Everyday Makeup in About Ten Minutes

Ten minutes is a realistic budget for a daily face if you keep it to six or seven products and put them on in the right order. The order matters more than the brands: liquids and creams go on before powders, because powder laid under a cream turns patchy and lifts when the cream goes over it.

The routine below assumes clean skin. Moisturize first, and let it sink in for a minute while you find your products. Times are approximate and get shorter with practice.

1. Even out the skin (2 minutes). Use a tinted moisturizer, skin tint or a thin layer of foundation, starting in the center of the face and blending outward with fingers or a damp sponge. Many people only need it around the nose, chin and forehead. Why: a sheer base evens redness without looking like a layer sitting on top of the skin.
2. Spot conceal (1.5 minutes). Dab concealer only where you need it: under the inner corner of the eyes, around the nostrils, over a blemish. Tap it in with a ring finger rather than wiping, and wait thirty seconds before blending so it grips. Why: targeted coverage looks far more natural than a heavier base everywhere.
3. Set where you shine (1 minute). Press a small amount of translucent or lightly tinted powder onto the forehead, nose and chin with a brush or puff, and leave the cheeks alone. Why: powder holds base and concealer in place through the day, while unpowdered cheeks still look like skin.
4. Add color to the cheeks (1 minute). Smile, place a cream or liquid blush on the upper part of the cheek, then blend it up and back toward the ear. Why: a little color stops a light base from looking flat, and it is the step people notice most.
5. Shape the brows (1.5 minutes). Brush the hairs upward with a spoolie, fill any sparse spots with short, light strokes of pencil or powder, then set them with clear or tinted brow gel. Why: brows frame the face, and a groomed brow makes the whole look read as finished even with very little elsewhere.
6. Mascara (1.5 minutes). Wiggle the wand at the base of the upper lashes and pull it upward, one or two coats, letting the first dry a little before the second. Skip the lower lashes if you tend to get smudges under the eyes. Why: defined lashes open up the eyes with less effort than eyeshadow or liner.
7. Lips (30 seconds). A tinted balm, a sheer lipstick or a dab of the same cream blush pressed onto the lips with a finger. Why: a matching lip and cheek tie the face together, and balm keeps lips from looking dry by afternoon.

That adds up to about nine minutes, which leaves a minute to check the result by a window rather than under bathroom lighting.

If you only have three minutes, keep steps 2, 5 and 6: concealer, brows and mascara. Those three do most of the visible work, and they are the easiest to do without a mirror that is perfectly lit.

Swaps by situation

• Oily skin: choose an oil-control or mattifying primer in place of a rich base, and use a powder blush in step 4 instead of cream. Keep blotting papers in your bag; pressing them on the skin lifts oil without disturbing makeup the way more powder does.
• Dry skin: stay with creams and liquids throughout, use a hydrating skin tint, and keep powder to the sides of the nose only. If base clings to dry patches, a thin layer of moisturizer over the spot before step 1 usually smooths it.
• Glasses: frames rest on the bridge of the nose and the cheeks, so powder those spots well or base wears off by midday. Lenses for nearsightedness tend to make eyes look smaller, so an extra coat of mascara helps; lenses for farsightedness magnify, so blend carefully and keep mascara clump-less.
• Hot weather: swap to a water-resistant mascara, use a lighter tint or skip base, and finish with a setting spray. Cream blush tends to last better than powder in humidity because it does not slide off sweat as quickly.
• Darker skin tones: pick a base shade in daylight by swatching two or three stripes along the jawline, not the back of the hand; the one that disappears into both face and neck is the match. Pay attention to undertone (warm, neutral or cool) as much as depth. A peach or orange corrector under concealer cancels dark circles that a plain concealer can turn gray, and a translucent powder made for deeper skin avoids a chalky cast.
• Sensitive skin: add one new product at a time, and show a rash or stinging that does not settle to a dermatologist rather than covering it.

Whatever your skin type, take everything off at night with a cleanser or micellar water, and work mascara off gently with a cotton pad held on the lashes for a few seconds rather than rubbing.