Make Up Fun!

I'm pretty sure that one of my favorite things is putting makeup on with my friends when we're getting ready for stuff. Probably my favorite memory of my friend Brittany's wedding was the morning of the wedding we spent together doing our hair and makeup – it was fun! I'm also a firm believer that you can learn a lot about a girl based on how she does her makeup. The way I do mine, I think, says that I'm very particular and very much a creature of habit....it also says that I have a pretty steady hand (this comes in to play again with all my crafts!) but you'll see why in a second....

ANYWAY – I thought it would be fun to show you how I get ready for a night with my friends. Now, this makeup isn't heavy or something I would wear someplace that I know I would be getting photographed a lot (like a wedding!), just a regular routine for when I'm going someplace a little more special than the grocery (where I usually wear no makeup at all....) or to a job interview.

First and foremost, skin care is beyond IMPORTANT! I can't stress enough that it is important to find a skin routine that makes you feel pretty, and works for your skin. My routine is pretty simple – baby wipes with the occasional spot treatment. I'm not a fan of using soap and water because it really dries out my skin, even my body wash is super moisturizing but the brand/mix varies depending on what I get from the store – currently I'm using Victoria's Secret Pink body wash. Usually, I just grab regular baby wipes but these Hand & Face Wipes from Johnson's caught my eye the last time I went to get some. They're a bit more expensive but the feel of them is much softer than regular wipes. I use wipes each night and before a shower to really get the gunk off my face so that when I'm in the shower the water can easily get into my pores and get even more gunk out. Disgusting, but true. 

They say that you should put on lotion right after a shower to lock in the extra moisture of water on your skin but I REFUSE to do that on my face. I don't want too much moisture on my face, I don't want to feel greasy. So, I wait until my face is totally dry, usually after taking a pumice stone and lotion to my feet. Not gonna lie, that is probably the thing I take the most time doing. I detest pedicures, but I work on my own feet a lot. The face lotion I use is from Bath & Body Works but I'm sure you could find it in a few places – C.O. Bigelow Extra Light Face Lotion. This was recommended to me by the sales girl, and even though I don't usually follow their advice, I bought it. I have fallen in love! Another important step that my momma taught me that I swear by? Letting your makeup settle before doing the next step. So, after putting on lotion, I usually get dressed, or halfway dressed if we're being honest. My bathroom gets wicked hot from the vanity lights I have so even in the dead of winter I will most likely be caught in a tank during this whole instead of the actual shirt I'm going out in. I'm sure I'm not the only girl that puts her makeup on half dressed, right? 

If I need any concealer (I use Flirt!Glamouflage Healer/Concealer from Kohl's) then that is Part A of my next step. Step B? Matte Mouse from Maybelline. I have **HATED** “traditional” foundation from the time I knew what makeup was because it feels so cake-y to me, this doesn't really feel that way for some reason. I also always use brushes and I only use Sonya Kashuk brushes from Target. They're expensive but the quality is so worth it. Just make sure that you clean them correctly and often and they'll last you forever. 

My break after the base step? Blow dry my hair! This step is hugely important for me....my hair will either be super straight or still curly at the end of it. My go-to hair products are Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly collection for curly and Herbal Essences Set Me Up Mousse for straight hair. The tools are just as important as the products used....when I'm letting my hair go curly then I will just use my fingers with the dryer as far away as possible and I don't dry my hair all the way. If I'm going the straight route then I use my paddle brush while the hair is wet and tug it down with the dryer following the path of the brush if that makes sense. Then I will take the round brush and flip out the ends a bit just to pull out the layers that I have cut in. My friends hate me for the fact that I can do just this to my hair and be done. I will admit that my hair is very cooperative.

I think my eyes are one of my best features so the makeup scheme I will always choose will be the one that plays up my eyes the most. My eye routine is probably the most in depth thing that I do so I will short hand it for you:

1. One coat of mascara – usually Lash Stiletto.
2. Using a liner brush and the darkest shadow I've chosen for the night, line the top lid. It took some time to get this down, but I love the look way better than a “real” liner. Do two coats.
3. Take the lightest shade of shadow and using a regular eye shadow brush coat the lid up to the eyebrow.
4. Using whichever mascara I want for the night, usually Max Factor Lash Perfection, do another coat of mascara.
5. Take the middle shade of shadow and cover just the outer corner of the eye moving in just along the crease.
6. If there is a fourth color, use that on the lid towards the inside of the eye.
7. Using the same mascara from step 4, do another coat of mascara.

Yes, you counted three coats of mascara so far. I'm kinda in love with mascaras as evidenced by this picture...these were just the ones I had in my travel makeup case. I also have some in the drawer under my sink, in my purse, in my Jeep, and at my parents' farm.

Once my eye makeup is done then I either go and make sure El hasn't totally destroyed the clothes I'm wearing since I usually have them laid out on the bed or blanket chest in my room. I also mess with my hair some more. If it is staying curly then I spend quite a bit of time with the hairspray – evenly using both the Herbal Essences Tousle Me Softly Spray and the Garnier hairspray. If it is staying straight then I will spray the Garnier on my hand and wipe it over the part to make it stay and tackle any fly-aways that may have come up. If it is going to be what my bestie calls “curly straight” then I spend a really long time taking a 1.5” curling iron through my hair curling up the ends to really set the layers out in the open. I'm not kidding when I say that this take forever because a) I have a lot of hair and b) I have a lot of layers cut into it. Then it is more hairspray, again, usually a bit of a mix between the two. 

The final steps are pretty easy. First it is another coat of mascara, then a quick brushing of some mineral powder using a blush brush so that I can control where it is going better than a puff or super fat brush (these two are the ones I had with me, but again, I have a few hidden all over, purse, Jeep, farm...), and lastly another quick coat of mascara. And maybe a quick spritz of hairspray depending on what the weather is and what my hair is actually doing. Usually, if I'm doing hairspray now and the last time I spray in the previous steps, and when I'm blow drying my hair, it is with my head flipped over. This is a cheap and quick and easy way to get some volume in your hair.

Also, for at least one coat of mascara you should take the brush, and coat the top of your lashes (I usually close the eye, and lay the brush in the way of the lashes, then open, and roll the brush out to the tips), this should give you a pretty curl so that you don't have to use a curler. And don't forget the bottom lashes – I only out one coat on the bottoms because I look like I have spider eyes if I do more. Oh! Did you notice that I haven't included anything about lip stuff? That's because I only use chap stick. I've always had really naturally bright/red lips so I've never used lip stick or color of any kind unless it is a super major event and even then I go for the sheerest stuff I can find that will only really give me a plump. (random side note – when I was in second grade I fell of the monkey bars at school and busted my lip open by slamming down so hard a bit down...and my top teeth when through my lip all the way down to my bottom jaw. There was a plastic surgeon involved that was worried I would lose feeling in my mouth but I didn't!)

So, with all that info...I turned this:

Into this:

(if you look closely at the right side of my mouth, you can faintly see the scar of above mentioned incident...it is the lighter colored bump....)

Well, I never expected this post to be this long! Maybe I should have just filmed it! Haha, seriously it doesn't take near as long as it sounds. I have the basic routine (with just blow drying and tugging it straight) down to about 20 minutes, if that. If you share your routine, post it in the comments, I'm always curious how people get ready! :)

OH!  Before I totally forget!  You also MUST have a helper!!