Tuesday's Tips & Tricks

Make-up! So we've talked about beauty routines, here, here, & here - now let's talk about make-up. The photo above is actually pretty close to my every-day look - make-up wise - and is actually pretty easy to re-create.

1. After your moisturizer has set in, apply primer (I love this one). Primer is great even if you're not going to use foundation, it smooths everything out and helps with shine
2. If you're going to use a foundation, apply it next and look for an option that matches your skin type. I like a sheer, light weight foundation, or tinted moisturizer for everyday. Laura Mercier has great options for both, while Make Up Forever has this amazing foundation for when you'd like more coverage 
3. Next, conceal. I have dark circles so I focus mostly under my eyes and then dab a bit around the "corners" of my nose. Benefit has some great options, as does Laura Mercier
4. After all this hard work, I set everything with a tiny swirl of this powder (if you wanted to skip foundation / concealer, you could even just use this over your primer)
5. Brows are up next. they are key to keeping your look polished (see this guide to shaping them). I naturally have dark, thick, eastern European brows, but I still like to use a pencil to define and create symmetry and then a gel to set them
6. For a day time eye I usually just brush a little medium brown eye shadow into the crease of my eyelid, followed by black eyeliner along the top lash line (winged out a bit at the outside corner) and smudge a tiny bit along the lower lashes
7. Then I add a bit of blush on the apples of my cheeks, and a bit of bronzer on my forehead, beneath my cheek bones, and where the sun would naturally hit (bridge of nose and chin), not all over the face. NARS has great options of both blush and bronzer, including the famous orgasm, but I also really like the options at Benefit - especially hoola
8. Apply mascara after you are finished with all your powders so you don't end up with dusty lashes, Benefit and Smashbox have some great options. I (almost) always curl first and apply a LOT of coats
9. For lips, I usually wear a chap-stick of some sort, and recently started using the tinted Sugar Plum lip treatment by Fresh - it moisturizes and adds a bit of shine plus natural looking color
10. Highlight! 

For night, I usually pump up the eye like this, do a cat eye, or a red lip. Plus you can never go wrong with fake lashes and lining your eye's upper and lower water line. What's your routine?