Makeup That Stays Put Archives

Which Beauty Treatments Save The Most Time For Busy Women?

06/26/2017 by Kat 51 Comments

Trying to get a minimal beauty routine and reduce the time you spend getting ready? Reader J wrote in with a great idea for an open thread, wondering which beauty treatments save time, and give you the biggest bang for your buck? I’m curious to hear what readers say about this.

Hi there! I have a suggestion for a discussion either here or on CorporetteMoms. I have a pretty minimal beauty and skincare routine, yet I feel like I spend a lot of time “getting ready”. I’m wondering how other readers have used professional services such as waxing, eyebrow tinting, permanent make-up, microblading, and other beauty treatments to save time. Which services are worth the cost and make a real difference in the reader’s daily routines. Thank you!

VERY interesting! I’ve written before about how much I love my laser hair removal and I would definitely recommend it, despite the pain and the expense — it’s been almost ten years since I had it done and I can’t remember the last time I shaved my legs. I would also definitely be on the weekly blowout train if I wanted something sleeker than my wavy/curly hair — I’d much rather spend 60 minutes getting my hair blown out to perfection and rocking the look for 3-5 days rather than fighting for 25-35 minutes on my own and getting a lousy look that didn’t last more than a day or two. (Here are my tips on how to make your blowout last for days!) I also just got a “healthy” keratin treatment on my hair, at the encouragement of a friend who loves her keratin treatments — my initial thought was that it took ten years off my hair (and it went from crazy dry frizzy to only slightly dry frizzy) but I’m waiting until this one wears off and I get my second treatment before I really weigh in. I was also intrigued to see readers discussing eyebrow tinting, specifically using Just For Men to tint eyebrows recently — I ordered some from Amazon and am going to give it a try! I’ve never tried Botox (although I’ve discussed Juvederm with my derm for my “marionette” lines, yay), but I know many MANY readers have given shoutouts to it. Blue Collar Red Lipstick just did a mini-review of her microblading treatment, and I know Bee at HelloBee has shared that she got her eyebrows tattooed. I’ve been considering doing a Zoom teeth whitening treatment after another blogger I read had it done (I thought it was Wardrobe Oxygen but I can’t find the post now). (The NYT just had a similar article along these lines, about microblading, tattoos, and hair extensions.)

Ladies, what about you — which treatments and services have you considered or gotten in order to streamline your routine? What would you advise other busy professionals looking for beauty treatments to save time? Have you tried microblading, makeup tattoos, laser hair removal, and so forth?

Picture via Stencil.

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Filed Under: Beauty, Makeup That Stays Put, No Time Tagged With: posts

Beauty Wednesday: The Everyday Red Lipstick

02/04/2015 by Kat

After years of choosing either mauve lipsticks or MLBB tints,* I’m now looking for An Everyday Red Lipstick. I’m still on the hunt for one that I like — it’s a project to find one that has the trifecta of a) color, b) comfort, and c) longwear. By which I mean a) I want the perfect color for my skintone, b) one that is comfortable to wear and doesn’t dry the heck out of my lips, and c) one that doesn’t transfer to glasses (or my teeth, or my boys), one that doesn’t fade unevenly (I haaaate the ombre lip look). (Pictured: a few of the ones I’ve sampled: 1) MAC Pro Longwear in Extended Play — I liked the comfort/wear of this one the best, but they’re apparently discontinuing the line. BOOO. 2) Too Faced Melted in Berry — not my favorite on any of the 3 prongs — and 3) M·A·C ‘Mineralize’ Rich Lipstick in Lush Life — my second favorite in wear, but just a touch too bright in color.) I’ve also tried M·A·C Prep + Prime Lip (my favorite thus far) and Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer.)

I was surprised a few years ago at a few legal conferences to see the women speakers wearing the red lip, considering the challenges to finding the perfect color — but the red lip has historically been the power lipstick perhaps because it takes confidence to wear it. At the same time, though, I like that you can look “done” with relatively little other makeup.

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Filed Under: Beauty, Makeup That Stays Put

Beauty Wednesday: Tinted Lip Balms

07/16/2014 by Kat

I have an unhealthy addiction to tinted lip balms, and given that I really tend to jettison my heavier lipsticks during the summer months, I thought now would be a perfect time to round up a few of the various tinted balms I’ve tried, with pictures, swatches, and more. I’ve always found tinted lip balms to be great for a fast and easy beauty routine, from my days as a stressed-out student, to a time-starved lawyer, to a busy mom now — they’re generally a no-mess application, with a moisturizing feel, and if you’re lucky, SPF to boot.

