Gigi Anders gives her best makeup secrets for busy women.
Latinas love makeup. We love experimenting with different colors, brands, and looks. But if you’re a working mom or a busy student, going full-throttle may be too time-consuming, except for weekends. National stylist and personal shopper Mindy Peterson empathizes. “Their lives are overwhelming,” she says of her clients, most of whom are married moms with kids and jobs. “The mom pressure and work pressure to keep up and multitask is more intense and stressful than ever. I had to let go of perfection and turn to minimalism with my clients years ago.”
Clients who might get up at 4:30 in the morning to go running and have some alone-time while everyone else is asleep. Then they’ve got some 20 or 30 minutes to throw themselves together, grab the iPhone, and go. “At least half of them put on their makeup in the car,” Peterson adds.
Read Related: Makeup For Busy Moms
If this sounds like you, I’ve got the solution to your problem: Beauty products that are multipurpose, forgiving, and don’t require precision. Yet they produce long-wearing results that look fresh and pretty. Here’s how to leave the house—no texting or mascara-applying in the car, please—looking polished and wide awake in five minutes flat. Give or take.
25 SECONDS
Begin with eye cream, like Miss America favorite LuXury Creme LuXury Eye by Artistry ($175 and worth every penny), and clean, moisturized skin, using an SPF moisturizer that’s right for you, like Bobbi Brown’s Oil Control Lotion SPF 15 ($48). Or use a tinted moisturizer like Clinique’s Super City Block Oil-Free Daily Face Protector SPF 40 ($19). “I use City Block every day,” says Peterson, who rarely uses foundation. “It’s one universal hue that somehow works on everybody, and it’s light and protective.”
35 SECONDS
Apply concealer—and corrector on top if you’ve had an especially late night—wherever you need it, especially under the eyes and on the eyelids. “It brightens up your whole face,” Peterson says. Bobbi Brown’s portable Creamy Concealer Kit ($32) comes with its own Sheer Finish Pressed Powder, to set the concealer and the corrector, and help them last all day long.
15 SECONDS
Comb through your eyebrows with Clear or Tinted Anastasia Brow Gel ($21 each) to fill in the brows and frame the face.
50 SECONDS
For eyes, “Simply smudge shadow along the lash line with an angled brush,” Peterson says. Bobbi Brown’s Neons & Nudes Collection EyePalette ($45) is perfect for this: Six foolproof and neutral matte, pearlized and metallic shades, plus a dual-ended eyeliner-angled eye shadow brush, and a mirror. Or use a blendable crayon to line and smudge, like Laura Mercier’s Caviar Stick Eye Colour ($24) in Sapphire.
40 SECONDS
Curl your lashes. “I never skip this step,” Peterson says, “no matter how tired or rushed I am.”
50 SECONDS
Coat lashes with mascara. I love L’Oréal Paris Voluminous False Fiber Lashes in Black Lacquer ($8.95).
45 SECONDS
Blend a cream blush on to the apples of the cheeks. The best is tarte’s natural cheek stain in tipsy ($30). This swivel-up cream stick is flattering on everybody and gives a rosy-peachy, flushed look. “It’s a cinch to apply and blend,” Peterson says, “and can also be used on the brown bone as a highlighter and on the lips.”
40 SECONDS
To complete the look, apply a neutral, universally flattering lipstick, like Bobbi Brown’s Lip Color in Nude ($22); a hybrid lip liner and lipstick in one, Clinique’s Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Curvy Candy ($16); or a colored gloss like Bobbi Brown’s Sheer Color Lip Gloss in Cosmic Pink ($23). You can put on any of those with your eyes closed.
If you have 60 extra seconds:
20 SECONDS
Brighten sleepy eyes by lining eyelids’ upper and lower inside rims with Benefit’s Eye Bright ($20), a pearly pink wake-up crayon that does wonders.
20 SECONDS
To quickly get a bit of soft shimmer over the cheekbone, use Benefit’s High Beam ($26), a pearly pink liquid highlighter that looks like a bottle of nail polish, or Moon Beam ($26), the golden version. They both give an understated glow.
20 SECONDS
Brush all over with Make Up For Ever’s Super Matte Loose Powder ($26). It shuts down shine and evens out the complexion for a radiant day-long look.
