There are two types of women in the world, the ones who lie through their teeth, swear Heaven, Jerusalem, and Mecca that they are on the way when in truth, they have only just woken up. The other type of women are those who are truly on the way or have already arrived at the location. You can already guess what category I fall under. Capital B beauty enthusiast that I am, I love the confidence well-applied makeup gives me. I love a gently applied foundation, and the rosy cheeks illusion that a light blush gives. Most of all, I love the spear-like alertness mascara gives to my lashes. 

Many women are like me and many times, we have lied to our uber drivers, friends, or dates, telling them; “You’ll soon see me.” And regardless of how late, we can’t not bring our A game to the show. We want to look good enough that upon arrival, your heart melts to a puddle and we instantly earn your forgiveness. 

Call my name with respect from now for I have visited the heavens and I possess golden rules and tricks for a 5-minute makeup routine for women like me, and for actual punctual women. 

Skincare

The trick to flawless makeup is proper skin prepping, it helps your foundation blend easily and if you’re not wearing any, gives your skin a healthy glow and shows off all that natural oil. I prefer to wear foundation, so after bathing, I take the time to follow my routine and massage the products into my skin. I don’t include the time I spend on skincare in the 5 minutes set aside for makeup, but on days when things have gone awry and I cannot afford to set aside 10 minutes for skincare, I settle with cleansing, toning, moisturising, and protecting. 

Foundation

In the golden book of essential baby girl living tips, foundation is essential but not mandatory. Depending on your skin type and preferences, it’s a step you can skip. After your skincare, your face is shiny and smooth, this allows for a quick foundation blend. Remember, you only have 5 minutes and the faster you apply your foundation, the better for you. Set asides a minute and 30 seconds for that. Whether you use a brush or a beauty blender (or both in my own case) always wet your applicator. Not wet enough to have water tumble out of it upon squeezed or shook, but moist enough to hydrate your face. What moistness does to your applicator is, it allows you to quickly tap your products in and achieve an all-round consistency in tone. You really don’t want to go about with makeup that doesn’t look properly blended.

Blush

Truthfully, I’ve never owned an actual blush, I always use a red/pink lipstick or a red/pink eyeshadow. It gives me the result I want so why not? Like foundation, I like to apply my blush with both a beauty blender, and a brush. After blending lightly into my skin with a beauty blender, I touch up with a brush to get best results. Dab the lipstick or blush (whichever you are using) on both cheeks and take it up to your eye lids to give you some colour there, this way, you can skip the eye routine and brush up with some powder and mascara. Little is more, the less product you use the easier it is to blend and save you time. Following this rule properly, you can get this step done in 45 seconds. I do it all the time, so I know.

Brows

The brows can be tricky, very tricky, especially when you have thick brows. I don’t advise filling your brows in if you fall in that category, you can simply brush your brows in shape with a spolee. I have somewhat scanty brows because I always trim it, so I just lightly go over it with a pencil in two or three strokes at the start, and I follow the arc of the tail brow, after which I brush it gently and in shape with a spoolee. The result is excellent and quick. This should take just about a minute.

Mascara

This is my favourite part, I love mascara so much, it brings the whole look together. I’m heavy on mascara so I always look out for volume and length. One enhances the length of my lashes and the other enhances the volume. This usually takes me a minute because I like to go in properly and get all the roots and tiny hair. 

Powder and setting spray

At this point, you run your brush through your compact powder and dust it over your face, also use a setting spray to keep the makeup in place. This shouldn’t exceed 45 seconds; this is the simplest step.

Lip-gloss

Don’t try to wear lipstick when you’re late, a lot can go wrong. But you will never go wrong with lip-gloss. You can wear just lip-gloss and feel like Princess Diana. It’s another favourite step of mine. 

And you are good to go, hopefully, your “you’ll soon see me” lies to your uber driver worked and he waited for you. Otherwise, Goodluck babes!