{Beauty Tuesday} Happy Holidays! Part 4

I believe that God mercifully granted us this week to relax between the hours spent at the gym bulking up to effectively war against fellow shoppers and the stamina required to translate Uncle Earl's incoherent recollections of the Christmas he spent in Nam. Therefore, I'm going to spend it cozied up in a scarf and quick, painless makeup looks. Think of it as your way to be low-maintenance and still look mighty fine.

{OH, THIS OLD THING?}

You're going to see Hobbit with your family and honestly, the only reason you're getting ready is for the off possibility that you'll meet your soulmate. At the movies. Which is not going to happen. So hours of work aren't necessary. Therefore, forget primers and precision today. The way to master this look is to make it seem a little worn-in and even allowing it to get slightly messy. This is usually taboo, but sometimes exceptions must be made.

Apart from your regular foundation, leave skin bare. With a fluffy shadow blush, blend a warm brown shade from lashline to crease and along the lower lashline, then feather outward to create a seamless gradient between the shadow and your natural skin tone. Dip a dry angled eyeliner brush into dark brown shadow and draw a soft line around the eyes for definition, then smooth out any hard edges with your fluffy brush. Coat upper and lower lashes with volumizing mascara. On the lips, a spot of tinted lip balm is just enough.

{RUSH HOUR}

Here's the scenario: You slept in way too long, woke up thinking you had no priorities, and spent the morning in your jammies and spot treatment perusing Pinterest with a cup of peppermint tea. Sounds lovely, right? Except when you find out your friend is about to leave for Christmas break and you haven't brought him his gift yet! This is stressful. The remedy...

Skip foundation and use a tinted moisturizer or BB cream all over your face. Swipe a pink cream blush on the apples of your cheeks and blend with (clean) fingertips. Dab a tiny amount of highlighter on the inner corners of eyes, then apply an olive-green pencil liner to only the upper lash line (this is less harsh than black and more forgiving of mistakes). Add curling mascara and slick on pink lip gloss as you're dashing out the door.

{PEACHY KEEN}

Adapted from Marc Jacobs' Spring 2013 runway, a glossy eye is intended to smudge and crease throughout the day. High shine keeps it from looking like you've been sleeping in a dirty T-shirt for the past three days straight.

Begin with a shimmery shadow primer. Once it has set, add a layer of goldenrod eye shadow over the entire lid, extending just past the crease and blending down below the eye. In the crease and outer corners, use an orange-peach shade and blend into the gold shadow. With your ring finger, tap a tiny amount of clear lip gloss on top of the shadow to create a satiny sheen. Line upper and lower lashlines with a black pencil and finish with thick black mascara. Leave cheeks and lips bare.