Have you ever looked looked in a mirror come midday and suddenly see yourself looking very tired and dull and you find yourself wondering what happened to your freshly applied make up that looked oh so pretty in the morning? Happens to me all the time.
As the day continues, your make up will inevitably start to wear off. Also pollution, air conditioning etc will draw out moisture so if you're not keeping yourself hydrated, this will also take part in making you look tired.
The best way to keep yourself looking presentable all day is, of course, by drinking lots of water and also by topping up your make up. I'm actually very lazy when it comes to reapplying my make up halfway through the day, I've already spent a good half an hour or so in the morning applying it so why should I spend MORE time on it? However, I finally decided that spending an extra five or ten minutes to make myself look brighter and perkier isn't actually that much effort...plus I want to look pretty all day, not just part of the day.
Of course this poses the question 'What should I carry with me to top up my make up?', and this post will answer exactly that question ^^
The kit!
These are all your essentials:
1) Blotting sheets
2) Concealer
3) Blush
4) Blush brush
5) Highlighter
6) Lip Colour
The two items shown in the photo above should always be available in a lady's bag!
It doesn't have to be those brands exactly (duh) but they do come in extremely useful.
Okay, here we go!
1) Sanitise your hands
Firstly, you should ALWAYS make sure your hands are clean. Nothing spells gross better than using dirty fingers to apply make up. The thought just makes me shudder ^^" Also, please use soap. Water alone isn't enough to cut through the grime that accumulates on your hands throughout the day. If there is no restroom near by, clean your hands using an antibacterial wipe instead.
Next, your skin will most probably have accumulated a little oil. You don't want to apply make up over that. Take an oil blotting sheet or simply a tissue if you like, and dab off the oil by rolling the sheet onto your skin to pick up oil but not move your base. I use the sheets by Boots simply because they were the only ones I could find when I wanted to buy these sheets, but they do contain salicylic acid to help prevent spots.
3) Rehydrate your skin
If your skin is looking dry and your fine lines are showing, use a little moisturiser. Take a small amount, rub it between your palms and press your palms onto your face. By pressing on the cream, you won't risk smudging your base and wasting your early morning efforts and your skin will immediately look more plump and fresh. I like to use Nivea's Soft moisturiser because it's suitable for every part of your body, smells fresh and doesn't irritate my skin.
4) Clean up any smudges
If you have a little smudging underneath your eyes, take a cotton bud (I forgot to photograph these but you all know what they are anyway. Always keep a few in your bag, they come in very handy!) and dip one end into your moisturiser, wipe off any excess and use to clean up any smudges. Then use the clean end to remove any greasiness that may be left behind. Voila! Bright eyes again!
5) Conceal your flaws
Now for the make up! First, take your concealer and apply it to your your under eye area to instantly brighten your eyes; use your finger to dab and blend the concealer. You can also apply the concealer to other areas such as the inner corner of your eyes, nose bridge, chin, laugh lines etc to brighten those areas too or onto any flaws that may have revealed themselves.
This Bourjois Touche Healthy Mix concealer pen is my favourite to carry around as it doesn't take up much room in my make up bag and does a decent job concealing any imperfections and brightening my complexion. Also it's built-in brush applicator make it easy to apply concealer where I want it.
6) Add some colour
Now take your blush and brush and apply it to your cheeks. I like to apply blush about an inch below my eye next to my nose in a circular motion before blending it out towards my temples.
This blush is by L'Occitane and was part of their peony range so it's probably not available anymore. The colour is actually a little more dusty in real life, but it adds a lovely pop of pink to instantly perk up my complexion. It also smells beautiful ^^
You can apply blush using your fingers, but I actually prefer a brush. Application is just less messy and more accurate and the results more pretty if you use a brush. I carry my Bare Ecsentuals tapered blush brush. It's soft and fluffy and it's size makes it a great space saver. I photographed it next to a Bourjois blush for a size comparison.
7) Add a little luminosity
Time for highlighter! Although it almost always appears invisible, highlighter adds a lovely glow to your skin, especially when the light hits your face. I use Too Faced's Candlelight face powder which claims to 'softly illuminate' your complexion with it's shiny gold pearls. I use the same blush brush to apply my highlighter. I dust it onto my forehead, nose bridge, chin and under my eyes.
What I love about this compact is that it's golden pearls will brighten your skin without any obvious sparkle, and as it's actually supposed to be a face powder, I can also use it to set the concealer I previously applied. It also comes with a decent sized mirror so I can beautify myself when not in a restroom. The only downfall is that it's actually a rather chunky compact, but never mind. The chandelier motif more than makes up for that XD
Another viable highlighter is Bourjois's eyeshadow in Citron Givre (not shown in the main photo at the start though as I don't actually carry it with me). I know, what am I thinking right? Well it's small size makes it great for travel, also it offers more of a sheen on the skin than a sparkle which may be more suited to other people's tastes. Isn't it's lid design just so pretty? ^^ The pot also comes with a little mirror, points for that :D
I couldn't capture a very good picture of the eyeshadow but you can immediately spot its lack of sparkles compared to the Too Faced powder.
Just a swatch of the highlighters. On the left is Bourjois and the right is Too Faced. Sheen or sparkle? Your choice : )
8) Colour your lips
Finally, lip colour! Apply as little or as much as you like to leave you looking polished. I love Sleek's Pout Polish in Scandal. I think it's a limited edition colour but check out their other colours from their permanent line. I actually want more of these but am forcing myself not to buy them as I already have too many lip products ^^" This one is extremely pigmented, moisturising and can leave a shiny finish depending on how thickly you apply it.
Sorry, gross picture! Just showing you how red it is in the pan! Even though its shockingly bright, I never apply it to the point where full pigmentation is achieved. A bright red lip is too extravagant for me but when you apply just a little to your lips with a fingertip, it leaves a beautiful, just-bitten red tint. Of course you won't all be using this, so please remember to use a lip balm before any lip colour, or if you're using a lip tint, make sure to use a balm after! (I do love lip tints but they have such an immediate drying effect ¬_¬)
Swatches! Buildable pigmentation = love this product! ^^
And now you have finished! Just eight simple steps to looking fresh and wide awake ^^ I know this is a very long winded post (just like all my posts ^^") but this really doesn't take more than five minutes. Even less if you're quick! I'm just a very slow person in general ^^" I hope you found it informative! Or if you already do this, I hope you had fun reading my rambles anyway...:D
Until next time!
Jia
x
