Quick Makeup Routine for Brown Skin, No Foundation!

As a person in my new mom era I’ve been so limited on time when getting ready to go out. 

With an impatient baby I had to learn to prioritize the steps of my getting ready routine to make sure my son managed to stick it through with as few tears as possible. 

To be honest, I wear my hat most days to help cut my hair routine to 10 seconds. And most of the time I leave home without makeup especially if I’m going out for a quick errand or a walk around the neighbourhood.

But this makeup routine is for days I want my face to look fresh and human in the least amount of time possible.  

If you’re like me, you don’t want to spend 20 minutes on your makeup with a screaming baby by your side. Here are a few steps you can take to really amp up your look real QUICK! I can do this all within 5 minutes and I’m confident you can too!

Get ready for the quickest makeup routine ever that will leave you feeling put together and like a new person!

Step 1: Concealer

Make sure to use concealer to brighten your eyes and cover any redness or spots you would like covering. For everyday, I apply concealer under my eyes only. This is my personal preference to keep this routine quick.

I use a concealer that’s the same shade as my skintone and a lighter shade for brightening. I concentrate most of the concealer within the inner half of my eye to avoid concealer settling into my crows feet when blended out.

You might need more coverage or coverage somewhere else depending on your preference and skin concerns!

Keep in mind that you don’t have to cover every ‘imperfection’ on your face.

Letting some of your so-called imperfections visible will make everyone think that you are out with a beautiful bare face and I think sometimes that’s a great look to just look naturally elevated to the point that people think you’re not wearing anything at all, you just look amazing naturally <3.

Let your concealer sit on your face while you move onto the second step.  DO NOT blend it out yet! This will help it stay longer and improve coverage.

Step 2: Brows

This is the most important step! There are days I can’t be bothered to put anything else on my face, but my brows, and it makes a huge difference.

The perfect shape really helps frame your face and can really alter your look drastically. 

If you already have thick, perfectly shaped brows you can skip this, but even filling some sparse areas, which most people have, makes all the difference!

I use a brow pencil to help give my brows a thicker look. I’ve gone too many times where the eyebrow ladies over-plucked WAY too many times and my brows have suffered immensely. 

If you are someone who already has a great brow, you can also opt for a brow gel to fill in sparse areas and keep your brows in place! It’s much quicker and easier to use a brow gel vs. filling in your brows with a brow pencil.

Step 3: Bronzer

This step can be optional, but it helps to lightly sculpt your face. 

As a dark skinned girl, you may have some hyperpigmentation around the outer perimeters of your face. You can definitely use this to your advantage and leave it uncovered to make it look like you have a natural bronze/contour.

Otherwise, use a bronzer around your cheekbones, temples and, optionally, around your nose.  The key is to figure out what works for your face.  I find with my small forehead I don’t really need it there, but I do prefer it lightly and not too deep into my tiny forehead. 

In the past I would try to apply bronzer just like everyone else, and everyone heavily applied to their forehead. 

I later realized, I didn’t need much, if any there, because of my small forehead.  So the lesson here is to find what works for YOUR face!

If you have a small forehead, bronzing too deep into your forehead just makes your forehead look smaller and just looks unnatural, but applying a bit really close to your hairline does make a difference in making the bronzer applied anywhere else on your face look more cohesive and natural.

Now for the concealer that was just sitting on your face!  BLEND that out! I use a beauty blender, but if you want a full coverage look, use a concealer brush!

Step 4: Blush

This step really brings some colour into your face and makes you look ALIVE! If you truly want a quick look, use a multi-purpose stick that can be used as a blush and lippie, and optionally, on your eyes as well. Using the same colour across your face really makes your makeup look cohesive . 

I recommend using a cream blush as it’s really the quickest option!

Step 5: Eyeliner 

You don’t need a fancy wing. I use a pencil just on the outer corner of the eye. If you don’t mind, tightling also makes your lash line look thicker and makes a BIG difference. 

Step 6: Lips

As mentioned above, you can use a multi-purpose stick. And just be done there. 

If you want, you can use any lipstick you have on hand. 

Step 6: The highlight

Use a cream highlight. A cream highlight really is a great product for a natural look.  It’s easy to apply – all you need is your fingers!  And make sure to blend, Blend, BLEND.  No harsh lines here, hunny!

Step 7: Setting powder

I use a pressed powder, and lightly place setting powder under my eyes, down the sides of my nose, my forehead, and chin.  

I don’t bake or apply too much powder because my skin is on the dry side.  And this setting powder really does the trick of me.

Last thoughts

I just want to stress that not all these steps are needed, but it certainly doesn’t take much time.  You might need a bit of time to play around with which steps you need to make you feeling your MOST CONFIDENT!

Tip: Stick with cream products and use your fingers or a beauty blender! Application is very forgiving with cream products and a beauty blender is a great MULTI-USE makeup applicator.

Also, for those of you wondering, I didn’t forget mascara! Can we normalize not wearing it? As someone who has straight lashes, I rarely wear it and I can’t be bothered with the removal.

If you prefer mascara please go ahead with it. On most faces it definitely makes a difference, but for me, I find it doesn’t. I really NEED falsies to make my eyes pop because there’s no mascara that has helped me. 

I know I only spoke about a few products here, but you can certainly use any colour story. I find browns and pinks suit me and my everyday style. 

If you want any other product recommendations, please let me know in the comments! 

Keep glowing MAMA, no matter how you choose to go out in public!  

XOXO,

The Blushing B