Downsizing is hard! What to keep is harder to decide than what to throw away. What are the basics with makeup? At least with clothing you know the basics you need, bra (if you are a woman), underwear, socks, shirt, pants, jeans, shoes; you know the clothes. With makeup what are the equivalents to these clothing basics?
The Eyeshadows and Blush
The very basic eyeshadow consist of what I call The Fab Four: ivory, peach, taupe, and dark brown. These are all the colors you need for just a basic everyday eye look. These colors are the bra, underwear, and socks of makeup. If you aren’t into makeup but just want to enhance, THESE ARE THE COLORS!
(Taupe, a basic taupe is all you need, not the flashy shimmer or the $35 shift changing one. Basic. If you are curious there are really 10 basic taupes. Five are what I call blood color taupes which contain some red violet to purple to be used on bare skin for varying depths. The other five are for making a shadow onto the skin and in various depths of color for various skin tones. You need ONLY ONE MATTE TAUPE for your ONE FACE!)
The basics for blush are The Fab Four of Blushes. These are amber, peach, peach pink, and pink. Basic set. You can get away with just one color but moods change and having four is enough for a variety of wardrobes.
These eyeshadows and blushes should be in every person’s makeup wardrobe. They are the basics. You can always add to them. (But don’t get carried away.) If you only like powder products. You could do a full face with just these colors, from brows to lips.
Eyebrows
Whatever form you use, pencil, liquid, wax; you should have two colors to make the eyebrow look realistic and not harsh. They don't have to be the same texture. One can be a wax while one is pencil. Just make sure one is a shade lighter and the other is the usual color you use. When you do your brows, make sure to use both colors, then softly blend with a brow brush.
Lipcolor
This is tricky because lip color is the easiest way to change your look. I can understand having a variety of lip products. However, the most basic lip color you need would be the one that is most natural, just pull down your bottom lip and look at the color inside, that is the color you should look for if you just want a no-nonsense basic.
Simple basics for your eyes, cheeks, and lips.
I know, I know, you are probably asking about foundation, concealer, and all that other stuff like contouring and highlighting.
Foundation
You should have 3 colors: your matching shade, a highlighting shade which is 2 shades lighter than your skin, and a contouring shade which is 2 shades darker. Basic set.
Concealer and Neutralizer
These are two completely different products. A neutralizer is to neutralize the color, then concealer is applied on top. Take for example you have blue under the eyes. You need a peach neutralizer to counteract that blue, then you apply a concealer on top.
Green to neutralize red for porcelain to fair skincare Yellow to neutralize red Peach to neutralize blue/purple Pink to neutralize brown
This all has to do with color theory.
These are all the products you need. Really!! But…
Something Isn’t Right
Let’s say you have all the basics but you still find yourself searching. Maybe, it has to be budge proof or one that actually neutralizes. You can’t pinpoint the answer but you just want products which actually work.
This is where I get extremely biased because the answer lies within brands that don’t have influencers or much PR in the beauty realm, but have trust in the television and movie business. Yes, they are the PRO BRANDS.
If you want to truly live within the minimum, pro brands are the way to go. They are cheaper in terms of volume. You get more for a fair price. You can do more with them. There is no bullshit to deal with.
They made my life much easier.
I hope this somewhat helped you downsize. Downsizing is just the first step, the next step is to really understand that beauty can’t be boxed. True beauty is an intangible gift given to each and every one of us to nurture. No amount of makeup is needed for it to grow!
Olivia