This is obviously not an exhaustive survey, just the various products that I’ve bought and tried and still have in my current collection. (I’ve also owned Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment in the past, but don’t seem to have it any more — looking at Sephora it looks like they have a ton of new colors, AND they all have SPF 15, so I may have to try them again.) Here’s my report, comparing and contrasting them all to everyone’s favorite: Clinique Black Honey…

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Filed Under: Beauty, Makeup That Stays Put, Weather

How to Change Makeup as You Age (And: A Few Great Natural Makeup Tutorials)

07/25/2013 by Kat

How do you change your makeup as you age? And which are the best makeup tutorials for professional women? Reader E wonders…

You’ve had all sorts of posts about makeup to wear when interviewing/commuting/etc. I’m wondering if you could offer some resources that step back even further. I’m in a career (and life!) transitional phase. Before now, I’ve been able to get away with not wearing makeup on a daily basis. Now I’m starting moving into management positions and my professional makeup needs are changing to something more daily. I’m also in my mid 30s and noticing odd things like “fine” lines and growing pores that my old makeup seems to accentuate rather than cover. Can you direct me to what you think are some good, basic tutorials that lay out how to do professional, daily makeup?

Great question. We’ve had an open thread about how your skincare should change as you age, but not specifically about makeup. You may want to check out Charla Krupp’s book, How Not to Look Old (pictured above)– she has a ton of great “aging gracefully” beauty advice in there. Unfortunately, the main piece I remember is that she advised against mauve/rose lipstick, which is my favorite lipstick color, so personally I’m going to ignore that one entirely. A few other suggestions on how to change your makeup as you age: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beauty, Makeup That Stays Put, Mid-30s, Professionalism

How Much Makeup Do You Wear to Work?

06/03/2013 by Kat

2018 update: We still stand by our advice here on makeup for work, but you may want to check out our more recent discussion about how much makeup you wear for work.

How much makeup do you wear on a daily basis to work? How often do you change it up? I saw a recent quote in the Huffington Post about how the editor of Elle Magazine says that makeup for work isn’t as necessary as you think, and it’s better to wear less when you’re young. We’ve talked before about what makeup to wear for interviewing, whether makeup makes you look more competent, and in this blog’s early days we had a really poorly constructed poll about what makeup you wear daily. So I thought today might be a fun open thread: what makeup do you wear on a daily basis? Are there days when you step it up at work — for example, will you wear more makeup if you’re giving a presentation or have a big meeting? Do you change your makeup on a daily basis, such as to better match your outfits? Do you change your makeup for the seasons? On the flip side, have you ever judged a coworker for her makeup choices?

For my $.02, I always consider my bare essentials to be curled eyelashes, blush, and concealer under my eyes — it’s a rare day when I leave the house without those on. For a daily makeup look, I usually wear (in addition to blush and concealer and curled eyelashes): [Read more…]

Filed Under: Beauty, Makeup That Stays Put, Professionalism, Style, Wear to Work

Makeup For Biking to Work

04/23/2013 by Kat

Which makeup is best for a biking commute, or another commute where you expect sweat and possibly wind? Reader K wonders…

Being lucky enough to live only four miles from my office, I’m wanting to start taking a bike to and from work every day for personal fitness, sustainability, and savings on gas and vehicle wear-and-tear. The difficulty is with wardrobe and makeup. Specifically, making sure I don’t look like a war zone every day. I have a feeling this is an issue for women in very urban environments as well, where walking and subway commutes can be the transportation method of choice. Since I’m in Texas heat is the biggest issue, but I’d also be interested in any ideas for dealing with the cold, wind, and other factors. What are some ideas for making sure I don’t look like a hot mess at work after biking in?

Great question. Biking to work (or walking!) are solid ways to sneak more exercise into a busy life — I actually really miss the time I used to spend walking to and from work. We’ve talked about the best bags for commuting, how to cool down quickly after a hot commute, and how to keep your regular bra sweat-free. We’ve had guest posters share their love of wedges for walk-to-work heels, and I’ve shared my own trick — getting a pair of comfortable/stable “commuting shoes” that were the same height as my regular pumps (so I didn’t have to hem my pants differently), but maybe a bit uglier than what I’d otherwise wear around the office; I’ve also talked about how I’ve logged way too many miles in Reef/Teva flipflops with arch support (not recommended). But we haven’t talked about which makeup is best for a possibly sweaty/windswept commute. [Read more…]