This summer, I have decided to embrace my youth. I’m going gray really fast, and I’ve always had dark circles under my eyes. I feel like the summer of my 30th year will be the last that I can get away with wearing a little less on the face and spacing coloring appointments a little further. In addition to wearing less product, I’m spending less on it too by saddling up with my Extrabucks at the local CVS and not Sephora.
Below is my current, three-step, routine:
DR. JART+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25: That link is for the PA++ version, and mine is not that. I don’t know what PA stands for, unless Matt Pond PA is somehow involved with the product (early Aughts indie rock humor!). Also, this didn’t come from a drugstore! Lemme explain. I read a few reviews for this on some non-beauty related sites I read. I had two Sephora gift cards (thanks Dad!), so I decided to give this a try when my Bobbi Brown BB cream was out. It doesn’t have a shade; it blends to your skintone. That being said, you need to blend it in, and it goes on a bit white at first. It takes a moment to settle into your skin. Rub a small pea sized amount with clean fingers onto moisturized skin. (I always moisturize before adding a BB cream. It is kinda redundant right? Like ATM machine?) Honestly, I don’t know if I am going to purchase this again after the bottle is empty. I haven’t been amazed, but will say that I haven’t had a single breakout. Every few months, I get one stubborn and nasty pimple on my face. None since using the Doctor’s elixir.
Maybelline Dream Lumi™ Touch Highlighting Concealor In Radiant: I also read about this online as a good dupe for the YSL Touche Eclat. If you’ve known me for anytime, you know I was a Touche Eclat devotee for many years. That was until Katie McKatie pointed out that if you have dark circles (raises hand!) you don’t need to highlight them, you need to cover them up. (She read that online somewhere; it wasn’t like she was trying to tell me I was doing it wrong. Wait, she was probably telling me that!) So I stopped purchasing a $40 spotlight for my dark eye circles.
I usually attack the circles with a two prong defense: Bobbi Brown Corrector and Bobbi Brown Concealer. I need both to try to at least look normal. I had my makeup done professionally for the V&E Prom, and it took two make-up artists 3 tries to cover my circles. I also “transfer” makeup from my lashes/lids to my undereye verrrrry easily. (This is why I don’t wear mascara daily. It ends up under my eyes.) They literally wiped all the eye makeup off twice and started over until the third time worked. They both asked me what I used at home. I explained the $48 Bobbi Brown combo, but closed by saying “It doesn’t look perfect!”
Now that it is summertime, I’m finished wearing that many products to just make eyes look more awake. I purchased the Maybelline highlighting concealer for $8 or $9 at CVS. It works fine. Do I still have circles? Yes. Did I still have them with all the Bobbi Brown products? Yes. This time, the product wears more evenly and is so cheap and conveniently packaged, I can carry it with me this summer!
Revlon Highlighting Palette in Bronze: I already blogged about this purchase in my CVS haul. I got into bronzer last summer, after abandoning my old favorite, NARS Orgasm, years ago. Now, I just apply this with the occasional addition of some pink blush from a Stila palette Katie gifted me at Christmas. (I just really like blush, you guys.) I think this product was the reason why I was described as being “glowing”. Again, blend this. A lot of bronzers can look “dirty” if you don’t blend correctly. I will say, I am not perfect at this, but I try.
I work out three times a week at work, and don’t reapply makeup after my sessions. I will say that bronzer stays on very well!
I would also like to give a shout out to exercise, eating right, staying hydrated and good genes for making my minimalist makeup routine a success.
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