Did you sleep through your alarm and now only have a few minutes to get to work?Use five of them on getting pretty and polished and no-one will ever know!
Here are five fantastic and essential tips for applying natural day makeup in under five minutes by making your makeup work as hard as you do. Here you'll discover how to use one colour product for lips, eyes and cheeks (yes, one!). The key is making your beauty products multi-task - read on to discover how one lipstick can save the day.
Tip # 1: Basic Prep If you are a time-challenged woman, you can have the benefits of good skin care and be time-savvy by only buying dual purpose or multi-functional products. • A cleanser with built-in toner or exfoliant (or both!) is fast and easy. Use it in the shower to speed things up a little more. • Follow with a moisturiser for your skin type (if possible) that includes a sunscreen SPF of 15+. Who said you have no time to care for your skin? Think about the difference it makes to how you feel when you catch a glimpse of your reflection as you power-walk by.
Tip # 2: Fast Foundation Liquid foundation is fastest when you forget the sponge and slap it on! Use your normal amount but apply it as you would a moisturiser. Put it on your fingers, rub them together a little to even it out then apply it to your face using the entire length of your fingers to cover large areas at once. If using a 'creme-to-powder' type foundation it's best to use a sponge but - here's the bonus - you may not need to powder! Quickly wash or wipe off your hands on your shower towel.
Tip # 3: Lips & Cheeks (And Eyes) In One Lips: Skip the lip liner and reach for a lipstick in a natural-looking shade, like a berry, peach, coral, pink or brown that suits you. It will double as a cream blush so memorise the handy guidelines below and avoid glittery lipstick for this one.
How To Choose Lip Colours
An important lesson! Remember your natural colourings when choosing lip colour. Dark red-brown on ivory skin is just not pretty - I do not care if you have red hair or a warm complexion - it just looks muddy and slightly gothic on you so save it for Halloween.For day makeup, the depth of colour should be chosen in relation to your skin tone, i.e. if your skin is fair, keep to light lip colours, if beige you can go brighter or slightly darker and still look natural whereas those with dark or bronze skin know they need intense chocolates or deep plums to achieve a comfortable day look.
Your lipstick for daytime (and all holidays except when you want to scare young children or be particularly trendy) will be similar to your natural lip colour but a shade darker: natural enhanced. So now you know - you should suffer no longer from unflattering lipstick!
Colour your lips fully. Cheeks: Blot your lips with your fingers and pat the excess that comes off onto your cheeks, as you would cream blush. Concentrate the colour on the apples of your cheeks. If you need it to last the whole day, a powder blush is always better, especially if you have oily skin. Use a neutral or natural-looking powder blush on your cheeks instead of the lipstick.
Tip # 4: Eye Colour Eyes: Apply a highlighter eye shadow (lighter than your skin) to your brow bone and eyelid if you have one. Use it liberally in the inner corners of your eyes for a youthful and alert look. Then take some more colour from your lips and apply it, lightly to start off, in the crease of your eye. No-one is watching, right? If you chose a good lip colour you will be looking fresh, sweet and wide awake. At this step, if you used a powder blush, then use that as an eye colour also with a blush brush over the entire lid area for a healthy glow. Simple and effective.
Tip # 5: Mascara and Brows Defining Eyes: Skip eyeliner but definitely sweep on mascara. If the bottom lashes are too fiddly, leave them bare. Use an eyelash comb if you have one to remove any excess mascara. You can skip the brow pencil by, if you dare, carefully using the eyelash comb with the mascara on it to lightly fill in your eyebrows if they are a similar colour to your mascara. Run an eyebrow brush over your brows to even out the colour if necessary.
Refresh your lipstick or add a gloss. Done! It is minimal but you look pretty and polished. You can add more later in the day if you want but for now, just get out the door!
