Makeup Tips for Busy Moms

As moms, especially first time moms like myself, the lack of time (and sleep!) is a common challenge many of us face. In between working, looking after the kids, managing household chores and other responsibilities, makeup and fashion are likely among the last things on our agendas.  

But looking good doesn’t have to be time-consuming, nor do you have to spend a bomb on tons of makeup. All you need is to apply a few key items and you will be able to look fresh and glowing! Read on for some great tips gleaned from Singapore makeup artist, Fionna Lau.

Essential makeup

1. Concealer

Concealer helps camouflage skin imperfections. Dot a bit of concealer on blemishes, spots and dark eye circles and blend in. Concealing the dark circles will instantly brighten your eyes and make you look more fresh.

And do you know that you can mix concealer with moisturiser to become a foundation? Yes, it’s true. This is supposed to offer superior coverage compared to traditional foundation, and seems like many makeup artists like to do this. So the next time you run out of foundation, you know what to do. Plus it saves money as well.

If you prefer to also use foundation, here's some recommendations for the different skin types:

Dry skin – Covermark Foundation Essence Liquid

Oily Skin – Chanel Mat Lumiere

Combination – RMK Gel Foundation

2. Eyeshadow

Apply eyeshadow in the crease of your eyes for colours, or line the upper eyelids to define and open up your eyes. Or using a brown eyeshadow, you can quickly shade your eyebrows to frame the face.

3. Blush

Immediately add a healthy glow to your face by applying pink or rose blush on the apples of your cheeks.

4. Tinted lip balm

Complete your look with a tinted lip balm. It gives colour, adds shine like a lip gloss and moisturises as well – so it’s effectively a 3-in-1! It can also double up as blush, just rub some of it on your cheeks if you run out of the actual thing.

With these easy steps, you can look fresh and put together effortlessly, and you don't need a full face of makeup for that!

 

Oh So Pretty Eyeshadow!

This should have gone with the post on my makeup lesson with Fionna but I didn't manage to take a photo of it until now:

This is an eyeshadow I got from Fionna - I bought it because the palette has such cool, pretty hues! This eyeshadow is by RMK, which I think isn't so commonly used here. But it is supposed to be one of the most popular brands in Japan. From what I've found online, local makeup artist Clarence Lee and Andy Lee are fans of the brand, as well as many Japanese models.

Here are some online information about RMK makeup .. some are quite dated though.

RMK official website
Comeback kits
RMK Cosmetics is Coming Back!

I have yet to try the eyeshadow. Shall try to review it after I've used it. According to Fionna, RMK cosmetics are great for people with oily skin. Blogger Nicola did a review of the RMK primer and foundation and raved about it. She has oily skin and the foundation lasted the whole day (from 8am to 11pm). Now, that is really tempting me to give RMK foundation a try. By the way, RMK is available at Takashimaya.

Has any of you tried RMK cosmetics? What do you like or dislike about it?

By the way, next week I'll share some great makeup tips for busy moms from Fionna. Be back to find out more!

Making Myself Over

After months of maternity wear and even more months of nursing tops, I had fallen into a fashion rut. Not only that, with constant sleep deprivation and lack of personal time, I was just too tired most of the time to be bothered with looking good. I ended up feeling lousy about myself, my confidence took a plunge and on some days, I didn’t even want to look at myself in the mirror as I thought I looked real awful. 

So when Kenan stopped breastfeeding and I could finally put away all the nursing tops, I didn’t know what to wear anymore. Besides the classic pieces, my wardrobe is pretty much outdated as I haven’t bought much new clothes in about two years that are not related to me being a mom ie. non-maternity, non-nursing wear.

In fact, I have kind of forgotten what it was like to have fun dolling myself up. I hate to admit it but instead of turning into the yummy mommy I aspired to be, I find myself in a “mommy slump”.

But I decided it’s time to get out of it. I don’t want to continue the spiral downward. I wanted to reconnect with myself, to get in touch again with those parts of me that are sort of buried after baby came along. And to kick start this, I’m adopting an outside-in approach by having a ‘Make Myself Over’ project!

Well, I have wanted to work on my makeup skills for quite a while but never got down to it. I do enjoy putting on makeup but since becoming a mom, I don’t really have much time for it. It’s often drawing the eyebrows, putting on mascara, dabbing some lipstick and off I go.

So I surfed the net for makeup courses and finally settled for a one-to-one course with Fionna Lau.

One-to-One Makeup Class

Fionna's easy-going, friendly nature immediately put me at ease.

She started off with understanding about my skin type and the concerns I have and then taught  about proper skincare before going into makeup.

Throughout the lesson, what I really appreciated about Fionna was that she didn’t dictate that I must follow her ways. Instead she tried to combine her techniques with what I am used to doing so that applying makeup becomes really easy.

And when it comes to what looks good, she certainly has the eye for it. At one point, I was commenting that the eyebrows are drawn a bit too thick and she kept assuring me that when the rest of the eye makeup goes on, it will not look thick at all as everything will be balanced out. True enough, she was right. In fact, it won't look good if the eyebrows were any thinner.

Fionna is also very knowledgeable about cosmetics and made some very good recommendations. For example, through her, I have found a really good makeup base - Shu Uemura UV Underbase Mousse. I bought the makeup base from her after the class and have been using it ever since. It’s really one of the best buys I’ve ever made because not only does it help my foundation to go on smoothly, it also allows the foundation to last the whole day! I also tried HABA Velvet Touch Base II as a primer for my eyelids during the makeup class and I loved it. It gives a soft velvety, powdery finishing and is perfect for my eyelids. I observed that the eye makeup last many hours that day - usually my eyeliner (I'm a fan of Bobby Brown's gel eyeliner) will start to smudge after about five hours.  Fionna even helped me buy the primer, which is really sweet of her. I can't wait to start using it.

During the lesson, Fionna also asked me if I have any makeup that I bought but am not too sure how to use them. I showed the items to her and she gave me some very good tips! So now I can finally put those cosmetics to use instead of having them sit in the drawer.

Oh yes, I also finally learnt how to put on false eyelashes. I’ve never used it except during my wedding, which was done by the makeup artist anyway. I thought it’s really hard to stick the false eyelashes on but Fionna taught me how to do it and I fixed it on perfectly at the first try. Fionna said it must have been ‘beginner’s luck’... haha! But I have yet to put on the false eyelashes again since the makeup class. I much prefer the au naturel look, so most of the time, I just use mascara. Since I bought a whole box of it from Fionna, I better get started with them soon. Perhaps for the next date with my hubby.. I can’t wait!

That's me and Fionna- I absolutely love the look Fionna has helped create!

Do you also like the makeup? What’s your makeup routine? What are some of your favourite cosmetic products?