Y’all take it easy on me. I’m about to do sump’m no real Southern woman in her right mind would EVER do — post a picture of myself completely barefaced, without even a little dab of LIPSTICK on, for God n’ everybody to see. In the name of authenticity, I give you ME.
GULP — Unplugged and unretouched.
I know. Pardon me while I have a little nervous breakdown. I thought I’d give y’all a little tour of my make-up bag and show you how I apply my make-up daily. This time, I’m showing you my basic, everyday, just knocking around being a Mama look. Someday soon I’ll show you all the add-ons and plug-ins and upgrades I use to add sparkle and drama on those rare occasions I go out on the town or, you know, plan to see anyone I might need to impress with a smoky eye or whatnot.
On a daily basis during the summer months, after I’ve washed with my Desert Essence Face Wash, I pat myself dry just out of the shower and turn to my trusty pals Eucerin Sensitive Skin Extra Protective Moisture Lotion with Sun Protection and my new L’Oreal Wrinkle De-Crease Eye Cream. I apply a generous amount of the moisturizer because a) my skin is DRY right now and b) I spend a great deal of time outdoors in the sunshine of a summer day to make up for all the hibernating I’m forced to do the rest of the year.
‘Bout that much oughtta do it. Then I usually give the moisturizer and eye cream some time to soak in. I’ll dry my hair next (which is already dry for this demo so you don’t have to see me un-made-up AND looking all damp and shivering like a little drowned ratty) or go make beds or watch an episode of Zoboomafoo with Bean. Then I move on to step 2, which is foundation and a bit of a concealer. Check out my newish products from L’Oreal’s Bare Naturale line. I love them both.
I use the Bare Naturale gentle mineral make-up in Light Ivory. It looks REALLY dark in the little jar, but it blends into my fairly fair skin really nicely. The Bare Naturale gentle mineral concealer (in Light/Medium) is absolutely the best concealer I’ve ever used. What I mean by that is that it actually conceals things you want concealed, as in makes them disappear. I have a couple of darkish red spots on my face thanks to this pregnancy, and this stuff covers them up and keeps them covered all day long. Love it! (I’m thinking of using it on my thighs next.) I use a little bit of concealer under my eyes, too.
Here I am all foundated and concealed. Now I’m a blank canvas for the good stuff to come. Even my eyes look a little blank, here. When I say blank, I mean BLANK.
Next I go for the bronzer, which I apply "where ever the sun would naturally kiss my face." Well, if I’d let it, anyway. I wear a hat most of the time I’m out in the sun so it CAN’T kiss me. I have a husband for kissing me and as far as I know, his kisses don’t cause wrinkles or cancer, so that suits me fine. But the bronzer goes on my upper cheek bones and across my forehead, down the bridge of my nose, the tip of my chin and around my jawline.
I use a nice BIG powder brush for bronzer and a very light hand, so I don’t get too orangey. Admittedly I look orangey still in these photos but that’s caused by the weird light of the flash. Or at least that’s what we’ll go with for now. When I tried to Photoshop the weird light out, I turned a strange, glowing shade of teal. Not any better, really. Here’s me, with L’Oreal’s Glam Bronze in Enchanting Sunrise (ooo la laaaaa!). See how the subtle use of bronzer as almost a shadowy "paint" appears to narrow my face a little? Neat, huh? That’s why I like it around my jawline.
Now the real fun begins. I start by drawing on filling in the eyebrows. I use, get this, Revlon Color Stay Eye Shadow in Sable, which I apply lightly in short feathery, upward strokes with a brow make-up brush made by The Body Shop.
The sparsity of my brows would amaze you. I took a picture, but I’m not posting it because my camera does TOO good a job at close-ups, so even I was stunned to see them. Looks like I’ve got THE MANGE or something. And what’s even more troubling is that although I can’t seem to grow a decent crop of brow hairs where my brows should actually be, I grow them everywhere else, including way too far down my eyelid where it SERIOUSLY hurts to pluck. And hey? Am I the only one who has to sneeze during plucking, or is that a common phenomenon? Here I am all drawn on filled in.
I read somewhere that almost every woman out there should use a dark brown eyeliner for day wear. I use L’Oreal’s Pencil Perfect Self-Advancing Eyeliner in Espresso. It doesn’t advance itself. I don’t know why they call it that. But it’s one you just twist up, vs. having to sharpen, which I detest for the waste and mess factors. The L’Oreal pencil gives me plenty of control and as long as I’m careful to rotate over time, I can maintain a nice point on it so I can always get a super thin line when I want one. Which is approximately never, but hey, nice to have the option if I ever get a wild hair, right?
I do sometimes go with black when I am feeling REALLY dramatic, but normally, dark brown does the trick — a naturalish thickening of the lash line, that blends with my coloring and darkens and emphasizes my eyes without looking trollopy. I like to make the top line a little wider as I move toward the outer corner of my eye, which opens my eye up a bit.
