My 3 min, 43 sec Makeup Routine + A Declutter

How I've simplified over the years.

I like to think that I have a minimalist makeup routine. I use 6 products (most days) and it takes me less than 5 minutes.

3 minutes and 43 seconds to be exact.

I timed myself yesterday, just to be sure it was under 5 minutes. Putting on mascara took up the most time!

It wasn’t always like this though.

I’ve never been interested in makeup for it’s artistry or self-expression. I have great admiration for people who can do makeup well, but for me, I’ve only ever seen makeup for it’s ability to hide the imperfections in my skin.

As camouflage.

I’ve had dark undereye shadows for as long as I can remeber. As a teenager and in my 20s, I struggled with acne. In my 30s, I developed melasma, which are dark patches that come out on my face (mostly my cheeks and a little on my forehead).

Both of these things have made me feel self-conscious, like it was the only thing that people could see when they looked at me.

Makeup gave me the confidence I needed in the face of imperfect skin, and a lot of self-criticism.

My makeup routine used to consist of foundation, concealer, powder, blush, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara and lip gloss. During the summer, I’d add a little bronzer and maybe a bit of highlighter as well. Sometimes I’d forego the foundation if my skin was “behaving”, but you wouldn’t’ve caught me without concealer.

Over the past decade, I’ve worked hard to simplify my life, and my makeup routine is one of the areas that I feel like I’ve simplified the most. Whereas I’ve had a hard time simplifying my wardrobe, it being the area where I do express myself creatively, makeup has been a much easily area to downsize.

Slowly, I’ve eliminated products that I could live without - first the foundation, then the eyeshadow, followed by powder, eyeliner (daily basis), and finally, concealer.

Honestly, giving up concealer and being okay with it was a shock for me. I attribute it to something that I heard once - I wish I could remember who said it but it was along the lines of:

I love seeing people’s imperfections, especially their undereye circles. It’s a natural part of being human.

When I heard that, it felt like I’d been given permission to accept the imperfections on my face that made me human.

Now, a few years later, I have days where I don’t wear any makeup, days when I just wear mascara and a lip gloss and then days when I do my “whole” routine.

L-R: Milani Undereye Brightener, Got2b Glued Eyebrow Gel, L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara, Fenty Beauty Contour Skinstick, Nars Audacious “Anna” Lipstick, Estee Lauder “Rebellious Rose” Lipstick

There are 6 products in my everyday makeup routine (in order of use):

1. Milani undereye brightener

I’ve been using this for a few years. The tagline on this product is “conceal and protect” but I don’t think of this as a concealer. It doesn’t disguise my undereye circles, but it does soften them.

I think the reason that I like this so much is because it’s pink (the official color is “rose”). When I used concealer, I would always end up with one of the lightest shades and it always had a yellow undertone. But I know now that I have pink undertones in my skin (I think I always knew this but to me, I looked red and I tried to fight against this). As a result, in a lot of old photos (especially if there was a flash), I can see the telltale signs of concealer under my eyes!

I enjoy using this item and it’s creamy formula means that it goes on easily and it blends out really well, but if I ever wanted to simplify my routine further, I could remove this item.

2. Fenty Beauty Contour Skinstick

This is a new product to me. I used to use a dark tint concealer as a contour/bronzer (mostly in the summer) but it just ran out so I decided to do some research and invest in an actual contour stick.

I like to shop at Ulta and I really like the packaging and the colors of the Fenty contour stick, so that’s what I went with. I chose the color “Amber”, which has a cool undertone for light to medium skin tones and I think the color works really well! I also really like the consistency. This will last me a really long time, but I’d rebuy this exact same one when I need a replacement!

3. Blush

I’m currently using an old lipstick as a blush. I bought it quite a few years ago (4?) because I really wanted a signature lipstick, but I never did wear it. Not wanting it to go to waste, and because I really liked the color (Nars “Anna” - a rose color that I think has been discontinued), I started using it as a blush, and finally, it’s coming to the end of it’s life.

This means that I need to find a new blush in a similar shade. I’m looking for a cream blush and if you have a brand that you really like, please let me know in the comments!

4. Mascara

I love mascara but I’m not faithful to any particular brand. I basically buy whatever 3-pack Costco has whenever I run out. Currently, it’s the L’Oreal Voluminous mascara. My only requirement is that it be black mascara as I feel that brings more drama to my lashes!

5. Got2b Glued Eyebrow Gel

I love this stuff! I have coarse, slightly unruly, eyebrows and this is the only thing that I have found that holds them in place the way that I want them (slightly brushed up). I used to use the big tube of this by squeezing a little out of the top and wiping an old mascara wand over it, but when I saw this little tube, I was so thrilled! It makes the whole process so much easier and less messy!

6. Estee Lauder Color Envy Lipstick

I got this lipstick as part of a free gift with purchase at a local department store a while back. I didn’t use it much right away but have been loving it for the past 6 months or so. I never used to wear lipstick when I had brown hair because I felt like there was enough contrast with my hair/skin/eyes that I didn’t need it as much as I do now that I have silver hair and there is less contrast.

The color is “Rebellious Rose” and I really like how I feel when I wear it! I will definitely purchase this when it’s all gone.

I also have a red lip gloss that I keep in my handbag or car to use when I’m out and about. It’s the NYX Fat Oil Lip Drip (Newfeed) and I like applying this when I don’t have access to a mirror.

Honorable Mention

I have a couple of extra products that I keep “just in case”:

1. 2 of the same olive green eyeliners - in case I want a more dramatic eye.

2. 2 lip stains in pink and red - I use the pink one under my lipstick sometimes if I want my lip color to have more staying power and I use the red one very occasionally for a night out.

3. I also have a pink powder blush that I sometimes apply on top of my cream blush for a little more color.

How I store my makeup - in a $1 pencil case that one of my kids used in elementary school. Not the most aesthetic but it works and we’re saving this plastic from the landfill!

Now that I’ve shown you what I use, I’ll show you a few of the products that I don’t. These are products that I’ve picked up to try or ones that I inherited from my daughter after she bought them and decided that she doesn’t want to wear makeup:

1. Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder - I think I read about this in some subreddit as being a good powder. I hadn’t worn powder for a while at the point of learning of this so I’m not even sure what inclined me to buy it. I’ve always had oily skin and I was a big fan of powder for the longest time but nowadays, I prefer a “glowy” look. Also, this powder is super fragranced and I don’t like fragrance on on my face!

2. Ah, my old concealer. I’ve held onto this for the past few years, reaching for it every now and then to cover a pimple, but it’s time for it to go and not be replaced!

3. This is a dark-toned concealer that I picked up at one point to use as contour/bronzer in the summer, mostly because I was afraid of picking out the wrong contour and I felt overwhelmed by the choices! This is almost all gone and has been replaced by an actual contour stick!

4. A highlighter palette that I got from my daughter. I actually really like this (especially the white, pink and champagne shades) but the cover hinges broke a few years ago and the cover recently snapped in half. Now it just feels messy and unsanitary. I would replace this product if I found a smaller palette with my preferred shades.

5. An old powder brush that I have no use for without powder!

6. A eyeshadow liner brush (I think) - I used to apply eyeshadow as liner using this a long time ago and I’ve just been hanging onto it for no reason!

7. A charcoal eyeliner that I used to use every day once upon a time and replaced many times but I prefer the olive green one that I kept to this one!

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If you’d also enjoy this topic in video format, I just published the following video:

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I’d love to hear in the comments what your ride or die makeup products are 💄 Mine are mascara, blush and lipstick!

As always, thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed this newsletter, I’d appreciate it if you could give it a little love ❤️