How to be vain and superficial at work

Well, lots of people have been asking me about my make-up routine, so I thought I'd just write a blog post about it. Or not really at all. No one has ever asked me about my makeup routine, but I do constantly give unsolicited information about new makeup I've purchased, or most recently, entire books on the subject. What can I say? I love being a girl.
The truth of the matter is, it all goes back to Kate Middleton. Once I found out she did her own makeup for the royal wedding, I was inspired/jealous but mostly inspired. I bought two books from Amazon about make-up, and they helped a lot. Then on our most recent trip to NYC I said "what's this?" and held up an eye corrector to a girl at the Benefit counter at Bloomingdale's. She did my makeup and voila! $100 later in Benefit products and a need to justify it and we have this blog post.
So this is my post-work/at work make-up routine. I do this when I want to freshen my makeup after work, like if I'm meeting people (Joey) for drinks and I want to look fresh and pretty and not like the week's work dragged me back and forth through a puddle.
(Dragged is grammatically correct, I googled it. It sounded wrong to me too.)

So at the end of the week I often look like this:

Oh wait, I'm supposed to look sad.

The cruel fluorescent lighting doesn't help. Anyway, my biggest problem is darkness around my eyes, and my skin looks a little flat.

I got this illuminating primer from Benefit and I love it.

And I apply it with the make-up sponge that comes in the foundation I'm about to show you.

Then I use this Benefit foundation that also works pretty well to illuminate my skin and cover anything that needs covering.

and it comes with the little sponge you saw earlier in its own compartment, which makes it nice and portable.

Looking better already!

I like to use this stila coverup stick (in color no. 03) to address my afterwork-undereye darkness.

It comes in this nice little tube and again its easy and portable.

I sort of draw it on... and yeah, that's my "putting on eye make-up" face.

And pat it in. Don't mind my unpainted fingernails - see previous blog post.

So then my eyes look a bit less tired.

But to brighten my eyes a little more I use the appropriately named "eye bright" by Benefit.

And again I just draw it on. In this case just the inside of the eye, all the way up to the inner corner of the eyelid, and the outside corner.

 Then I blend with my fingers.

Wait, there's more!

I use the Ooh la lift by Benefit to brighten even more.

The applicator is similar to a lip gloss, which I just dab on and blend with my fingers.

Ask any Texas gal what the secret is to looking glam and she'll tell you: "too much blush!" or maybe that's just my motto. I didn't put too much on in this case, but I love a lot of blush.  I use this Nars multiple for cheek color. Its the one with the name that I don't want to put on the internet because its salacious.

It rolls out like a large lipstick and I just dab it on. I like it because I can use it as lipgloss and eyecolor if I want, and because its easy to carry with me and I don't need a brush...even though I have a mini one anyway... I don't NEED it. I just blend it with my fingers, again.

I use the MAC powerpoint eyeliner in periplum for eyes.

And I line the top and bottom.

Bobbi Brown says not to line all the way to the inside so that your eyes don't look too close together. I line the outer 2/3's.  And I line the inside of my lower lid. This is totally fine for me as long as I make sure to remove it before I go to sleep.

The open mouth is necessary if to keep from blinking. Did you know that?

And I top it off with Maybelline Great Lash mascara. I think its the absolute best. This is the Big Lash in black/brown.

No picture, I figured you've seen enough of the eye makeup face.

Alrighty, moving on. I use this volumizing hairspray to freshen my hair and reduce the flatness. I just picked it up at the beauty supply store, and it works pretty well. It was more getting it in travel size than getting a particular brand.

And I just rustle it through my hair with my hands and then brush it out with my portable, foldable hairbrush from Sephora.

Whew! Talk about salacious!

Then I finish up with my lipgloss of the hour, Clinique superbalm moisturizing gloss in Raspberry. I can wear this without drying out my lips, (which is an annoying problem I have, but I'll still wear just about any lipgloss,) and I love the color.

and this Benefit highbeam highlighter works really well to add the last bit of polish.

I really love both of these things because they take about 20 seconds to apply for both, and they add a really nice bright finish.

The highbeam is in a tube similar to the Ooh la lift, and I just dab it on above both cheekbones, and just under the eyebrow.

And then I blend everything together with a little travel powder brush.

And that's it!

The lighting really is terrible here, but trust me, it makes a big difference. At least I think so. I also feel really comfortable and confident that I look great when we go out, and that in it of itself makes me feel less tired at the end of the week.

These are all the products I used:

And they all fit inside this make-up bag I bought at Forever 21:

... which fits easily inside my work bag.

The whole routine takes me about 5 minutes.

And there you have it, my 5 o'clock beauty secrets!