I absolutely love the act of getting ready for the day. I love testing out new beauty products, and once I find something good, I stay loyal to it. So grateful for my job because I often get sent new products to try and review. I don’t accept a lot of PR anymore, but when I do, I always make sure it’s the products from brands I absolutely love.

In this blog post, I’m sharing with you my full coverage makeup routine and steps with all of the products I use. Most of them are my holy grail for years, and some of them are new. I hope you find it helpful.

Scroll to the end of the post for my Get Ready Video and tips for a long-lasting makeup application.

MY MAKEUP ROUTINE

I have a medium skin tone with an olive undertone. My skin type is normal, leaning more on the dry side in the winter. My forehead and eyelids get very oily, so I never skip the priming steps! I don’t often wear faux lashes, but I try to for weddings, events, and when I know I have to take a lot of photos.

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MY ROUTINE

I’m super grateful for my job because I often get products sent over to test out and review. So far, it’s such a huge blessing because I don’t have to buy a lot like I used to anymore. I do, however, still spend on my holy-grail products and a lot of other things from brands I love but don’t have an affiliation with, of course.

In the morning after I wake up, I sometimes use a gentle facewash, but most of the time I only wash my face with water. Moisturizer and sunscreen are crucial even on days when I don’t leave my apartment. I love the sun and would find any corner of my apartment to sit and sunbathe whenever I can. I find getting a little bit of the sun on my face helps me stay focused and more productive during the day.

On regular days when I feel like wearing something on my face, I’d opt for a tinted moisturizer, add brows, mascara, a wash of eye shadow with an eye primer, and I’m good to go. Of course, I’d skip the sunscreen when I have to get ready later in the day for night events.

BASIC STEPS:

Moisturizer
Sunscreen (daytime)
Primer (face & eyes)
Foundation – medium coverage with natural glowy finish
Brows – brow pomade and brow gel
Concealer – under the eyes and to clean the brows
Setting powder – loose powder to bake for full coverage and to control shine and compact for touch up
Eyeshadows – matte & neutral shades
Mascara & Lashes
Bronzer & Contour
Blush – neutral cool-toned mauvy rosy pink
Highlighter – wet healthy glowy finish
Lipstick – mauvy rosy pink
Setting spray
Touch-up trio I never the leave the house without: Compact Powder, Brush, & Lipstick of the day

1. MOISTURIZER

Note that these are moisturizers that I use prior to makeup. I have different moisturizers for my nighttime routine.

Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base Priming Moisturizer

Kiehl’s Since 1851 Ultra Facial Moisturizing Cream with Squalane

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Moisturizer with Hyaluronic Acid

Supergoop! Superscreen Daily Moisturizer Sunscreen SPF 40 PA+++

5. BROW

Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Brow Pomade

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brush 12 Brow Brush

Anastasia Beverly Hills DIPBROW Gel

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze Styling Wax

6. CONCEALER

NARS Soft Matte Complete Concealer

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer

Glossier Stretch Concealer

Kosas Revealer Super Creamy + Brightening Concealer and Daytime Eye Cream

7. SETTING POWDER

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder

Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Glow Setting Powder

Kosas Cloud Set Baked Powder in Comfy

8. EYESHADOW

Viseart Eyeshadow Palette in Neutral Mattes

Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance Eye Shadow Palette

KVD Beauty Tattoo Liner Vegan Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner

E.L.F Eyeliner Pen

Sigma E40 Tapered Blending Brush

E.L.F Eyeshadow ”C” Brush

Sigma E25 Blending Makeup Brush

9. MASCARA & LASHES

KISSME HEROINE MAKE Volume and Curl Waterproof Mascara 01 Jet Black

Lancôme Monsieur Big Volumizing Mascara

ILIA Limitless Lash Lengthening Mascara

Velour Lashes Vegan Mink Luxe Lash Collection in Sassy but Classy

Lilly Lashes Faux Mink Lashes in Miami Lite

Ardell Demi Wispies

Duo Lash Adhesive Clear

10. BRONZER & CONTOUR

SEPHORA COLLECTION PRO Blush Brush #93

Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Cream Bronzer

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand

Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Bronzer

MERIT The Minimalist Perfecting Complexion Foundation and Concealer Stick (darker shades for contour)

11. BLUSH

Saie Dew Blush Liquid Blush in Chilly

Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Encourage

MERIT Flush Balm Cream Blush in Cheeky

Em Cosmetics Serum Blush

SEPHORA COLLECTION PRO Foundation Brush #70

12. HIGHLIGHTER

MERIT Day Glow Dewy Highlighting Balm in Cava

theBalm Mary-Lou Manize Highlighter

rms beauty Living Luminizer Highlighter

13. LIPSTICK

Too Faced Melted Matte Liquid Lipstick in Lady Balls (Red) and Queen B (mauvy nude)

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick- Pillow Talk

TOM FORD Lip Color Matte Lipstick in Scarlet Rouge (Sheer red) & Dashing (peachy nude matte)

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14. SETTING SPRAY

MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ –

Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray with Vitamin C –

15. TRAVEL TRIO

A compact powder, a brush, and a lipstick of the day are really all I need to touch up throughout the day.

Kosas Cloud Set Baked Setting & Smoothing Talc-Free Vegan Powder

MERIT Brush No. 1 Tapered Blending Brush

Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk

MERIT Signature Lip Lightweight Lipstick in Slip and 1990

MERIT Shade Slick Tinted Lip Oil

5 TIPS FOR A LONG-LASTING MAKEUP APPLICATION

1. Moisturize on Clean Skin – Good makeup relies so much on good skin. A good practice that I think anyone can or should do is to make sure you clean off all of the makeup residues before applying your skincare at night. Go to sleep with clean and well-moisturized skin. Then follow up with a light moisturizer in the morning and sunscreen! In order for any makeup to grab on, you’d need to make sure your skin is not dry or dehydrated underneath.

2. Always Prime – There are a lot of good priming products in the market right now. Those include a moisturizer that doubles up as a primer, and some even have sunscreen in it. I never skip primer on my eyelids because I know it would ruin all of the hard work I put into mid-day or at the end of the day.

3. Use Setting Spray – After the moisturizing step, you can spray your face with a good layer of setting spray. Do it before or after powdering your face. And do it after you’re done with all of the makeup steps to seal in everything. I’ve seen people really drench their skin with it, but I’d recommend it at the beginning and at the very end of your makeup application. Just make sure to wait for it to dry before moving to the next step!

4. Apply Setting Powder – I’ve found that if I spend some extra time baking the sides of my cheeks, forehead, sides of the nose, and chin, my makeup looks more full coverage and lasts a lot longer. A good compact powder is necessary, too, for touch-ups during the day, and I really make sure I press that thin layer of powder in.

5. Avoid Layering Too Much Products – I am guilty of this a lot of the time when I first start out with makeup. The tip is to always do your makeup at the window or wherever you get natural light. If I cannot see well, I’d tend to load up products and end up looking like a mess. You’ll get better with practice as you’ll know when to load on products. But less is always better!

Lastly, I hope you find this blog post helpful. I don’t just spend my money on all of these products at once. I’m constantly testing new products to find the next best things, but my steps and expectations stay the same. I’m not an experimental type of makeup person but rather choose to stick with what works and looks good on me. Neutral, natural, and clean makeup. I’d add some lashes on days when I have to take lots of photos, weddings, or events, but I’d choose no makeup most days.

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