If you're a person with a busy school schedule, long days at work or just a hectic lifestyle in general, makeup is probably the last thing on your mind in the morning. However, makeup doesn't need to be thrown to the wind if you're a busy person; it doesn't have to take a half hour. Building a five-minute makeup routine is a simple and effective way to feel put together without being late to school or work.
To build this routine, you will first need to identify your "problem area" or the part of your face where you'd like to focus your routine. At the same time, you can look at the parts of your face you don't wish to focus on. For example, if you have discoloration or blemishes, but have thick eyebrows or eyelashes, then the focus of your routine may be your skin and less on your eyes.
Once you've identified what area you want the main focus of your routine to be, you can look at your products. If your focus is on your skin, concealer and foundation with a coat mascara would be a quick way to do your makeup. Adding some powder to set your face, and blush or bronzer for dimension will only take a minute more, but also may not be necessary.
If your focus is on your eyes, using concealer to hide dark circles and throwing a transition shade into the crease is a quick way to add dimension to your eyes. A transition shade can be any eyeshadow or bronzer that is two to three shades darker than your skin tone.
A light coat of mascara will maximize definition and open up the eyes as well. And, for those experienced with eyeliner, a quick coat could be a nice extra touch. For the face, you can spot conceal on any blemishes or use a light-coverage foundation or BB cream to even out the skin.
If you want to add anything to the lips, a tinted lip balm or light gloss is an easy way to add color to the lips without having to worry about lining the lips or dealing with maintenance throughout the day.
A five-minute makeup routine is achievable as long as you keep in mind what you want to emphasize and hide. If you don't know where to start, another tip would be to pick out a couple of your go-to makeup items and build from there.
Makeup doesn't ever need to be full glam; and, if you're in a rush, you never need to leave the house not feeling put-together.