Now I’ve experimented with drugstore shadows for years. And always been disappointed. Seems I can never really get enough of the pressed powder shadows onto my brush, and then of course there’s none on my eyelid after I’ve swiped the brush on there. Drugstore shadows are not my thing, man. I have on my list to try that deep pigment shadow by L’Oreal someday, but so far I haven’t seen a color I felt was appropriate for my age and skin tones, so I’m just waiting for them to work out that little faux pas and offer me something a bit more appealing. So anyway, for now, I go the department store route for eye shadow.
My current selection, which I like a great deal and’ll probably purchase again in another color palette soonish, is Lancome’s Colour Focus Eye Colour Quad in 4Innocense. The palette, as you can see, combines some earthy pinks, wines and plums, which are the shades that make green eyes pop a little greener. And who don’t love a little pop, girl? The shadows get an extra, artsy photo because they were expensive. And I wanted y’all to have a GOOD look at the colors. ‘Cause they’re PURTY!
Here I am with the pinky neutral over my entire lid – very subtle – it almost acts more as a concealer, but the pale shade still accomplishes the pop. I use the light beige shadow just below my non-existent brows in a thin line, in the inner corner of my eye, and in another really fine line just above my eye-liner line spanning the width of my iris. Yes, seriously. I don’t remember why I do this, but it works to bring out highlights in the pupil. You try it!
You’ll see.
And next, mascara. I’ve been using good old Professional All-in-One Mascara by Cover Girl since before I can remember. Why? Because it stays put, and I love that curvy brush. And if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Not many things in life are as simple as my relationship with Cover Girl Professional Mascara. No need to go complicatin’ matters. Hello, old friend!
You know how to apply mascara. But I will add that after I’ve coated all my lashes, I go back with the tip of the brush to angle a few lashes at the outer corners of each eye OUT, to widen my eyes. Easy. Hang on. We’re almost there, people!
Y’all remember the first BooMama/BigMama Podcast? I do, because that’s where I learned about this great lip gloss.
Yes, it’s Cover Girl Lip Slicks, and it’s good stuff. Sheer, moist, non-drying and so inexpensive I can just load it on whenever I want, keep a tube in every purse and in my make-up case, and even let my 3 and a half-year old play with it on occasion when I feel brave. I use it in "Daring," which sounds like it’d be this wild, bold, harlotty color, but it’s not, as you can plainly SEE!
MWAH! (That’s my little way of sayin’, "Hey, thanks for readin’ this far, y’all! Wasn’t that ridiculously long and full of useless detail fun? And we’re done! Here’s your finished product.
Man, you should try this, though. It’s amazing seeing the difference in pictures from start to finish. If nothing else I’ve learned that every dime I spend on make-up is WELL WORTH IT!
Jiminy Cricket… thank goodness for the cosmetics industry.
And that’s all I have to say about that. Any questions?
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You are stunning!! Thank you so much for sharing with us!!
Great tutorial!
Although I’ll probably never get to actually try it.
I have NEVER been able to find a makeup that doesn’t cause me to break out in a rash, usually within minutes of application. This has been a problem my ENTIRE life. I can use Shaklee makeup if I only leave it on for a few hours, but longer than that and the itching begins. And with age comes age spots which I’d DEARLY love to cover up. *sigh*
I have developed very, very dry skin in the last 10 years and it took forever to find a moisturizer (Shaklee’s Enfuselle hydrating moisturizer) that doesn’t cause me to itch like I have the chicken pox. I can use Clinique in a pinch but even it causes some mild irritation.
Hey, not bad on the bare naked face, Darlin’! You are naturally beautiful and your sparing use of the cosmetics is the perfect way to complement that beauty. Thanks for the step by step.
Thank goodness for the cosmetics industry, indeed.
This totally reminds me of a trip I made to Hawaii one year with my first husband (I’ll never get used to saying that, but I needed to clarify this wasn’t said by my current husband, who is still alive)…anyhoo…we had been swimming at Kaanapali Shores and we used the showers on the beach – as we were leaving, I was hurriedly applying my makeup so we could meet our friends for dinner. My husband sat in the car, watching me and said very dreamily, “honey, no matter how broke we get, we’ll always have enough money to buy you mascara”.
Then I killed him. (okay, I didn’t kill him…but if looks could kill….)
I’m so thankful for my makeup. 🙂 And Megan, we use the same exact makeup! (except for the Lancome – I have some Estee Lauder eyeshadow)
You are SO daring! I loved the step-by-step and on a sidenote…Your hair looks dang cute behind your ears.
You are SO daring! I loved the step-by-step and on a sidenote…Your hair looks dang cute behind your ears.
I’m with you on sneezing when plucking my eyebrows! I thought I was the only one who did that 🙂
You look great!
