You guys know that I’m still a total newb when it comes to makeup. Over the years, I’ve gotten really into beauty and figuring out what works best for me. Today I wanted to share my current makeup routine, along with the products I use regularly.
DAY
The two products that I almost always put on when I’m leaving the house are eyeliner and mascara. I use the Rimmel ScandalEyes Water Kohl Liner to line the outer half of my upper waterline. I love how creamy this liner is and I really love the definition it gives my eyes. Lately I’ve been reaching for Maybelline’s Lash Sensational Mascara. I picked this up in December and I think it’s great. It gives good length and volume and separation (I prefer my eyelashes to look nice and fluttery, rather than spidery). After a good coating of the Lash Sensational, I’ll also use Maybelline’s The Rocket Mascara just to make sure that every single lash is separated.
On a typical day, that’s it! I might dab a bit of color on my lips if I have a few extra minutes in the morning, but usually I’m hurriedly lining my eyes, slapping on some mascara, and running out the door. If I were going out at night, or if I had more time to get ready, I might add a few extra steps to my makeup routine…
NIGHT
On the weekends, sometimes I like to amp it up a little with a cat eye. Like many girls, I struggle with my winged liner and I may spend several minutes in front of the mirror, attempting to make my wings look somewhat even. Back in the day, I used to mainly use liquid eyeliner, but in the past couple years I switched over a pen form. I think it’s much easier, especially if you’re like me and you don’t have the steadiest hand. I’ve been using the Rimmel ScandalEyes Precision Micro Eyeliner, but I really want to try the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner and/or the Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner.
If I’m getting really fancy, I just might swipe on some eyeshadow. When I first started wearing makeup, it was basically just eyeshadow and eyeliner, but then I moved away from that. My makeup collection was sorely lacking when it came to eyeshadow, so a few months ago I purchased the Lorac PRO Palette. I don’t wear eyeshadow all the time, but I wanted a quality palette to use when I felt like playing around. This palette is so pretty and the shadows are so soft and blendable that even someone like me can’t really mess it up. I like to keep it really simple and dust the color Pewter (a shimmery dark brown) all over my lid, with a little bit of the color Slate (a dark grey) in the crease and outer corner. Then I use my MAC 217 brush to make sure everything is all blended in.
Then it’s on to my favorite part- lipstick. Lipstick is my second favorite beauty item (I have to put nail polish at the top, then it’s lipstick, closely followed by mascara). I’m more of a bold lip girl, which is a bit crazy, since it was only a couple of years ago when I felt so self-conscious whenever I wore red lipstick. Most of the lipsticks I own are in the red family and I really like the Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick- Kate Moss Collection in 01. It’s definitely noticeable, but it’s not a bright cherry red, so I think it’s a little easier to wear and good when I want a pop of color (rather than a POP OF COLOR). If I’m being really good, I’ll use a lip liner before applying the lipstick straight from the tube, or I might use a lip brush to apply it so that I’ll have cleaner lines.
So that’s my current routine in a nutshell. Do you guys use any of the products I mentioned? What’s your current makeup routine? I’d love to talk beauty with you in the comments below!
![It's a very belated book haul! These are the four books I picked up on my trip to Australia back in May. Of course I had to check out some bookstores on my first trip to Sydney and I think I ended up visiting 9 in total (check out my stories to see the mini bookstore vlog I made)!
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It was so fun book shopping over there since majority of the covers are different from our US covers. I couldn't resist this pretty edition of PACHINKO, which I've already read. And when I picked up this copy of PEOPLE PERSON, I was so excited to see it because it wasn't out yet in the US at that time. I also bought two books that I hadn't heard of before I discovered them in the bookstore: IDOL and LOVE AND OTHER PUZZLES.
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Do you tend to prefer US or UK book covers?
[P.S. This is an old photo that includes a HarperCollins UK title, but please note that I support the HarperCollins Union.]
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[ID: A stack of the following books sits on top of white bedding in front of a white wall (from top to bottom): PACHINKO, IDOL, LOVE AND OTHER PUZZLES, PEOPLE PERSON.]
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#Pachinko #Idol #LoveAndOtherPuzzles #PeoplePerson #whattoread #beautifulbooks #bookhaul #booksandtravel #travelandbooks #bookishaesthetic #bookstacks #bookstacklove #ukbookcovers #ukbookhaul #newbooks #bookbuying #bookpurchases #coolgirlsread #readerslife #bookishcommunity #australiatrip #stackofbooks #bookwormlife #booksandbooks](https://starcrossedsmile.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Oh hey, this is a great coincidence, I just posted about my beauty routine and then saw on bloglovin that you have too! Loved reading about your routine, turns out we have a pretty similar approach. And pretty similar products. I have the same kohl (though I stopped using it recently in favour of black eye shadow for a softer look). I can’t use it as an eyeliner because it smudges really fast so I have the scandaleyes thick & thin pen liner which I use as an “occasion” makeup item, just because it does take time to draw a perfect line. The Kat von D liner looks perfect, I was eyeing it in the store but decided it was a bit too expensive for me right now.
