It’s been two weeks since my last post, and I guess I’ll claim the excuse of having my birthday as a valid reason for not writing.  But seriously!  There’s been plenty going on.  And to complicate things just a bit more, my husband and I now use an HDMI cable connected to my laptop when we want to watch TV.  So, if we’re watching something, I can’t write.  That may sound like a silly problem to you, but I am actually most comfortable with writing if I have a program on in the background.  Yes, I blog and watch TV at the same time.  My modus operandi usually involves one of my I Love Lucy DVDs playing in the background while I pound furiously at my keyboard.  Or my Doug DVDs.  Did I just admit I own Doug DVDs?

Anyways, I’m kind of just giving a variation on a theme here today- another simple, everyday makeup look.  I don’t have a ton of unique inspiration at the moment so I figured I’d just share the easy stuff I’ve done lately.  And frankly, this is my favorite stuff to do on myself or anyone.  Easy peasy.

Again, we see that even though this look is “no makeup” inspired, there is actually plenty of makeup that goes into it (relatively speaking).  I’ll start from the beginning:  I cleansed my face and then gave my face a couple spritzes of Lush’s Eau Roma toner water.  I then applied a beautiful essence from May Coop.  Other skincare products layered on top of this just seem to make your face glow brighter than a comet.  Because it was already near evening by this point I chose not to use any other serum or moisturizer with sunscreen.  Instead, I applied Clarins Beauty Flash Balm.  This stuff is a little hard to define because it’s not exactly skincare, but it’s not really makeup either.  It’s this fun little enigma of a product that makes getting ready feel a bit more glamorous, though!  I use it as a primer; I applied a thin layer all over my face and then proceed with makeup right away.  It creates a dewy canvas for makeup, and it brightens and blurs the appearance of pores and imperfections.  It also feels cooling, and it smells fresh and floral.

After that, I went for the natural-looking BareMinerals Complexion Rescue in Buttercream and undereye concealer from NARS (and can I just say that I love my shade names- Buttercream for BareMinerals, Custard for NARS).  On my undereye area, I used my new Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder for the first time.  I had asked a friend a couple months ago what she used for her undereye area because whenever I see her, there’s always this faint, flattering shimmer around her eyes that seems to mask dark circles and give the area just the right touch.  She directed me to this powder, and it really is lovely.  I also love that it sets your undereye concealer; I’ve needed something for so long to stop my undereye concealer from creasing.  It also seems to prevent mascara from smudging down there, too.  I wore Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara (yes, I know *eyeroll*) and while this stuff is amazing at building your lashes, it smears on to my lower lid pretty often.  That didn’t happen with the Laura Mercier!  It didn’t happen the next day either, when I tried it again.  My eyeliner is courtesy of the classics: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Liner in Black, and Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner.  I use a very thin angle brush when applying the Bobbi Brown, and I use it to essentially draw my wing, too.  The Stila blackens it, sharpens it, and fills it in.  Here’s a look with my hair back (with both of the following pics sans filter).

One thing I’ve noticed is that I’ve gotten so pale out here that most of my makeup is now just a teeny bit too dark.  If you see my face compared to my neck area, you can kind of tell.  Oi.  It is just too dang dark out here, and it’s May!

I chose to use some of the lighter shades in the Kat Von D Shade And Light palette, to help with the color of the Complexion Rescue.  This product is beautiful in that the shades can be very helpful and the textures are super creamy and yummy.  However, you really don’t need a contouring palette, in my opinion.  I’ve had a lot of fun with this one and it’s been worth it to watch a couple YouTube videos to see what others do so I can get the most out of it, but I think you can get away with just bronzer and a shimmery highlighter to get the same basic effect.  One thing I don’t like about using the lighter shades in a contour palette is the fact that they mattify things.  You know I like a glowing finish, and using the lighter shades in the Kat Von D took all the shine of the Clarins and Complexion Rescue away (and to be specific, I used the yellowish banana powder one on the middle-top).  You then need to reapply highlighter on top of that if you still want shimmer, so it can create a redundant process.  I prefer the darker shades meant for contouring.

For blush, I dusted NARS blush in Liberte all over my cheeks.  I used my trusty-and-now-discontinued CK One brow duo for my eyebrows.  I still am not sure what I’m going to use as a replacement for this, but I’ll probably just sell out and go the Anastasia route.  And lastly, for my lips, I just used my longtime favorite- MAC Cremesheen Glass in Strictly Plutonic.  It’s a peachy-pink neutral, and the formula is so much less sticky than the classic Lipglass.  I love it so much, but of course it’s from a limited edition collection so never again!

This is kind of the makeup I do on a more regular basis.  I’ll switch out the type of foundation, or change the shade of blush, or perhaps play around with eyeshadow (that’s getting serious), but this is a pretty straightforward look for me.  I do give myself props for continuing to improve my cateye, but in the future I’ll continue working on making things pop a bit more.  I mean, I like simple things, so simple makeup really is my jam.  In the words of Don Draper, I like to keep it simple, but significant.  xo, MR