If you are like me, and the snooze button is your best friend in the morning, most likely you have very little or no time for making up your face. I have couple of tricks of my own to squeeze my morning makeup application routine into 5 minutes. To speed up the process I usually put out all the products for my beauty routine on the bathroom counter the night before. That alone saves good five minutes, as I don’t have to dive into my makeup bag and choose the colors of blush or gloss to wear. Another time-saver is using multi-purpose products, like moisturizer with sunscreen or even better – a tinted moisturizer with SPF in it. After that makeup application becomes as easy as one-two-three.
Step 1. Moisturize and tap foundation and concealer with your finger tips. I usually don’t wait until moisturizer is fully absorbed and apply foundation on my T-zone and concealer under my eyes and around the nose. This helps both to sink in the skin together with the face cream, instead of sitting on top of it. The quicker fix would be using a tinted moisturizer with a built-in SPF on the clean face; the one from Laura Mercier is a good choice. Then I set it all with a quick swipe of face powder.
Step 2. Apply mascara. If it’s not enough time for an eyeliner or shadow application, 1 or 2 coats of mascara is your best bet. It instantly wakes up the face.
Step 3. Swipe a little blush on your cheeks and finish with a lip gloss or a sheer lipstick (matte colors require some effort during application). To save even more time during this step, you can use lip and cheek stain instead of separate blush and gloss. I think Benefit Benetint is worth trying.
If you only have 3 minutes…
Step 1. Apply tinted moisturizer and let it sink for a few seconds.
Step 2. Tap concealer under the eyes and around the nose, if necessary.
Step 3. Apply 1 coat of mascara. Take your lip gloss with you.
It’s important to remember that when you are short of time in the morning, keep your makeup clean and simple. If you don’t use fussy products that demand precision during application (eyeliner, for example), you can get away with spending even less than 5 minutes on your makeup routine.
