I haven’t done a makeup tutorial post for ages. Truth be told, they are a pain in the ass to photograph and the posts take 100 years to write… And I don’t have the time nor inclination! If I knew how to edit videos maybe I’d do a start to finish quick and easy video tutorial (remember last time I tried that and I poked myself in the eye with the tube? #fail).

Anyway, for the last few days I’ve worn this super quick and easy minimal makeup and I’ve had a few compliments about the “low key Lou look”. Thus, I thought this would make a good tutorial, whilst also putting it out there that I don’t always wear a full face (just most of the time, ha).

Note, as I have oily skin, I don’t get a lot of wear out of this look – as I don’t bother to prime my face, nor set my foundation with a light dusting of powder (necessary for me to lock my base in place). But, it’s a quick and simple look that, longevity of wear aside, is fit for purpose. I guess you could say this is my ‘Makeup in an Emergency’ look!

Products used are below, there’s a new find in there – a McDaddy brow product at a hamburger-like price. I know you guys like it when I find good yet mega affordable products.

What I do

• Base: Apply Garnier BB cream (I only recommend the oily/combo one, no matter your skin type, their other formulas are ‘meh’!) to the back of my hand. Dot it all over my face. Blend it in with my Real Techniques’ Stippling Brush. Side note: This is my go-to base brush – brilliant for blending out liquid foundation and BB creams. If you like a light coverage, you’ll love this brush. I am always really particular about blending and painstakingly blend product down my nek and onto my ears! For this look, I skipped concealer.
• Brows. OMG. I have found a new brow product and it’s the schizz and it’s as cheap as chips. LA Girl’s Slim Shady brow pencil. It’s the bomb, and every bit as awesome as Billion Dollar Brow’s equivalent, at a fraction of the price. Get in! I got mine at Life Pharmacy in RotoVegas. From memory it was around the $12 mark. Anyway, I filled in my brows with the pencil, then combed the product through with the spoolie on the end of the pencil. Genius.  You can get these online at Beauty Bliss (save faffing around looking in store).

• Eyes: I picked up some Hoola Bronzer on a fluffy eyeshadow brush – I used my MAC 217 brush (I could write an entire blog post about this brush, my love for it is unprecedented). I dusted this through my eye crease. Why? I have hooded eyelids, by placing this (matt) medium brown product through my crease it creates a bit of a shadow on my otherwise droopyish eyelids, making them look less noticeable. I just put it in the crease, not on the eyelid. I put no other eyeshadow on.

• Lashes: I curled my eyelashes (tip: Heat your curlers up a tad with a hairdryer first you’ll get a cracking curl!) and applied two coats of mascara. I only use waterproof mascara as it holds the curl of my lashes. I still rate this Essence’s I love Extreme Volume mascara. Get it at Farmers. It’ll cost you less than $7. Skip it if you have small eyes or short lashes as the brush is MASSIVE.
• Tightline: I tightlined my upper waterline (under my upper eyelashes) with my new Smashbox Always On waterproof eyeliner. This creates the effect of looking like my eyelashes are mega thick. It’s essential to use waterproof liner for this step, as you are applying eyeliner to a moist (!) part of your eye. This product is shown above – it is BRILLIANT! Totes recommend.
• Blush: I applied MAC’s Warm Soul blush. This is a gorgeous slightly shimmery peachy toned blush and it is GORGEOUS. It’s one of my favourite blushes and it creates a lovely soft flushed glow. Great for brides, but I digress.
• Lips: Whacked on some Clarins Natural Light Perfector in the shade 01. I am on my fifth or sixth tube of this goodness, no matter what lippy I start out wearing during the day, I usually end up wearing this. It’s half balm, half gloss. Soft and pretty. I love it. Oh, and it smells like candy floss (my Mum hated it and gave me hers. Score).

That’s it. 4 mins start to finish. Tops. If I’d made a video tutorial of this look it’d be a 27 minute look because I’d talk so much. That’s 24 minutes of your life you’d never get back.

What’s your go-to quick look?

*Anyone in Rotorua who knows how to edit videos keen to teach me in return for a makeup lesson?! I’ve tried watching how-to videos. Alas, I’m just a bit shit and short on patience…  And maybe tech challenged.