Carmindy

I just finished reading Carmindy's book "The 5-Minute Face".

The premise of the book is that you start off with your simple 5-minute face and that can be your everyday look, but you can build off of that for special occasions or evening.

Her basic make-up tips are, well, pretty basic and didn't really revolutionize my make-up routine. But, she does give a few good tips. One useful tip was to use highlighter (or a neutral shimmer-y eyeshadow) to brighten key features on your face. Carmindy recommends using highlighter on the inner corners of your eyes and on the cupid's bow of your upper lip (she also suggests using it under the arch of your eyebrow and on the top of your cheekbone, but I didn't have good luck with that). I have tried to use highlighter on the inner corners of my eyes before, but did the highlighting with a bigger brush this time and it works much better than with the angled eyeliner brush I was using previously. Word to the wise, though - if you do the cupid's bow trick, be sure to use a light hand. Otherwise, it looks like you've been eating powdered sugar donuts. Mmmm, dead sexy.

My favorite part of the book is in the back where she recommends all kinds of different products. I particularly like that she gives a high end recommendation and also lists its low end counterpart. She includes items from brands that you'd expect, like NARS (blush), MAC (eyeshadow), Laura Mercier (tinted moisturizer) and Stila (concealer). She also calls out products from drugstore brands like Cover Girl and Prestige. It's good to have variety, if you ask me.

A couple good drugstore skin care products that she suggests are ones that I use, like Cetaphil Cleanser for Oily Skin and Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture. Two of the drugstore eye make-up items that she recommends are Prestige eyeliner, which I love, and Covergirl Eyeshadow in Tapestry Taupe, which I used to use in high school. (I might go buy some for old time's sake.)

Carmindy's book won't change your life, but she has lots of good pictures and it's always fun to see what products the professionals recommend.