The legendary “five-minute makeup routine” is something that a lot of people attempt, but few people have mastered. Sometimes, it’s just because they don’t really know how to do it. Although there are plenty of makeup tutorials out there helping you through the perfect five-minute makeup routine, there are many more steps you’ll need to take. Here’s how you can create that makeup routine and actually use it when you need it.

Decide on the Most Important Pieces

First up, what’s most important to you in a five-minute routine? When you only have two or three things you can do, what do you want to focus your attention on? Maybe your primer, foundation and concealer are all very important to you. Alternately, maybe you’d rather focus more on a couple of super glam effects. Prioritize to the maximum and choose two or three things that you want to achieve with your five-minute routine.

Boil Down Your Tools

Next, you want to use as few tools as possible. You don’t want to have to lug around a lip stain and blush separately if you can use the same product for both. If you’re big into contour, use a product that’s half contour and half highlight so you only have to take out one product to do both. Ideally, you want to have only 5-7 tools, including brushes, for your routine.

Invest in Products for Your 5-Minute Makeup

Obviously, no one wants to spend more money than necessary on a brand new makeup routine. But if you’re going to use your five-minute routine regularly, it’s important that you invest in some really good products. Consider buying the perfect creamy lipstick that you can also use as blush so you can use that for your five-minute routine. You don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars to do it, especially because you should only have a handful of products set up for your routine.

Determine What You Can Do on the Go

A huge part of making sure you have enough time to do your makeup is coming up with a brand new way of doing it. You don’t necessarily need to set aside even five minutes at home. If you take the bus to school, you can do your mascara at home before you get on the bus, then do your foundation and blush on the bus. If you tend to spend a lot of time in traffic on your way to work, you may even have time to do your makeup in the car on the way when you’re stopped in traffic. Create your makeup routine around what you already do, and you’ll find that you may even have more than five minutes.

Keep It in a Case

Now that you’ve purchased the products you need for your five-minute routine, don’t just toss them into your makeup bag with everything else. Buy a small makeup case, just large enough for your five-minute products, and put the products in that case. You can put the makeup case in your purse, throw it in your backpack, or even keep it in the bathroom near the rest of your makeup. You just want to be able to grab everything you need for your specific makeup look in one fell swoop.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Before you have to use your five-minute routine, it’s extremely important that you know you can do it in five minutes. That’s why you should practice over and over again until you’re almost able to do it in your sleep. If you decide just to use travel-size products in your makeup case to save space, you can practice using other makeup you use in your day-to-day makeup looks. It’s just important that you build the muscle memory for the quick makeup look you’ve decided on.

Conclusion

It’s not as difficult to build a five-minute makeup routine as it might look. Take tips and tricks from the various YouTube tutorials out there, buy a few high-quality products, and you’ll be well on your way. But what if you already have your own five-minute makeup routine, and you’re even helping your friends build theirs? You might have a great natural eye for beauty. Consider putting that talent toward your permanent career; learn more about an Ogle School cosmetology degree and discover how you can turn cosmetology into your full-time job.