Creature of Habit

Excuse the scary picture, this is the only example of my 'work makeup' I have... this was taken at 4AM a few nights ago!

I've been back at work for 3 weeks now, and despite being off for more than a month, it was like I'd never left at all (aside from being sore after the first shift... that doesn't happen anymore). As one of my fellow nurses put it, ICU is generally 'Same stuff, different day...' or more like 'Same sicknesses, different patients'. So I'm back into the swing of things :)

Although I love to play with makeup (hence this blog's existence), the way I do my makeup for work hasn't changed very much in about a year, for several reasons, namely:
1) I wear the same thing every day for work (scrubs)
2) I work long hours and start EARLY (7AM) so my routine is fast thereby allowing me a tad bit more sleep
3) This 'face' is pretty much indestructible in terms of wearing off... I come home with the majority of it intact and that is after running around like a mad-woman at work for 12.5 hours
4) I am seriously trying to hit pan on some things, and these are the most likely to happen as I use them ALL THE time, if not every day
5) This is a pretty natural looking face I think... it doesn't look like I'm obviously wearing a tonne of make-up which is important to me at work :)
6) As long as I'm awake enough, this only takes me 10 minutes, including my hair :)

First off, the skin-care regime...

This is actually done AFTER I get home from work (I only shower 'before' work when I do nights) but... it feels like it makes more sense to start out with skincare, so I am.

Around the beginning of November, right when the H1N1 outbreak started in Canada, my skin decided to go haywire and I went from having clear skin with the rare breakout to being broken out pretty much ALL THE time, especially on my forehead. Given that I hadn't tried switching cleansers or anything in my routine for years (I used to be a fairly loyal Clinique devotee) I tried several things including replacing old products (no effect) adding in some anti-acne stuff (tried Biore and Clinique - pretty much no effect) and then even tried the 'cavewoman' routine of just using cold water and no other products (just dried my skin out). Jen over at A Beautyful Sentiment raved about the new L'Oreal cleanser, and as I was home for most of December due to my back injury I figure it wouldn't hurt to try just ONE more thing before I gave in and went to the dermatologist...

And I've cleared up almost entirely since I started using it! So #1 L'Oreal go360 Cleanser for Sensitive/Acne Pro Skin is now my first step in my skincare lineup. I get home, take off my makeup with an oil-based remover (right now I'm using a couple of different brands as I try to use all the GWP sized things in my room), and then wash my face. I love the little scrublet! I've foregone my Clarisonic + Clinique routine for now, as this is working so well (I'm now using the Clarisonic as more of a body exfoliator to get use out of it, but anyway...). I still get the odd break-out, but now it's usually only ONE pimple and it goes away really quickly. For anyone interested, I also think the breakouts were due in part to all the isolation gear we had to put on to care for the H1N1 patients... so getting a month-long break from THAT was nice as well :)

#2 Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion + Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion is a bit odd in where it happens in my routine. It's my 'first' step when I work day shifts (I don't wash my face before I go to work in this case) or my second step before I work night shifts. I rarely use this step before bed-time as I generally use masks (which I'll get to), but I find that this is good for keeping my skin moisturized and it provides a nice base for my makeup. The clarifying lotion also has Salicylic Acid in it which I think is helping to keep my breakouts down now that I am no longer constantly broken out. These products are pretty much the only thing left from my Clinique loyalty, other than eye cream, haha.

#3 Clinique Solutions for Men Daily Eye Hydrator; Origins GinZing Eye Cream; Origins Spot Remover all go on after I am done with my face products (or after masks). If anyone is wondering why I use the men's eye cream, the reasons are simple: it's cheaper, has the same ingredients as the women's line, but it comes in a tube and is more sanitary. I primarily use eye cream for dryness, so I haven't been looking for one that is a line-reducer, dark circle treatment, or puffiness treatment as the only time I REALLY have those problems are at the end of my night shifts... when my sleep schedule has been messed up for days. The Origins GinZing cream is fantastic for my lower eye area, and when I *DO* notice a bit of fatigue under my eyes this seems to camoflauge it nicely :). The Spot Remover is an acne treatment and is the most effective one I've found other than the NEXCARE acne bandages. I like the Spot Remover as it works to bring pimples to a head (at which point I use one of the NEXCARE bandages). I haven't been using this as much though :D

