Tips to Simplify and Minimize Makeup

In this post, I’ll go over some tips to simplify and minimize makeup you have and it doesn’t mean only using coconut oil and a clear mascara!

Why do we even makeup?

I definitely have a love-hate relationship with makeup. I love that it makes me look fresh and “more beautiful “. But I hate the feeling of needing it when I leave the house. Since I do use it on the regular – it’s best to simplify and minimize my makeup so it’s less stressful day to day.

Oh, another point – I definitely do not like the toll it takes on my wallet.

Honestly, I would be 100% for all women deciding to go without makeup and creating a new normal. Let’s rebel!

In the animal kingdom the men have to impress. Why should we be any different? They should be painting themselves – not us, honey.

 All that being said, the sad point is that the majority of women do wear makeup therefore making it hard to look as nice without. 

But! You don’t need a lot. You can simplify and minimize it to make it work best for you.

What is makeup to you?

Simplifying your makeup needs to start with deciding what your goal is with makeup. There are two different types of people in the world. There are artists who use makeup as an expression of their art and then there’s people like me.

Technically, because of all the hours of YouTube videos I have watched on makeup, you would think that I could blend better than a VitaMix. Alas, that is not the case. It is still only a dream to be able to contour my double chins away.

In the end, makeup for me is more of a duty. My makeup has a job to do and, while it is a big job, I want it to be easy and to leave me feeling confident in my make-up applying abilities. 

First Things First 

You guys all know what’s coming… The easiest tasks first. For makeup, the easiest things to get rid of are expired/dried out, empty, samples you didn’t love and/or are broken.

Sometimes we pull out that mascara wand and go to put it on our eyelashes for NOTHING to come out…. Then, maybe, just maybe, you put the wand back into the container and put it back.

…why do we do that?

Throw it away! It’s like when you go to grab a pen out of the jar and it doesn’t work,you put it back. No! Don’t do it. Throw it away.

All those little containers you tried and didn’t love – they can go. We’ll talk about getting samples and how they don’t usually benefit you in a future post. 

By broken, I mean those eye shadows that are broken or the brush that broke that you make work. If the eyeshadow is your absolute favorite, there are YouTube videos that show you how to repot them. It will help you use it more and you’ll be more inclined to do it if you know it’s not going to make a mess every time you take it out.

Ahhh, the first sweep is done. Great job! One step closer to simplifying and minimizing our makeup.    

It’s not the 80s anymore

Another thing I got rid of quickly when I started simplifying my makeup, was very bold and extravagant colors. 

Whenever I would try to do some bright, amazing colors like my YouTube friends (check out Nisha, she’s amazing) it would never turn out for me. Then I would get frustrated and  feel like I wasn’t pretty because I couldn’t make this more unnatural look work on me. It’s quite silly if you think about it.

So, I got rid of the bright blues, the hot pinks, the crazy greens. Some of these colors might work for you because of your eye color, but for me, it would just make me self-conscious and I don’t want to be thinking about my makeup throughout the day. 

Confidence is what I’m aiming for and if I stick with simple classic makeup, I know that I’ll feel more confident. By simplifying and minimizing my makeup, it makes it much easier to be happy with the end result.

This may not be you and that’s ok! If you rock those bright colors and use them regularly, keep them and maybe get rid of one of your neutral palettes you don’t love. 

Duplicates | Duplicates 

Another way to simplify, is to get rid of duplicate brushes. I’ve bought quite a few things from QVC. Generally, I do think it’s a good deal and a lot of the time you get brushes with eyeshadows sets and concealers. 

Some brushes are great and some are not. The so/so ones should get tossed. Then if I feel like I have a duplicate, I just choose the one I like better and either throw away or donate the other one. If it’s brand new, people may buy them off you on Facebook Marketplace or another selling website.

Check for other items that you have a lot of duplicates with. Maybe you keep buying multiples of one specific item and now have approximately 72 mascaras. In hopes that one will actually make you say “maybe it’s Maybelline.”

