Makeup has been apart of my life since I was a young teenager. But, even as a young woman I gravitated more towards taking care of my skin first, and focusing on makeup second. I didn’t feel right about covering my skin even when it didn’t look great (hello teenage acne). I wanted to devote my energy into skincare practices and enhance my features with minimal makeup. Fun fact, I went to aesthetic school for Facial Specialist when I was 19. I loved it and learned so much about the skin and how to properly care for it. As I have gotten older, it has pretty much stayed the same.

I have fine tuned my beauty assortment over the years and now that I am in my 30s, I feel like I have found what works best my skin type, and what I feel most comfortable in. If you are someone who wants to clean up their makeup collection, focus on the basics and choose cleaner options, this is for you.

Minimal beauty goes deeper than the amount of products you have. It’s about what’s in the products, how many ingredients do they have, are they necessary, and what’s the brand’s process for creating their products. I consciously make an effort to choose brands that are paving the way for better standards and ethics in the beauty industry.

I focus on purchasing what I enjoy and will actually use. I certainly don’t want to waste product or my money. I make it a point not to get swept up in trends, overly advertised or unnecessarily expensive products. Quality or quantity, always!

Here is a list of my basics:

• Brow gel & pencil

• Mascara

• Tinted moisturizer

• Concealer

• Pressed powder

• Blush & Bronzer

These are the products I always have on hand and typically lean towards using on a regular basis. Some days its just mascara and brow gel, and other days, it’s all of it. In addition, I have eyeliners, lipliners, lipsticks, eyeshadows, sprays & brushes/sponges. But to be honest, I rarely use them. If I going out or doing something special, I will do a bit more, like eyeshadow or lipstick. But, I certainly don’t “need” multiple options.

I recently cleaned up my makeup and found several items I no longer use or will not realistically go through before the expiration. Yes, makeup does expire. As we age, we have a better understanding and acceptance of what suits us best and accentuates our individual beauty. We get more confident with our personal style and what we like, not what’s “in”. I laid out all of my makeup and separated them by categories, eyes, lips, face, etc. I put aside all the products I love and use regularly from the items I don’t generally use often. This is a good time to clean your makeup brushes too. Donate unused products to family and friends. My sister and mom have received many products over the years.

Clean and healthy beauty choices are important to me so I try to make sure I am choosing clean options when deciding on products. Social media has been great for finding some of my favorite beauty products. There are so many beauty brands out there, it can get pretty overwhelming. If you are looking for some clean and minimal beauty brands here are several I have tried and now love. I haven’t tried everything from each of these brands, so here is a list of my favorites from each.

• Beautycounter - Eyeshadow pallets + tinted moisturizer

• Dime Beauty- Brow serum. Active ingredients to help grow brow hair while acting as a brow gel too. This product really helped some sparse brow hairs to grow in.

• Lilah B - Cream bronzer/blush + hydration spray (their packaging is to die for!)

• Ilia - My all time favorite mascara

• Beauty Blender- Primer & Concealer

• Merit - Tinted brow gel

• Au Naturale - Concealer + Foundation + Lipstick

• Mineral Fusion - Pressed powder + Hydro shine lip gloss

• Jane Iredale - Pressed powder + Lip liner

• Honest Beauty - Mascara + Brow pencil

These are some of the brands I have tried over the years that I really enjoy using and always turn back to. I don’t like every product from these brands but, have found a couple treasures with each. If you are looking for some new items, these are all excellent, high quality make up brands to add to your collection.

What are some tried and true makeup must haves that you consistently use? Have you tried any of the products I’ve mentioned? Tell me what you think! And most of all, we are beautiful without any makeup and that’s the biggest take away, is that you don’t need any of this. Makeup should be fun.

See you soon,

XO Charlene