Two musts with the eyes: shimmer and neutrality. Every product I used on the eyes contained shimmer since I didn't have the time or patience to apply glitter and clean up the fall out from it. I chose the neutral colors of taupe and dark brown so that I had the freedom to coordinate my lip color with whatever outfit I ended up with. For me, it's easier to coordinate my makeup with my clothing than vice versa. Also, all the shadows I used were from the same palette (Urban Decay Naked palette) for two reasons: I wasn't wasting time scrounging my makeup collection for different shadows and I find Urban Decay shadows very simple to blend with little effort, also saving time. For brows, nothing fancy here, just some quick swipes of my brow pencil and spoolie. If you have thicker brows that already have a nice shape, I'd suggest just running some brow gel or clear mascara through them (or nothing at all if you can get away with it). For the liner, I just did a quick thick line but only on the outer half. Finally, I did use 1 coat each of 2 mascaras but I was just being picky: I really recommend just using one if you can. I was aiming for the effect of falsies without having to actually use them.
- E.L.F. Eyelid Primer in Pearl on lid
- E.L.F. Studio Cream Shadow in Dawn on lid
- Urban Decay Shadow in Sidecar pressed on lid
- Urban Decay Shadow in Darkhorse in crease and outer V
- Urban Decay Shadow in Virgin as brow highlight
- Urban Decay Shadow in Smog smudged on outer half of lower lashline
- Physicians Formula Gel Liner in Glam Eyes Hazel (Black with Gold Sparkles) thick, winged out line on outer half of upper lashline
- Maybelline Define-A-Brown in Dark Brown in brows
- Buxom Lash Mascara
- Lancome Hypnose Drama
Face:
Since I chose to spend the majority of my efforts on my eyes, I made the face easy here: color correcting primer, undereye concealer, and powder. I sweat easily so any foundation put on would be sweated off anyway so I just skip that all together. The powder I use has light reflecting pigments so I was able to use that as a highlighter in addition to a powder. I also used a shimmery bronzer and applied it low in my cheeks but above my typical contour, allowing me to use it as a bronzer, contour, blush and highlight all in one.
- Stila Correct Perfect Primer
- Laura Gellar Real Deal Concealer
- Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Correcting Pebbles
- E.L.F. Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzing Duo (Bronzer side only)
Lips:
Like I said earlier, since I kept everything else neutral, I saved myself the option to wear whatever lip color I wanted. I chose a bright color to amp up some of the drama lost by my time crunch
- E.L.F. Lipstick in Classy
In closing, I understand that this isn't the absolute quickest method of application, but my priority is keeping as much drama as possible and by cutting out some of my usual steps that I can do away with for one night. If speed is you utmost priority there are plenty of steps you can cut out, such as using only the cream shadow and skipping the powder shadow, skipping the liner, only using a concealer & bronzer on the face...whatever you want to do. I think the most important thing to get from this look is the idea of just having your own personal prescribed look ready in your mind for times when you need to look fabulous in a snap. Personally, the thing that wastes the most of my time when doing my makeup is when I don't have a plan of what I'm going to do. Some tips for creating your own plan:
- Prioritize: Figure out what's most important to you for this look. For me it was glitzy eyes (shimmer and smokiness), for you it might be glitter, lashes/falsies, liner, lips, contouring, or etc.
- Give a Little: Figure out what's least important to you so you can forego that step and devote that time to whatever your priority is. For me, this was foundation. Also pick some things that you can cut a little short. I chose to only line half of my upper lashline which allowed me to keep some drama without having to line my entire eye. I also settled for shimmery eyeshadows instead of glitter so I wouldn't have to worry about having a glitter bomb all over my face.
- Keep it Swiss (Neutral): It's much easier for me to figure out what makeup will look best on me than my clothes, so when I'm trying to run out the door ASAP I want to preserve as much time as possible to fumble through my closet and model different options in front of my mirror. If I stick to neutrals on the eyes and face, any outfit I choose will go with my makeup and, as said previously, I can pick whatever lip color that will go with my outfit best.
- Practice: Think about this possible situation when you actually have some free time and sit down and plan/practice this look so that when the time comes, you'll know the makeup and products like the back of you hand, saving you even more time. Make it like your "little black dress" that you can always depend on in times of need.
Hope this helps! Nothing revolutionary here but I'm a planner and I prefer to give myself plenty of time to get ready for things. Unfortunately the world doesn't work this way and sometimes things come up so I like to give myself as much leeway as possible.
Do you have a go-to look? What is it?
