1 Simple Makeup Routine, 5 Ways to Ramp It Up

Just because you love wearing makeup doesn’t mean you have to spend your entire morning in front of the vanity. Ain’t nobody got time for that.

So for the girly girl who wants to minimise her routine, this is just one of many ways to get your makeup done in 10 minutes or less. From here, you can either walk out the door or amp it up in five different ways.

Foundation can be a little too heavy for everyday use. These days, there’s a BB cream for just about every skin type. And you don’t even need a brush to apply BB cream, just use your fingers to blend it in like a moisturiser or sunblock.

Pro tip: Use your ring finger to gently pat some BB cream under your eyes to cover up dark circles.

Pick up the powder with an angled brush. Determine where you want the colour to go, and swipe down the line. Brush down until the colour completely blends out. Contour under the jawline, temples, and hairline to make your face appear smaller.

Confused as to where to contour and what to highlight? This chart is where it’s at:

SOURCE: YouTube user givegoodface

Pro-tip: Don’t have a contour palette? Sub with a matte brown eyeshadow or eyebrow powder instead.

Apply a natural pink blush on your face by swiping upwards from just above your contour. Swipe down the apple of your cheeks to blend, without picking up anymore product.

SOURCE: everythingmakeup.com

Pro-tip: Get that ‘glow from within’ by swapping powder for cream blush.

Fill in the sparse areas of your eyebrows with gentle upward strokes to create natural-looking hair lines.

Need a little more help? We got you covered.

Pro-tip: An eyebrow mascara can create fuller brows without the required precision of an eyebrow powder. Just sweep it on like a mascara and go!

Set your makeup with loose powder to prevent makeup meltdowns.

Pro-tip: For troubled T-zones, pat instead of swiping the product onto your skin.

Curl your lashes with an eyelash curler, and swipe your eyelashes with a coat or two to make your eyes pop.

Pro-tip: Let the product air out on the mascara wand for a few seconds before applying on your lashes to keep the curl intact.

A bit of tinted balm is usually sufficient for everyday wear. If you’re looking for fuller coverage, a nice matte lipstick in your favourite MLLB (My Lips But Better a.k.a. nude) colour will pull the entire look together.

Pro tip: Apply a little bit of primer over your lips to keep lipstick from creasing and settling into the lines.  

Let strong brows do the talking.

1. Outline the shape that you want with a pencil.
2. Start filling it in with gentle strokes.
3. Brush it out with a spoolie and go in again with the previous step.
4. Use a spoolie to brush the front part of your brows (closest to your nose bridge) to fade out the colour.
5. Set with a brow gel to prevent it from fading throughout the day (tends to happen if you touch your face a lot).

SOURCE: preen.me

Enhance your contours with the magic of SHIMMER.

1. Use a fan brush to highlight the apple of your cheeks diagonally (this goes over your blush).
2. You could also swipe down the bridge of your nose, chin, forehead, and cupid’s bow (the top edge of your upper lip that juts out slightly) for an overall glowy finish.

Zoeva 129 Luxe Fan brush available at Sephora.

SOURCE: zoeva-shop.de

SOURCE: fabfashionfix.com

Strobing also contours your face, so you can opt to skip the contour routine if you’re going for that glowing goddess look.

Because the basic look is so minimal, a bold and eye-catching lip colour is all it takes to make a statement.

1. Line your lips with a lip pencil in a similar shade to your lip colour to define the shape. Bold colours are less forgiving than nudes, and going in without lining your lips first can become messy.
2. Fill in your lips with the colour of your choice.
3. Blot and fill in again with the same colour.
4. To set, cover with a tissue paper and brush some powder over it.

SOURCE: beautyeditor.ca

You can instantly transform a gloss finish to matte by patting on some sheer powder after applying the lipstick.

Cat eyes are easy to achieve with the right liquid eyeliner and a bit of tape. A dramatic look without muck or fuss.

SOURCE: mamiskincare.net

1. Use a bit of surgical tape to outline where you want the liner to go.
2. Start from the outer corners and work your way in with the liquid liner.
3. Create a sharp triangle on the outer corner of your eye and fill it in with the liner.
4. Line the rest of your eye all the way to the inner corner.
5. Remove the surgical tape and you’re done!

SOURCE: erinashleymakeup.com

If you have an eyeshadow colour that would look amazing as a liner, give this trick a go. Wet a liner brush with fixing spray before picking up the eyeshadow. The formula goes on like liquid and dries with a fiercer intensity.

This technique fakes the appearance of larger and rounder eyes by sandwiching a bright colour (like glitter) between a dark colour on your eyelids.

1. Apply a transitional beige colour on your crease to help blend out the colours.
2. On the inner and outer corner of your eye, apply a mid-toned colour with a large blending brush, taking extra precaution to keep the centre completely product-free.
3. Darken the inner and outer corners with a darker shade, using a small blending brush to keep the colour application precise.
4. Take a light eyeshadow colour with a flat brush or your ring finger and tap it into the middle. Choose a colour with shimmer for eyes that truly pop.
5. Apply 2 – 3 coats of mascara to complete the look.

SOURCE: rachelshuchatmakeup.com

For monolid eyes, blend some of that mid-toned eyeshadow into your eye sockets. This creates a shadow effect and makes your eyes appear deep set.

Cover image from YouTube