And now for the fun stuff! MAKEUP!
I love makeup. For YEARS I have aspired to acheive the "effortless beauty like you just walked off the beach and have perfect skin without makeup" look. But, let me tell you...it takes a HECK of a lot of work (and product) for those of us living in the real world to come anywhere near it.
As mentioned in my previous post (Beauty Regimen Part 2-After the Shower) after washing and exfoliating, I always use a serum that is full of antioxidants and free-radical scavengers. I then apply eye cream. Origins Ginzeng is my go-to daytime eye cream because it instantly brightens and depuffs. Next, I apply Devita Moisture Tints SPF 15 Multi-Beneficial Beauty Balm all over my face. Keep away from the eye area as even natural sunscreen can cause irritation if it gets into your eyes. For more information about these products, see my blog on them above.
My next line of defense is a tinted moisturizer, which I wear instead of foundation. I find on my dry skin that regular foundation is too much coverage and while it may give me a satiny smooth finish, looks fake up close. My absolute fav is Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer. I blend it in with my fingers like a moisturizer and it evens out my skin tone without looking cakey. If you prefer more coverage, Hourglass makes a tinted moisturizer in a pump that has more concentrated color and Koh Gen Do's Moisture Foundation is to die for. If I need a bit more coverage for nighttime, I'll put a drop of Koh Gen Do into my Tarte tinted moisturizer to boost the coverage. Unless you live in New York or L.A. (or are traveling there soon) you'll have to order this foundation online through Sephora's website. It can be a leap of faith to order a foundation online, but Sephora will take back product in the store that was purchased online. Order the one you think is right for you and one one either side and then take back the ones that don't work for you. I actually called the Long Beach store and told the sales rep the shade of Tarte moisturizer I use and asked her to guess at what Koh Gen Do shade I was. She was right on the money. I ended up keeping the lighter shade as well for Winter and only had to return 1 tube to the store.
After blending my foundation or tinted moisturizer with my fingers, I blend a bit more around my eyebrows, jawline and hairline with a Beautyblender Sponge. This little guy can be washed and re-used almost indefinitely and is worth it's weight in gold. You'll never buy the 12-pack of blending wedges at the drug store ever again!
Next is concealer. I have really dark circles under my eyes. Not OK if I'm going for the "effortless walking on the beach" look. I turn to Hourglass Hidden Corrective Concealer (which is a cream formula in a stick). The trick with concealer is to put in on AFTER foundation, blend with fingers by patting (not pulling), and make sure the skin underneath is well moisturized. I have also used BareMinerals Broad Spectrum Correcting Concealer (available at Ulta & Sephora) and like it a lot! BareMinerals and Tarte are, for the most part, VERY good brands to choose from. Every product I've tested (sans the Full-Coverage Foundation with SPF from Tarte) meets my stringent selection criteria!
Cheek color. For years I used a powder cheek color (BareMinerals) until someone turned me on to a cream formula and now I'll never go back. I use Tarte Cheek Stain and blend with a Sephora Sculptor Makeup Sponge (similar to the BeautyBlender, but with a blunt end for blending cheek color). Cream cheek color gives a dewy glow. If you pick a natural color, the cream formula does not look like blush, it just looks like your cheeks glow naturally.
Now at this point, you can curl your eyelashes (and maybe apply a bit of mascara), add a bit of lip gloss and go. If you have a meeting or a hot date, you'll want to finish your make up marathon with eye color, brow color, mascara, and lip color...but I'll save that for my next post...
