Everyday activities and errands, or spending a day at the beach (or coffee with the girls) surely doesn’t warrant caking and baking the face with makeup. And let’s face it, don’t we need our daily beauty routine to be quick and low maintenance, yet leave us looking effortlessly put-together and with a spring in our step? Leave the heavy foundation, contouring, highlighting and falsies out – makeup to look not-made-up is an art by itself.
Ace Your Base
Irrespective of the weather, and your skin type, it needs moisturising. A good moisturiser doubles up to hydrate and prep the skin to receive coverage. So, you can reserve the primer only for fancier outings.
Winter days in Bahrain can get warm and sunny (sometimes humid), so what you want is a light base, just to blur out any imperfections. Hello BB / CC creams! A blemish balm provides a sheerer coverage than a complexion corrector, but both provide sun protection (that’s one step less in the ritual) and can even-out skin tone well. If you already have a favourite sunscreen and a flawless face, a tinted moisturiser (which has the least coverage, comparatively) will suffice.
Brow Wow
Flaunting a killer pair of brows wins half the au naturel battle. There are a variety of pencils and shades to choose from to fill in sparse brows, and a little practice will go a long way. It helps to use a tinted brow gel to add dimension to your efforts of making the hairs look naturally denser, as opposed to black or brown blocks drawn on. Plus, it helps keeps them in place through the day.
Eye on the Prize
We’re guessing you have no inclination to do a detailed eye look before a trip to the paediatrician’s or the pet shop. A good eye pencil is your product of choice then. Even if you don’t sweep the upper lids with any eyeshadow or eyeliner, lining the lower lids with a brown gel pencil (black looks too severe for daytime) brings out your eyes and brightens the look overall. And although its not necessary, mascara always heightens the mystery of the eyes. But be sure to choose a natural-finish, waterproof one, especially if you’re at the gym, pool, beach or are holiday hiking. I want to look like the Joker by mid-day, said no one ever.
Lip Love
If you want to rock a scarlet lippie standing in line at the cashier, we applaud you, but the idea is for your look to say ‘I woke up like this!’ A nude will do it for you, but exercise caution on the tone of your barely-there shade. A cooler than necessary colour will make you look washed out. Yes, just tinted lip balm is good thinking too!
Awww, Blush!
Give your cheeks a subtle flush, like you’ve just stepped in from the cold, or completed an hour’s workout, with a cheek stain and only on the apples of your face. Smile to bring them out, and dust a rose or salmon shade lightly with your finger for a hint of warmth on your face. You could use your lipstick as blush as well for a harmonious, no-makeup look.
