Bloggin’ My Face

Last week, Megan shared her daily makeup routine with the world.  Or at least with the readers at Chic Critique.  That’s the same thing, right?  Today it’s my turn, and tomorrow it’s YOUR turn. 

Yes, you read that right.  We will be hosting a carnival here on Chic Critique where we ask you to Blog Your Face!  Megan has written up another post with all the details and a Mr. Linky that will go live later today.  We hope you will participate!

WARNING:  What you are about to see is real.  This could instill fear in the hearts and minds of those who aren’t fully prepared.  You may want to protect your eyes from the sight of this makeup-less face.  Consider yourself warned.

Alrighty then.  Now that we have THAT out of the way.  The first step in my morning makeup routine is to thoroughly cleanse and moisturize the old face.  My favorite skincare products for summer are the Lancome Clarifiance products.  When I can afford it, I use their cleanser, toner, and daytime moisturizer.  All of the Clarifiance line is oil-free.  The scent is pleasant and fresh, not overpowering, and it goes on smoothly, never sticky or oily.  Right now I have the cleanser and toner and a Mary Kay daytime moisturizer with SPF 15.

After I cleanse and moisturize, I start with concealer under my eyes and on any red areas.  Then I usually apply pressed powder to my whole face.  Sometimes I use a tinted moisturizer, but today I just did the powder.

See?  Starting to look better already.

For concealer, I use a product I bought at a spa almost three years ago.  It’s still going strong, and I love it.  On the bottom of the container, it says disguise camouflage, and the color is sand.  I googled it and can only find it on Ebay, so I assume it’s been discontinued. 

The pressed powder is an old favorite.  I’ve been using this stuff since high school.  I love it because it provides such good coverage that I rarely feel the need to use foundation.  It’s Lancome’s Dual Finish in Matte Bisque II.

Next comes blush.

And my new favorite blush is by CARGO.  It’s their SuedeBlush in Montebello.  Isn’t it purty?

Next we tackle the eyes.  First I apply eyeliner to the top lid, as close to the lash line as possible.  And sometimes I also apply eyeliner to the inside of the bottom lid.  I did that today.

I’m currently using a Mary Kay pencil in Deep Brown.

If I have the time and feel like putting in the effort, I will do the eyeshadow thang.  Today, just for your benefit, I did the whole kit-and-kaboodle.  Usually I reserve the full eyeshadow regimen for a night out.

Wow, still needs some work, doesn’t it?  As my grandfather once said to my mom, "It takes a lot of paint to cover that old barn."  Truer words were never spoken.

Oh yeah, my eyeshadow is Mary Kay as well.  I use that tube of vanilla shimmer on my brow bone as well as in the inside corners of my eyes.  Then the light brown goes on the lid, and the darker brown in the crease.  When I go out at night, I sometimes use the purples that you see beside the brown, and for a dramatic touch, I will go for the black liquid liner.  I did a whole tutorial on applying liquid liner here.

Okay.  You will be amazed by the transformation that is about to take place.  It’s when I put on mascara and eyebrow pencil that I’m finally presentable for public viewing.  When I’m in a hurry, I will do mascara, eyebrows, and a swipe of lipstick.  It’s a pretty hectic morning that catches me in public without at least those three parts of the makeup routine in place.

See what I mean?  Here, look at them close up.

I’ve already shared about my Vincent Longo micropencil for my eyebrows.  And the mascara is the product that finally converted this longtime Lancome mascara snob to a drugstore mascara consumer — none other than CoverGirl’s LashBlast.

And the final touch, lipstick and lip liner — Lancome’s Le Rouge Absolut in Rose Crystal and Makeup Forever’s Aqualip in 3C.

And without further ado, I give you, the final product…

And that, my friends, is that.  Now I need to go do my hair.

I hope you will join us this week and blog YOUR face.  The carnival post with Mr. Linky will go live later today.  It will be open until Thursday night, and then on Friday, we just might have a little somethin’-somethin’ for a random winner.  I’m just sayin’.