This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at MSU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
I have been using makeup since I was a freshman in high school. It was only mascara and maybe a little bit of blush, but regardless, I have been in the makeup game for a hot minute. It also took me a hot minute to find my perfect routine, but I think I have finally found it. And honestly, for me, the secret to it all is skincare and making sure I get that glow.
Whenever I sit down to do my makeup, I tend to do a more natural look. I start out by washing my face, then I use the combination of skincare products (most of which are from Good Molecules) that give my face a lot of glow. I have very oily skin, so I honestly just embrace the glow in my T-zones, and make it an all-over-my-face kind of thing. Then, my personal favorite and what I think makes my face look the best, is my tinted sunscreen. I use the Glow Screen from e.l.f Cosmetics and it truly does wonders for my makeup look. It evens out my face color and gives me a nice bronzed glow. I don’t wear any base products, so the fact that this sunscreen evens out my color is fantastic.
After my skincare and base is done, I move onto my eyes. I start with my eyebrows and I use two different products for them. I use the Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow+ to fill in my brows and give them a little bit of hold and some color. Then I go over top of that with another clear brow gel. Once my brows are done, I put on mascara. My current favorite mascara is the Tower 28 Lengthening and Volumizing mascara in black. I have tried out a lot of different mascaras and this one is my current favorite because it really does lengthen my lashes and makes them more prominent. The final thing I do for my eyes is my inner corners. I use the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in the shade cottage cheese, which adds a little bit of shine to the inner corners of my eyes.
Once I am done with my eyes, I move on to my face. I use three products on my face: blush, highlighter, and bronzer. For blush, I use the NARS Blush in the shade orgasm x, but I also layer that with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette from 2024. In that palette, I use the shades mauve haze and peach fusion. When it comes to highlighter, I am a lover not a hater. I love to put a lot on my cheeks and even on my nose and above my upper lip. In that same Hourglass palette, I use the highlighter in the shade strobe light. The final thing I put on my face is bronzer. Depending on the day and how dark I want my bronzer to be, I will use one of two products. I have the classic Benefit Cosmetics in the shade hoola, or I will use the bronzer in the Hourglass palette in the shade soft bronze sunlit when I do not want a super dark bronzer. I apply that to the top of my forehead right where my hairline ends.
My lip combo is what took me an oddly long time to figure out. My absolute favorite is the Charlotte Tilbury lip liner in the shade pillow talk with the Summer Fridays lip gloss in the birthday cake color. It gives me gloss but also some sparkle. Sometimes I will use a gloss with more color, but when the weather gets colder I stick with something more hydrating and limited in color, so I can reapply often without worrying about a color getting all over the place or staining my lips.
I love makeup and everything about it, so for me, finding the products that made me feel put together and like my best self is something that felt very satisfying to do.