MIM From A to Z: M is for My Summer Makeup Routine

 

Happy Sunday, friends. I’m currently sitting in my apartment wondering if New Jersey is the new Caribbean – these constant thunderstorms and non-stop showers are killing my last-weeks-of-summer vibes. However, I won’t let a lot of rain keep me down – we have a makeup routine to talk about!

 

I have to admit, I don’t wear a lot of makeup in the summer (and I often go to work with wet hair TBH), but I do have a quick makeup routine that I do on most days that I’m excited to share with y’all.

Before starting to write this post, I did a little research and was “relieved” that my makeup routine typically falls in line with the step-by-step process that makeup experts say to follow.  If you’re interested, you can check out this Vogue article and this Well+Good article that both go into more detail about makeup application order.

 

In the morning, before I put on any makeup I always wash my face and pat my skin dry. It not only helps me wake up, but it also cleans off any left-over dirt from the previous day.

I have the great joy of dealing with an uneven skin tone. My skin’s blotchiness can be real, y’all. I use an anti-redness base primer to help neutralize any redness that’s happening on my face. A dime-size amount of primer will cover your entire face, I promise.

 

I’m currently using Catrice Cosmetics’ Prime and Fine color-correcting primer, but I’ve also used Smashbox’s Photo Finish primer and had great results.

You know how some people can go foundationless or dab on a little BB cream and be good? That’s not me. Because I deal with an uneven skin tone, it makes wearing foundation truly necessary. I’ve discovered different varieties of foundations that offer varying amounts of coverage, but typically I wear a full-coverage foundation even on my minimal summer makeup routine.

 

Right now, I’m loving tarte’s Amazonian clay full coverage foundation in the fair sand shade. I really appreciate that it lasts the entire day, it lives up to its 12-hour makeup claim for sure. It also has SPF 15 sunscreen, and with my light skin tone, that truly helps keep my skin protected. In the past, I’ve also used e.l.f.’s acne-fighting foundation, which stayed in place and blended out my skin tone (always my biggest concern when wearing makeup). And guess what? BOTH of these foundations are cruelty-free, which makes me so supportive of both of these brands. For those of you who don’t know, I try to use only cruelty-free brand makeup. I’m not 100% cruelty-free brands yet, but I’m actively working to get there. 

My translucent-like skin tone easily shows off dark circles under my eyes if I have a bad night’s sleep or not enough sleep. I mostly use concealer for this reason – just a small stroke of the brush and then I dab it in under my eyes. I’ve been using NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer for the past 2 years, and I’m obsessed with how well it works for me. Sadly, in 2017 NARS stopped being cruelty-free because they began to sell in China, where it’s required by law to test on animals (WTF, China??). I’ve been trying and testing other concealers from Sephora, but I haven’t found one that works better than this one yet. 

Any other blond brows in the room? Well, after applying foundation and concealer, I’ve always worked on filling in my eyebrows to help frame my face. My go-to products are Anastasia’s dip brow pomade (cruelty-free), and itCosmetics Brow Power (not cruelty-free). Both products are so easy to apply. I use the Anastasia duo brush #7B when applying dib brow, and Brow Power is a stick with its own spooley end that helps with blending in the color to your brows.

I absolutely love both of these products, HOWEVER, I am hoping that in the near future, I won’t have to use them much because I’m in the midst of microblading treatments! I’ve been wanting to get my brows microbladed since I heard about it a few years ago but was too scared (I am NOT an early adopter, y’all).  A couple of weeks ago, I earned an end-of-year award at work (our fiscal year ends on July) that came with a monetary prize, and I bit the bullet and scheduled my first session. The entire process took about 2 hours from start to finish, and my brows came out wayyy darker than the blond/light brown I was used to seeing. However, the first day is always the darkest that your brows will look, so my brow guy told me.

At first, they numbed my brows by applying the topical numbing cream, and I sat for 40 minutes and waited. Next, they laid me down and drew the brow shapes using a magical mathematical tool that knows the perfect ratio/spacing for eyebrows (it reminded me of a protractor from math class – I did some research and it’s called the Golden Ratio Eyebrow Ruler). Then, they sat me up and triple checked the spacing of the brows and how they looked with my eyes open (they did some adjustments here because one of my eyes sits a little higher than the other).

 

Once everything was drawn on and I approved, they let me choose between 2 colors (I chose a light brown) and got started with the microblading. It was such an interesting feeling. I could hear them shaving my brows down and then the microblading sounded like they were drilling/scraping my brows, but it didn’t hurt at all. I hardly felt anything, which was wild! After the first brow was done, they applied more numbing cream to the second brow, let it sit for about 15 minutes, then got back to work. Once both brows were done, they took photos and went over the post-care instructions. I’ll be going back in 2-3 weeks for the second round of microblading, which I’m relieved to do because the left brow didn’t hold as much color as the right one, so I hope that it does from this next round.

In the summer, I seldom wear any eye makeup because it usually melts off in some fashion during my daily commutes. The last non-negotiable makeup that I put on is my lips. Sometimes I wear lipstick, and other times I wear a lightweight lip balm, but I always have something on my lips before leaving my apartment. Right now, I’m going back and forth between Fresh’s Sugar lip tint in the coral shade and Essence’s Barely There long-lasting lipstick.

If I have a special occasion, I’ll typically wear a light setting powder then will dust on some bronzer, and every once in a while I’ll dab on some blush and mascara, but all of those additions are truly for special occasions only – during the summer, I like to wear as little makeup as possible.

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So how does my summer makeup routine compare to yours? Share in the comments below.