My days of trying out endless beauty treatments and stuffing cupboards
full of beauty products are long gone. As a time-pressed Mum who
flip-flops between countries, often living out of suitcases, it's no longer
practical to have anything but a fast, simple and reliable beauty regime.
I know plenty of people feel you have quite enough to do chasing after
a wee one to be worrying about such trivial things but I've always found a few
minutes spent perking up my face and making things slightly more presentable
can make the world of difference to how I feel.
I've got a basic 'ready to face the world' face which takes minutes to
do. Usually I start with a quick dab of brightening moisturiser.
I've dabbled in Clarins Beauty Flash Balm, Clarins Double Serum, Elemis
Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm or whatever magazine freebie/sample I can
lay my hands on (regularly popping into swanky beauty shops and asking for
samples has served me well so far and a few small tubes makes packing all the
easier). I'm not entirely convinced that they work miracles but I always
hope that if I layer on as many light-reflecting products as possible,
something will end up dazzling and distracting from my dark circles.
Then I conceal away, usually using Laura Mercier Undercover Pot, which
is no-nonsense - especially on those bags and if I remember, I pop a little
Laura Mercier Brightening Powder under my eyes. I've gone through phases
of YSL's Touche Eclat if I've found a good deal at the airport and I made sure
to stock up ahead of Liv's arrival. Maybe it's just a placebo effect but
it made me feel like I was ready for battle. If it's a bad day skin-wise
I might dab on a little BB cream before the concealer but I try to let my skin
breathe as much as possible and only ever use foundation if I've going
somewhere special.
Generally with make up, I try to buy mineral based products.
There's some debate as to how effective they are but since I switched a
few years ago, my skin has never been better, despite all the hormonal ups and
downs. I invested in a whole range of Laura Mercier products at the time
and most of them are still going strong, which is impressive. I
particularly like her mineral primer and mineral powder for lightness despite
full coverage. Her Eye Basics, which is essentially an eyelid primer is
amazing for keeping eyeshadow in place and preventing that gunky crease I used
to get after a few hours. Given the prices, I bought a product or two
each month for a few months until my make up bag was well stocked and only the
Eye Basics is starting to run out, which is pretty good going. So once
you swallow the initial pain, the prices work out pretty reasonably as a little
goes a long way. Another decent alternative, which is much more affordable, is the UNE Natural Beauty range that's pretty accessible in the UK. Boots
and Superdrug often have deals, so if you're lucky with those, it's even more
of a bargain. Their eyeshadows and creamy blushers are particularly good.
Anyway, back to my face. If I'm looking peaky, a swirl of Laura
Mercier Bronzing Powder usually does then trick but I always go for a pop of
blusher on the apples of my cheeks. I alternate between an UNE Breezy
Cheeks Blush, which is a cream-to-powder formula or Benefit's Posie Tint.
Don't be freaked out but the neon pink colour - it bends beautifully into
a fresh flush. Occasionally I might follow up with a spot or two of
Benefit's High Beam but just a touch or it can be a bit overbearing.
And then it's the eyes. Even if I don't bother with anything else,
I curl my eyelashes for a few seconds using Jemma Kidd Eyelash Curlers (another
freebie) to make me look a little more awake. If I can be bothered with
primer and eyeshadow, great, but usually I skip all that and just put a touch
of eyeliner on the outside corner of my eyes for a little feline flick (I
find an idiot-proof felt-pen type works best), and a coat of mascara.
I recently discovered Max Factor's Eye Brightening Tonal Mascara.
I've got bluey/greeny/gray eyes so wasn't really sure whether to go for
the blue or green-eyed option but plumped for the blue one and it seems to works a
treat. It's called Black Sapphire and has touches of sparkly blue, which
sounds a bit retro but I promise is very subtle - it seems to add a tiny brightness
and it's such a light formula that I never get any clumping, despite my lack of
application skill. Then it's just a final slick of eyebrow gel in an
attempt to tame my monster brows and I'm good to go.
Writing it down makes it sounds terribly complicated and fiddly but I
really do manage in a couple of minutes, usually squinting into a tiny hand
held mirror, so I can dart back and forth rescuing whatever product Liv's just
helped herself to.
Painted nails make me feel more competent and that somehow I've vaguely got
it together. One of the bonuses of living in New York is the plethora of
cheap nail bars. They're gradually trickling over the pond but the UK is
still nowhere close, especially on price. When Liv was tiny, I managed a
few successful mani/pedi vists while she was snoozing in her pram but now
there's no chance. She's far too interested in what's going on and wants
to be constantly entertained, which is tricky with no hands or feet available.
So now I resort to occasional home efforts while she's napping. I
used to always try out new and crazy nail colours but now it's not very
practical carting them around and I don't have the time for correcting unfortunate
choices, so I just stick to some basics: in the summer I go for a bright
coral pink on my toes and sometimes hands. Otherwise it's a dark purple
on my toes (Rimmel's 385 Hot List) and usually a very neutral rose pink or
greige on my hands, as I find it more forgiving in hiding chips. Though
if I'm throwing caution to the wind, I'll plump for purple hands too. I
should point out that it's a subtle deep purple - muted and with almost brown tones.
To avoid yellow stains, I always use an undercoat, then it's two coats
of colour and a final very important coat of top coat for shine and protection.
I find Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri a lifesaver, despite the awful name, as
it pretty much sets like concrete in seconds. And you never know when naptime
will suddenly end! Pre-baby I used to paint my hands at work, as I'm too
impatient to stay still with wet nails but found I could stay still while typing,
so I would do a coat, type for half and hour, do the next coat etc. and those
manicures would last really well. Now I find my hands a bit more of an
afterthought but toes are pretty easy to fit in with a little one and the
colour lasts for weeks if not months. In
fact before this morning, I’d last painted my toes in July! There were only a few scraps of polish left
but I didn’t have any nail polish remover so I was just waiting it out until it occurred to me to try lightly buffing with a nail file, which removed the last traces perfectly
– a handy fall-back!
Otherwise I'm pretty simple in the beauty department. I use my
Clarisonic Mia 2 in the shower if I remember. I'm blessed/cursed with
super thick hair that only needs washing every 3 days but takes an hour to dry
and straighten once washed, so I rely on my Parlux hairdryer for fast drying
and wide-plated GHD straighteners for taming the frizz. And my only
regular beauty indulgence is eyebrow threading every other week but really
that's a necessity as without it I look like Frida Kahlo. I know big
brows are in right now with Cara Delevingne and Lily Collins rocking the look
but they've not always been around to help me and it's been a while.
Fortunately I have several pairs of Tweezerman Slanted tweezers and
terrifying magnifying mirrors stashed all over the place, so I am never far
from an emergency monobrow solution.
So that’s me. What are your
fail-safe beauty basics, shortcuts and tricks?
