My 10-Minute Work+School Makeup Look

Hiya guys!

I'm here for another makeup post. Not that I'm gonna turn my blog into a beauty blog, but then it's one of my personal passions besides writing. Another thing, I really miss making posts like these so bear with me for a while. Or maybe I should include a beauty section in my blog?

Anyways, I mentioned in my last post that I'm gonna feature my everyday work+school look. This is the kind of makeup that looks polished, work and school appropriate even, yet takes less time to do. That's why this is perfect when you want to 'dress up your face a bit' but you're in a hurry to get to work or school (in my case both!) on time.

A lot of makeup blogs suggest that when doing a quick makeup look (those 5-, 10- and 15-minute faces), focus on just one or two features that you want to highlight or conceal, and then just touch up on the others. In my case, I usually focus on my skin and my eyes.

You see, I have oily skin with dark acne marks and shadowy under-eye areas. I'll be the first one to admit that I look 'harassed' when I'm bare-faced (see the before photo in my Etude House BB cream review), and that I really need to step up my skin care routine, besides the usual cleanse-tone-moisturize ritual. Care to suggest any skin care product for me to try?

As for my eyes... Well, it's my personal choice to focus on my eyes as well. While the lips just need a simple swipe of lip makeup, eye makeup needs a bit more skill to perfect. I've been practicing on my eye makeup skills for quite some time, and so far I've found that perfect work-appropriate eye look.

Here's what I used for this look:

1. Etude House Precious Minerals BB Cream Bright Fit in Sand Beige
2. CoverGirl AquaSmoothers Compact Foundation in Soft Honey
3. Natasha Beauty Perfect Wear Dual Powder Foundation
4. In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Color
5. Natasha Beauty GlamFix Eyeliner in Chocofix
6. Natasha Beauty Secondskin Blush in Coral Cruise
7. Natasha Beauty Color Spalipstick in Cocohaven

Reminder: Always moisturize before putting on makeup. Here I used Olay Natural White Light cream.

So let's begin!

Step 1. Apply your base of choice -- I use Etude House Precious Minerals BB Cream as it provides light to medium coverage and sun protection all at the same time. I usually use my clean fingers when spreading the BB cream, but you can also use a foundation brush or stippling brush.

I'm almost hitting pan on my favorite cream foundation. Maybe it's time to get a new one..

Step 2. If you've got unsightly discolorations like I do, apply concealer on those spots. I used the CoverGirl AquaSmoothers Compact Foundation as concealer and applied them on my under-eye circles and on the dark spots on my cheeks. Again, I used my fingers but you can also use a concealer brush (I sometimes do that).

Step 3. Set the BB cream and concealer with powder. Here I used a powder foundation 'cause I want a little more coverage but if you just want to set your makeup and/or ward off oil, you can use a powder that's made to blot off oil.

Some makeup artists would advice setting your makeup with powder towards the end of your makeup routine. But for this look, since I'm not using as much liquid or cream makeup besides the BB cream and concealer, I like setting it up with powder before doing my eyes, lips and cheeks. However, if I'm going to use the likes of eyeshadow primer, cheek tints, gel or liquid eyeliners, I might be doing this step last. Then again, it's your call whether to set your makeup last or otherwise.

Step 4. Groom the brows by first brushing the brows so that the hairs follow your brow shape. Then fill it out using a brow color. Your choice as to what kind you will use -- pencil, pen, powder. I prefer powder, so I used In2It Waterproof Eyebrow Color in its lightest color.

Step 5. I use only one kind of eye makeup -- it's a time saver trick whenever you wish to focus on your eyes. Okay, fine I used two if you count the brow powder. Anyway, here I used a brown eyeliner because I'm going for a professional look, and then I lined it all over my upper and lower lash lines. Again, your choice as to what kind of eye makeup to use -- powder eyeshadow, cream shadow, mascara, false lashes...

Step 6. A quick swipe of blush and lip color and you're done!

And so here is my simple everyday professional look that only takes 10 minutes to do. Try this look the next time you need to look polished at work or in school.

Please bear with my product photos as it does not appear in its actual colors -- I'm still on the learning process of editing photos as of the moment.. *wink wink*