Today I bring to you a post that I’ve been meaning to do forever and finally decided to sit down and take the photos for it! This is my everyday makeup look that I wear pretty much every day during the summer. Since I like to try out new things frequently, it’s hard to really call anything my “daily” look – but these are my current go-to things for summer! I get asked about my makeup at work literally every day by both coworkers and guests, and how I get it to stay locked in during hot and sweaty days – these products are pretty much the answer haha
Okay, enough rambling! Here’s all the stuff I use on a (pretty much) daily basis!! I’m going to go through in the order that I usually do my face, which is kind of wonky but it all gets done eventually haha
Skincare
First, I always always start off with a moisturizer and a sunscreen. I’ve already talked about my skincare routine a little while ago so I didn’t take pics of this stuff again, but I’m still using the Clinique moisturizer and the Biore sunscreen that I raved about in that post!
Primers
After my skincare, I jump right in with a face primer. These days I generally use two primers every day – here’s the ones I keep in my makeup bag:
We have:
The Becca one is relatively new to my collection but it’s now a holy grail item for sweaty summer days. It’s very different than the other two primers there – for this one you need to pat it into your skin rather than rub it all over your face. It’s meant to be a SUPER mattifying primer and only applied in concentrated areas that need extra help. I use it only around my nose and on my T-zone where I’m prone to my makeup wearing off more frequently. There’s a bit of a learning curve to applying it, but once you get the hang of it…this stuff is a dream. My makeup DOES NOT MOVE. It’s pricey but worth it – I completely love this primer.
After applying the Becca primer to those oily areas, I use one of the NYX primers on the rest of my face. Angel Veil is a pore-filling primer that smoothes out the skin, while Shine Killer creates more like a flat surface between the skin and makeup. Shine Killer feels the tiniest bit more slick, but not greasy. I like both but Angel Veil is my all-time favorite drugstore primer – I only purchased the Shine Killer because they were out of Angel Veil when I went to get a new one last time! I’d recommend either of them though, both are really good and reasonably priced.
After applying, I leave my face primer to settle into my skin and start on my eyes! I like to do my eyes first because it’s easier to clean up my face that way if I make any mistakes or have eyshadow fallout.
Like my face, I start off my eyes with a primer as well:
Right now, I’ve been using NYX Proof It! Eyeshadow Primer, which I like fine. I previously was using NYX’s HD Primer and a weird Bare Minerals one, neither of which I felt like were very effective as an eyeshadow base. I don’t feel the need to be too picky about my eye primer, but I would like it to work…haha
Eyes
Next – the first MAJOR part of my makeup look, and the part that usually takes the most time – eyeshadow! Doing my eyes is my favorite part of almost any makeup look. I have really big eyes and lots of eyelid space to play around with, so I usually spend the most time perfecting this part of my look.
To be COMPLETELY honest I have more eyeshadow that I even know what to do with, but that’s a story for a different post. I have a few favorite palettes that are great for everyday wear and I usually just grab one of them and go to town. Here they are, in all their glory:
- Tarte Tarteist Pro Amazonian Clay Palette
- Kat Von D Shade + Light Eye Contour Palette
- Lorac PRO Matte Palette
- Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette
As you can see, I may have a slight eyeshadow problem. But I love them all for different reasons…
The Tarte palette is my newest addition and was a gift from a dear friend. I wrote a full post about this palette so I won’t rave forever, but it’s SO good you guys. I’ve actually already almost hit pan on some of the shadows and I’ve only had it for a few months. I love that it has a good variety of neutrals and colors so I can wear it to work or on a day off.