Even our eyeshadows have similar colours, granted mine’s a lot smaller than yours. The only thing that’s very different is lipstick – I can’t wear it for the life of me, it makes me look like 22 going on 30. Maybe when I’m actually 30 it will be appropriate (probably not).
P.S. Did you ever get my letter? I sent it some time ago, hope it didn’t get lost! :)
Oh awesome- I can’t wait to read your post! I’ve tried using black eyeshadow as liner a coupe of times and I like the softer, smoky look (and the fact that you can be a lot less precise). Every time I go to Sephora I eyeball the Kat Von D liner. I’ve heard very good things, so I’ll probably take the plunge sometime soon!
Also, I did get your letter- thank you so much! I believe it arrived last week and I’m hoping that I’ll have some time to sit down and write you back very soon :)
Oh let me know if you do get it and like it – I’m thinking it might be the one to replace my pen one when it dries out (which won’t be any time soon)
I’m glad the letter got to you, I sent it quite a while back so I was worried it got lost – I sent a postcard to my friend in Kansas at the same time and she got it a few weeks ago. Can’t wait to get yours – whenever you have time, of course, no rush! :)
Will do! I think it might have come a couple weeks ago, because it was in a pile of mail that I hadn’t looked at yet. Thank you again for writing! I will definitely be responding soon :)
Looks like you’ve gotten the winged eyeliner down pretty well – I’m still terrible at that. Even after all these years of trying. Sniff, sniff.
Courtney ~ Sartorial Sidelines
Thanks! I think this attempt took about 10-15 minutes, lol :) Sometimes I try for a while and it doesn’t work, so I just give up!
Maybelline mascara is great! Have you tried The Falsies yet? If not I would highly recommend it. It’s been my favorite for years! I also love the Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks. They are of such good quality! P.S. Your “N” mug is too cute and I love that you’re using it for your make-up products.
I have! I was using (and loving) The Falsies until I bought Lash Sensational and it took over. I have one of the regular Rimmel Kate Moss lipsticks and one from the matte line and I like them both. I need to check out their other colors.
Thank you! It’s from Anthropologie and the year it came out, I gave it to so many people as a Christmas gift :)
I’ve become more “natural” over the years. I used to be so obsessed with trying different looks. But, when I changed jobs, I didn’t have the same time or office look. So I stopped trying out different looks. I also had so much product so I wanted to “hit pan” before purchasing more of anything that I owned. Let’s just say this has been about 4 years since I went on this track and I’m still going through all my products!! haha.
xo,
nancy
I used to think that putting on makeup meant applying a lot of colorful eyeshadow (LOL), but thankfully my tastes have become more refined over the years. I think the only beauty product I’ve finished is a top coat, and yet I can’t stop buying new stuff ;)
I don’t think I’ve ever tried Maybelline mascara, but now that my Sephora one is drying out I think I will! I also love Stila! They’re pencil liners are the best! My favorite is the one called Lionfish since it’s a bronzey metallic! Love that lipstick color on you!
~Sara
Maybelline is my go-to for drugstore mascaras. I really like The Falsies and this newer Lash Sensational one. That Stila liner you mentioned sounds really pretty- I’ll have to look that up. Thank you Sara!
The red lipstick looks beautiful on you! I tend to keep things pretty simple but I love the “Semi Sweet Chocolate Bar” palette from Too Faced- obsessed with it, haha.
Also love that mug and have the same one. :)
xx Nina
Thank you! I’ve seen the packaging of that Too Faced palette and I think it’s too cute.
Cool! I love this mug so much. It’s one of my favorite things :)
I’m much too afraid of putting liner on my waterline, but I do love the bold look. I’ve gotten much braver with lip color over the years, but have definitely scaled back with eye makeup – I used to do crazy color!
Chic on the Cheap
Oh gosh- when I think back to my earliest attempts with liquid liner, I got so much product in my eyes! Yikes. Same here- I used to think that going out required crazy/colorful eye makeup! haha
I also have a hard time perfecting my winged liquid eyeliner, so I recently bought the NYX Curve which comes with that tool that supposedly makes everything easier. It was okay, but $15 for such a small amount of product… bleh, I can’t. I really wanna try the Kat Von D tattoo liner as well! I heard it got good reviews… :)
http://www.rachellately.com | Austin Style Blog
I hadn’t heard of the NYX Curve, so I will check that out! I thought maybe Benefit’s new-ish eyeliner would be good because it has an angled tip that supposed to be helpful, but then it got so many mixed reviews. I’ve only heard good things about the Kat Von D liner though, so I’ll probably end up buying that sometime soon!
oh i have no clue what i’m doing when it comes to make up and i have kept the same routine since… college! seriously. i have recently been looking at youtube tutorials and there are so many amazing ones out there and so i’m getting a bit more curious and wishing a few more things to my make up routine :)
Oh yes, the makeup tutorials on youtube have made me want to try all sorts of things! I think playing around with makeup is fun, so I’d like to do that a little more :)
Love both of those mascaras! I definitely think if you’re going to do light makeup then defining your eyes is the way to go!
Yep! When I’m in a rush, it’s mascara and maybe a dab of color on the lips, and I’m out the door!
I keep a bunch of makeup brushes and mascaras in my A mug that you got me, too!
Yay! It’s such a pretty/useful item :)