my [simple] beauty routine

i am not a beauty expert by any means. just ask each one of my sisters who somehow thought i was fit to do their prom/homecoming make up (each one ended up in tears- i know not one thing about eyeshadow which they all wanted). since high school i have perfected my 5 minute make-up routine and have pretty much stuck to it. i really wear only these make up items- though i have a few extras in my bag for when i'm feeling frisky (bronzer, concealer etc.)

1. Clinique Liquid Facial Soap - i start each morning (or let's face it, middle of the day at this point), by washing my face with this clinic face wash. i have notoriously bad skin, and have since high school. i use the oily skin-type wash and it is gentle and fresh.

2. Estée Lauder Daywear - this is probably my biggest indulgence. and i know as a poor college student i have no right spending this much on face cream, which i tell myself every time i run out. so, i usually try to do some other drug store facial cream that is less than $10 and i usually only make it a couple weeks before i run to the nearest nordstrom to buy my beloved moisturizer. i don't know what to say other than it is literally the best face cream on the face of the planet. like if the planet could use this face cream there would be no drought or pollution or world problems.

3. Bare Minerals Original Powder - if i could i wouldn't wear anything on my face, but seeing as it is a greaseball most of the time (except right after washings and using my bff daywear) i have to do something. bare minerals is pretty much the best- it's light and fresh. make sure to get the matte- i don't like the shimmer the original has.

4. Mac Dollymix Blush (and sometimes this Estée Lauder blush )- i love what blush can do for your face. it just makes you look so much happier and more alive. i switch off between the mac hot pink and the estee lauder coral to keep things interesting.

5. bare minerals brow powder - i started using this a couple of years ago and honestly don't go a day without filling my already bushy and crazy eyebrows in. maybe it's my desire to be more like audrey hepburn, but i love me a good dark eyebrow. though i don't like when they look too perfect. i like that this is a powder rather than a pencil because it is more loose and free. (sidebar: my eyebrows are naturally pointy- as are jarman's- we don't try to make them this way we were just born with it. my sisters think i look like cruella deville and won't let me touch their eyebrows because they don't want pointy ones like me. i can't imagine what our baby is going to look like with two pointy eyebrowed parents)

6. Clinique Eyeliner in Chocolate Lustre - i discovered brown eyeliner in high school after many days of putting on way too much black eyeliner that would drain above and beneath my eyes. i have faithfully used this brown eyeliner since. it has a shimmer and makes my eyes pop without looking scary. i generally use it on my bottom lash line, and sometimes on top.

7. Estée Lauder Mascara - i still haven't decided which mascara is my absolute favorite- i feel like there are plenty of good ones out there. i have tried lots of different brands (dior, clinique, mac...) i come back to this one a lot though.

8. Estée Lauder Gel Eyeliner - so this is the only item that i don't wear every day. it's mainly for days when i'm feeling fancy or feel like trying a bit harder. but that doesn't mean that this isn't the best product in my routine. it is simply amazing. it may look a little scary to put on- but it goes on evenly and smootly and stays in place. even when you have notoriously greasy eyelids that can't handle any eyeshadow or other liquid eyeliner. i'm obsessed.

9. YSL #58 Purple Lipstick - and finally, i finish by choosing one of many different bright lipsticks. i just got this ysl one and have been wearing it tons lately. i usually ask jarman to pick a color- red, orange, pink, coral, purple, dark purple, peach etc. he's become an expert at choosing for me when i can't choose for myself.

(ps. see this post for most of my favorite lipsticks)