Winter Makeup Tips

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Our skin texture changes tremendously during the different seasons, and the cold winter air can bring out the worst in our skin at times, making it difficult for a seamless makeup application.

During these colder months, I find that clients complain about their foundation isn’t laying correctly on their skin. Or asking what they can do to cover dry, itchy, red patches on their face – typically around their nose. Or that their eyelids are dull, red, and flaky. Dry lips – everyone has dry, flaky, irritated lips this time of year.

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While I’m not a skincare expert and never claim to me, I will tell you a few steps that will help your skin react better to the makeup products you’re using. In addition, I wanted to include a few products that will help all year round, especially now, in the winter.

Winter Makeup Tips

• Overly moisturize your skin before foundation and allow it to dry into the layers of your skin before applying a foundation, and don’t forget your SPF! Skin that is moisturized really well will completely change the look of foundation in the dry, cold, winter air.
• If you’re a primer girl, I always suggest one with added hydration or a luminous glow anything that helps combat this winter, dry, cracky skin look!
• I still love a full coverage foundation and it works for me because of how I prep my skin, however I always apply with a damp beauty blender which helps to absorb a little bit of the dense pigmentation. If you prefer a lighter coverage foundation, I would suggest a tinted moisturizer or a CC cream, which will help color correct any redness from the harsh, cold conditions.
• Ditch the powders, unless you like a matte makeup look or have oily skin.
• Play up your cheeks with blush and highlighter. I always add a touch of bronzer too!
• Keep waterproof mascara in your makeup bag if you live in an area with snowy conditions. This will help, so you’re mascara doesn’t run or smudge while walking to and from your car (or wherever) during flurries.
• You can’t go wrong with your eyes… mattes or shimmery shadows look great all year round! Using a touch of shimmer through will add a luminous glow to your eyes!
• Use moisturizing lipsticks and glosses. If you’re more of a matte, long-wear lipstick lover, I know there are several brands they will give you long-lasting color and lock in hydration too!
• MIST YO FACE! Hahaha, but really! Find a face mist you love and spritz! A setting spray or will add hydration and will break up that cakey makeup look! Also, purchase a travel size face mist and keep it in your purse for touch-ups. Sometimes all you need is a fresh mist and some gloss to bring your makeup back to life!

Winter Makeup Products

1. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Natural Skin Perfecter SPF30 $47: This tinted moisturizer has been reformulated and it adds a sheer, hint of coverage for an effortless, dewy finish all while protecting your skin with SPF30. Hydrating Complex made up of Macadamia and Kukui Seed Oils that helps increase the skin’s moisture levels long-term for 24 hours of hydration, while reducing the signs of visibly dry skin. 

2. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation $44: This isn’t news to you – I LOVE Magic Foundation!  I’ve been wearing this foundation a lot lately and it’s one that I absolutely LOVE!  I posted a lengthy review on Instagram about it.  In not too many words, it’s long lasting, medium-buildable coverage foundation with a demi-matte finish and SPF 15 to protect skin.  Her products are packed full with active skincare ingredients.  I’m color 4.5 Medium for reference.  

3. Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation $64: This is a great alternative to the Charlotte Tilbury Magic foundation if you want to purchase something in store.  A lot of cities don’t carry Charlotte Tilbury in store.  In addition, it’s lightweight and buildable similar to the Magic Foundation.  It elivers buildable coverage and a long-lasting, hydrating glow with a luminous, natural finish. I’m color 3.5 for reference.

4. IT Cosmetics Full Coverage SPF50 CC Cream $39: This is an easy to wear and a gorgeous coverage (with SPF 50) foundation. First of all – a lot of you ask, what is a CC Cream? It’s a color corrective cream and typically contains a skin-brightening primer, a light foundation coverage, moisturizer, sunscreen, and anti-aging ingredients. This foundation/ CC cream delivers 7 products in one, including your full-coverage foundation, hydrating anti-aging serum, and SPF 50+ physical sunscreen. It’s the best foundation with moisturizing elements that doesn’t weigh your skin down, making you look oily – it merely diffuses the appearance of skin imperfections for flawless-looking coverage that won’t crease or crack. Infused with hydrolyzed collagen, peptides, niacin, hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and vitamins, this skin-loving full-coverage foundation diffuses the look of wrinkles, minimizes the appearance of pores. I’m color “Light” for reference.

5. YSL Water Stain Lip Stain $37: This is brand-new to my makeup collection and I will say it lives up to the hype. YSL does lip products so, so well! This is a glossy, lip-stain (which is hard to find), but with a water-enriched-base formulation, which packs in hydration. It’s lightweight on the lips, doesn’t cake, or leave any sort of residue.

6. YSL Rouge Volupté Shine Oil-In-Stick Lipstick (color: Pink Blossom) $38: This is my favorite lipstick splurge, and I fell deeply in love with YSL lipsticks last year. If you’re ever feeling down on yourself, splurge on one of these, and I swear it will give you the little bit of love you’ve been missing! I’m OBSESSED. This is an oil-in-a-stick, medium-coverage lipstick with high-performance color and irreverent shine while it conditions the lips. It is packed full of hydrating ingredients and 65% oils that create a pop of color while hydrating the lips.

7. Too Faced Hangover 3-in-1 Replenishing Primer & Setting Spray $32: This is a weightless, three-in-one coconut water-infused mist that primes, sets, and refreshes makeup while it helps keep skin hydrated.  It’s probably one of the best setting sprays that I’ve used to lock in moisture and set makeup and doesn’t leave you with a greasy, oily, look as the day going on. It can be used as a primer before makeup, a setting spray to keep makeup in place all day, and a mid-day refresher anytime your skin needs a boost, serving as the perfect cure for a beauty hangover. Its unique blend of coconut water, probiotic-based ingredients, and skin revivers work together to hydrate and brighten skin, promote skin’s elasticity and tone, while smoothing skin. 

