Are You Using Semi-Permanent Makeup?
This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
There's been a trend cropping up on TikTok: women showing a pre-bedtime routine involving lip tints, self-tanners, eyebrow dyes, henna'd freckles, and more. When they then wake up in the morning (and rinse) they have makeup that lasts for anywhere from a few days to a week.
So let's discuss — are you using any of these makeup hacks? Are you doing more sophisticated versions of them, like lash tints or microblading or whatnot?
(I think the hashtag #goingtobeduglytowakeuppretty should get you to the biggest tranche of videos… Just to illustrate the post, here's TikTokker Kaycee Ogle (and a Fox News story featuring her) explaining how she uses self-tanner as contour and then sleeps in it.)
Semi-Permanent “Lazy Girl” Makeup
I've seen this trend in past summers, but this summer it seems to be everywhere. (Although, hey, that may be just my algorithm.) There are also a whole crop of videos where people are like, “Do my lazy girl makeup routine with me,” and then show a 10-minute video of them applying like four different foundations and contour and so forth. Which… we have different definitions of lazy, my friend!
(I've written before about my short makeup routine… this was a great discussion, actually!)
{related: daily makeup for work}
Some of the things I'm seeing mentioned as semi-permanent makeup include:
Eyebrow tints. I've written before about occasionally using men's beard dye to dye my eyebrows, and after seeing a few reader discussions about them, I've been trying out more permanent options like Godefroy. (I'm not sure if I need them, but in my heart I feel better using my eyebrow stencils that I wrote about here.) There are also some products that apparently go on like a tattoo that you peel off your eyebrows. I haven't tried those; if you have, please let us know how it went.
An upgrade to fuller eyebrows, of course, is microblading (which Adina from Blue Collar Red LIpstick wrote a guest post about). Readers also just had a discussion on microblading, nanoblading, and lash extensions…
Self-tanner as contour and eyeshadow. I am mightily tempted by these, to be honest. I know that my very round face looks a lot better with a bit of contour, but it's not part of my daily short makeup routine unless I happen to think about it. The last time I tried Jergens on my legs I couldn't stand the smell, but I recently got some self-tanner drops in the recent Sephora Sun Safety Kit. (I believe this is the product.)
These are some of the self-tanning products readers have recommended — and we're excited to try these newer self-tanner drops that you add to your regular lotion. During the NAS, Nordstrom has some great deals on self-tanner drops and St. Tropez mousse, also…
{related: what's your favorite sunscreen? (due for an update!)}
Henna for freckles (and sometimes eyebrows). I'll admit, I'm old enough to be a bit baffled by the faux-freckles trend. I think freckles are awesome, and loved when I got them when I was pregnant with my boys (which turned out to be my skin's way of telling me that I was ultrasensitive and needed a lot more sunscreen and hats). But adding beauty marks to your face just seems so 1950s to me, let alone putting a whole bunch of tiny freckles on your nose and face (henna, tattoo, or otherwise). The end result always looks nice, though. But I'd suggest maybe trying some other less permanent products first!
Lip tints worn overnight. I've seen people putting Wonderskin Lip Stain on their skin and leaving it overnight. I have this product and haven't been super impressed with the application or staying power of it, but maybe an additional seven hours is what I'm missing?
To be totally honest, I generally prefer the super-affordable wine tints I posted about a while ago (not all of them, but some colors are really amazing) to a lot of lip tints, including Wonderskin, Benetint, and RMS. But again, maybe I'm just lacking in skill here… If you have suggestions, readers, I'd love to hear them.
Then, of course, there are all of the overnight hair products — I've used the Sleep Styler in the past, but not any of the newer products… what are your thoughts on those, readers? (I am most tempted by the Cordina bun thingy, but haven't bought it yet.)
What are your thoughts, readers — are you spending a lot of time on semi-permanent makeup in order to save time the rest of the week? What have been your successes and fails? (Are you still doing a multi-step skin routine at night in addition to this, neither, or is it an either-or situation for you?)
