Makeup on the Go

Lisamarie Wilson

Gone are the days when I could spend up to an hour in front of the bathroom mirror in the morning, putting on my makeup. These days, applying makeup has become an ad hoc process that generally takes place in a variety of nonconventional locations: the car, the subway, the street, the office -- you get the idea.

While there are certain products that must be applied in front of a mirror in order to not scare small children, I have discovered alternatives to them that are easy to apply on the go:

Bad: Liquid foundation.

Is there anything that looks worse than badly applied foundation? The telltale line around your jaw, foundation in your eyebrows and that spot you missed on your nose look worse than what you'd look like if you hadn't bothered to apply any at all.

Good: Tinted Moisturizer or Powder Foundation.

Both can be applied with minimal fuss and require much less blending.

Bad: Bright or dark lipstick.

Perfectly applied brights and darks are a delight to behold -- applied a la Robert Smith, less so.

Good: Lip gloss and lipstick in light pinks and corals.

Precision is not required to look great!

Bad: Thickening mascara.

I can't seem to apply it without ending up with blobs of mascara on my face!

Good: Defining mascara.

Because the formula is so much thinner, it's less blobby. The no-mirror trick is to hold something under your top lashes while you apply it to prevent it from getting on your skin -- a bus transfer works well in a pinch.

Even with just these three products on your face, you'll look polished enough so that no one will need to know that you hit the snooze button an extra five times instead of putting your makeup on at home!