8. Tarte Quench Lip Rescue Balm $19: Y’all know me by now and know this is a staple in my kit.  Easy to wear and truly a product that will take you from the soccer fields to a dinner meeting.  They’re moisturizing lip balms in an array of sheer color shades – very sheer in color. My favorite colors are Berry, Rose and Cherry.

9. MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ Finishing Mist $28: Holy grail amongst makeup artists. It’s a staple in my professional kit as it sets makeup, locks in hydration and delivers a beautiful, subtle glow. It refreshes the skin (so I’ll use this all day long) and evens the skin tone to create a smooth surface for your makeup application. I love the smell and the glow as well. Pick up the travel size for $16 and keep in your purse to refresh throughout the day.

10. Hourglass Airbrush Vanish Concealer $34: This is my new favorite and I’ve been using solid for about a month now. IT’s a full coverage, weightless, waterproof (16+ hours) concealer with micro spherical powders that blur and brighten for 16 hour. It’s crease-resistance, light-reflecting liquid concealer that blends seamlessly into the skin and diffuses the look of pores and fine lines. I cannot sing it’s praises enough! I’m telling you – it’s worth it! I’m color “Cedar” for reference.

11. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer $30: I can’t believe I’m still talking about this product, but it’s genuinely one of the best concealers if you’re looking for a brightening, radiant, medium coverage foundation. I love this concealer because of the hydration that it puts back into the under-eye area. If you didn’t already know this when the under eye is dry, that’s a huge reason concealers start to cake and crease. This concealer corrects, contours, highlights, and perfects with up to 16 hours of creamy, medium-to-buildable coverage and a natural, radiant finish.

12. Too Faced Born This Way Concealer $29: This has replaced Shape Tape in my kit!  While I love Shape Tape, it’s so drying on the skin.  This is great for the gal who likes a very full coverage under eye.  I’ve been using Born This Way Concealer for months now and I’m just in love with the wearability and coverage. It’s a hydrating, full-coverage, weightless, four-in-one formula that conceals, contours, highlights, and retouches. It masks imperfections, smooths, and sculpts skin for natural-looking coverage. It’s infused with coconut water, alpine rose, and hyaluronic acid—skin-loving ingredients that come together for crease-free, weightless wear.  I love to brighten my under eye area so I use color “Snow”.

13. Charlotte Tilbury Magic Away Concealer $32: Another product you’ve heard me rave about – I love this concealer.  It’s a full coverage, but lighter than Too Faced Born This Way Concealer (talked about above).  It is a full-coverage, long-lasting, dark-circle-diminishing, color-correcting concealer. Charlotte Tilbury’s ingrediant listing is like no other.  Persian Silk Tree Bark Extract: Creates the illusion of a lifted upper eyelid, as well as reducing the appearance of crow’s feet, dark circles, and puffiness.  Palmitoyal Glycine (also known as the Bliss Molecule): Helps reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles.  Extract Of Wild Indigo: Helps to enhance the skin’s luminosity and brighten the under-eyes.  Magic Away reduces the appearance of dark circles, pigmentation, redness, blemishes, and imperfections while creating the appearance of firmer, lifted skin. The unique Magic Precision Face Applicator Sponge, an applicator which hugs your skin, is designed to roll over imperfections and hug the under-eye contour for the most flawless application.

14. Becca Anti-Fatigue Under Eye Primer $32: Still gushing over this bad boy!  I’M OBSESSED and it works!  I’ll receive message from women who complain about their concealer “caking” and creasing where they apply their concealer and this primer is my secret weapon to combat that issue! This priming balm smooths and blurs the look of fine lines while reducing puffiness. Infused with cucumber, matcha green tea, and caffeine, the sheer and velvety texture effortlessly melts into the skin to condition the eye area. It perfectly preps the under-eyes for corrector and concealer application, so makeup never creases or looks cakey.

15. Charlotte Tilbury Brightening Youth Glow Primer $55: This is also a new product in my collection and one that needs to be mentioned. It’s a skin-brightening primer with anti-aging and color-correcting properties.  This primer improves redness and skin discoloration by controlling skin’s production of melanin, while blurring away blemishes, canceling shadows, and evening out the skin’s complexion. An anti-shadow eraser filter visibly softens lines and under-eye bags. In as little as four weeks, your skin tone brighter and signs of aging are visibly erased. Use it under foundation or on its own for a sheer coverage and luminous glow. 

16. Hangover Replenishing Face Primer $34: A replenishing face primer is your quick cure for slow mornings. It hydrates, smooths, and brightens skin for a dewy, healthy-looking finish.  It’s infused with coconut water, a probiotic-based ingredient, and skin revivers which work together to boost skin’s radiance, promote elasticity, and help hydrate while locking down makeup for fresher, longer, and more flawless wear.

17. YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer $52: I fell in love with this for so many reasons. It’s an illuminating primer that blurs imperfections and boosts the radiance of foundation. It simply preps skin for foundation application, creating an improved, refined appearance: pores seem to be minimized, skin texture feels smoother, and skin tone is more even. It’s enriched with four nourishing oils – corn oil, apricot kernel oil, passiflora oil, and rice bran oil – to leave skin feeling incredibly soft without a greasy residue. Packed with blur technology, this universal primer provides a subtle, golden shimmer for ultimate luminosity. This primer is truly made for all skin types… but if you love a glowy finish to your foundation and you find that you have dry skin, this is for you! You need a little bit. I’ve had my bottle for two months now, and it looks like I just opened it.