School Drop Off Makeup Look (for busy mornings)

Hi Everyone,

My little one's school teacher always stands outside the class to receive the kids and wish them, early in the morning. She's always bright, cheerful and turns up looking fresh and presentable. The kids have a big smile on their faces when they see her & we (especially Moms) wonder how she manages to do all this early in the morning. While I will ask her the "secret" one of these days, it has definitely inspired me to look fresh & presentable while dropping my kiddo to school. This simple look hardly takes 5 mins & requires minimum products; but believe me when I say it makes a big difference.

1. I start off with washing my face with a face wash & then apply my normal moisturiser. 

2. I top off the moisturiser with a good sunscreen.. it gets bright, sunny & quite humid even at 7.30am here in Mangalore. I use the Lotus Herbals Safe Sun Matte Gel sunscreen with SPF 50. It gives my face a matte look & provides good oil-control. For more coverage, you could also use the Lotus Herbals 3-in-1 Matte Look Tinted Sunblock.

3. I powder my face with the Maybelline SupraFresh Compact powder. It comes with a mirror & a puff so this step can be done in a jiffy. BTW, this lil guy is great for on-the-go touch-ups too. I use the Chanel Illuminating powder on days when my skin looks dull and needs a perk-me-up. If you're wondering why this "budget product junkie" uses Chanel.. lol It was a gift!!

Products used

4. Next step - Kajal.. I use the Lotus Herbals ColorKick Kajal (reviewed HERE). I've also been liking the Maybelline Super Black Colossal Kajal. If you aren't a kajal person, you could choose to line the upper lashline. A little something on your eyes, brightens them up & gives your face overall structure & definition.

5. Lastly, apply a lip balm or light lipstick of your choice. Ahem, (cough cough) I'm a "BoldLips" kinda Mommy, so I throw on the brightest shade on most days. Today, I wore the Maybelline Lip Gradation lipstick in shade PINK2. Wearing Lipstick is one step I don't miss out on, even if I the skip the rest. You won't usually find me without lipstick..like anywhere.. lol.. have you noticed the name of the blog? **wink wink**. However, You do You... take these steps & tweak them the way you want.

So that's it! That's the 4-product routine ... With my kiddo already ready for school, this simple routine takes just about 3 - 4 mins & we're out of the house!! While some have judged me, most of the Moms have been really sweet & nice. They have come up to me & complimented my lipstick or asked me how I look so "awake". Some have told me they have a bunch of hardly-used products & asked if I could show them to use them. See? **GirlLove** again!!!

The look I put together this morning

So next time, you see a happy, fresh-as-a-daisy, cheerful mommy at a school drop off ... Don't judge! Early mornings are hard for her too & maybe throwing on some makeup is her way of feeling great & confident ... Appreciate that! :-)

Hope you liked this post. Would you like to see more such "Mommy-related" posts? Let me know in the comments section below. 

Until the next post, Ciao!!

One-Toned Makeup Look (Ideal for Workplace)

Hi Everyone,

Feels so good to reconnect with everyone through my lil blog! Yes, I have been away but that hasn't kept me far from my makeup & most importantly - playing around with it & creating different looks. One such look struck me as something I should share with everyone who likes minimalistic makeup. This look is ideal for your workplace but can be worn anywhere you like.

Here's my take on a One-Toned Makeup Look -

Base Makeup - Cleanse and prep your skin with moisturiser. I skipped foundation & went straight for concealer in this one. I used the Derma Color Concealer in the shade DFD to cover up the under-eye dark circles, blemishes & any other pigmentation on my skin. To set the base, I used my all time favourite compact, the Rimmel London Stay Matte powder in the shade 005 Silky Beige.

Eyes - Once the base was done, I moved on to the eyes. I stuck to earthy brown tones overall, in this look but you can choose the tone you want. The same makeup done is muted coral tones would also look great... Let me know if you want to see a post on that, in the comments below. For the eyes, I used two tones of brown - one lighter & the other slightly darker from the Wet n Wild ColorIcon Eyeshadow palette in "Comfort Zone". I used the lighter shade on the eyelid concentrating more on the inner half. I ditched the eyeshadow brush & dabbed the darker brown with my ring finger on the outer part of the eyelid. Then, using the same eyeshadow brush that I used before, I blended these two shades together. The lighter brown will bring some light on to the eyes, while the dark shade on the outer part will bring depth & definition to the crease.

To keep the eyes subtle, I skipped eyeliner & lined the lower lashline with my all time favourite kohl Lotus Herbal ColorKick Kajal. If you wish to see a close-up of the eye makeup, you can check it out HERE on my Instagram profile.

Products Used

Blush (Bronzer) & Lipstick - I skipped my usual blush for a bronzer this time as I wanted to maintain the earthy tone in this look. I used the bronzer from my ELF Blush-Bronzer Duo. For lipstick I used the Mauve1 shade from the Maybelline Lip Gradation range. I am so sorry I don't have a picture of that shade. I swapped it with my SIL when she was here for a visit. BTW, it looks fab on her!! Such a beautiful shade this Mauve1 is, I tell you! On another note, I bet you can take one look at the pic above and know how much love these products have received ;-)

You obviously don't need as many or the same products that I've used. You can recreate this look with products of your choice, add or take away some if u wish :-) For me, Makeup is all about having fun with colours & experimenting. It takes me away for sometime & I like that. Laugh it off if you will, but it's therapeutic in some ways ;-)

Hope you liked this simple "One-Toned" look. Do share your thoughts in the comments section below. Until the next post, Ciao!!!