Until the other day, I hadn’t worn any makeup in six months. Yup, a whole six months. Due to the pandemic and spending most of my time in self quarantine, I didn’t feel the need to wear any. Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret- I enjoyed not doing my daily makeup routine. Don’t get me wrong… I love makeup. But as I get older I’ve found that I like to wear a lot less of it. Even before the pandemic I didn’t put on any makeup unless I was going to work, or out out. And I had minimized my makeup routine drastically over the last few years. The pandemic let me know that this isn’t just a phase, and minimal makeup is my preference at this point in my life. Here’s how the pandemic permanently changed my makeup routine.
Skin Is In
My quarantine skincare routine was top notch. As a result, my skin has been popping lately. Now that I actually have to leave the house and go to the office, I don’t wear any foundation at all. It makes absolutely no sense to put on foundation when you have to wear a mask. Unless you just apply it to just the top half of your face. Which equally doesn’t make any sense. Better to just spot conceal. Before quarantine, I barely ever wore full coverage foundation anymore. Unless I needed my look to last from morning to midnight. Like for special occasions, after work events etc. But after not wearing foundation for six months, even the smallest amount feels heavy on my face. So now when I actually do wear foundation I choose the lightest formula possible, and only put on enough to even out my complexion. No more cake face over here. I’m letting my skin shine through!
Correct Over Conceal
I naturally have dark circles under my eyes and I can’t stand them. They’re hereditary on my dad’s side. And no matter what I use, they don’t get any lighter. For this reason I used to pile on the concealer- full coverage, in two shades lighter than my foundation, to highlight my under eye area. This only works when you are wearing a full coverage foundation, and looks quite ridiculous otherwise. Although I’m not wearing foundation every day, I do still wear a little under eye concealer. However, I switched to using a brightening formula to camouflage the dark circles. Brightening concealers reflect light to make the under eye area appear brighter. On days when I’m tired and need a little more coverage, I use a little orange corrector first.
Natural Definition
I love a strong contour. And sometimes I purposely over do it for the Grace Jones Effect (I love her 😍). But I’m not about that life anymore. I contour just enough to put the natural definition that’s lost when you apply foundation back into my face. Same with highlighting… no reindeer nose or disco ball cheeks for me. I highlight where the light hits my face naturally, and just enough to give my skin a glow from within look.
Shop The Look
Embracing My Brows
I’ve hated my brows since I was a teen. They naturally grow thin. And I always wanted them to be thick and full, with a more defined shape. As an adult, I now have an autoimmune thyroid disorder which causes my outer brows to thin out even more. For this reason I stopped getting my brows done as sometimes I’d end up with half a brow. I usually just tweeze my brows enough to clean them up and give them a little shape. Then I’d fill them in heavily with brow gel to make them thicker and fuller. I don’t know how the impossible happened, but I fell in love with my natural brows during quarantine. They’re not as thin as I thought they were. And they actually look good as long as I keep them cleaned up. Now I just add a little pencil and/or brow gel every day to enhance the shape. I don’t even highlight them with concealer anymore.
The Eyes Have It
I’ve been wearing neutral shades on my eyes non-stop for the last few years. Now that I’m keeping the rest of my makeup so minimal, I like to play with pops of color on my eyes. I have so many neglected eyeshadows in my stash that’s about to get some love. Especially since the eyes are the only thing on display when wearing a mask (which we should all be wearing in public at all times). I’m even going to bring back my signature cat eye on days when I want to add some adventure to my makeup routine.
Team Lipgloss
I haven’t been a gloss girl since high school. I love lipstick. Especially a liquid matte lipstick. But during quarantine, lipgloss was my go to product to look polished. I’d do my skincare routine and then throw on a little clear gloss. Dassit. Now I’m obsessed with lipgloss paired with a complimentary lipliner. Makes me reminisce about the 90’s and sneaking to wear black lipliner with champagne or clear gloss (the horror lol). My mom didn’t let me wear makeup until I was almost 18 and I practically had to beg then. But I used to sneak and put it on when I went to school. Don’t judge me.
3 Responses
Well you’re beautiful sis and your skin has always looked great to me.I’m not much of a makeup person and I only wore it when i was going out out. Been then I was just a foundation and powder girl sometimes I conceal and other times I don’t. Since quarantine I’ve actually had a bit more time to experiment and i don’t feel rushed so I’ve been trying to correct and conceal problem areas better. Still only using makeup 1 or 2 times a month since I’m still working from home .
Thank you so much sis. Sounds like you used your time in quarantine wisely lol. We have to come out of this mess with something good. I actually did a little winged liner for work today and I loved how it enhanced my eyes with the mask. Still no foundation though
Same here girl! hahah… I thought I was the only one who has changed since quarantine. A great lipgloss I’ve been loving that I think you should try is Maybelline Lifter in shade Ice or Stone… it’s so hydrating , not sticky but so pretty!!!!!