Bag of Tricks:
How to Streamline Your Makeup Kit

This edited version of your primary makeup kit is stripped down to the essentials.

By Dana Wood

Streamline Your Makeup Kit

You conjure toys and bottles out of thin air, perform attention-diverting sleights of hand, and leap tall safety gates in a single bound. It's time to get your own superpowered stash: a pared-down beauty arsenal you can pop right in your diaper bag. Stock it with high-performance treats and deploy as necessary.



1 Portable Perfume
Carolina Herrera
Eau de Parfum Roll-On

As elegant and ladylike as they come, Carolina Herrera's signature scent, rich with tuberose and jasmine, is now available in a teeny roll-on; the size and price make it doubly purse-friendly. Reach for this when you need to signal your sophistication in a hurry (oatmeal stains or no). $10, Sephora


2 Mini Multitasker
Neutrogena
Shimmer Sheers All-Over Color

After your morning blush application has worn off and before you've gotten your second wind—that's the time to reach for this tube of pink-bronze gel (shade name: Rapture). Dab a bit over the apples of your cheeks, the tip of your chin, and the center of your forehead. The gel is filled with emollients but won't shine you up. $9, drugstore.com


3 Fatigue Eraser
Chanel
Précision Eye Tonic

You know you were up all night rocking, feeding, and soothing, but the rest of the world doesn't have to. High-tech protein complexes and licorice extract (nature's great tighteners) plump and firm skin, but the real instant gratification's in the optical reflection pigments, which instantly lighten the undereye area. $50, Gloss


4 Low-fuss Lipstick
Passport
Lipsticket

One for the "What took them so long?" files is single-application lipstick sheets. Peel back the plastic and squeeze it between your lips, blot-style. The sheer color coats evenly, so if you don't have a mirror, you don't need to worry about clown face. Each pack comes with three pink shades, ranging from Bardot-pale to deep berry. $16, Sephora


5 Concealer/Highlighter
Estée Lauder
Ideal Light Brush-on Illuminator

Anchor your routine with a click-up, cure-all concealer. This gel-like formula is equal parts hardworking cover-up and subtle highlighter; the pointed brush spot-erases the tiniest imperfection but also spreads smoothly, whether you need contour or glow. In seven shades. $25, Estée Lauder


6 On-the-Go Glow
Shiseido
The Makeup Accentuating Color Stick

Powder blush is hard to maneuver on the go; pot color is, too. Opt for a fast and easy twist-up stick that works for eyes, lips, or cheeks. Shiseido's has vitamin E and light-catching powders that impart a subtle sheen. Inhale the calming fruit and flower essences as you apply. $30, Shiseido


Bag It
Cris Notti
Surreal Red plastic-coated silk print cosmetic bag

$40, Zitomer

Read Image Credits

Cookie Magazine

subscribe to cookie

and get a FREE Recipe Booklet!

That's 12 issues for $12 plus $3 shipping and handling
*Plus applicable sales tax
Non-USA - Click Here
First Name
Last Name
Address 1
Address 2
City
 
Zip
E-mail

Cookie

Weekly

Daily Find

Come see which clever, beautiful, innovative, new product we're obsessing over today

Momover Column

The back-from-the-brink beauty journey of a really-not-young first-time mother
Show Cookie your favorite summer memory!
Subscribe to Cookie!

pretty easy

Cookie Polls

How often do you and your partner have date nights?
Tell Us What You Think