Top from TJMaxx

Top from TJmaxx

Today I will show you the magical world of my everyday makeup. Ok, I have to be honest.. I don’t wear makeup everyday per say. Mostly just when I have the extra time, and when I feel like looking extra pretty. Most days I like to let my skin breath, but today you are here to see what I do when I am in the makeup mood. Right? Right. So! Let’s get to it!

I personally do not have incredible talents, nor am I a professional. I do like to play, and I have had some years of experience with the trial and error process. Imagine thick black rimmed eyes and hot pink eye shadow with something of a Kat Von D star design in eyeliner, but much, much rougher. In my defense it looked great with the bright pink locks I was rocking in my teenage years. Also, I loved it and felt incredibly confident in it, and that is the point of makeup is it not? To feel good in it! To experiment and play. Because at the end of the day, you (hopefully) wash it all away to start again the next day.

For my “everyday”makeup these days I have opted for something much simpler, and certainly much more subtle. I am a very big fan of minimal makeup, and I couldn’t be happier than when my face still looks like my face. Only, you know, more flawless and put together. Because I don’t know about you but dark circles and discoloration just do not look flawless and put together on me.

Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer & Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray

NYX Dark Circle Concealer – Light

NYX Dark Circle Concealer – Light

The very first step I take is to make sure I have done my proper skin care routine, the exact one I went over in my last blog post. If you’re curious about that process make sure to check out that post first. My makeup goes on so much better when my skin is freshly cleaned and my moisturizer has had a good amount of time to sink in and do it’s job. Then, I give my face a spritz of Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray , just for good staying power measure. (Side note: anyone else notice product names can just get ridiculously long? Or is that just me?) Next, it is time to pat my primer into my skin. A wonderful one is the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer. They have a wonderful range of primers that do all sorts of wonderful things, I personally prefer the original one. It helps my foundation blend beautifully into the skin and keeps it there all day long. However as we approach the spring and summer months I switch over to the Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer . It again, does a wonderful job of helping my foundation buff into the skin flawlessly, and keeps it in tact all the day long. The special part that makes me love it at this time of year more so than the Smashbox one is that this one adds a glow. That beautiful summer goddess “lit from within” glow. Which is something that just makes me unexplainably happy this time of year in particular. Moving on to address those under eye circles that I just love so much, this NYX Dark Circle Concealer is my holy grail. It has a slight salmon color to it that helps to cancel out the blue tones in my under eye, to make me look like I actually got a full nights rest for once. I certainly cannot complain about that. A tiny bit of this stuff goes a long way, and just make sure you only use it in the areas that you really need it. No need to put it all the way across your under eye, this is more of a color corrector and less of a concealer, no matter what the name implies.

L’Oreal True Match , Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser, & Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer

L’Oreal Truematch in W3 – Nude Beige

Maybelline Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in Fair

Urban Decay Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer in Med- Light

For actual concealing I move on to applying my foundation. I have a few favorites, but the L’Oreal True Match is one that I always go back to. It leaves my skin with a flawless medium coverage, does not feel heavy on the skin and as a bonus also comes in a wide variety of colors. Plus, it is found in drugstores, so it is relatively inexpensive. Next, I apply my concealer which I personally use two different concealers for. Yes, this is a little high maintenance, but I adore the effect I achieve with this method. Placing the lighter concealer, in my case the Maybelline Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser in fair, under my eyes in a triangular shape, then swiping a darker concealer on the outer edges of that triangle. The darker concealer I use here is the Urban Decay Lightweight Complete Coverage Concealer .  (Again, with the long names) I have found when I apply my concealer in this way I can still get some of the highlighting and brightening properties, but the darker concealer gives it more of a natural gradient effect. So my under eyes can look bright, but not all out Kim K, which is a bit much for me if we’re being honest with each other.

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Liquid , Rimmel London Natural Bronzer ,Wet N’ Wild Blush & Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed

