Underneath it all

 Let's face it: lips and eyes are the exciting parts of doing your makeup! But we can't ignore the importance of building our look on a good foundation (ha ha, see what I did there?).

I'm really lucky in that I have pretty good skin, so I can get away with doing light coverage. This is especially important because I have freckles, and I just have to accept that. It's pretty obvious that I have freckles on my arms, and on my chest if I've been out in the sun, so it would just look weird if my freckles were completely obliterated by my makeup. So today I'm going to show you the two sets of products I used in these two different photos.

 We'll start with the look on the right, my old fall-back routine. This is super duper light coverage, really only appropriate for if you have great skin and you're not worried about being washed out by stage lights. It's also good for normal day-time non-dance wear.

First I start with an Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in DEA (actually, I use this for the other look, too). Honestly, this product is a little more yellow than I would like, but it's easy to use, masks the darkness under my eyes, and usually by the time I put stuff over it you can't tell that it's yellow.

Next I put down a light layer of Pore Perfection Complexion Primer Potion. This is a lightweight, colorless product that makes your skin look kind of airbrushed. I love it! You may be able to see that I have pretty much squeezed that tube dry.

Lastly, I top it off with a dusting of Smashbox HALO Hydrating Perfecting Powder in Fair. The light tint of this powder makes up for the colorlessness of the primer potion. Also, it comes in a neat container that has this weird scraper that you can turn to get just enough powder. This is nice if you're clumsy (like me) because you don't have to worry about spilling makeup everywhere. Plus it's fun to use.

 Remember when I mentioned that I was pretty much out of my complexion primer? Well, I was running out as the date was approaching for our troupe photo shoot. The local Sephora was sold out, and Urban Decay was sold out on their website. I was seriously worried that it wasn't going to be made anymore! So I decided it was time to invest in some proper foundation and come up with a new makeup routine. This look is a little heavier, especially because you can apply the foundation with a wet sponge for more coverage if need be. It's also really nice for photography, as you can see from my headshot.

I splurged on the Makeup For Ever HD Complexion Starter Kit in 110 Pink Porcelain. This kit comes with a full-sized foundation and small packages of primer and finishing powder, along with a nice kabuki brush. For the photo shoot I used all three products, but in general I tend to skip the primer if my skin is looking good and I'm in a hurry. These products are really easy to use, you can apply the primer and the foundation with your fingers or a sponge, and then dust the powder on very lightly with the soft kabuki brush.

Of course I follow both of these routines up with whatever contouring and blush the day's look requires, but those are product reviews for another day.

Speaking of another day, do you want a sneak peek at some of my exciting recent cosmetics purchases that are waiting for their turn to be reviewed? Of course you do!

Eyeshadow pencil! Nail polish! GREEN LIP TAR. Oh, it's going to be good!