Tipping Thursday: 9 Step Beauty Routine

Wow!  My first video post!  My sister-in-law Charlene was gracious enough to be my model.  Thanks again, Char, for letting me use your face! : )

This routine should only take you about 10 minutes, start to finish.  You can adjust this routine to fit your time constraints or desired final look.  There might even be some steps that you don't ever use-you might not be the eyeliner type-and that's just fine.  Just remember: Beauty is about healthy, glowing skin, so always start off your routine by prepping your face with skincare.  The basics should include cleanser, followed by toner and finished off with a moisturizer with an SPF (if your foundation has an SPF, that's fine, too.)  Never skip those steps!!!!!!

Step 1

Foundation: Apply foundation using a foundation brush to even skin tone, especially around the nose and eyes to eliminate redness.  Your foundation should match your skin exactly.  To determine this, draw a line using your foundation along your jaw line.  If you can't tell it's there, it matches.  *If you use a tinted moisturizer, as I do, that counts as your foundation, so you can skip this step.  Also, if you use a cream-to-powder foundation, you should apply your foundation as if it were your powder and skip this step as well.

Step 2

Concealer: Use your fingers or a concealer brush to apply concealer under the eyes, up to the lower lashline and into the inner corners.  If you have dark under eye circles, I recommend using a shade just slightly lighter than your natural shade to counteract the darkness.  Smooth and blend by gently patting with fingertips.  For under the eyes, use your ring finger as it is the weakest finger on your hand and will put less pressure on the delicate skin under your eyes.  For blemishes and other discolorations, dab on a concealer in your exact shade and wait a few seconds before blending.  

Step 3

Powder: Using a powder brush, gently dust powder over face, trying to avoid areas with concealer, especially blemishes or dry, cracked areas (powder will make these areas look cakey), except around the eyes.  To apply without making your skin look dusty or cakey, swirl your brush over your powder, turn the brush upside down and gently tap to evenly distribute the powder into the bristles and lightly swirl in circular motions over your skin. 

Step 4

Eyeshadow: Begin by priming the eyes with an eye primer.  This will help lengthen the life of your eyeshadow throughout the day, and keep your shadow from creasing and your liner and mascara from running.  For a simple everyday look, choose one shade and sweep it from your lashline to just above your crease.  To give you eyes more definition for your day look, choose a light, medium and dark shade.  The medium color will be your base-apply it on your lid from your lashline to your crease.  The dark shade will be for adding definition to your eyes-apply it in your crease by using an angled brush and sweeping from the outer corner in towards the inner corner, stopping about 3If /4 of the way across (never all the way across the crease, from corner to corner.  This will make your lids look heavy.)  The light shade will be used to highlight your brow-apply it from the crease to the brow bone.  *Depending on your color choices and occasion, you might want to only use two colors-just one on the lid and one on the brow, skipping the crease color.  This look is intended to be simple, so feel free to adjust as needed.

Step 5

Liner-Use either an eye liner or a brush and shadow to line your lid.  Apply as close to the base of the lashes as possible.  After lining the upper lashline, look straight ahead to see if there are any gaps that need to be filled.  *A tip to avoid those gaps is to gently pull your eyelid straight by placing your finger on the outer corner of your eye and pulling out just slightly.  This will give you a straight and tight surface to work on.  Then, if you decide you want to, smudge out the line to soften it.  Line lower lashline if desired.  If you do line the bottom, again, try to get as close to the base of the lashes as possible and be sure that the top and bottom lines meet at the outer corner of the eye.

Step 6

Lashes: Begin by curling lashes, if desired.  Gently clamp the curler around the lashes as close to the base of the lashes as you feel comfortable.  Pump about 15 times and repeat on other eye.  *Never EVER clamp the eyelash curler all the way down and never clamp it down and hold-this will cause your lashes to break over time.  And never EVER curl your lashes AFTER applying your mascara-this too will cause your lashes to break.  After curling, apply one coat of mascara to top and bottom lashes.  Start at lash base and sweep up and out, wiggling slightly from side to side-this helps to evenly coat each lash.  Be sure to wipe off excess mascara, especially the tip-this will reduce clumps and flakes.  Comb out after mascara is dry to remove any clumps.  If desired, apply a second coat.  When applying a second coat, let the first coat dry completely before applying the second and comb out when almost dry-these both will help reduce clumps and flakes.

Step 7

Blush/Bronzer: If applying both blush and bronzer, apply the bronzer first (unless you're going for a "bronzed" look, then keep it minimal and apply over blush.)  Smile to determine where the apples of your cheeks are, and using a blush brush, start at the apples and blend upwards towards (but not actually to or in) your hairline in small circles, then downwards to blend and soften color.  Repeat with blush.  Be sure to tap off excess before applying so that you get a more natural-looking flush.

Step 8

Brows: This is when I usually comb out my eyelashes so it gives the mascara enough time to dry.  Use your brow comb/brush and comb your brows towards your temples to put unruly hairs in place.  *To get them to stay put, I put a tiny amount of hair gel in my hand and lightly run the brush over it before combing them.

Step 9

Lips: Apply lipstick or gloss with a lip brush and use your finger to lightly blend color and give lips a softer look.  If using lip liner, apply after lipstick by lining lips with a creamy lip pencil and blending away any harsh lines with a lip brush or your fingers.

And you're done!