My Golden Goddess Routine

I would by no means declare myself some makeup expert, but I have gotten myself in the habit of regularly applying makeup 3-5 days a week, where it used to be 0-1 days, maybe. I don't always do a what I call a "full face", but when I feel like putting on some makeup, I put some on. For myself, because I feel like it and I don't want to hear any of this makeup shaming. I honestly find that when I am having a rough day or feeling particularly like crap, it helps me to put on a full face. Knowing that I look good in my eyes makes me feel marginally better. Taking care of myself helps remind me that I am a golden goddess and sometimes I like to let it shine a bit brighter.

Step 1: Start with a clean face! You always hear it but really, clean your face. I chose to do a mask after my regular facial scrub, a fabulous ritual that I do a few times a week. I highly recommend it to everyone.

Step 2: Working on your lovely fresh canvas, start with your base: foundation, BB cream, what have you. I like to use BB cream. It's an awesome tool to have in your belt. Concealer, moisturizer, sunscreen, foundation, lightweight coverage that can actually be good for your skin? In one bottle? Yes, please. I apply with a sponge applicator. An even coverage all over the face, including over the eyelids, under the chin and blended into the hairline. Put on a little colorless lip balm to ensure soft lips for even coverage.

 Step 3: Now your concealer, I prefer liquid over crayon version. What? Pump the brakes, concealer after foundation? Yes. After your initial base, you can more clearly see the spots that were not covered to your liking and correct from there. The trick is to, like always, ensure that you are blending properly.

Step 4: A little bronzer to add the golden to  my goddess. I don't have as heavy as a hand with this stuff as I think I could bear to go. (I would like to try full contouring though, it's amazing what you can do with makeup!) I lightly contour my face with the darker color in s sweeping motion with a foundation brush in a "3" shape on both sides of my face: from the side of the forehead down the slope of the chipmunk cheeks and around the chin.

Then some of the golden toned, highlighting powder. This goes on the middle of the forehead, down the nose and onto the apples of the cheeks directly below the eye.

Step 5: Blush. I have a Hard Candy Fox in a Box pallet and when i go with a barely-there eye I like a pop of pink on my face, so sue me!  Where you apply your blush will depend upon the shape of your face, but I do mine with an angled blush brush, in a sweeping downward motion in a crescent shape to hug my natural features. I always make sure to smile when I do this, partially because I can't always have resting bitch face and partially because I want to keep that highlight high on the cheeks and accentuate the cheekbones, as opposed to the apples.

Step 6: Lightly dust pressed powder all over face. It helps the makeup to set a bit. I use my angled blush brush and Wet n' Wild Coverall pressed powder.

Step 7: Bat those eyes. I love a very natural look in my daily routine when it comes to eye makeup. I have recently tried my hand at tight lining, which I thought would be impossible but is merely a pain-in-the-ass at best, and I am a huge fan of the low-profile yet defined look that it lends. Use a liquid liner when doing your liner this way. Don't put yourself through the hassle to have it rub off within an hour.

I grew out of wearing much colored eye shadow outside of what's included on a nude pallet and I don't regret it one bit. I found one of my current favorite items that is useful for my luminous glow. Conveniently, it's called Luminous Glow by Sephora and it's wonderful. I use my fingers to apply and smooth some on the apples of my cheeks around my eye as a highlight and from my brows to the eyelid crease as a lovely little bit of sparkle. I've been known to add a gold on occasion, or a shimmery pink.

Step 8:  If I'm wearing lipstick, then I'm wearing lip liner. I love this nude Rimmel stuff. For a daily look to do anything in, I go between my matte Stoplight Red longwear or this, my favorite nude, a lovely mauve color that I bought from a dollar store and have not found the equivalent to in any other nude yet.

Step 9: Mascara. I always do this last. Always always. Done. I go very light on the bottom lashes to lessen the smudges that inevitably occur halfway through the day.

I have gotten in the habit of doing my makeup first and my hair second. It sucks to get a glob of makeup on freshly styled hair, especially if you favor down styles. It is also much easier to throw together a hair do when you're pinched on time. It usually ends better than the reverse: being halfway through a full face of makeup and realizing you have to be out of the house in 2 minutes not to be late, Whoops. It looks like a lot of steps to do this routine but all in all, I never spend more than 15 minutes on my face, not including of course the time to wash and apply masks.

Okay, I've never done this before...attempted at a beauty explanation/semi-tutorial/step-by-step type post. Bear with me and let me know what you think!