Very few among us feel excited about getting up early every morning to do our makeup. In my experience, the two reasons why women don’t do their makeup in the morning is because they either don’t know how, or because they don’t have the time to carry out the skills they do have in their makeup repertoire. Here are a few tricks of the trade to help you look your best with the few minutes available to you in your mornings.
Skincare is the new makeup
In 2020, the ideal face is fresh, vibrant and glowing with health. Whether you prefer a matte, satin, glowy or dewy finish, maintaining a flake free, hydrated skin will save you so much time in the morning with blending foundation and powder. Certain ingredients in skincare have been proven to reduce pigmentation, redness, dryness and oiliness in the skin, which can in time make your application a lot quicker, because you’ll have less to balance out. Oiliness and moisture are also not the same thing, and often skin will produce too much oil because it’s dehydrated. Here’s an article that covers a basic daily skin regime, if you don’t already have one. And always wear sunscreen.
Apply only what you need
Unless it’s the look you’re specifically going for, you don’t need to wear full coverage foundation over your entire face. Just a little bit of skin balancing goes a long way, and you can achieve that with a tinted moisturiser or beauty balm, and/or a versatile, easy to blend concealer, and use the excess product on the brush to blend into the rest of your face for an even finish. A peach toned concealer goes a long way in covering under eye dark rings and pigmentation, and often might be all you need. A natural skin application wears a lot better over the day because it’s less obvious when it comes off. Apply powder over any foundation product to make it last longer and hold out on creasing.
Brush out your eyebrows
This is the quickest way of making your face appear fresher, and will remove any excess concealer, powder or eyeshadow that would otherwise make them look dull. You’ll also be able to see the areas that need to be filled much faster, saving you unnecessary work, or creating a brow that’s too heavy.
Choose a focal element
Whether it’s your eyes, lips or overall natural definition, choose a focal feature that’s important to you and focus on giving that your attention, and then do small things on the rest of your face to balance it out and complement that feature. If you have time afterwards, add the extras that would be nice, but stick to what’s necessary for the look you want to achieve.
Choose products with finishes that work for your lifestyle
If you prepare the skin correctly, you can wear any product on any skin type/condition. But to save time, choose products that work well with your skin and your lifestyle requirements. For example, if you have a combination/oily skin, consider opting for a powder foundation to give a bit of coverage and keep shine at bay for longer in one step, and if you want to wear a lip but have trouble keeping it on, opt for a liquid lipstick that sets and keeps its shape. If you’re trying to minimize lines, avoid anything too thick, matte or shimmery. If you have problems with eyeliner smudging through the day, find an eyeliner that sets after a while and stays on your hand after rubbing it – it might need a little powder before or after application if it does set on your hand but still melts off your eye. Try on products you like the look of for a few hours before any emotional purchases in the pharmacy or cosmetics counter (we’ve all been there and nobody is judging), so you know that they’ll last well for you and are comfortable on your skin. That way you don’t have major buyers remorse on a non returnable item later, and that you know you have a product that works well with the way your skin behaves.
If you’re in Johannesburg, click here to book a five minute face makeup workshop to learn a variety of techniques for creating fast, impactful looks.
Author: Tiffany Wilson
Tiffany Wilson has been a full time makeup artist and hair stylist in media, fashion, events and bridal since 2010. Her ethos is to preserve the line between “they are so beautiful” and “their makeup is so beautiful” - beauty exists in every face, and her ideal makeup application is one that celebrates it, adding to its unique brand, no matter the makeup style. She has most recently developed this ethos into creating MakeUpSkill - a modular series of analytical makeup workshops based on skill level and needs, refining techniques without overcomplicating things for the level her attendees are at, making it fun, easy and impactful - exactly as makeup should be. See more about public and private group and one on one workshops at www.makeupskill.co.za
