Five Minute Makeup Look

Why we love a quick makeup look

It doesn’t matter if you’re a makeup newbie or a seasoned pro, we’ve all faced the decision on whether to buy the budget-friendly makeup or to splurge and go for the more expensive stuff. When faced with this choice, the question is, “is there really that big a difference between the cheaper and more pricey products?”

If you’re a casual makeup wearer, or on a tight budget, you might find splashing out on makeup isn’t a big priority for you. In this instance, it makes more sense to stick to low-cost, ‘drugstore’ brands. On the other hand, maybe you’re a frequent makeup wearer, or have more disposable income, and want to upgrade from a drugstore brand to a more expensive brand of a product you desire. But how can you tell if the difference is actually worth the additional money?

As mentioned in previous posts, we at MakeupLabs firmly believe that a product being more expensive does not automatically make it better than its lower-cost counterpart. For example, a lot of prestigious brands also own drugstore brands and sell similar products under both names. Often, the main difference between the makeup is not so much the product itself, but rather its packaging and marketing. However, we have purchased our fair share of cheap and expensive makeup and sometimes forking out the big bucks was worth it in the end. This leads us on to today’s blog post, when purchasing certain makeup products should you splurge or save?

For the longest time, I would spend ages in the morning trying to perfect my makeup for the day. It’s funny looking back now, realising I spent more time on my makeup when going to school as a teenager than I do now in my early twenties. My love for makeup hasn’t disappeared, but I’ve found better and more practical ways to apply it.

If I could tell my younger self anything to change about my beauty routine, it would be this: stop with the overly-thick eyeliner, eyebrows, and foundation. Sometimes I find myself cringing when looking back on old pictures. But back then I thought it looked great! And sometimes you have to try things a few times, or grow older, to realise that they maybe weren’t the best move.

Foundation I have always found to be tricky. I have combination skin as well as hormonal acne. This means that sometimes my skin is oily whereas other times it’s dry. When you read foundation bottles, you’ll notice most of them are specified as being ideal for a certain type of skin. For example, a foundation might say it’s perfect for dry skin. But the dilemma with having combination skin means that more often than not, foundation just doesn’t look quite how I’d like it. Back when I was younger, I tried so many different drugstore foundations. Rarely were they the right shade – I either went pasty white or far too dark! I could never seem to make it look natural. As well, I wasn’t very good at blending… as the stark contrast between my face and neck would show.

Eyeliner was another area where I did it so differently then compared with how I do it now. I recently got a Snapchat memory of me taking a selfie before school – and my goodness was it something to witness! I had the thickest eyeliner you could imagine. I even attempted a wing, needless to say it didn’t soar. Although one thing I would say, because I was using eyeliner daily, I had become very good at keeping a steady hand and applying it quickly. Much different to me nowadays. As much as I love eyeliner, on the rare occasions I seem to apply it, I find myself unhappy with how it looks. My hands are shaky, my line is uneven, and I frequently have to wipe it off and start again. It’s not the most time-effective method, that’s for sure.

Similar to my eyeliner technique, I massively overdrew my eyebrows. I’m sure you can picture it quite vividly… the overly dark, thick, and almost square like brows taking up half my forehead. I like to think that we all go through a bad brow phase, so I’m not too ashamed of mine. That being said, I hope to never see mine look like that again!

You might be wondering why I’m taking you down my makeup-misfortune memory lane… well this leads us onto today’s blog post! My recommended ‘5 minute makeup look’. Learning from makeup mistakes of my past, I usually go for a much simpler day-to-day look. So simple, that it only takes me about 5 minutes. So without further ado, let’s get right into it!

Five Minute Routine

My daily makeup routine consists of only 3 products: mascara, concealer, and eyebrow gel. Here are the exact products I use and how I use them.

Mascara

I’ve tried many, many mascaras in the past, but nothing comes close to the quality I find using Benefit’s Bad Gyal Bang Volumising mascara. It is the number one selling prestige mascara in the UK – and for good reason! This mascara helps give my eyelashes the volume they need. It’s quite a lightweight formula though, so I don’t find my eyelashes weighed down. That being said, I wouldn’t say they particularly hold a curl either. Nonetheless, it’s perfect for layering and easy to use with a long-reaching brush.

I usually apply 1-2 layers of this mascara every day. On my extremely lazy (or rushed!) days, this mascara is the only makeup product I use. I start by brushing upward, and then focusing on getting those lashes at the outer edge. This helps create a fuller lash look.

Eyebrows

If you’ve read my previous blog posts, I am sure you’ll be aware just how much I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Gel. This is the only product I use on my brows these days. Whether it’s my daily makeup or my going-out makeout, this brow product is perfect. I start by lightly brushing through my brow hairs. It’s important to not use too much product, that way you’ll end up with a much more natural look. The goal for me is to fill in sparse areas and create a more defined brow shape. I’m quite lucky to have a nice natural brow shape, but I wish they were darker and fuller. So this product is great for both colour and giving a fasle sense of thickness.

Concealer

Although my teenage years are long gone, I still find myself struggling to perfect my foundation look. Therefore, most days, I just use concealer. As I mentioned earlier, I have hormonal acne. Every month I get an outbreak of spots on my chin. I use my concealer to reduce the look of this. The Maybelline Eraser Eye is perfect at concealing very naturally. They have so many shades and after finding the right match for my skintone, I find this concealer to be excellent at covering my red blemishes and spots. Sometimes I also use this concealer on my under eye area and even on my eyelids – although very lightly on these areas. This helps reduce the look of tiredness and gives my eyes a little brightening.