For some reason I have found myself in several conversations about perfecting the “No Make-Up” make-up look. Maybe it’s because in mid-February, our skin is long past the aid of any sun-kissed healthy glow.
I start with a a vitamin C topical followed by 20 -30 SPF moisturizer. Everybody knows to use SPF everyday, rain or shine, right? I always wear foundation (with SPF) on my nose covering up lifelong rosacea, as well as under eye concealer. On the eyelid I swipe Trish McEvoy liquid cream eye base from lashes to brow, or a whoosh of eye shadow powder very close to my skin color. I smudge a soft powder, like gray or plum as a liner, careful not to be too obvious and extend too far out from the outer corner of the eye. Depending on where I’m going, I might dab a soft cream blush on the apple of the cheeks; subtle lip gloss and go. My main goal is to avoid mascara, for some friends and many beauty editors, mascara the one and only weapon required. Oh and eyebrows - again, depending on where I am going, I extend my right eyebrow a tiny bit with Anastasia brow powder - it’s a trick I learned from the bartenders at the W Hotel pool bar in Ft Lauderdale: they all had minimal makeup for warm humid days, yet they all had perfect eyebrows making their eyes stand out.
In print it seems like a lot of work, but in reality it’s a fast, simple application that keeps you from looking like death warmed over, and scaring not only your gym or yoga mates, the neighbor you might bump into, but most important, not scaring yourself in the mirror.
