Sunday, September 26, 2010

The Bare Face and a Book Blurb

I mentioned on Friday that I was going to share my bare face, following the inspiration of Sal at Already Pretty (who was in turn inspired by Rabbit Write).

Well, cover your eyes, kiddies, here I am: Fresh out of the shower, with wet hair. I've got SPF 15 moisturizer on, and nothing else. I think I look pretty good for my age (I'm almost 43) - I've been wearing sunblock daily since I was 17 years old (when Oil of Olay was the only company that made a moisturizer with SPF 15), and it's paid off. I'd also like to thank my mom and dad for the good genetics.

This is all my make-up. I don't use most of the potions on the top shelf (they are super-duper night cream and eye cream and some hair gunk for when I do my hair spiky).
I clean out my make-up annually and toss anything I haven't used in a while (I save all my MAC containers for trade-in).

Here's the face with base:
I have cover-up under my eyes, on my lip scar, and on any zits (arg, in my 40s and still get zits!).

These are my usual base materials: I start with the MAC tube of Select MoistureCover and the sponge and tap that on. Then I use my big fat brush and swirl on the MAC Studio Fix. This gives a really sheer powder base (I have super oily skin, so I can't use any kind of liquid base or it'll be melted off within a couple of hours). I can also apply the base with a round sponge (that comes with it) for more coverage, like for a party or special occasion where I want to look more "done".

Another powder base I use is L'Oreal True Match Naturale mineral powder base (with SPF 19). It gives a very smooth base with high coverage (it's in the lower left corner of the cabinet in the above picture). I like that for evening or times when I won't be wearing make-up for very long, as it tends to settle in the wrinkles after a few hours.

I follow either base with a light dusting of the Mineral Wear Translucent Glow (the stuff with the flecks in it above) to pick up a bit of highlights around my cheekbones.

I do blush and the eyes next:
I don't like really noticeable make-up during the day, so although I wear a lot of make-up, it's not the first thing you see when you look at me.

My tools:
1. My brown eyeliner (I also have black, navy blue, dark purple and olive green). I usually use Rimmel's Exaggerate Full Colour Eye Definer because I don't have to sharpen it. The brush beside it is my smudger for blending the line. As I get older, I find that smudgier is more forgiving than a sharp line.

2. My eyeshadows. The two pots are MAC: the under-brow highlighter at the top (Shroom) and the lid colour below it (Woodwinked) - both are pearl finishes. The darker colour in the two-shadow compact is my crease colour - it's one of the "no show taupes" by Clinique. I like a non-frosted/pearl neutral in the crease.

3. My blush. It's "fresh bloom all over colour" by Clinique in Almond Blossom. I like this for daytime, to give a titch of colour with a bit of sheer highlight along my cheekbones. I also have a MAC blush that I use for evening, which is a solid peachy colour. In the daytime, I tend to have a constant flush on my cheeks anyway from all the walking I do, so I don't like a heavy blush.

4. My brushes. From the top: highlighter, crease, eyelid and blush brush.

Here's my face basically finished - mascara and eyebrows are done:
I like a little extra definition in my brows (which are starting to come in white - oh thank you, Gods of Aging). I do extra mascara when I'm going out, including wearing it on my bottom lashes. I never wear it on the bottom during the day, as I'd end up with big racoon eyes (even with waterproof - it's scary).

Right now, I'm using Maybelline's Great Lash in black (the waterproof formula).
That's my favourite brow pencil: Clinique's Brow Keeper in Honey. I hate sharpening it, but the colour is perfect, and it lasts, and I love the little brush for grooming my brows.

Face without my cheesy grin:
Oh, and I finish with some sort of gloss usually. My glosses:
The two on the left are those permanent paint-on types of lipsticks (one in red, one in a brick/brown shade). I also have a couple of Rimmel glosses and two of Cliniques plumping glosses (they last forever). I see a Clinique lipstick as well (green tube), a tube of yummy Rimmel gel gloss and that leopard ball is a beeswax gloss.

With lips and glasses:
I think it's a nice, subtle look that is appropriate for my age. I enjoy putting on make-up (I always have), and this full routine takes about 10 minutes.

