5 Minute Makeup For Work | She's SINGLE Magazine
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Beat the Rush - Five Minute Makeup Tutorial

Whether you have little time to get ready in the morning, wake up too late, or just don't have the energy, we've all been at that point where we had to quickly do our faces.

It's one of the most common questions I get during consults as a makeup artist at Bare Minerals, "how do you do a quick makeup routine?" Most of us who wear makeup, whether for daily use or special occasions, don't always have the extra time in our routines to spend 15, 20, even 30 minutes doing our looks. Although it can be very tricky trying to do your makeup routine on a time crunch, it can be done.

The best way to achieve a quick look in a short amount of time is to start with a simple base and to add color and pigment at the very end. Through trial, error, and my time as a makeup artist, I've narrowed down the 4 areas to focus on for a quick makeup look.

  1. Prep

  2. Base

  3. Color

  4. Definition

Prep

This stage is by far the MOST important, but it's probably the most common step people skip in their makeup routine. It sets the tone for how good your makeup will look once you're done, so it's important to include this step every time you do makeup. This step includes a bare face and makeup primer.

Starting with a clean face (that is moisturized) apply your primer. Place a good amount, a little over pea size, in your hand and rub it together first for a couple of seconds. After, take the product and rub it onto your skin. Let the primer sit on your face for about 30 seconds so that it can dry. This step is important because primer creates a smooth base for the foundation to go over. This allows your foundation to go on smoother and last longer by creating a barrier between your skin and the makeup. Once the primer dries, you can move onto the next step.

Base

This stage is gonna take the longest, about 2-3 minutes to do, which is okay. You want to make sure your base is to your liking and spending more time on it will ensure that. This step will include your foundation and any products for cover-ups. The easiest form of cover-up is concealer.

Take your concealer, if needed, and apply it first on the areas of your face you would like to conceal. Quickly blend out the concealer with your fingers or brush. My personal preference and recommendation is to use a brush, but when you're on a time crunch sometimes using a brush can slow you down. Once you're done blending, it's time to apply your foundation. Start on one side of your face with your cheeks and blend the foundation into the skin with a brush. After finishing one side, repeat for the other doing quick, longer strokes for faster application. Make sure everything is evenly applied before moving onto the next step.

Color

In my opinion, this is the most fun part of doing your makeup as it adds the depth and dimension back to your face. For some, this step may not even be necessary since some people only lightly apply foundation to even out the skin tone. This step will include whatever face color pieces you use daily, which can include blush, bronzer, and/or highlighter. For a quick simple makeup look, I normally recommend using blush or bronzer to add dimension back to the face.

The application of your color pieces should be swift, taking about 1-2 minutes to complete. Just like with your foundation, use quicker, longer strokes when applying your color. If you're going to use more than one color piece, it's best to start with bronzer (for depth), then blush (to add cheek color), then highlighter (to add a glow). All of these products should be applied with a brush!

Definition

This last step is thankfully quite easy and is open to your personal preference of what you want to define or enhance on your face. This step can include mascara, a quick lip color, or even an eyeshadow color if you're feeling confident in your eyeshadow skills! For a simple everyday look, I would recommend sticking to doing one of these enhancers especially if you feel you're not an expert in applying these. The easiest to fit in a quick makeup routine would be mascara or a lip color. Both of these can typically be applied in about 30 seconds.

After finishing your face quickly, apply setting powder or spray and rush out to finish getting ready!

The key to accomplishing a good, quick makeup look is to have good time management and to know what products you want to use. By following these guidelines in your makeup routine, it helps narrow your focus of what you should be using when creating your look. And don't worry if the process isn't as quick initially! The speed will come, the more you practice. Soon enough you'll be applying your face in about 5 minutes with ease.

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