It Takes TIME

I love make-up. Let’s just start there. I love putting together looks and deciding which ones look best for my outfit of the day. I love trying new combinations and mixing make-up. I love applying it in the morning. It’s actually my favorite part of the day. And I really love instructing women in make-up application. I used to love doing make-up for women for weddings, special events and photo shoots, but I don’t anymore. I’ll save that for another blog post, lol! I’m not so in love with make-up that I’m fanatical about it, meaning, I won’t spend exorbitant amounts of money on products, and I don’t wear it all the time. My friends and family are reading this and saying: “She lying. Every time we see Ingrid she got on some make-up.” HaHa!!! There is a little bit of truth to that. While there are times I just grab my keys to run a quick errand, I rarely go out without at least my eyebrows done and some lip gloss, lol! And occasionally during the hot, monsoon, Valley summer months I will venture out on a Saturday or Sunday with just brows and gloss. There are levels to my “no make-up” looks.

I am asked over and over by women, those I know and those I don’t know: “Can you show me how to do my make-up like yours?” Usually it’s women who are standing before me without a stitch of make-up on, and so then I ask: “Do you wear make-up?” And their response is: “No, not really, just every now and then. But I really want to learn how to do it. I want to look like you. Yours looks so nice.” I am flattered by their compliments but here’s what I say to them… All make-up applications take TIME.

We all have different lifestyles. So my response is always tailored towards whatever their lifestyle is. If I’m going to a black-tie event or prepping for a photo shoot, I can spend up to an hour or more on my look. To achieve my every day work look, I will spend between 20-30 minutes “putting on my face”. In a pinch and short on time, I can do my “quick face” in about 15 minutes. Even my bare bones “brows-and-lips-only” look takes 5 minutes. But I’ve been doing make-up for three decades so there’s no learning curve for me; no fumbling over products and having to wipe off and start again. For a make-up newbie, while you’re learning, and practicing, it may take you three times the amount of time it would take a more experienced person, so you’ll have to factor in the extra time for you to perfect your new processes if you’ve made the commitment to do so. Most women who work and have children and a husband are extremely challenged with time allotments already, so the prospect of adding yet another step into their morning routine is most times a non-negotiable because they’re just trying to get everybody out the door and on their way. And for a busy, single, no-kids woman, the time piece is still a struggle. For every “I wish I could do my make-up like you”, I say, “YOU CAN!” However, when the reality of the fact that they’re going to have to get up earlier to make it so sets in, it typically ends up a “no” or they put in the effort a few times and then go back to what they were doing before. They truly admire the end result and would love to achieve it for themselves as long as it doesn’t mean waking up any earlier than they already are. Most people simply will not add a single extra minute to their morning routine. Bottom line… if you want to start a daily make-up process, you’re going to have to make the time to do it. Take baby steps. Don’t strive for that ultra-contoured red carpet look at first. Start where you are, with what you can afford, by way of time and money. Try waking up 5-10 minutes earlier than usual to do simple mascara and lipstick every day for a month. If that goes well, wake up 15 minutes earlier and throw in foundation and powder for another month. As the elders say: “Inch by inch, everything’s a cinch!” You can do anything you decide you want to do. And that includes adjusting your lifestyle to include a consistent make-up regimen to look the way you want to look when you face your day. There are many ways you can start. If you can’t afford private, one-on-one make-up lessons, there are a plethora of YouTube videos for any kind of make-up application you can think of that can assist you. The choice is yours. It just takes TIME.