Monday, December 5, 2016

What's In My Daily Make-up Bag: Mom of a Newborn Edition

I can't believe my tiny baby bean is 2 months old already! It's really fascinating to watch how Julian changes right before our eyes - and while those fast changes can be quite challenging to adjust to, we're constantly being rewarded by his toothless smiles and new skills. But focusing all the attention on our very, very small gentleman often entails forgoing a lot of my own needs; so to practice a little bit of self-love and increase my well-being, I've been trying to put a little bit of make-up on most days, and I thought I'd share some current 'busy mom' favorites.
These are the products I've decided to pull out for the ultimate quick, easy and rather minimal make-up routine. I've opted to arrange them in the order of priorities; if I don't have time for anything else (Julian suddenly waking up from a nap or some other unexpected occurence), I only apply a fine layer of BB cream (Missha Perfect Cover BB, reviewed here) all over my face with my fingers and call it done. I've actually taken to storing my base product of choice in the bathroom cabinet (separately from the rest of my make-up, which I keep at my vanity in the bedroom) and I'll usually apply it right after my serum instead of a moisturizer; however, this may not work all that well in a few weeks when the weather turns a lot drier and colder.
If my timing is right though, I'm able to go for a few more steps; I keep all of those products in a little make-up bag (they call it a Multi Pouch) from a Korean brand Pour Vous. My next order of business is concealer; these days I mostly use it to conceal dark under eye circles and skip trying to spot conceal any little marks or blemishes, which thankfully have become quite rare. I'm doing my best to use up what's left of my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Chantilly; I feel like it's a lot drier now and I dislike how crepey it looks under the eyes. I'll then set my T-zone with a little bit of powder; I'm quite surprised actually by how much I like the bareMinerals Mineral Veil loose powder (just finished my deluxe sample, which is why it's not in the photo).
Next up are my brows: I reach for either my Holy Grail Shu Uemura Seal Brown pencil (reviewed here), or a new product in my stash, the Essence Make Me Brow in Browny Brows. It's basically a much, much less expensive version of the Benefit Gimme Brow, which I wasn't a great fan of (mentioned it here); however, maybe because I went for a darker shade this time, I don't hate the Essence gel, and it definitely has a leg up over the Shu brow pencil in terms of speed of application.

Then, if I'm running out of time or will to play with more steps, I'll just do a quick swipe of powder blush - I've gone back to my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush Palette, which is still love - and then dab a bit of a lip product on. I've been wearing sheer lip glosses in nudey pink or mauve shades a lot more than lipsticks, maybe because I feel like they're a bit kinder on dry lips and don't make me look overly made up when paired with the rest of my barely there face. I have a couple favorites I've been rotating; in fact, I keep my lip glosses in a couple different locations (vanity table, purse, stroller, next to where I feed the little dude) so that I remember to apply or, if I'm lucky, even reapply throughout the day. Both Maybelline Color Elixir in Caramel Infused (reviewed here) and the Buxom Lip Cream in Dolly (here) are old stand bys, but I've also been happy with a new addition to my stash, the Aveda Nourish-mint Rehydrating Lip Shine in Chuparosa* (available here) from their F/W 2016 collection.
Some swatches; L-R: Benefit No Pressure, Pixi Deep Plum, Aveda Chuparosa, Maybelline Caramel Infused
For whatever reason, making up my eyes is the lowest on my priorities list (well I guess I know the reason - I'm too tired and lazy to spend extra time removing eye make-up at the end of the day...). If nothing else, I'll do either a little bit of mascara (currently switching between the L'Oreal Voluminous*, reviewed here, or Pacifica Dream Big*, here), or tightline with Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Deep Plum (here), or both. Now, if I'm really going for it, I'll even do a little something something on the eyelids, usually in the form of Benefit's Creaseless Cream shadow in No Pressure (reviewed here), and the same pencil eyeliner along the lashline. And then if by some miracle baby boy is still not up yet and I'm feeling super indulgent, I may even play with some powder eyeshadows. But in all honesty, that's not a part of my regular routine but rather a rare treat these days, so no point in telling you about it :)

There you have it; here's what I try to do to make myself feel more human between feeding, changing diapers and rocking little prince to sleep. Speaking of - I better wrap this post up, someone just woke up hangry :) What's the most important step in your basic make-up routine that you don't want to do without?

Disclaimer: Products marked with an asterix (*) are press samples I received from the brands' PR for review. I purchased all the other products myself. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided free of charge. Thank you for reading!

8 comments:

  1. Congratulations!! You have it so together, wow!

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  2. I have to work early every Monday and I also try to order things by importance in case I run out of time getting ready. (I'm not willing to wake up even earlier to do a full face!) Concealer is always my #1 must-have - I'm okay with skipping foundation if I need to, but I need something under my eyes. Then I'd do mascara, brows, blush, and something on the lips. The Ambient Lighting Blushes are great - I find they really wake the face up and add that natural glow. Mood Exposure is my go-to when I need to get ready quickly! I also do find those tinted brow gels to be a lifesaver when it comes to getting ready fast, it's pretty much the only time I use them but I really appreciate them when I'm short on time.

    I love that little makeup bag - it looks so well thought-out and handy (and cute).

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  3. I think you manage to do quite nicely considering there's a newborn involved!
    If I'm short on time or just feeling lazy my order of priority is usually: lipstick/lipgloss - eyeliner - mascara - BB cream/foundation - blush - eyeshadow, and then the extra finishing touches like powder, contour, highlight and so forth

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  4. wow, thats a lot, when my kid was 2 months i just walked around looking like a zombie. I think when she hit 3 months i was able to manage mascara! how is the little bean? Enjoy this time, they grow up too fast.

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  5. Great minimalistic stash. I think you've succeded to manage your stash ^^

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  6. Ah so real. Brings back memories and it wasn't even that long ago, since Ashton just turned 2. For all my 3 kids, I don't remember wearing makeup for the first 2 months. I had to go back to work after 60 days of maternity leave, and wearing makeup is mandatory in my line of work. For Ashton though, since I quit my job, I only wore makeup when I went out with him, and that was really hardly once or twice a week. I think I only touched my makeup after the 4th month or so. HAHAHA!
    But now, I have much more time to look more collected :-) Your makeup bag will change soon, trust me!

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  7. Love the products you use!! When I'm busy I think my most important product to use is a good foundation and setting powder. Usually because I need a lot of coverage. I will have to try the brow product you mentioned. I recently got into filling my brows in more. Can't believe your baby is two months already! It's hard to get much done when they nap and get up so quickly but I like that you can still blog :) I'm thinking of having another next year and hope I can still blog with 2 kids! Enjoy! Great post!
    XX Jen beautylifemom.com

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  8. What I call 'basic' is probably very extensive for most people, haha :-) But if I had to name just a few things I can't miss I'd have to say mattifying powder, eye pencil and mascara.

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