Hello, friends, and happy Friday! Some of you may remember that one of my 101 in 1001 goals was to find a beauty and skin-care regimen that worked for me. I’ve been asked about this, and asked why someone who considers herself a professional woman spends so much time thinking about fashion and beauty products.
The answer is simple: presentation.
If you’re plating food in a restaurant, you don’t just slop it on a plate. If you’re writing an article for a professional journal or a high quality magazine, you don’t submit a piece full of bad grammar, misspellings, and poor formatting. If you’re showing up in a professional environment, you don’t show up looking like you just rolled off the bus. People might cut you slack, but looking polished and put together is essential to convincing your clients that you and your business are polished and put-together.
I finally found a routine that works for me {because, like the research nerd I am, I researched it, and I’m very pleased with the results!} so I’d like to share it with you. Here’s the routine that makes me feel like I shine ~
Start: With clean and moisturized skin! You need a good canvas to start with. I’m a big fan of Philosophy‘s products, like this Purity facial cleanser, which takes all the gunk off at the beginning of the day and at the end. I’ve also used probably the whole gamut of Laura Mercier’s skin repair products to fix up my skin, and I’m extremely satisfied with the results! Oh, and here’s a hidden tip: drink water! You can only hydrate so far in on the outside – you need to hydrate your skin from the inside, too!
Once you’ve got a good canvas to work on, artists, you can start decorating. Here’s the routine I’ve discovered and have been really happy with ~
- Foundation Primer. A good primer helps to prep your skin for other products. It smooths your skin out and provides a good base to apply other product. I love this hydrating primer from Laura Mercier.
- Concealer. I rely on a small bit of concealer to hide the occasional blemish and the more-than-occasional dark circles under the eyes {sleep? what’s that?}. Laura Mercier’s secret camouflage set has saved me more than a few “wow, you look tired” comments!
- Tinted Moisturizer. I’ve been a huge fan of this ever since I first discovered it. It moisturizes, it evens tone, and it’s SPF 15 so it provides a little bit of sun protection! What’s not to love? Again, Laura Mercier is my go-to.
- Powder. I like to give my skin a nice non-glossy finish with a little bit of finishing powder. My favorite is Bare Minerals’ mineral veil. It goes on light and it comes off cleanly at the end of the day!
- Blusher/Bronzer. I’m not a fan of looking Twilight pale, and since all the sun does is burn me or bring out my freckles, I have to be more creative. I like this NARS blusher and bronzer combination for adding those blushing highlights and providing contours in the right places.
- Eye Shadow. I don’t use too much, but putting a darker color in the crease and a lighter color in the corner does a lot to highlight your eyes. I also loved this tip from Alison on using eyeshadow as an eyeliner as well. My go to for eyeshadow is Shu Uemura. It might be expensive, but it’s totally worth it.
- Eyelash Curler. I have long straight lashes that annoy me if I don’t curl them up and away from my eyes and cheeks a little bit. I’ve been using this Shu Uemura eyelash curler almost religiously ever since I figured out what it could do. Yet another tool that makes me look a little more awake
- Mascara. I use this sparingly. Like I said, long lashes. Too much of this and eyeliner and I look like I’m ready for a night at the club, which is NOT the look I’m going for at work! Because I’m picky about the products I put that close to my eyes, my pick is this Bare Escentuals mascara.
- Brow Pencil. Occasionally, my brows need a little bit of oomph, so I give them a little help with a Laura Mercier pencil set in brown or dark brown.
- Gloss. I’m not a big lipstick fan. Lipstick is for drama. A nice pale gloss, preferably one with a moisturizer in it, is what I use. I like this Laura Mercier glace gloss {for all you folks qui ne parlent pas Francais, that would be “ice”}.
So this is how it comes out. And apologies for taking a picture in the dark, but because of these short, short winter days, I’m not usually home during daylight hours during the week!
In the winter months, I almost miss my freckles. Almost. My skin needs some work, still, but it’s getting there, and I’m happy with how the eye effect comes out.