Making Up Isn’t Hard To Do. It’s Easy! And Empowering!

Make-up can only make you look pretty on the outside, but it doesn’t help if you are ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the makeup.

– A very deep and thought provoking quote. Maybe Audrey Hepburn said it or maybe someone just made it up that she said it. I don’t know and I don’t care.

People say money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy a beautiful makeup palette and if that brings joy then maybe sometimes it can! Anyone one out there besides me who gets a little giddy after mastering a perfect smoky eye? Well, actually I do know someone who is as enthusiastic about it as me. My friend Beth who should be a makeup artist. Her makeup is always perfect. Always! And she watches YouTube tutorials and tells me about them. When I tell her about the 20 / 30 something year old blogger who had the perfect makeup for her skin at her tender young age, Beth knows exactly what products to use to emulate that same look for my 50 year old skin. I love her so much. For so many reasons beyond the fact that she makes me look good. Literally makes me look good. Because she does my makeup.

I even invited her over one day and said “hey Beth, bring your makeup over. I mean, I would like to see you and I have no interest in your makeup, don’t be silly. I just want to talk to you. But bring your makeup just in case. The door is open, come straight to my bathroom.” And she did! We had so much fun. We are both self-proclaimed and proud makeup junkies. I told her that I wanted to learn new ways to apply eyeshadow besides just swirling all the colors together and brushing it over my eyelids. Then we started talking about under eye brighteners and highlighters and blush and before you know it, we were doing a full on makeover. The results were so good that I have purchased the products she uses that have made such a difference. I’m so much glowier and dewier now. I feel pretty. And if that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right! The best part? It’s so easy to do each morning and just takes minutes.

So, I’m sharing this post with you and not just because I want to boast about how great my makeup looks. Many of my friends ask me about makeup. Some of them are going back to work and want to look more polished. Others just feel like wearing it again, but need some tips and tricks. Beth to the rescue!

Often times, makeup and fashion can get pushed to the wayside and some just feel that the importance of it is shallow and trivial. It really is OK to place real value on your appearance. You can be pretty smart, pretty kind, pretty thoughtful, pretty brave AND care about looking your best and just being pretty.

Makeup, hair, and clothes you are confident with can be empowering. Making the choice to wear makeup that is right for you and makes you feel good is a perfect example of confidence and security in who you are!

I don’t know who said these quotes either, but it might have been Coco Chanel or Marilyn Monroe. I think people make stuff up that famous people say. Anyway……these are deep, too, so prepare yourself. “Inner beauty is great but some mascara doesn’t hurt” and “life isn’t perfect but your makeup can be.” Right?!?!? Can I get an amen? I think someone also said “Happiness is the best makeup.” Ummmmm ok. You just keep telling yourself that all the way to Sephora. (I’m sorry if I’ve taken this too far. I am shallow. Everyone is beautiful with or without makeup. But, just a little light gloss never hurts……)..

I am brave enough to say that I love fresh faced pretty makeup. Not too much and just enough to enhance what we already have and hide what we hate – unevenness, splotchy-ness, saggy things that make us a little sad. Life is too short to be sad about anything that can be easily fixed with a tube of something that is less than $20 or slightly more, but lasts a long time and washes off before bed.  So with that, pull out the makeup brushes, eyeshadows, creams, glosses and have some fun creating a look you love. Not sure what that is? Read below for the step-by-step process my gorgeous friend Beth taught me.

Here are all the products we used that I now swear by and the steps Beth taught me to apply effortlessly. You can click through the images and purchase on Amazon if you want to.

Sadly, though, one of the eyeshadow palettes we used has been discountinued. It is Urban Decay Naked Smoky palette and it’s my absolute favorite. The good news, though, is that you can still get it on Amazon.com. See below for product links. The other palette we used is my other favorite – Urban Decay Naked 2.

Here are the easy steps for my new go-to fresh faced look!

1. After moisturizing, I apply Laura Mercier’s Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer all over my face including eyelids. Beth likes Clinique Super Balanced Makeup for more coverage.
2. Gently apply Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion Eden to eyelids. It’s the best! Eyeshadow does not crease or melt off.
3. Using the Smoky palette brush Combust all over – or any light beige eyeshadow – from lash to brow line.
4. Using Naked2, brush Tease (a medium brown) along the crease corner to corner.
5. Add Whiskey (dark brown) from Smoky in the corner to 1/4 way across your eyelid.
6. Add High (frosty gold) from Smoky to the inner corner blending in to Whiskey.
7. Brush Thirteen (matte cream color) from Smoky across the brow bone.
8. Line the eye across your lashes with your favorite dark liner. I like to use eyeshadow and prefer Blackout from the Smoky palette.
9. Gently dab and blend BareMinerals Stroke of Light Eye Brightener under the eye. This was new to me introduced by Beth. I’m now an addict and love it! Buy some.
10. Swipe on dark black mascara – I like L’Oreal Lash Paradise in Blackest Black. It’s just like Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara but less expensive.
11. Brush FLOWER Heatwave Luminous Bronzer wherever you want to be sunkissed. This is Drew Barrymore’s line and I can only find it by going to flowerbeauty.com.
12. Brush BECCA Luminous Blush on your cheekbones for an awesome glow. I love BECCA products for highlighting. My daughter introduced me to this line. Thanks SK!
13. Finish with your favorite lipstick or lipgloss or blend both together. We chose MAC Prrr Lipglass and L’Oreal Julianne Lipstick.

I follow this every morning and it works with any of the eyeshadow palettes I have. I also switch out black liner for colbalt blue or dark green. So pretty! If I’m in a hurry, I skip the eye brightener and bronzer – don’t tell Beth. But, the entire process only takes between 5-8 minutes. This simple effort makes such a difference in how I feel when I leave the house!

And if someone stops you and asks, “Wow! Who are you wearing makeup for?”, you just smile and say “Myself.”

So this is a teeny tiny link to Urban Decay Smoky Palette. I couldn’t figure out how to make it larger. HAHA! It’s hard to find so if you want this gorgeous palette you had better get it now. It’s my favorite!!

BECCA Highlighting Blush – this is Camellia and works for any skin tone. Beautiful illuminating glow!

Peachy-pink neutral that looks great worn alone or over any lipstick color. And I mean ANY color because I gloss it over all of my lipstick colors from bright pink to deep dark red. Just buy it and thank me later.

I’d like to thank my beautiful friend Beth who took the time to come over just to make me look pretty. She truly is so talented in making so many things lovely from home interiors to glowing faces. This post is dedicated to you Beth!