I have super straight eye lashes – they truly point downwards – so I’ve been getting a lift. It’s perhaps the most vain sounding thing I do but I really do enjoy it. I like that there is no regular upkeep; I can just do it when I want. But I really don’t enjoy the process of having my eyes taped shut for an hour, during which I inevitably fall asleep and snore because I’m on my back. Joy.
Tinting my eyebrows is as close to anything described in this post that I get. As a natural blonde, it really does help make me feel more together. The use of self-tanner to contour is crazy to me and I am sure I would mess it up. I don’t contour at all though and likely never will.
I don’t do this with makeup, but I do love both permanent jewelry and jewelry that can stay on for months at a time. I love wearing jewelry but don’t care if I never change it.
I’m definitely low maintenance but vain, so I do like the idea of semi permanent makeup but the application seems too high maintenance for me. Honestly, I have my skincare and makeup routine down pat so it takes less than 5 minutes for me: skincare to keep my skin looking decent on its own and then tinted moisturizer, eyebrow gel, mascara, sometimes cream blush and sometimes lip stain. I think I would love lash extensions but I’ve been to lazy to get them.
My hair is the most high maintenance part of me – it looks best if I do it but it’s pretty good if I don’t. I did invest in a shark flex style to make drying / styling fast. It looks best if I wash, dry, and use the blow out brush. I usually shower at night though so use a heated straightening brush to smooth out weird kinks in the morning. But, as I said it looks fine air dried and not styled. I also occasionally color my hair, but only do balayage so it’s easy to grow out.
For low maintenance but nice nails, my struggle was how to find the best mix of affordable, long lasting, not time consuming, and something that didn’t destroy my nails. I have an elaborate but quick Essie routine – I paint my nails 1-2x a week, it lasts 4-5 days usually and it dries quickly thanks to the speed setter coat! I still prefer the shellac look of gel, but they’re too hard on my nails and too expensive to do gels regularly.
I did laser hair removal, and that’s been so nice for low maintenance! My eyebrows have also after ~15+ years of waxing them stopped growing in. I’m so glad that when waxing I just kept my natural shape and slightly enhanced the shape rather than forcing something and trying to follow trends. I very, very rarely have to pluck an errant hair but I haven’t had them waxed in ~5 years.
Finally, I have a semi capsule wardrobe: I usually prefer muted neutrals so have an unofficial capsule wardrobe. However, I’m not strict with it. And I also love really flashy clothes (bright colors, sequins, fun fabrics) so I also buy as many flashy clothes as I want. It’s easy to pull together a capsule outfit when I’m in a hurry, but I still have plenty of fun with my wardrobe!
I use self-tanner all summer long. My products are: Loreal’s Sublime Bronze (in medium, even though I am very fair) for a quick overnight light tan; Isle of Paradise self-tanning drops (in light) when I travel, because the bottle holds less than 3 ounces. Sometimes I do an extra very light coat on my calves since they never tan as well as my thighs. Definitely practice once or twice when you can wear pants until it wears off. Today’s products don’t streak very much (not like the old QT, which I used back then!) and are a natural color, but you want to a test before anyone is going to see it. The secret to not streaking is to rub it into your legs very thorouighly, then rub it in again very thoroughly, then rub it in more. Go lighter on your knees and heels. Wash you hands very thoroughly when you’re done.
I have the Cordina flower curler. I have fairly long hair – currently past my collar bones but used to be mid-back. My biggest issue with using it is how to wrap the hair so that my curls come out in the directions I want them. I have a natural side part and despite careful attempts, sections of hair inevitably end up curled in the wrong direction. I think it would work better for folks who wear a middle part. I am thinking of getting the eternal muse sleep stylers, either the jumbo roll or the bon bons.
As for semi-permanent makeup, I just stick to long-lasting products I apply in the morning. Waterproof eyeliner, tubing mascara, long-wear lipstick (love the Dior liquid lipstick) or a good lip pencil and lipstick. I worry I would smear the products overnight with my tossing and turning and end up having to cover it all up.
I have tattooed eyeliner, eyebrows, and lips. (Not miceoblade) as well as laser hair removal. I swear by it all. It is so liberating to be able to go on vacation on a whim, or run out the door with just chapstick. The best investment I could ever make, is in myself.