My 10-Minute Daily Makeup Routine

A fun fact about me is that I’m not a morning person. I set my alarm every morning but my mother knows as soon as it sounds, I turn it off and go back to sleep so I’m usually left with roughly 30 minutes to prepare, breakfast included, before I leave the house for work. I work in an agency which requires us to wear uniforms, and which entails us to be presentable whenever we report to work. In my case, I always feel obligated to wear makeup at work because I’m mistakenly taken as a student most of the time because of my height and facial features and that, I think, often makes it difficult for others to take me and what I say seriously. That’s a bitter truth, yes… With that, I’m going to share my daily makeup routine that doesn’t require much time but has definitely made me look from 80 to 100 (heheh).

Before I put my makeup on, I always make sure that I start with a clean and well-moisturized face. I had very dry skin when I was still a teen, but gradually normalized now, yet a tad bit dry on some areas. The most ‘problematic’ area for me is my chin where it’s dry and flaky most of the time. That is also the area I usually breakout and all the nasty whiteheads lurk in. Ew!

1^st step: Beat that Face (2 minutes)

I don’t use foundation every day. I only put foundation whenever I have plenty of time on my hand. So given the time constraint, I start with my Colourpop No Filter Concealer. I don’t really have serious dark undereyes so I mainly use my concealer to highlight my face. I put 3 dots under each eye, 3 half-inch lines on my forehead, a line across my nose bridge, a dot on each side of my nostrils and a teeny-tiny bit on my smile lines then blend it with my Ecotools sponge. The reason why I prefer to use sponge over brushes when I blend liquid products on my face because it’s more hygienic (I wash my sponges everyday right after I take a bath) and I like the finish sponges make (I prefer a natural, non-streaky and non-cakey finish where my skin still peeks through).

I set my concealer with my Fenty Beauty Invisimatte Blotting Powder which is a finely-milled illuminating translucent powder. To do this, I love using my ELF Setting Brush because its bristles are  so soft. It’s also easy to reach and set the inner corners of my eyes because this brush is tapered. The size also enables me to pick the right amount of product to avoid a cakey result. I use the same brush but a different type of powder, which is the ELF Cosmetics Beautifully Bare Sheer Tint Finishing Powder, to set the rest of my face without concealer. I use the shade Light/Medium which matches my skin tone and gives me a natural coverage.

2^nd step: Pop them Eyes (6 minutes)

I now proceed to my brows. I use my Colourpop Precision Brow Colour and the brush I use is my trusted Morphe R44. For days when I prefer a natural look for my brows, I use The Face Shop Designing eyebrow pencil (I’ll do a separate post on how I do my brows soon!). Afterwards, I like adding a little bit of color to my eyelids. I usually choose between my Sleek Face Contour Kit or my Rimmel Natural Bronzer in Sun Bronze. To blend and diffuse the color, I use my Morphe M433. I do a windshield motion on my crease. I curl my lashes and apply my mascara. This is probably the step that takes a lot of time. I use The Face Shop Eyelash Curler to curl my lashes and I switch between L’oreal Lash Paradise or Maybelline The Magnum Big Shot Volum’ Express Waterproof Mascara. I only coat my lashes once.

3rd step: Final touches (2 minutes)

Going back to may face specifically my cheeks, I apply Rimmel Natural Bronzer on the back part of my cheeks, temples and, sometimes, on my jawline. I use different types of brushes depending on the intensity I prefer on that day. It’s usually either ELF Beautifully Precise Airbrush Blender or Avon Blush Brush. I proceed to blush after I’m done with my bronzer. Most of the time, I just use the same brush I chose for bronzing. The blush products I reach for most of the time are my ELF Blush Palette and Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Ornate. Surprisingly, highlighter is actually an option for me during workdays. For days when I want to apply highlighter, I use my Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter Duo. I mix both Mean Money and Hu$tla Baby and use a Morphe brush that has long and tapered bristles. Then, I spritz my NYX Matte Finish Long Lasting Setting Spray to set and make my makeup look more skin-like. I don’t wear lipstick yet, but a lip balm as I travel to work. I just apply my lipstick before I get down our car or once I arrive in my office.

Ta-da! That’s my 10-minute daily makeup routine I’ve done for every single rush-filled morning in the past year. I hope you learned something or could incorporate some of my routine to yours! I would like to know about your daily makeup routine too, so comment it down below. Have a lovely Tuesday, everyone!