An Unusual Skincare vs. Makeup Debate
I’ve been seeing a lot of younger people, and even some older people asking about whether skincare or makeup is a better choice. Or, can you just do makeup without all the other skincare stuff. I’m honestly not sure where, or even why exactly this debate even came about. However, why do we even need to pick?
Can’t we just have both? Well, of course we can have both, but if I, personally were to just pick one or the other, either skincare or makeup. Which one would I pick? Let’s talk about the pros and cons of each one, and decide. My Mother always told me that if I could not choose just one thing, then to make a list of the pros and cons of each thing, and whichever one has more cons, than the other, then you know your answer.
What is Skincare & do we really need it?
Skincare is how we treat our skin, which is if you think about it, is an extension of how we treat ourselves. If we love ourselves, then we take care of ourselves, every bit of ourselves, including our skin. You figure when we first see someone, our face is the first thing they see, so why not make sure it’s the healthiest and brightest that it can be!
You are going to have to live with your face for the rest of your life, so why not treat it how it deserves to be treated, and that’s good. Also, if you treat it really good, then you will have a better chance at aging gracefully. You should always wash your face morning and night, and it may take a couple tries to find out what products are just right for your skin, especially if you have combination skin like me!
Yes, it’s super annoying, but it’s worth figuring it out. After, you wash your face, then you need to put moisturizer on. A lot of people think, “Oh, well I have oily skin, so I shouldn’t use moisturizer.” Which is absolutely wrong. All skin types need some kind of moisture after cleansing.
If you have oily skin, then you use face wash for oily skin. Neutrogena has some really good ones, for really good prices too! You’ll want to use a toner in between washing your face and moisturizing as well. There is so many choices of brands and the brands have different lines, and what to use can sometimes be overwhelming for someone just beginning.
If you are just beginning, then no worries, you’ll get the hang of it! For example, I have combination skin, so I only use toner in me “T-Zone”, which is the area of your forehead and bridge of your nose, as well as, all over your nose. It was total trial and error trying to figure out that, that’s where it needed to go, and not putting toner all over my face!
Makeup. To wear or not to wear? That tis’ the question!
Let’s get one thing straight. No woman, or young woman needs makeup to be beautiful. Makeup is to be worn to accentuate your beauty, not make it or break it, if not done correctly. There’s many, many ways to do makeup, and I’m not saying one way is necessarily better than the other, but there is definitely a general or typical way of doing it that looks great on just about every face!
No, I’m not saying layers upon layers, and winged eyeliner, or a cut crease eye makeup look (I used the Too Faced Sweet Peach eyeshadow palette to create the cut crease look in the picture). A regular daytime look is and should be more of a natural, lighter look, compared to nighttime, which at times tends to be a much more prominent, “done-up”, or darker makeup look.
Especially if you’re going out with your friends for a night on the town! Then, yes you’re most likely going to do your makeup! To me, doing my makeup is almost like therapeutic in a way. It really is. I also always go with the makeup theory of if I have dark eye makeup, then wear light lipstick. Such as, a nude or light pink, and vice versa. Dark eye, light lip or dark lip, light eye. Never both dark because that’s too much makeup, but both light is absolutely fine at any time!
My Final Thought on Skincare vs. Makeup
If you don’t take care of your skin properly, then you’re makeup won’t even go on as smoothly as it is supposed to. You’re skincare is critical because you always wants to put your best face forward, especially if you’re not wearing makeup that day, or you choose not to wear makeup at all, and I mean, never!
Then, you most definitely want to take care of your skin by washing your face day and night, and putting a light moisturizer on after each washing is even better. You don’t necessarily need a moisturizer filled with retinol, or other anti-wrinkle additives. For example, brands like Milani, Olay, and La Roche-Posay have simple hydrating moisturizers for great prices.
Nothing crazy, just hydration which is what I would say is the most important thing when caring for your skin, aside keeping it clean of course! So, if you were to ask me what is most important, skincare or makeup? Then, I would answer whether you grow up wanting to wear makeup is one thing, but you’re not going to have a smooth, healthy canvas of skin to do your choice of art for that day if you don’t have the healthy skin to do it on.
Especially, if you grow up not wanting to wear makeup or possibly wearing very little makeup, like a tinted moisturizer (First Aid Beauty) is a great tinted moisturizer by the way), then I would like to think that you would still want to put your best face forward by taking good care of your skin. It’s kind of like the back of the shampoo bottle, wash, rinse, repeat, only it’s wash, rinse, moisturize, repeat. It’s a simple daily routine.
A little SPF or light morning moisturizer that contains SPF is even better! Thankfully, for those of us who like to wear makeup, our moisturizers, primers and foundations are now filled with SPF already, which is great and then we can just totally skip an SPF step in a morning routine altogether! Skincare first and always, then your makeup follows, is my final answer on the Skincare vs. Makeup debate.
Milani Cosmetics
-Nicole’s Notable Nook