No Makeup Makeup Work Look

This was my second attempt at a No Makeup Makeup look (you can see my first here).  I wanted to look a bit more polished yet still au naturale, which I think I achieved.

In lieu of foundation, I went with Skin79's Super+ BB cream (review here).  It did a good job of smoothing out my skin and minimizing redness/dark spots.  I used Estee Lauder's Double Wear Blush-On Glow BB Highlighter in 1C (Cool) to conceal dark spots and as a highlighter on eyes, nose, and cupid's bow.  I set everything withLe Métier de Beauté's Peau Vierge pressed powder.

I primed my eyes with Urban Decay's champagne shimmer Sin eye primer, and then used Pur Mineral's Soul Mattes shadows Confidante, Companion, and Adore to lightly contour and highlight (swatches and review here).  To add a bit of definition along my upper and lower lash lines, I used Estee Lauder's Blackened Cocoa Pure Color Intense Kajal eyeliner pencil and then smudged Sidekick from Soul Mattes over it.  Brows were done with Giorgio Armani's Eye & Brow Maestro in medium brown, review here.

Blush is Pur Minerals Pink Powder, review to come soon.  Le Métier de Beauté's lip kaleidscope Gemini Kiss (review here) provided soft pink lips.  I need to use that palette more, it's really nice.

Overall, I'm pleased with how this came out!  I'm just back from the American Public Health Association's conference in New Orleans, where I learned lots of stuff, co-presented a paper, and ate lots of good food :-)

No Makeup Makeup Weekend Look

I look better with makeup, I just do.  Even when I was a teenager with the glow that comes with youth, I can remember someone asking me if I was sick one time when I was out and about sans makeup.  However, my skin has been looking better than usual for some reason the past few days  (thoughts on that below), so I decided to experiment with a few no makeup looks to see what works best for me. Today is my running errands FOTD (face of the day), and tomorrow I'll show you the slightly more polished work FOTD.

Going without foundation is a bit scary for me, given my skin's sun damage and sebaceous hyperplasia, not to mention blemishes.  However, since my skin was looking fairly decent, I went with Clinique's City Block, a tinted SPF25 with translucent coverage.  I used Estee Lauder's Double Wear Brush-On Glow Highlighter in 1C Light (Cool) on the inner edges and under my eyes, along the bridge of my nose, and cupid's bow.  Good stuff, I'll review it soon.

I topped off with Le Metier de Beaute's Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Pressed Powder ($75) in shade 2 to cut down on the dewiness factor, given my oily skin.  On my brows, I'm wearing the Inika Blonde Bombshell brow pencil, which does indeed lean blonde.  It's the lightest brow shade I have, but helps to define and fill in my brows.  Good product, and I'm about two-thirds through mine. 

For a bit of gleam on my eyes, I used a touch of Urban Decay's shimmery champagne Sin eye primer.  Mascara is Estee Lauder's Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume in black, a favorite formula for both the deep black color and lack of clumpiness.   I finished with Hourglasses's Ambient Lighting powder palette, dusting Dim Light all over, highlighting with Incandescent Light, and dusting Radiant Light on my cheeks.

For my lips, I lined and filled in with Urban Decay's Glide-On lip pencil in Naked,  a slightly darker than my lips but better color.  It's really nice - very pigmented and smooth, plus comfortable to wear. In the center of my lips I dabbed a bit of Covergirl's Give Me Guava, a sheer peachy gold.  By the way, Give Me Guava is an almost but not quite dupe for Chantecaille's Lucky, which I adore.  Well here, you look:

Final thoughts:  Going for a no makeup makeup look is no less time consuming than a regular makeup look.  I may have cut down a few minutes given the lack of eyeshadow and foundation, but still.

Regarding my skin looking better, I'm thinking it's a factor of several things:

• Regular exfoliation
• Use of products containing retinol and/or peptides
• Yoga:  I recently developed the painful tight hip muscle condition known as Piriformis syndrome, which has forced me back into my yoga practice.  I enjoy yoga, but now it's become a necessity.  All those twisty moves are good for your inner organs as well as your muscles, so maybe that's contributing.
• Use of skin serums.  I slathered on Complexion Conserve Remedy Reserve Serum Saturday afternoon, and it was Sunday when I was like "boy, my skin look good".  Ingredients: castor oil*, carrot seed oil*, rose otto, soy oil*, vitamin e (* indicates certified organic ingredient).