Effortless Mummy Makeup/ Jan 07

The Knocked-Up Knockout
January 2007: No. 1
www.beautyandthedirt.com

Effortless Mummy Make-Up for the New Year

Greetings from sunny South Florida. And Happy 2007 to you all! I wish everyone a happy and healthy year ahead.

Having lost all the baby weight—at last—I decided to give myself a couple more manageable resolutions this year. Following a rather indulgent December, the first was to have a “dry January,” i.e. no alcohol. As with all good new years resolutions, it wasn’t long before this one was broken—with a lovely Pinot Noir. The second, to maintain an effortless makeup regimen, is, however, going surprisingly well.

I don’t know about you, but I am a bit of a makeup junkie. I am a marketers dream; a sucker for any well-billed new product on the market. I can’t walk through a beauty hall without, at the least, picking up a new eye shadow or lippy from one of my fave brands. And so, while most girls I know have a cute, little makeup bag containing all five or six of their fail-safe products, I have a three-tiered toolbox—literally—filled with cosmetics. And though I may use only five or six of the hundreds of products regularly, I cannot bear to throw any one of them out—you never know when you will need that yellow eye shadow, after all! And, guaranteed, I would throw it out only to realize its calling.

This may seem like no big deal. But whilst pre-baby I could ready myself for the day at leisure, these days I must cram what used to take me a good 40 minutes—showering, teeth-brushing, lotioning and potioning, make up applying and dressing—into 15 to 20 minutes, if my son and I are ever going to make it out the door before noon. No makeup is not an option when, these days, you have dark circles a raccoon would envy; but applying the mask becomes a lengthy process when I have to trawl through the hundreds of products in my case to find the one thing I’m looking for.

So, I called in the advice of the experts.

Jessica Liebeskind, is a bicoastal makeup artist who has worked with the likes of Heidi Klum, Nicky Hilton, Gucci and Matthew Williamson, and she has great advice for maintaining a simplistic Mummy makeup regimen for those women who, like me, possess far more makeup than is strictly necessary for daily use.

“Keep a separate small makeup travel bag, filled with your favorite, basic products,” says Jessica. “This will also lead to less stressful packing [for holidays] as you will never need to worry about leaving your favorite products behind.”

Jessica suggests your new, minimal bag includes the following products:
Moisturizer with an SPF
Eye cream
Concealer, Jessica’s fave is Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer kit
Foundation
Cream blush, I like the Nars sticks
Eyelash curler, I prefer the often replicated, never duplicated Shu Uemara
Black mascara, Jessica recommends Dior Show
Lip gloss, I like the Chanel glosses

The best thing about Jessica’s lineup for a streamlined makeup bag is that none of the products require brushes, which means even less rooting around time. Since putting this resolution into practice, I have only added to the minimal mix with a neutral and dark brown eye shadow, and a kohl pencil, which is hardly giving in. The eye shadow, I apply with a cotton bud, which I also use to smudge the kohl, so I’m still brush free. And there, my dears, you have it! Effortless Mummy Making Up for the new year!

Until next time,
Hannah xo

P.S. In order to get your streamlined makeup bag going, my good friends at Benefit are offering my readers 50% off select items. Enjoy!