The Kat Von D palette is AMAZING. I cannot sing the praises of this one enough. It’s what made me fall in love with matte shadow. Every single color is SO GOOD – they’re soft, smooth, blendable, and look amazing on the eyes. When I bought this one I used NOTHING else on my eyes for about 5 months straight. KVD also just came out with a shimmery version of this palette and I KNOW I don’t need it but idk if I’m gonna be able to resist, it’s so beautiful haha
Lorac Pro Matte is such a great little palette, and amazing for travel because it’s so small. The shadows are soooooo smooth and wonderful, they glide on and blend out so nicely. That pink mauve shade is SO stunning as a transition shade and the burgundy is beautiful too – I’ve been practicing wedding makeup a lot lately and this palette is one of my favorites for those looks!!
You can see that Naked 2 is VERY well-loved – I’ve had this since 2012!! It was my first high-end makeup product and it has served me so well over the years. It’s amazing for beginners or experienced makeup weirdos like me because it’s so versatile. I used it every day for YEARS and it’s still my go-to palette for shimmery shadows.
For special occasions I spend more time on my eyes, but for everyday, most of the time I use about 4 colors…a white or cream on the inner corner (like Linen from Lorac Pro Matte), a light brown on the crease (like the top middle shade from KVD), then a medium shade on most of the lid and a darker shade of the same tone on the outer corner – something like Pink Mauve/Burgundy from Lorac, or Indie from Tarte/Chocolate from Lorac. If I’m feeling fancy I throw on some shimmer too. I could probably do this eye look in my sleep, it’s just such second nature to me at this point!
Wow I’m sorry I’m obsessed with eyeshadow to the point of writing multiple paragraphs about this haha
Face – Base
Okay FINALLY moving on to the face!! I already primed so I can jump right into creating my base. I usually do this step after my eyes so in case any fallout happens from the shadow I can quickly sweep it away without worrying about smudges or anything.
I start off with a color corrector – the one I use is the NYX Color Correcting Concealer Palette:
I don’t use this every day, but it’s there when I need it. I pretty much exclusively use the green shade and that middle peachy one. The green is amazing for neutralizing redness, and the peach goes under my eyes when I look particularly tired…which is a lot. I like this palette but I wouldn’t buy it again because I don’t have a use for most of the shades. Instead, I just got the green shade by itself in a little jar!!
Next is another big one – foundation. My very favorite foundation as of late has been Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup (quite a mouthful!!)
I’ve gone through so many foundations trying to find the perfect one for my skin tone and type and this one is amazing!! I wear the shade 0.5 which is an almost perfect match for me, even though it doesn’t look like that in the swatch below:
I absolutely LOVE this foundation. It’s very lightweight and doesn’t feel like you’re even wearing anything but still provides great coverage. The literal only downside is that it costs $40 lol how tragic!
For concealer, my favorite one right now is the Sephora Collection Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer:
A Sephora employee actually showed me this and I’ve ended up purchasing it three times over since then! I absolutely love it!! I use the shade 05 Parfait. It’s great for under my eyes and concealing blemishes – not too heavy but still good coverage. I switched from the NYX HD Concealer to this one…I love it so much!
And here’s what those two things look like together:
Stunning!!
Finally, I set my concealer with powder. I used to set my entire face, but I found that made me feel cakey and look “powdery”. My absolute all-time favorite never-gonna-try-anything-else powder is the NYX HD Translucent Pressed Powder:
I have the shades Translucent and Banana but Translucent is my favorite. I am full on obsessed with this powder – it’s so fine and perfect and amazing in every way. It’s light and sets my makeup without looking cakey. I’ve bought and used up so many of these I’ve lost count. I legitimately don’t know why I even try purchasing any other powders because this one is everything I want and need!!
Face – Color and Highlight
Once my base is all set, I move on to the rest of my face. Starting with contour!
I didn’t always do contour because I thought it looked unnatural on me – but I realized I was just doing too much, and using product that was too orange and warm on me. The bronzer I use was part of a gift set by It Cosmetics – it’s the Sunshine In A Compact Vitality Anti-Aging Matte Bronzer:
It came with a blush and highlighter also, but I use this compact for the bronzer pretty much exclusively. I absolutely ADORE it. It’s the perfect shade for me without being too orange-y. You can see I’ve hit pan on it from using it so much too!
