A look into my everyday beauty habits and routines, inspired by the series "The Top Shelf" at Into The Gloss.
When it comes to skincare, I appreciate its importance without being fully committed to the ritual of facials, exfoliates, and treatments, although I'll wager that it's only a matter of time. I use a combination of old faithfuls and new products that I am testing. First, I remove my make-up with Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil - one pump is sufficient for getting rid of everything, including waterproof mascara - before cleansing with an oil-targetting cleaner, followed by the application of layers of various toners, serums and creams. Shu Uemura Depsea Hydrability Intense Moisturising Concentrate is a stalwart that I wear on its own in summer and beneath a moisturiser or oil in winter. Another product I have repurchased many times is Clinique All About Eyes Rich; after too many bad experiences with eye creams on my sensitive skin, I tend to stick to what is known and safe. Huiles & Baumes Face Smoothing Serum is a rich facial oil I have been testing for the last month or so - I love the fresh herbal scent and the way it shrinks my pores.
My lips chap easily, especially in cold, windy weather, so I never leave the house without lip balm, preferable ones that are non-sticky, flavourless, and colourless. I keep Blistex Lip Conditioner with SPF 20 around the house, on my bedside table and at my desk, and a tube of Clinique Superbalm Lip Treatment in every purse. Both are great, intensely nourishing and not so expensive that you can't afford numerous back-ups. Lip balm is something that needs to be applied frequently and liberally, so you never want to be caught without one handy.
If my skin is clear, I am happy to get away with just wearing tinted moisturiser and some concealer. When I do wear foundation, I apply it directly with my fingers - it's quicker and saves me the bother of washing a foundation brush after every use - before dusting a bit of loose powder over it to keep it in place.
Brow pencil is a minimum requirement when mine are so naturally sparse and patchy - I use Shu Uemura in the shade 06 Acorn. On a normal day, all I wear on my lids are matte or satin browns and taupes, for a look that is polished, but not painstakingly drawn in. Even my eyeliner and mascara are brown. I am already on my third tube of Shiseido Perfect Mascara in BR602, and I've lost count of how many of the Guerlain Eye Pencil in Kohl Me Brown 03 I have bought. I smudge the pencil into my upper lashline, to give my eyes some subtle definition. Gel and liquid liner has its occasional uses, but not whilst I am on the clock.
My go-to lip colour - lipstick, never lipgloss - is always changing. If you keep your eye makeup clean and effortless, it is a simple matter to change your look in the middle of a day by switching lip colours. I have a red imitation-leather lipstick case that I bought in the markets in Shanghai for around 150 RMB (or $21 AUD). It has an inbuilt mirror and holds three lipsticks, usually a sheer natural colour, a deeper berry or rose, and a red. Continental Couture has one that looks very similar but made from shark skin for £119.
Cutting my hair short was a decision I made the year I left high school, and it's been that length ever since. Short hair is freeing and conveniently low maintenance. But also, looking back at old photographs of myself, I feel like that person with long hair is a stranger, someone still wore school uniforms and had not yet been introduced to undergraduate anthropology. In a not unsubstantial way, we are not the same, just as I will not be the same person ten years hence. Identity is an ever-evolving thing, and often the outward change - manhood initiation rituals, the widow's weeds - marks also a significant internal overhaul. (The reverse is also true, and it is not in my interest here to quibble about direction of causality between the mental and the physical, for both are intrinsic and interdependent.) It takes me less than 5 seconds to style my hair: a few strokes with a synthetic and boar bristle brush is all it needs. If it is in a truly disastrous state of disarray, a tiny daub of Frederic Fekkai Glossing Cream, combed through with my fingers, is usually enough to tame it.
I do not have a signature fragrance, but I always come back to a select few, like Serge Lutens Vetiver Oriental. In my work bag, I keep a Travalo filled with Chanel No. 19, for those times when I forget to apply before leaving the house. Perfume is the last step of my routine of getting ready. Without it, I always feel a little unfinished.
*Australian regulations don't allow SPF factor numerals greater than 30 to be claimed on sunscreen labels, for several reasons, so SPF 30+ is the highest level of sun protection that you will see on any product in Australia.
Top photo credit: Orion Mitchell, 2010
When I first got really interested in makeup a few years ago, I was all about the eyes. Now I do appreciate an understated eye look and a bold lip (red, fuchsia, orange) much more. And a red being classical, it's always work appropriate when the rest is toned down!
ReplyDeleteFor me, I think it's also a matter of working with my best features. I have quite full lips that wear bold colours well, whereas my eyes, on the other hand, look larger and brighter with minimal makeup.
ReplyDeleteI work in a conservative but luckily not corporate environment so my work makeup consists of BB cream, undereye concealer, clear mascara and tinted lipbalm.
ReplyDelete(As a side note: I am wearing lanolips lipbalm this winter and it is a godsend!)
Outside of work I find the 1950's style of makeup suits me best. I'm caucasian with large eyes and prefer a cleaner look (tightliner + minimal mascara) also. In fact it looks far better on me than a smoky eye. I put it down to having dark circles and rather deep-set eyes?
My favourite lip look at the moment is a soft, stained look using a bright red, berry, or coral lipstick that has been worked into the lip with the fingertip rather than using a brush. I have large asymmetrical lips so it allows me to wear a pop of colour without emphasising my flaw with a defined line.
Li, I like your minimalist approach. It's one I have followed my entire adult life, except in the last 2-3 years I developed this weird obsession with eyeshadow. I work in technology, which is both creative and conservative, and going to work with smoky eyes would look as bizarre as carrying an It bag.
ReplyDeleteLike Musing on Beauty, I have really come to appreciate a downplayed eye (nudey-pink base under very subtle crease contouring), and then I can save the fun for my lips. I don't do full-on red matte at work, but I might apply it with a brush and blot it down to a stain. I really really prefer red lipstick above all others.
Do you use clear mascara on the eyelashes? I thought it was just for brows... :) Learn something every day.
ReplyDeleteI travel a lot for my work, and I spend a lot of time (5-6 months a year) in various countries in Asia, mostly China, where I wear very little makeup around colleagues. So, I would never wear red lipstick to the office when I am in Shanghai, but going out with friends after work, I can let loose and bring out the more dramatic makeup. It's part of the natural adjustments you go through, to make those around you more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI love reading about people's stashes. I get more lemmings from their daily rituals than the big push of the latest trend. It's more interesting to see which products stay with people; they're not so flamboyant, perhaps, but they're often better balanced in design.
ReplyDeleteWhen you are trying new products all the time, it takes something quite special to convince you to serial monogamy. NARS Bali looks like such a boring, ashy colour, but I use it every day. It's such a perfect neutral colour for accentuating the eyes.
ReplyDeleteThis is fascinating! I tend to find one thing that I like, stick with it until it runs out, and then try to find something else. The fact that I now own more than two eyeshadow duos/trios is pretty much unfathomable (and probably because of your influence)...but not entirely unwelcome.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet you always look so lovely. :D My mother only wishes I wore minimal eye makeup like you.
ReplyDeleteMy mother always thinks you look sophisticated and elegant. :)
ReplyDelete(And apparently you can log in with Google accounts! Do they own Blogger?)