Rimmel London Natural Bronzer in 021 Sun Light

Wet N’ Wild Blush in Mellow Wine

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed/Liquid in Opal

Moving into bringing some life back into the face I go over the high points of my face with the Becca Shimmering Skin Prefector Liquid , cheek bones, cupids bow, chin, and down the center and on the tip of my nose. This highlighter is A-MAZING. I absolutely love how easily it blends out with the tip of my finger, just melting into the skin. It adds to that “lit from within” summer glow I got with my primer in the most perfect way. I cannot recommend this product enough. Next I hit some of the shadows of my face with my Rimmel London Natural Bronzer, I go around the edges of my hairline, onto my temples, a little in the hollows of my cheeks and some along my jawline as well. This is a bronzer I have been using for years, and it has never failed me. I am not sure how it would do for contouring however, because I am not really interested in contouring my own face personally. I think other people look amazing with a strong contour, however I myself have not mastered this skill and I am ok with this fact of life. As far as bronzing the face however, I find that it is not too orange, not glittery, and blends out beautifully to give a beautiful sun kissed appearance. Which many times is enough for me and I don’t even add a blush. When I do decide to add blush, this is a step I play around with. The color changes depending on what I think looks the best that day. One of my favorites is the Wet N’ Wild Color Icon Blusher in “Mellow Wine”, though you must use a light hand because these things can pack some serious pigment. Count yourself warned. I apple this lightly just behind the apples of my cheeks and brush it back towards my ears. This gives me a perfect flush of color to accent my glowing bronzed skin. I then top that liquid highlighter we used earlier with some of the same highlighter but in the pressed form, to really lock it into place and to add a little extra shimmer to the tops of those cheekbones.

Stila Trust in Love Giftable Set

Stila Trust in Love Giftable Set

Next, I may or may not add some eye shadow. Many days I do not, but even when I do it is subtle and simple. I usually reach for my Stila Trust In Love Giftable Set. It is called a giftable set because it comes with 12 gorgeous eye shadow shades, a mascara and a lipgloss. Personally I did not like the lipgloss as it was too sticky, and I wasn’t too fond of the mascara either. But the shadows, are completely worth it. They are incredibly pigmented, soft and as smooth as butter, just beautiful. I usually grab a little bit of the shade furthest to the left upper row in the picture above. (The shades are not listed on the palette itself)  I then run that through my crease quickly. I next pick up the shade that is 3rd from the left upper row, and place this all over my lid, then I take the shimmery shade 2nd from the left upper row and that goes on the inner 3rd of my eyelid. And voila, done with the eye shadow.

As a bonus I also take the shimmery white shade 2nd from the right on the bottom row and use that as my brow highlight.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz & NYX Tinted Brow Mascara

Speaking of brows, that is usually where my attention goes next. I fill them in using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz , this is a magical little pencil that is holy grail throughout the beauty world. It has a small nib on it that makes it perfect for creating tiny hair like strokes, and comes in a wide range of colors. My color of choice is “Soft Brown”. I then set them into place using my NYX Tinted Brow Mascara. This stuff keeps them solidly in place all day long, and adds a tiny bit more color for a little more coverage. In fact some no makeup days I will add a little tinted brow mascara, just to keep them in place and frame my face a little more.

L’Oreal Infallible Lacquer Liner 24H Gel Liner & Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil

Maybelline The Rocket Volum Express Mascara

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Ultimate Ozone, Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Baci, Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Iconic Iris

Some of the finishing touches! I line my tight line with my Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil , this is the perfect liner for the tight line, or the water line. Once this stuff goes on, it’s not going anywhere! Sometimes I follow up by lining my lash line with L’Oreal Infallible Lacquer Liner 24H , this an amazing gel liner that provides a smooth rich line, that dries down quick and stays exactly where you put it without any fading through the day. To complete my eyes I apply my favorite mascara, the Maybelline Rocket Volum Express Mascara gives me tons of volume and does not clump. It is a fantastic drugstore option, and I have gone back to it many times. I finish off by giving my face one more spritz of my Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray, then apply whatever lip color I want to wear that day. Lately I have been lining my lips with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in “Ultimate Ozone”. This is a wonderful clear lipliner that adds no color but helps lay the perfect base for wearing any liquid lipstick, helping to make things a little more comfortable. Lately the liquid lipstick I have been favoring is Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in “Baci”. This is a beautiful mauve shade, that doesn’t budge. It goes smoothly with no patches, wears all day long (seriously this stuff won’t budge), and is pretty comfortable to wear. Another drugstore option I am fond of is Revlon Colorstay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in Iconic Iris, it is a darker purple mauve with a glitter like blue sheen that is beautiful on the lips. This one is also very longwearing, but not as comfortable, so I would recommend a good lip balm with this one especially.

Also, If you are having trouble getting a liquid lipstick off when you actually want to get it off try using some olive oil on a cotton round. Liquid lipsticks are not fond of oil, so I would also not recommend any super oily foods unless you want them to come off quick and in a hurry.

Thank you for reading along today, I hope you saw a thing or two to try out for yourself. Even if you only learned that I more days than not have a naked face, or that I used to load on pink eye shadow, I am ok with that if you are.

If you would like to see a future post with some not flattering throwback photos of me in bright eye shadows and too much eyeliner comment below and let me know.

I would also love to hear what some of your favorite products are, comment and give me something new to try.

As always, I hope you have an amazing and beautiful day!

xo-Danielle