I'm not going to be doing a "No Make-up Week", nor will I be going to work with no make-up. It's just not my thing - make-up for me completes my look, like the cherry on top. However, I have no problem going out without make-up on...I just prefer to wear it.

This is what I wore to Weight Watchers and out to lunch with friends:
Super casual and comfy! Wow, I can't believe I haven't worn this skirt in over nine months (last seen here).

It was a little chilly earlier, so I wore my jean jacket:
Jean jacket (Ann Taylor Loft), t-shirt (TMT), skirt (Marc D'Alcy), boots (Miz Mooz).

I also finished another book this past week: "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris.
I became a Sedaris fan after reading "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim" and continued with "When You Are Engulfed in Flames" (blurbed here).

Stats: 272 pages. Started September 15th and finished September 20th.

Blurb: More of the same from Sedaris; hilarious, sad, touching and silly stories about his childhood in the first part ("One") and in the second part ("Deux") about his move to France and his attempts to learn French. I actually barked with laughter while reading the short essay "Big Boy". I made L read it right away and he nearly cried he laughed so hard. I really can't resist his books and will hunt down the other ones.

Hope your weekend is going well!

25 comments:

  1. You're gorgeous! You have beautiful skin.

    I love the outfit. The skirt has a beautiful draping.

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  2. Oh, Sheila! This is my all-time favorite outfit. You look so poised and self-assured in it!

    You have inspired me with your makeup "primer". I really SHOULD wear some, I know. I do use a moisturizer in the morning and evening and mascara on my upper lashes (I HAVE to! You wouldn't know I had any otherwise.) But I know some foundation or brushed-on powder would even out my skin tone.

    Honestly, you are beautiful WITH and WITHOUT.

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  3. Oh...I WILL find and read Sedaris! Thanks for the tip.

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  4. You have great skin! I love the floaty skirt!

    I listened to Me Talk Pretty One Day on audio book last year when I had a lengthy commute, and it made me cry and laugh so hard that I cried.

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  5. Thanks, Megan! I actually have horrid scarring from acne, so I'm lucky to have kept the sun from ruining it further.

    Rebecca, thank you so much! Wow, that's high praise. :) Hey, with make-up, wear what you're comfortable with. I wear a lot less when I'm more casual. I know you would love Sedaris!

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  6. Sheila you have the most even toned skin and the prettiest eyes :)
    I try to be make up less during the weekends.
    However when prepping for work my make up is minimal... powder, mascara, blush and gloss.

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  7. I love how your face looks sans makeup and also how your skillful application of it enhances things without calling attention to itself. That's the best of both worlds.

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  8. You have INCREDIBLE skin!!!!! Thank you for sharing this.

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  9. Your entry made me wonder if I would have enough guts to do it at 49---hmmm, maybe for my birthday on the 28th, I'll probably chicken out though.

    I love David Sedaris--my husband hates him, because whenever I read him in the middle of the night I keep waking him up to read him passages or waking him up just because I am laughing like a hyena.

    You are beautiful with no make up at all!

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  10. I love Sedaris on audio. Though the print is fun, his delivery is hilarious!

    So jealous of that skirt. I need to go skirt shopping now.

    And love your face! :)


    (Post verifcation: merspart. Is that animal, mineral, or vegetable?)

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  11. Wonderful!! I love your natural look with and without makeup. I like how you highlight your great features you don't look like a completely different person when you put your makeup on. I do not wear makeup, but I would like to start wearing some spf the sun here in Cali is brutal on my skin I have sensitive and breakout prone skin though so I am not sure what to use. Just beautiful & I love your plaid T that is awesome ~Heather

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  12. You LOOK great hunnie...thanks for walking us through your makeup routine....I wear NO makeup on the weekends....unless I have plans to go somewhere and HAVE to....:)

    Statements in Fashion Gift Card Giveaway!!

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  13. Awesome post. You look great, with or without makeup, and you have such a natural look. The color of your hair and your complexion work so well together. I am also a fan of the long, drapey skirt.
    I read the Sedaris book before I went to graduate school and I remember loving it. I love his short pieces in the New Yorkers as well!