And on and on it goes! 

My recommendation for this scenario is to give a product a solid week trial. Use it every single day for a week then decide if it still belongs in your make up collection. 

If you have the receipt, return it. Don’t feel bad! Just do it. We’ll talk about that more later. 

Lipstick Shades that Throw Shade

If you’ve been around here for a little bit you know that I have an extreme addiction to coffee, and I don’t plan to give it up. 

A downside to being addicted to coffee – well other than the amount of moola I spend on it – it stains your teeth. If you have more yellow teeth, you’ll find that certain shades of lipstick accentuate it. 

Don’t have teeth as white as you would prefer? Get rid of the shades of lipstick that bring out the yellow!

If this isn’t an issue for you, yay!  Flash those pearly whites with all those pinks & reds. 

The goal is to not feel self-conscious. You want to be confident and if you feel like your lipstick, even if it’s a beautiful color, brings out a shade of your teeth that you don’t like, it doesn’t belong in your life.

I have found a waterproof lip liner that I use as a lipstick that I am OBSESSED with. Partly because it’s waterproof and stays on, but mostly because the shade actually makes my teeth look whiter and it is a game changer.

I always get compliments when I wear that lipstick so it’s the only one I use. It’s the only one I buy.  If I only buy one type of makeup, it’s super easy for my makeup to stay simple and minimalistic.

This leads nicely into the next tip…

Buy it until it’s discontinued. 

Once you find a holy grail of make-up, like my lipstick – buy it until the day you die. Or until it gets discontinued which I swear is what always happens when I find something I love. 

Don’t venture off. Stay true to it. Simplifying is knowing that what you put on your face will make you feel beautiful. 

If a specific mascara makes you feel like you can bat your eyes and get away with murder, perfect! 

Growing up, I can remember multiple times when a brand discontinued something that was my moms favorite and we would go to literally every store within a 10 mile radius and my mom would buy whatever they had in stock. Specifically, I remember it was a blue mascara one time. She had about 20 tubes of mascara, but then used every. Single. One of them. 

In my experience, I feel like I waste money, time and emotions when I try something that doesn’t work as well as the one I love and the end goal is keeping our makeup simple and minimal.

Less is more .

Obviously, I like things to be simple. Makes me happy when things are simple. My makeup is no different. I really found that when I just do the bare minimum on the day to day, it’s quick, easy and I don’t set the bar too high for myself. Which may not be a good thing…

Most days I don’t wear any eyeshadow. Eyeshadow is the most stressful part of makeup anyway so that’s probably why I don’t do it as often.

My basics are way more than they used to be. There was a long time where I didn’t use any concealer, blush or eyebrow stuff. Man, those were simpler days.

A basic makeup day is concealer, foundation, setting powder, blush, eyeliner, mascara – honestly not too simple but not overwhelming. 

Although I wouldn’t mind learning how to contour my chins away. That would be very helpful!

The point is, when you do less day to day, it’s so easy to do some eyeshadow, fill in a brow and add a gloss to transform yourself into someone new!

Lastly, None of it is Needed Anyway

In the end, know this, you are beautiful. You don’t need makeup. Nobody needs makeup.

There is so much money to be made in this industry so they want you to think that you need makeup to be beautiful.

Free yourself from thinking it’s needed and feel great without it! 

 My hope of course is that after following these tips the next time you go to do your makeup it’s just easy and quick. That you feel confident throughout your day so we are a step closer to our ideal self. 

Don’t forget to tag @simpleinasnap on your Facebook and Insta with a pic of your before and after you simplify and minimize your makeup! And please don’t forget to add the most important part- your pretty face!

-Becks

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Some Inspiration

This has nothing to do with simplifying make up – but remember all those hours I spent on YouTube? I wanted to share my favorite make up person – Leesha! She is so sweet and so incredibly good at make up. While watching her videos, I did start buying a lot of different things which may not necessarily look like it’s helping you simplify and minimize your makeup, but she has really good recommendations! Enjoy!