My Daily Routine

I love knowing the products and routine other girls use on a daily basis, so here's my version. I'm going to do my best to not turn this into a product review. My daily routine usually takes about 15-20 minutes, and this is what I do! :

WASH | first thing i do is wash my face with philosophy purity cleanser. makeup goes on so much better over clean skin. in a perfect world, i would do this every night and day, but on lazy days (the majority of the time, probably), i use an up & up brand makeup removing wipe instead, sometimes followed by an exfoliating cleansing wipe, but I always try and start out fresh faced. 

MOISTURIZE | i use the up & up brand dual action moisturizer. i've been dealing with psycho hormones lately so my skin is not my friend, and this moisturizer is acne fighting so, i slather it on my face and neck (moisturizing your neck is an important step in anti-aging. your 50 year old self will thank your 20-something year old self, i promise) i usually let my skin dry a bit after this, otherwise my foundation will just slip on top of any moisturizer that hasn't been absorbed, and i'll look like i never put makeup on in the first place.

PRIMER | When I feel like using primer / have the time, I'll usually dab some Benefit POREfessional in problem areas, or all over my whole face if I need long wearing makeup that day. I give this a minute to set before moving on to the next product.

FOUNDATION | right now I'm using Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless foundation. i apply my foundation with either a sigma f80 flat top kabuki brush or beauty blender - i've been going back and forth lately, and they both apply absolutely flawlessly. the last couple of weeks, i've started with a dime-to-nickel size amount of foundation on the back of my hand, and go in with a very sheer layer, applied by my f80, then go back with any extra foundation on a beauty blender to add extra coverage to problem ares, or to even my skin tone further.

CONCEALER | next i go in with two concealers, both are maybelline fit me concealer (in "light" and "fair") one matches my foundation exactly, to cover up blemishes and redness, and the second is about one to two shades lighter, which i use for under my eyes, bridge of the nose, forehead and chin. lately, i've been strictly using my beauty blender for this step, but i also love the sigma f86 tapered kabuki, it blends so well. for under eye concealer, i apply it from the corner of my eye, down the side of my nose then up and out toward my temple, in a triangular shape. It's made a huge difference to take it up to my temples, instead of just the outer corner of my eye. It brightens the entire face better.

POWDER | because i have oily skin, i always set my entire face with powder. i typically don't use anything other than bare minerals (i use the shade "fairly light") with the bare minerals powder brush. because bare minerals is meant to be worn as a foundation by itself, it gives me the extra coverage i want with my skin right now and truly sets everything and keeps it all in place. about a month ago, i ran out of bare minerals and picked up the nyx mineral matte setting powder, and even though it's meant to be just a setting powder, i feel like it gives me a little extra coverage, too.

BRONZE / CONTOUR | depending on what i'm going for, i'll either bronze or contour my face. i use benefit hoola bronzer (you already know) and the nars ITA brush for both. the shape of the brush and the density of the hairs are what make it so perfect for contouring, but to bronze, i just turn it on it's side and use it long ways instead. (this brush is notorious for being eternally sold out everywhere, and it's also freakin expensive. i've seen similar looking brushes all over ulta, so look for anything with that long skinny shape and you'll get the same results, i'm sure) i always get my temples lightly, to even out the color added to my cheeks, and i always contour my nose slightly, by going down the sides of my nose. sometimes i grab a small blending brush and blend a bit right under my lower lip, this makes your lips look fuller, but i typically do this after lipstick or lipgloss.

BLUSH | right now, i keep reaching for nyx "pinched" blush or Milani "romantic rose" and they're both SO pigmented, you need hardly anything! i dust that on the apples of my cheeks with a bare minerals blush brush (that i've been wanting to replace with something better).

HIGHLIGHT | i don't highlight every day, it depends on how oily i'm feeling, haha! but if i do, i use the tiniest amount of the balm's mary lou-manizer or lorac TANtalizer baked bronzer, and a sigma f35 tapered highlighting brush on the upper part of the apples of my cheeks, a little on my nose, chin and forehead and call it good.

EYESHADOW | regularly, i don't do a full lid of eyeshadow, but i've started to feel incomplete without something, so i'll go in with a sonia kashuk 109 blending brush (which i honestly like more than the sigma e40) and a little bit of hoola bronzer or makeup geek "frappe" to just carve out my lid a little bit. on average days when i do a little more, it's usually a few shadows from the lorac unzipped palette. i tend to stick to neutrals, especially day-to-day. i don't usually give myself time in the morning to experiment with eyeshadow, haha!

BROWS | i've been all about anastasia brow wiz for over a year now, but my sister in law got me the dip brow and it's all i've been using since she gave it to me! i use the anastasia brow brush and fill in my brows, then blend them out with the spoolie on the other end (if i'm not in a rush, i'll put a little highlight on my brown bone to define them a bit more). I've finally found a method that works for me! My brows struggle, and I'm in the process of trying to grow them back and thicken them a little bit, but still maintain a non-caveman shape. I start with the tail end of my brow that arches downward, and fill this in darkest and thinnest, then i draw lines along the top and bottom of the inner part of the brow that arches upward, and fill in / buff out the middle. Ever since I started doing it this way, I haven't had a bad brow day.

MASCARA | i curl my lashes first with an old revlon eyelash curler and then go right in with either benefit they're real mascara or maybelline pumped up colossal mascara - love them both. i try to use my maybelline one more often because it's a fraction of the cost but benefit's is just soooo perfect. it applies flawlessly every. single. time. i feel like when i use benefit, my lashes are so fluffy, and i love that look, but the maybelline mascara elongates and separates the lashes perfectly every time.

LINER | right now i'm using the loreal eyeliner and i don't love it, but it's what i've got. i typically just line my water line, but on days that i'm not already running late at this point, i'll take makeup geek eyeshadow in corrupt (black as night, i tell you) and any angled eyeliner brush and push it into my lash line on the outer corners instead. then i'll go over my bottom lashes with loreal voluminous mascara. i also like lining my top lid when i have the time with a sonia kashuk 108 angled eyeliner brush and maybelline gel liner in blackest black. i have hooded eyes so the wing or the cat eye are basically impossible, but I like the line to start thin near the inner corners of my eyes and gradually get thicker toward the outer corners of my eyes.

LIPS | i put chapstick on my lips after i brush my teeth, and i usually don't put lipstick on in the morning with the rest of my makeup, because i'd rather kiss my husband goodbye, but on days when i remember, i'll take it in the car and do it at a stoplight. i don't like to wear bold lips to work, because i'm just not that brave, haha but i love any subtle pinky-nude shade. most of my lip products in rotation right now are nyx or gerard cosmetics. the shades i typically wear during the week are nyx "tea rose", colour pop lippie stix in "lumiere" or gerard cosmetics "buttercup".

SET | on long days, when I know i want my makeup to last, I will spray Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray. It's so amazing! It's like hairspray for your face, you can feel it stick (not in a bad way), and you know that makeup isn't going anywhere!