bronzer with the other, whilst also trying to eat a slice of toast and keep an eye on the clock so you don’t miss your train. I feel ya. In those moments I don’t really give a hoot what bronzer I’m using, I just need it to make me look awake, fresh and healthy and like I haven’t eaten Domino’s for dinner for the past three nights in a row. Thankfully I’d got a solid routine down in the week’s leading up to the nuts period and so when I looked in a mirror come midday, I was pleasantly surprised at what was looking back at me. I mean, I was hardly seeing J.Lo-comparisons in my reflection, but my 5.30 wake-up alarm eye bags certainly weren’t as prominent as they could have been.

So today I thought I’d share the deats and if you want to see everything in action then check out today’s vlog which is a meaty 30 minutes long. Yeah, I was feeling like a right old Chatty Cathy when I filmed it yesterday. Scroll down to the bottom of this post if you fancy watching…

Let’s start with the most important part – base. If I’ve picked my complexion weapon of choice correctly in the morning, I’m less likely to feel like a beetroot-hued moon face come lunchtime. It all depends on what my plans are for the day; if I’m planning on perusing Hobbycraft with my Mum then I’m all for a light coverage, but if it’s a day of meetings/podcast recordings/stuffing my face with sushi with Lily then I like to apply something a little hardier. Light coverage options for me are the Glossier Skin Tint in Medium or the L’Oreal Nude Magique Cushion in 03. If I want something tougher then I go for the It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream in Fair and Light mixed. Add a drop of the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk in 4 into that blend and that’s the winner right there.

Of course if I wake up looking like an actual tomato then there’s only one thing for it – the It Cosmetics Bye Bye Redness Neutraliser. It’s a little more matte in finish than what I usually like so I try to use it sparingly, just over my cheeks where things get real rouge and instead I just pile on the highlighter afterwards. The concealer spot gets taken by the Glossier Stretch Concealer if I actually got my eight hours of sleep the night before, or the Estée Lauder Doublewear Stay-in-Place in Light if I haven’t.

I try to keep my ‘complexion finishing‘ section streamlined as that’s the section that I dilly-dally about with the most. So first I’ve been applying the tiniest dot of the Glossier Cloud Paint in Dusk. It’s basically the blush-hater’s blush of choice. Next I go in with Marc Jacobs O!Mega Bronzer Coconut Perfect Tan which is possibly the largest compact in the world, to warm things up. Then I finish things off with the Glossier Haloscope in Quartz, applied to the cheek with my fingers to add a touch of gloss to my non-existent cheekbones.

I speak about my current Wolverine-brow situation in the video, but I’ve been trying to tame things with the YSL Couture Brow Marker in 2 and the Glossier Boy Brow in Brown. Then after priming the eyes with the NARS Pro-Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base I’ve been using either MAC Eyeshadow in Soba or Saddle, or the Charlotte Tilbury Eyes To Mesmerise in Bette. The latter is a rediscovery and I’m loving it. It gives a great metallic sheen to the lids, which makes them look a bit wet and glossy, but in a very subtle way. It’s my nod to my current RuPaul drag makeup obsession. Finally I go in with the Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara and call it a day with the eyes.

Lip-wise, I’m on the nude lipstick train and it’s going 100mph and I’m into it. Of course there are some old favourites like CHANEL Rouge Coco Lipstick in Adrienne and Glossier’s Generation G in Cake. But I’m also into the Glossier Balm Dot Com, which is almost a matte-effect lip balm – it’s great if you don’t want things to look too glossy on the lips. The MAC x Fleur de Force Lipstick is becoming a firm favourite too when I fancy something a little peachy. Then for a straight-up nude I’ve been reaching for the Burt’s Bees Lipstick in Nile Nude, or for something pinkier – Blush Basin.

PHEW! And there was me thinking that my routine was streamlined. Ha! 

Photos by Lauren Shipley

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