#4 My Beauty Diary Masks
I know a lot of the Asian blogging community has been raving about these for AGES but I just recently started using them so I'm a bit late to the party. I almost entirely use ONLY the masks meant for whitening as I am trying to lighten up all the scars left from weeks of continual breakouts, but I find these really relaxing. It's also nice that I can get (most) of the flavours locally at my T&T (the ones I can't I go to Sasa or friends for) so for me, they're more accessible than the Silk Whitia or VOV masks. I'm in love with these *_*. They seem to be helping making my skin tone more even and I am thinking of adding in the DiorSnow serum to speed the process along, but this is far more relaxing than applying a serum would be... so we'll see ;)

So far I am only using my 'favourites' after getting samples and recommendations from Yumeko, Yasumi, and Mona, so the ones you see in the photo are the ones that work best for me: Premium Masks in Platinum Non-colloid, White Truffle; Regular line in Strawberry Yogurt, Provence Lavendar, Black Pearl, and Bulgarian White Rose. I also really like the Chocolate, Mixed Berries, and Japanese Cherry Blossom masks but they don't seem to carry them at T&T and alas, they are always sold out on Sasa! So is Strawberry Yogurt now :( . I definitely need to stock up the next time I see them!

And now for the makeup (this is the true 10-minutes-before-work part of my 'daily' routine)

I do my eye-makeup first :). Like with every look, I start with Urban Decay Primer Potion + MAC Paint Pot, in this cause it is always Soft Ochre or Painterly (whichever I happen to lay hands on first).

Next I do my eyes with the Dior Leather Couture Palette, which is from the Fall 2008 collection (I think?). If you are wondering why the case looks kind of beat up, it IS. When I bought it from Jamilla it came with nail polish and unfortunately the nail polish spilled all over the bottom of the palette... so I tried taking it off with acetone/nail polish remover, but this sort of also dissolved the plastic. Haha? The eyeshadow was still fine though, so I still use it. I'm trying to 'hit pan' on this first so I can recycle the compact! ^_~ I hilight with a light beige shadow, usually Besame's Shimmer Beige (I'm halfway to hitting pan on this too!). I actually use this shadow as my hilight in probably 95% of my EOTD/FOTD looks as it's so... neutral. I line my upper lid with  KATE SuperSharp Liquid Liner in BR-1 which was a recommendation from the lovely Yasumi. This is the perfect dark neutral brown for work (black was a tad dramatic I found) and I can apply it without stretching my poor eyelid out, which is a plus. I line the outer 1/3 of my waterline/lower lashline with Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Bourbon which I got from the Velvet Rope pencil set last year, and I'm about half-done this pencil (I sometimes use Stash from the same set... it's generally whatever I grab first). I finish off my eyes with Diorshow ICONIC Extreme Mascara and Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel in Espresso. I've been trying different mascaras in the last month, but the Majolica Majorca Lash Expander was too hard to remove and looked spidery; and the Korres Rice Bran mascara I tried smelled herbal-y and didn't do anything for my lashes. So back to my EXPENSIVE Diorshow I go... but I love this mascara and have already used 2 tubes, so I know I'll finish this one (yes, I only use one tube at a time... since the expiry dates are so darn fast!).

In comparison to the number of products that I use on my eyes, my face takes like 30 seconds. I don't wear foundation at all anymore, just tinted moisturizer in my HG Dior Hydraction Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20 #3 which despite the whitening masks is still the perfect shade for me, and then I apply blush, which is mostly MAC for Hello Kitty in Tippy which is a clean, hot pink. Sometimes I am using Illamasqua SIN but I have to be careful with how much product I pick up (or it looks super purple) and I don't have that problem with Tippy.

I don't put anything on my lips other than lip balm as I have no time to reapply makeup at work, that's why there are no lip products in the picture :)

What works well for you that's become HG? Do you change your 'work' make-up around a lot?