Love this, Megan! Great job. I’ll post mine next week.
And I totally sneeze!
Very daring, very brave and very helpful!
It looks like that foundation does a great job of smoothing your complexion without looking like you have makeup on. I may have to do some price comparison between L’Oreal and my bareMinerals.
I, too, sneeze when plucking those eyebrow hairs closer to the nose but even more frustrating is that it also makes my eyes water.
Megan!! I thought you looked really good before you even got started! This made me want to go out and buy some MAKEUP! I have green eyes too so I loved the eyeshadow tips, thanks!
Oh, my word, Megan…you’ve got a GREAT face pre-make-up! Your eyes…your lips! Color me impressed, chicka.
A while back, I posted my nekkid face when one of my evil blogbuds tagged me…wanna see?
http://pensieve.typepad.com/pensieve/2007/05/unruly_eyebrows.html
It really was kinda liberating, but in an humilating kinda way :).
Maybe I shoulda done an after, too!
🙂
Your bare face looks fantastic compared to my (brown spots because I worshipped the sun in my younger years, still breaking out in my late 30’s) face. You look B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L with your natural looking makeup on, though!!!
Wow. beautiful pictures and great routine.
I loved the step by step. I am terrible about putting makeup on a daily basis, but you made it look fun and easy. I thought I can do that!
I definitely want to try the mineral makeup concealer, I have a lot of brown spots left over from the pregnancies of my four and from too much sun exposure when I was younger.
Thanks for the tips. You look stunning!
ATTENTION: I wanted to point something out to those of you who read after I post this. The miracle (or one of them) of mineral make up is shown up close and personal in this series of pictures. If you look at the first picture of me AFTER the nekkid one, you’ll see my skin is still uneven and blotchy. If you then move through all the pictures I show after that, you’ll see it getting more and more even and smooth-looking. And I didn’t apply ANYTHING else to my full face, just to my eyes and lips. Mineral make-up goes on very light and sheer, and stays feeling that way the whole time you wear it, BUT in a few minutes, it combines with your face’s natural oils to provide a very smooth, even coverage you don’t get with traditional foundations unless you really cake it on. Just go back up to the top and scroll down and watch the magic happen before your eyes. It’s quite fascinating!
Guest-poster Amanda wrote a post that includes a full explanation of this phenomenon here:
http://www.chic-critique.com/2008/04/guest-blogger-o.html
You funny. I LURV you! (Was Priscilla Maude Sybil in any of those pictures?)
I was amazed at the difference right before and after tha mascara!
Awesome… you should do a video… 😀 Or maybe I will… but, uh, since I don’t wear much, it wouldn’t take long… 😀
mmmm Makeup. Where would we be without it. I’d be scarin’ the neighbors, that’s where.
That was really interesting and it’s really fun to see the difference each step makes. I must say you really do look good without your make up – I don’t look half so “purty”! I love the Loreal mineral makeup too but am going to try out the lip slicks. Thanks for being so brave!
Love you Megan.
I don’t wear make-up…..ummmm ever really, but this post made me wonder if I should. hmmmmm
Great step by step! Thin I might have to go get me some of that lip-gloss. 🙂
This was a fun post!
And for the record I think you look pretty darn good WITHOUT make-up!
I loved this! You are so cute–before and after, but the after picture is gorgeous.
I’m totally trying the bronzer and the eyeshadow. I have green eyes, too, and I need some pretty colors like that. It just occurred to me–I hope they still make it.
Well, that was fun. And it’s really cool to see all the products you use. I might have to try this on my blog sometime!
oh… you look so pretty! wouldn’t it be nice if we had the time and money and sanity to do up everyday?
(maybe i’m the only one that doesn’t)….
i’m outta here
OH MY GOSH, I LOVE THIS POST.
And how can we have the same colour of foundation when we have totally different coloured skin? WEIRD!
That was amazing and very informative.. Thanks bunches.
You look beautiful, with or without makeup!
Don’t you love that Eucerin? I use exactly the same one and it’s the best!!
Great post Megan – very informative.
I’ll admit I don’t wear makeup much. I just don’t like stuff on my face & mascara gives me a sty if I have it on more than about once a week.
But you’ve given me some great ideas for the occasions on which I do slap some on my skin…mostly Sundays or if we have a special occasion.
And you look great in your nekked skin girl!!
Awesome tutorial.
I couldn’t help but read that article using my southern Iowa drawl. LOL!
I have the exact same bathroom accessories! I love them.
Beautiful transformation.
I’ll have to look into that gloss. I am a lip gloss gal myself. I use the Neutrogena lip gloss because of its built-in sunscreen.
Hey, thanks for showing off your beautiful face and going through all the steps of your makeup routine. We have similar complexion and eye color so I learned a lot of great tips here!