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Makeup Wars: 5 Minute Face

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5 Minute Makeup: What Products to use when you only have 5 minutes
We all have those days, when you’re in a huge rush and at the most you have 10 minutes to get ready. Including clothes, hair, brushing your teeth… you get the picture. Which means at best, about half of that is for putting on some makeup. Absolutely, this is something I need to do in order to feel my best (though I will skip everything other than throwing on some clothes if it is in the middle of the night and I’m running in to my ICU. In which case everyone can just deal with the circles under my eyes and my fuzzy teeth.)

Anyways, these are my go-to products when I’m running around trying to get ready ASAP. Often there’s a certain 2 year old girl “helping with makeups”, which means I’m mostly smearing on with my fingers.

1. Pond’s BB Cream: Somehow I haven’t written my review yet, though this stuff is amazing and I’ve already repurchased it a few times. It is just hydrating enough, offers light to medium coverage that can be built and I don’t need to do any special blending. Just smear!

2. Currently, my favorite concealer is Amazing Cosmetics. I put a small amount on the back of my hand, add a small smear of the Smashbox Photo OP Under Eye Brightener and mix with my finger. This goes under my eyes in a triangle (the three points are my inner eye, outer eye and the corner of my nose), around my nose and a little on my chin. I smear and pat with my fingers, but once it is just about where I want it I’ll grab my Beauty Blender sponge (if I’m in a big hurry I just use it dry, the sink is waaaay across the room) and bounce it around my face a little to help blend.

3. Once I’ve blended with the Beauty Blender, I use it to pick up a little bit of my Cargo HD Picture Perfect Translucent Powder (Cargo HD Picture Perfect Translucent Powder Review), pressing it under my eyes and in my t-zone. The powder is very fine and with the Beauty Blender it just sinks into my skin and you can’t see it there at all!

4. I love the NYX Shadow Base! I use the nude color, and I just use my fingers to pat it onto my lids. It makes all of my vessels disappear (a much cleaner look!) and will let my shadow last all day.

5. Stila Not So Nude Palette: For shadow, I’ll grab something pretty neutral. Lately I’ve been obsessing over a few colors in this Stila Palette, and I keep meaning to go back to ULTA and buy the other 2 palettes (I was soooo close to just buying all 3), I need to do it! Mostly I use Sugar, a light pinky-nude with shimmer that isn’t overwhelming.

Once my plain shadow is on (this is a 1 shadow look!) I’ll use my fingers to get a little bit of the cream Convertible Color and apply a little to my cheeks. I like that it is in the palette so I don’t need to dig around for anything else.

6. Too Faced Perfect Eyes Eyeliner: I really love these liners, they’re just soft enough to really smudge nicely but they stick around all day! If I’m running behind on time I only smudge the liner right in between my lashes. If I have a little bit more time (about 30 seconds) I’ll grab a smudge brush and run it over the liner as well.

7. Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara: While I’m usually a big one for layering my mascara, when pressed for time I just quickly curl my lashes and reach for this mascara. It offers nice length but really great volume, which is what makes the biggest difference for me.

8. L’Oreal Colour Caresse Wet Shine Stain (in Lilac Ever After): This is my default lippie. I think I’m on my 2nd or 3rd stain of this shade. I really need to buy stock in L’Oreal.

And I didn’t include it in my collage (because I know I’d be completely out of time at this point), if there’s any way to sneak in 1 more product I’d go for the Benefit Gimme Brow, which is an amazing new find for me! I have a review coming up soon, but really you just swipe the little brush over your brows, which is about 10 seconds, and it looks like you spent a lot more time filling them in perfectly. Totally worth going over in time a bit!

What are your favorite time saving products? How do you prioritize your routine when speed is so important?

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About Me

I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!

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14 Comments

  1. 11.11.13

    I never thought to apply the powder with a blender before. I'll have to try that!

  2. 11.11.13

    I just discovered the Benefit Gimme Brow too! It's freaking awesome!

  3. 11.11.13

    That's a great compilation of products! I must check out that TF Mascara!

  4. 11.11.13
    Phyrra said:

    Love the mascara choice 🙂

  5. 11.11.13
    Whitney said:

    Thanks for sharing this list! I'll definitely be checking these out. Lately I've been loving the Pixi Crayon Combo – it's a double sided pencil that I use as both eyeliner & shadow.

  6. 11.11.13
    Starsky99 said:

    A little off topic, but do you know a good dupe ( less expensive!) for NARS orgasm? Also, any suggestions on where to find the Ponds BB cream? Thanks!

  7. 11.11.13

    I like the look of the brush on the TF mascara. I'll have to look into it.

  8. 11.11.13

    Oh and now that I've watched the Gimme Brow videos from Benefit, I'm hunting that down ASAP!

  9. 11.11.13

    I need to get me some of those L"Oreal lippies!

  10. 11.12.13

    You've got some great products. I guess I don't work that fast since I didn't use that many! One of these days I'll get the Too Faced mascara. I've introduced so many people to Amazing Cosmetics Concealer. I used it for years.

  11. 11.12.13
    Bailey B said:

    Love the L'Oréal Wet Shine Stains too! I've also been eyeing that Too Faced mascara so If it does what you say, I must try!

  12. 11.12.13
    Susan said:

    If I'm in a real hurry to get out the door I simply rub in some face moisturiser with a high SPF and then some lipstick but I'll have to give your steps a try and see how I go 🙂

  13. 11.12.13

    @Starsky99 There's a dupe from ELF, http://www.eyeslipsface.com/studio/face/blush/studio_blush The Peachy Keen is pretty close. I have both!
    And I got my Pond's at Meijer's, which is a big grocery store with what amounts to a Target attached. I know they have it at drugstores, Target, Walmart, etc.

  14. 11.13.13

    I saw those Stila palettes but didn't think that much of them. I need to give them a second look!