Rush... rush... (How to look great in four minutes)

Everybody is always on the go. Everyday, we try to beat time so we don’t get late going to the office, school or to a meeting. Nobody wants to be late. To avoid being tardy, you will sometimes bump into women doing their makeup in the bus or metro, or even worse, see them doing their makeup while driving. Most women have become experts in doing their eyeliners in a moving vehicle. These habits are very dangerous. All you have to do is to allot four minutes (or even less) to do your makeup before taking off. Yes, you read it right – you just need four minutes to do your whole face!

Sounds too good to be true? Well, if you do it right, then believe it. The key to achieving a fresh, natural makeup that looks like it was done for hours is to have a clean base – meaning, clean skin. First, to achieve this "clean" five-minute makeup look, let us first assume that you have good and healthy skin. I always stress the importance of having good skin in almost all of my articles. It would make your life so much easier if you have a dermatologist and a skin regimen to maintain a healthy skin. If you’re still working on achieving to get good skin, then keep it up. You will be pleased with the results. Fact is, everyone – both men and women, young and old – should have a skin regimen.

Next, make sure you don’t have extra hair on your face aside from your eyebrows and eyelashes. No mustache allowed for women. It’s just taboo. It is not right. In fact, single women who have mustache will turn off men. You do not want this to happen. So, please get those unwanted hair removed and you’ll see the improved and "cleaner" you. In short, make it a habit to clean your face as often as possible. This will help you avoid rushing that last minute plucking that may sometimes result in accidental cut. If you have colored hair, make sure your eyebrows’ color match your hair. Well-groomed eyebrows will save you more than half of your time when you are rushing to get ready. Now that you have a clean "base," let’s get that makeup on.

Here’s how to do it. First things first, protect your skin. It is very important to wear sun block. I would suggest a tinted moisturizer especially for women on the go. These moisturizers already have a sun protection factor (SPF) and a sheer foundation all in one formulation. They come in various tones to suit all women. If you use this, then all you have to do after application is to set it with loose powder, groom your eyebrows, curl your lashes to open up your eyes, sweep a bit of a blush on the apples of your cheeks for a healthy glow, finish with your lip color and you’re all set to go. It really is that simple and that fast.

As a professional makeup artist, I, too, have one of those days when I need to rush and be on the job on time. What I do is very simple. It takes me about four minutes to get my face ready for the day. After washing my face, I put on my sun block then I set it with loose powder. I make sure my eyebrows are well groomed and in place. I curl my lashes, dab some gloss on my lips and I’m all set.

Get the look:

•Prepare your face. Cleanse. Tone and moisturize if needed.

•Groom eyebrows. Sweep face clean from any hair.

•Apply tinted sun block.

•Set with loose powder.

•Curl lashes.

•Lightly sweep peach colored blush on the apples of cheeks.

•Apply peach lip color.

•Finish with lip shine.

If you maintain a "clean" face, then makeup won’t be so hard to do in a flash. Don’t leave your house looking all messed up. Make it a habit to regularly take the unwanted hair off your face and I promise you’ll notice a huge difference. You will be amazed how fast you can do your own makeup and how much time you saved. Trust me, make it a habit to do these tips so you won’t look stressed and you will feel good about yourself. You will exude beauty and sex appeal. So, don’t be surprised if you make heads turn. What perfect way to make your day! Relax and stop traffic with a killer fresh look – and enjoy the rush.

(E-mail me at beautysecrets@pldtdsl.net)