I don't claim to be an expert on beauty, but in recent years, I've definitely experimented a little bit more with make-up and have really honed in on a signature routine and look, so I thought I'd share it with you.

When it comes to skincare, I've always been of the opinion that less is more. Like most people, I follow some basic principles, such as, always washing my make-up off before bed, cleansing, wearing a night serum, moisturizing, gentle exfoliation once a week or so, ALWAYS making sure to wear SPF on my face, etc., but the list of products I use on my skin is really quite short.

I've adopted a similar philosophy for make-up. I prefer a light coverage, natural look for everyday. Here are the steps I take and the products that I've used consistently and love:

1. For some reason, I always start off by doing my eyebrows. I don't know if it's because I focused so much on them during chemo, when they completely fell out and required extra attention, but even now, they are the first thing I do. I like to come through them a bit to make sure they are going in somewhat the right direction. Then I come through with Glossier's Boy Brow in Brown to make them look fuller and really get them to stay in place. To finish, I fill them in with Bare Minerals' Brow Powder in Dark Blonde/Med. I prefer brown powders over pencils because I think they look more natural and they are slightly more buildable.

   

   

2. Next, I prime my face with Smashbox's Photo Finish Foundation Primer. I'll be honest, when it comes to primer, I could take it or leave it. Like I said, I prefer less product on my face. However, I purchased this a while back, so I figured I might as well use it. I've only ever used one other primer before: Benefit's The POREfessional, so I can't really say how good this one is in comparison to many others, but a lot of people like it, so I presume it's good.

   

   

3. Once I've primed my face, I put on my foundation. Ever since I was old enough to wear make-up, I've used Bare Minerals' Original Loose Powder SPF 15 foundation in Fair. Yes, this is the absolute lightest shade they sell and yes, in the Winter it is sometimes too dark for me. We prefer to call it, "a porcelain complexion," and not, "pale." I used to hate being so fair-skinned. I never tanned during the Summer and always felt like I looked pasty. Now, I've really come to embrace my fair complexion. People regularly tell me how beautiful my skin is and because I'm so meticulous when it comes to sun protection, I will likely not wrinkle as early on. Anyway, back to foundation, my favorite brush to apply my foundation with is my "Be You," kabuki brush that came in the "Be Your Best Self" kit by Ingrid Nilsen.

4. After foundation, I apply Bare Minerals' Stroke of Light under eye concealer in Luminous 1. This is the part of my routine where I finally start to look awake.

5. Next, I apply blush. I rotate between a few different ones. Lately, I've been using Tarte's Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in INSERT NAME. However, my all-time favorite blush is Bare Minerals' blush in Golden Gate. Can you tell what my favorite cosmetics line is??

   

6. After blush, I use Bare Minerals' Invisible Glow Highlighter Powder. I love the way it gives me a beautiful, natural glow. It's especially nice when lighting hits it just right.

   

7. Once my face is complete, I move onto my eyes. I know a lot of people prefer to do eyes first, so that they can cover up any eye shadow fallout. I've tried it before and it doesn't seem to make much difference for me, but everyone's different. I'm pretty new to the eye shadow game, so I love palettes that come with obvious (sometimes even labeled!) shades for base, lid, crease, liner, etc. My favorite palette is Urban Decay's Naked2 Palette. I generally tend to use "Foxy" for my base, "Tease" for my lid, and "Pistol" in the crease.

   

8. I could lie and tell you that I curl my eyelashes after this, but I honestly never do. I don't notice any difference before and after curling and it feels like more of a waste of time than anything to me. So my real next step is mascara. My favorite mascara is Maybelline's The Rocket in Blackest Black. I don't like using waterproof formulas for mascara because I don't typically do a whole lot of sweating, crying, swimming, etc. throughout my normal day and I find that they are immensely more difficult to wash off at night.

9. Last comes lips. My current favorite lip product is Fresh's Sugar Lip Treatment with SPF 15 in Rosé. It enhances the natural color of my lips and feels extremely moisturizing.

Phew! That seemed like a ton of steps! I swear, this only takes me like five minutes to do every morning.

What are some of your go-to products? Let me know in the comments!

Hope you have a great weekend and as always, thanks for stopping by.