A fresh, natural looking face starts with a great skincare routine. It’s important to take care of your skin. That means washing day and night, taking off your make up at night, exfoliating, and applying moisturizer.
To achieve healthy and vibrant skin I recommend taking the plunge and purchasing a deep cleansing tool like a Clarisonic. If you are prone to break outs, a Clarisonic may cause you to break out more—don’t panic!! This is just a process of getting rid of all of the dirt clogging your pores. If you stick with the deep cleansing brush you will see improvement in your skin over time.
Depending on your skin type, using a Clarisonic day and night may be too harsh for your skin. I have sensitive skin, so I use a gentle moisture-rich face wash (Garnier Moisture Rescue) with my Clarisonic at night and wash my face normally in the morning. To keep skin fresh, use an exfoliating face wash every time you shower. I recommend St. Ives Apricot Scrub.
It’s also extremely important to moisturize, especially in the dead of winter! Give your skin some love. Neutrogena Oil-Free moisturizers are amazing. They’re lightweight yet keep your skin soft. Try whatever type works best for your skin like Sensitive Skin, Combination Skin, etc.
Next up is flawless foundation. Depending on your preference, start with corrector/concealer or your foundation. I like to put my under-eye corrector and concealer on before I do my foundation. Follow these 4 simple steps for easy, light face makeup and no one will even know you have any make up on!
Step One: Corrector and Concealer:
I am a big fan of Bobbi Brown face products. They never cause you to breakout and they’re easy to use. Start with a pink- or peach-based corrector to neutralize under-eye darkness. Use your fingers to melt the product and make it easier to blend in. Next step, use a yellow-based concealer for even more coverage.
Step Two: Foundation, Tinted Moisturizer, or BB Cream
The product you use in this next step really depends on what type of coverage you’re looking for and what kind of product you like to work with. I use Garnier’s BB Cream in fair/light because I like that I can apply it with my hands like a moisturizer and it still does an amazing job evening out my skin tone. For tinted moisturizers or BB creams, apply product with your hands to blend in. For regular foundation, use a foundation brush to get full coverage.
Step Three: Face Powder
To set your face make up and ensure it’s long lasting, use a face powder. Pick a light formula like Bobbi Brown’s that won’t cake. I like using a sponge to press the powder into the skin. Sometimes powder brushes add unnecessary face powder rather than just a dusting.
Step Four: Blush
Most people have a natural flush to their cheeks. Make it pop with a little brush of blush on the apples of your cheeks. Fairer skin should apply peachy or light pink blush, medium skin should use rose-colored blushes, and darker skin should use deep fuchsia or tangerine blush.
Eye shadow can be tricky territory. Be careful of being too heavy-handed when applying the shadow for this soft look. Using an eye shadow primer makes a huge difference between your eyes looking fresh all day and your shadow appearing shiny as the day goes on. Try Urban Decay’s Primer Potion first. Apply a small amount to each lid and blend up towards the eyebrows. Let it dry for a few seconds before starting your eye shadow. Start with a neutral color like ‘Naked’ from the Urban Decay original Naked palette. With a basic eye shadow brush, sweep the color all over the lid and up towards the brow bone. Next, take a simple pale nude-beige with a bit of shimmer like ‘Virgin’ and apply to the lid and inner corner of the eye. The last step for shadow is to add a little dimension to the crease of the eyelids. With a crease brush, lightly sweep a chocolate brown (‘Darkhorse’) into the creases blending well. Make sure you don’t take too much eye shadow onto your brush during this step, and tap off excess shadow. To complete this neutral eye look, apply a few coats of volumizing mascara (black or brown/black) up and out to add length. I like Revlon’s Grow Luscious mascara.
A lip pencil is the perfect choice to keep the look neutral but make the lips pop. Layer a sheer pink over a great lip balm like Aquaphor and voila! You have a polished make up look that makes you feel beautiful but looks like you’re barely wearing any make up!