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  14. Thanks, Lorena, you are too kind. I enjoy my routine.

    Thanks, shybiker!

    Tessa, thanks! It's amazing what decades of sunscreen will do.

    Lesa, would you do it? I sort of cringe looking at my own huge face! Hah, that's the same reaction my husband has. Thank you so much!

    I have to check that out, Freeda. Thanks so much!

    Thanks, Heather - it's not all that different, is it? You should definitely be wearing some moisturizer with SPF. Try Olay for sensitive skin (it's unscented and very light - I'm also prone to breakouts).

    Thanks, Collette. It's good to go bare!

    Thanks, Rad! This is the colour my hair was as a kid.

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  15. Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend too, Sheila!

    I am amazed at your skin. You have nearly two decades on me and your skin is in better condition! Keep it up with the sunblock.

    Also, I'm impressed at how neat your makeup cabinet is.

    I've seen so many folks do this type of post, and I'm not sure that I'm bold enough to expose my own bare face, but it is certainly eye-opening. I kept looking at the first few pictures of you thinking "beautiful, but something is missing", and then realized that I'm used to seeing you photographed in your fabulous glasses instead, and missed them!

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  16. The tone/warm coloring of your skin works really well with your hair color- very flattering. nice job on the long term use of sun screen.

    drapey, beigy, camel skirt- yummy.heart your plaid top

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  17. Sheila, thank you for your makeup post!!! First, thanks for going "naked", and showing us your routine. BTW, you look great with no makeup on, but I understand your choice to wear it. I do both, but I find I feel more awake and pulled together when I have a bit of makeup on. Secondly- I, too am in my 40's, with oily skin and some zit action- so I'm always searching for the "perfect" powder/makeup/base that is light/sheer and doesn't settle into creases or look cakey. The MAC studio Fix sounds like it is just the thing! I knew it existed, but never wanted to spend the money after being burned so many other times on pricey products. (thanks unscrupulous Nordstrom saleswomen!)
    Your post was very informative, and spoke to all of my concerns- I can't thank you enough! Yay!

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  18. Oh, and when I read David Sedaris' "Me Talk Pretty One Day" I actually laughed so hard that I shot English Breakfast tea out of my nose! He is a wonderful story teller, with an amazing sense of comic timing, be it written or spoken. Definitely find "Barrel Fever"- That was the first Sedaris book I read, and it is still my favorite. I believe that is the first book of his that "The SantaLand Diaries" shows up in, and that story is so hilarious I almost actually died laughing.

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  19. Thanks, Kari! I don't have great skin, actually - I have a lot of acne scarring. I do think that wearing the sunscreen all these years has really helped, though. Ha, my make-up cabinet is neat because I'm basically on auto-pilot in the mornings, so I need to have everything in the exact same spot where I can see it. I like my glasses too. :)

    Thanks so much, Alecia!

    You're welcome, Rita! I would try the Studio Fix - it really is lovely and sheer and worth the money (it's about $40 here). Mine lasts me over 6 months and I'm wearing it nearly every day. Thanks so much.

    Thanks for the recommendation - I will hunt down all of Sedaris' books, since I just love him. Sounds awesome. :)

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  20. This was amazing, thank you for doing it! I love how you control the shape of your face with your hair and your glasses, but still remain so perfectly Sheila too. I tend to think nothing can take attention away from square-as-a-block-of-cheese head and face, but now I am wondering if I have just not been using the right glasses and hair shapes.

    And I have to get much better about applying makeup; you have a great touch with yours! it's just enough to make one thing you really aren't wearing much at all.

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  21. Kristen, thank you so much. It was kind of scary to bare it all! I think there are lots of online "try the style" sites where you can upload pics of yourself to try styles of hair and glasses - good luck!

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  22. pretty girl, that smile is priceless. made me smile too. it's very contagious. thanks!

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  23. Sheila,
    I just found out that David Sedaris has a new book coming out- today! (in the states) It's called 'Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary'.
    So I thought I'd let you know!

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  24. Oh, awesome, Rita, thanks! Maybe I'll get it for my birthday. :)

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