Next it’s time for the blush. I usually go for a relatively natural pink or peach-based blush. I don’t like to do anything too bold or bright because it just doesn’t really work with my skintone. I have a few favs…
- Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush – Paaarty
- The Balm Instain Long-Wearing Powder Staining Blush – Houndstooth
- Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush – Exposed
- Revlon Powder Blush – Naughty Nude
I usually only keep one in my makeup bag at a time and switch them up every once in a while – right now the one in my bag is Tarte Paaarty. I just decided to swatch them all because they’re pretty similar and all are very good. I could grab any one of these to complement pretty much any look I have on my eyes.
Left to right: Tarte Paaarty, Tarte Exposed, Revlon, The Balm
Both the Tarte blushes are amazing, this formula is seriously so good and a bestseller for a reason. I’ve had that first one Exposed for YEARS – you can even see they’ve actually changed the packaging since I bought it. It’s just such a perfect neutral toned color that I think would look good on any skin tone. Finally, Tarte Paaarty was Sephora’s birthday gift for this year so it’s a mini one, and I really love it a lot too. It’s the same great formula as Exposed and I use it a lot (not that you can tell since it looks basically untouched!!!!) The Revlon one is nice and you can see a bit more peachy? And it a really nice sheen that makes you look really glowy and nice. My favorite of all of these though is probably The Balm Instain. It’s marketed as a “staining” blush and it definitely does that – this one is super long wearing and beautiful. A little bit goes a long way, as you can see in the swatch.
I feel like blush is one of those products that is SO hard to completely use up – like I said, I’ve had that Tarte one since probably 2012 or 2013? and it’s still got a good amount of product left. I rarely purchase new blush just because I know I will never use it up and I have SOME self control (although clearly not much considering the rest of my collection lol)
Last part of the face is highlighter!! I’m not really into shocking blindingly bright highlighters, I prefer the “glowy” or more subtle look. The highlighter I am OBSESSED with currently is the Hourglass Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder in Iridescent Strobe Light:
I actually bought this as a gift to myself after my Guest Relations interview hahaha and that was last AUGUST, and I have used it pretty much every day consistently since then. I’ve hit pan now as you can see and I’m dreading the day I run out! This highlighter is so beautiful and it’s something I’d definitely consider getting again.
And that finishes up the face!
Back to Eyes
To finish up, I go back to the eyes, to add eyeliner and mascara. I use two types of eyeliner, a liquid for the top and a pencil for the bottom lash line:
For my lower lash line, I’m not super picky but I like a creamy black liner to make my eyes look more ~complete~. Right now I really like the Buxom Hold the Line Waterproof Liner in Call Me. It’s a nice matte black that stays on all day.
For the top I use the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper. I’ve talked about this before, no need to ramble on here – but it’s my absolute favorite liquid liner. It has a super thin tip that makes it so easy to get a beautiful line. Idk if I’ll ever buy another liquid liner tbh. If for some reason someone said I could never use this liner again, I’d just never line my eyes again on principle. I’m being dramatic now but you get the point. I LOVE this eyeliner.
After adding my bottom liner I also usually put a little bit of some of the eyeshadow I applied earlier on the bottom lash line. I think it makes the whole look seem more finished and ties it all together nicely.
Because I’m super extra, I also usually use two mascaras.
I strongly believe that there is absolutely no reason to spend money on high end mascaras. For some things – foundation, eyeshadow, etc. – you can really tell a difference sometimes between high-end and drugstore makeup, but mascara is not one of those things imo. AND mascaras have a really short shelf life and you’re supposed to toss them after a few months anyway, so why spend more than like $10??? You’ll never catch me buying a high end mascara lol
ANYWAY – all that being said, I use 2-3 because …idk. It’s fun haha. I like my lashes to be really big so it works. Currently I like the two Covergirl ones – LashBlast Waterproof is like my ALL TIME favorite mascara, it’s so good and it’s like $8. I tend to prefer the plastic comb-like brushes on mascaras over the big poofy ones.
