Back To Basics: My Everyday Makeup 2013

I wanted to share my everyday essentials and makeup routine with you! These products are the ones that I could not live without! I like to keep it quite simple so I don’t have to spend forever putting on makeup in the morning (because to be honest, most days I’d much rather get 10 extra minutes of sleep than take the time put on a ton of makeup) These products are long lasting so you can go through the day without a million touchups and the products themselves take me quite a while to get through despite using them daily, so I highly recommend them.

After moisturizing in the morning my first stop is a BB Cream. I love BB’s because foundation and even tinted moisturizers feel too heavy on my skin and I don’t need a lot of coverage. My favorite BB Cream is the Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream. Aside from doing all that BB Creams claim to do (Blurs imperfections, Brightens, Evens skin tone, Soothes, Hydrates, etc.) I love how it neutralizes any redness and covers most small blemishes. Having SPF 30 also helps protect my skin from the Florida sunshine. I use the Light/Medium shade in the winter months and the Medium shade in the summer months. My only complaint is that it makes me skin look very dewy (but it hasn’t caused me to breakout) but I fix that with a little powder, my preference being Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in 004 Sandstorm. 

I've seen so many great reviews of this powder and I love it too. Its another great inexpensive drugstore product that I've converted a bunch of my friends to the "Stay Matte Way".

Next I move on to concealer if there are any spots or blemishes that need more coverage and my dreaded dark under eye circles. I use Clinique’s Line Smoothing Concealer in shades Moderately Fair and Medium depending on the time of year. I’ve tried other concealers but always end up coming back to this one. Everyone in my family uses it too so I think this may be a lifelong love. I highly recommend this concealer for all skin types as it blends into your skin quickly and smoothly without making the area look greasy and it stays on all day. Great quality.

After all my blemishes are covered up I usually like to use a highlighter. The easiest one to apply quickly is Benefit’s High Beam. I apply this to my cheekbones, under my eyebrows, down the bridge of my nose, and put just a dab on my cupids’ bow and blend. I actually prefer the application of the sample size as I feel the smaller brush gives just the perfect amount of product so defiantly check that out. This product blends nicely and adds the slightest shimmer that is perfect for everyday use. I promise you it’s not pinky pinky or extremely glittery! I love all of the Benefit liquid highlighters (Moon Beam, Sun Bean, Watts Up…) but High Beam is by far my favorite.

I then add a little color to my face with my Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer in Original Chocolate with a Stippling Finishing brush (favorite brush of all time! I use it for everything!). It’s a matte bronzer, which makes it great for everyday, and it just warms up your face giving it that sun kissed look we all crave. I apply it in place of blush sometimes and other times I use it as a contour. This bronzer also smells amazing! Just like chocolate! From what I can tell you can’t smell it when it’s on your face but it sure is a lovely treat when you’re applying it! Favorite bronzer of all time and it will last you for ages so it’s worth the splurge.

Once my face is blemish free and sun kissed I set everything with my Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray. I love this product. It helps my makeup last longer in the humidity and doesn’t clog my pores. I used to use this just for nights out but now it’s worked its way into my everyday makeup routine! After going through countless travel sizes of this unable to commit to the whole $30 bottle I finally caved and could not be happier. This product is a definite essential for humidity and/or long nights. They also have a formula for oil control.

My final step is curling my lashes and applying mascara. I usually use a different combination of mascaras every day but my favorite brand for mascaras is by far Maybelline. I have a post coming up that is all about my top mascaras so if you’re interested keep a lookout.

So that’s my everyday makeup essentials and makeup routine! I’ve gotten it down to my absolute essentials after running late and ending up with streak marks a little more often than I’d like to admit. These products blend easily and don’t require tons of tedious brushwork, its pretty-much just dab and go. Hope you enjoyed reading and that this gave you some ideas for your own routine! What are your everyday essentials? What products could you not live without? Comment below and let me know!

More posts to come!

Pinky Promise.

♥