Our Everyday Makeup Faves

Morning routine. Daily ritual. We all have them, and for many of us, those routines involve makeup. I didn’t start wearing makeup — save for the occasional high school dance — until my sophomore year of college, when a roommate skilled in the art of eyeliner taught me how to do a cat-eye. Prior to that, I just didn’t know what I was doing, I was curious but clumsy and I look back at those prom and homecoming photos with a solid dose of horror. But that fateful day in my college dorm room sealed the deal for me — makeup didn’t have to mean frosted lipstick and too much blush — and I never looked back. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of transformation, and I love knowing about other’s routines, so today Jana, Aubrie and I are sharing our everyday makeup must-haves. Check them out below and let us know what you can’t live without in the comments!

Julie:

“I don’t like to look too made up for the everyday, but I’ll never let go of my liquid eyeliner. All these years later, it’s extremely rare for me to go a day without a cat-eye, I love how it looks and I feel as though it lends polish to days where I’m feeling particularly undone. I recently went through the process of growing out my over-plucked eyebrows, and ever since they’ve become one of my favorite features to play up.

My routine has been roughly the same for a long time now, and at this point it takes me all of five minutes to complete: I splash warm water on my face and use jojoba oil to moisturize. Once the oil soaks in, I use a stipple brush from NYX to blend Pacifica’s BB Creme (I’m a convert since reviewing it in this post) all over my face in circular motions, before using NYX HD concealer under my eyes. Then, I fill in my brows with an eyebrow pencil in dark brown from NYC and set them with a clear brow gel. After using a shadow brush to apply Smashbox’s ‘Champagne’ onto my eyelids, I finish the look with liquid liner (L’Oreal’s Lineur Intense in carbon black) and mascara (Stellar Gaze, a new obsession also from Pacifica). I try to drink tons of water throughout the day to keep my skin hydrated, but I’m still never without lip balm. Right now I love Vanilla Chai from Soothing Touch. When it comes down to it, I stick with neutral shades to look as natural and awake as possible, while still feeling finished.”

Jana:

“When it comes to makeup, I try to live by the “less is more” rule. Of course there are those times when glamming it up seems appropriate (and fun!), but on a day-to-day basis, I stick to a few key products that I can always rely on. Tinted moisturizer, masacara and bronzer are my three must-haves. Warming up the face with bronzer helps to emit a healthy glow, and a couple coats of mascara will widen and brighten the eyes. I like to use a good brow pencil too, in conjunction with a brow brush, for added definition. Enhancing your natural features is the best way to achieve a fresh look! And also, my number one rule: before going to bed… wash it all off! I try to avoid breakouts at all cost and going to sleep with a clean face is the best way to start.”

Read more about Jana’s routine here.

Aubrie:

“I like to aim for that perfect healthy looking glow, keeping the rest of my face fairly simple. For me, my makeup routine is really about the tools and techniques that I’ve discovered over the years to make myself look as natural as possible. I never used to pay much attention to the brushes that I was using, but once I invested in quality tools I found a huge difference. I start off my routine by first applying primer and then foundation with a medium sized soft brush in circular motions, to give a soft, airbrush effect. I also recently found the solution to all my pale season problems with a great bronzing primer. The hint of color makes my skin look absolutely radiant underneath a light-coverage foundation. Then I’ll lightly brush on a mineral bronzer in a warm color after the foundation. The final important step to even skin-tone is to use a brush to blend the primer, foundation, and bronzer together with the same small circular motions. Yet another great beauty discovery I’ve found is a mascara for brows. Having naturally light eyebrows, I feel like defining them really brightens up my whole face. For my eyes, I’ll first use a flat angled brush to brush on a charcoal shadow just along my lash line. This subtle way of lining your eyes is a great way to achieve natural-looking, thicker lashes. Finishing up with a few swipes of mascara my routine is complete within a matter of minutes!”

+ More beauty posts from the BLDG 25 blog.

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Follow Aubrie on Instagram.