Finally I have a lash primer by L’Oreal, which I actually first tried out from a Target beauty box! I LOVE this product. It makes my lashes look so much bigger and fuller no matter what mascara I use.
I don’t wear fake lashes in my everyday looks, so we’ll skip those for today!
FINALLY – the last step is brows!
- NYX Eyebrow Gel – Blonde
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
- NYX Micro Brow Pencil – Taupe
Weird how the swatches are such different colors haha. I prefer the color of the gel – the pencil can tend to pull a bit warm on me as you can see and the ashy tone of the gel is a lot better for me.
99% of the time I use the brow gel, applied with a thin angled brush. I just love the look of a clean and crisp brow and the gel really does that for me. The NYX pencil is really good too, and used to be my favorite brow product, but now I prefer the gel. When I do use the pencil I like to set it with the clear gel to keep it more in place.
Lips
Lips are always the last thing I do because they really tie the whole look together. For day to day makeup, I normally have a neutral lip, but on my days off I like to wear brighter colors too. For the purposes of this post I just grabbed a few of my favorite neutral/toned down lip colors and swatched them all.
- MAC Lip Pencil – Boldly Bare
- MAC Matte Lipstick – Velvet Teddy
- Tarte Tarteist Creamy Matte Lip Paint – Birthday Suit
- Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks – Lovesick, Ludwig, Double Dare
- Buxom Full-On Lip Cream – White Russian
I went for a variety of lip products – we’ve got a lip liner, a regular lipstick, some liquid lipsticks, and a gloss.
I love all of these so much!!!
The MAC lip pencil/lipstick combo is great and super natural looking on me, and very long lasting for a regular lipstick as well. The Tarte lipstick is the second part of the Sephora birthday gift and I actually love the color and finish of it!! I obviously love KVD liquid lipsticks and Double Dare is pretty much my all time holy grail favorite lip color – it just looks so good on my skin tone. I normally don’t wear the Buxom gloss alone but overtop one of the other nudes and it’s so pretty for when I want a bit of a lighter lip.To be honest I rarely wear lip gloss because I love a matte lip but this one is pretty much the only gloss I wear so I decided to include it.
Finishing Up
After all of that we are ALMOST DONE! I doubt anyone is still reading at this point haha but here we are. After I’m finished with my makeup I always set it so it stays all day.
First, I go in with the Kat Von D Lock-It Blotting Powder:
I recently mentioned this after I bought it during the Sephora cast member sale, and I quickly became OBSESSED with it. It’s like magic for your pores. I apply it right after all my makeup, right on top, and it keeps me from getting shiny all day long!! I also love to carry it for touch ups if I need to blot my face during the day. I absolutely love this powder.
And then for our final step – setting spray!
As mentioned – I tend to go a bit overboard with makeup so I have three setting sprays that I switch between, and I usually use 2.
- Kate Somerville UncompliKated SPF 50 Soft Focus Makeup Setting Spray
- Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray
- MAC Prep + Prime Fix+
The Kate Somerville setting spray is amazing for the summer and I use it every day for work. I love that it has such a high SPF. It also has a very lovely mist that feels so lightweight on your face. The only drawback is since this one has SPF it can cause flashback in flash photos, so this one wouldn’t be the best for any special events where you’ll be getting photos taken. I love it for everyday though!!
The Urban Decay one is like a cult classic and sets my makeup really well. I slightly prefer the MAC Fix+ though – this is an all-purpose setting spray and mixing medium for makeup and it’s great. It doesn’t just set my makeup, it almost blends the layers together??! and just makes my face look so smooth and put together. I love this stuff.
And FINALLY after all of that, we are done!! I know this was a ridiculously long post and like I said, I doubt anyone read this far haha but if you did, thank you! I hope you enjoyed this post and seeing what some of my favorite “everyday” makeup products are. We’ll see how much this changes in the future 🙂
see you next time! <3 Kaela
