This Lazy Girl Makeover Will Make You Look Glowy, Gorgeous, And Holiday Ready With Almost Zero Effort
Not more. Not less.
Image: Maid in Manhattan | Columbia Pictures
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by The Candidly Team
Even the most practical and minimalist of us can’t help but want to radiate a little more in winter. To shimmer. Smolder. Light up a room. Leave a cranberry lip stain on a glass from which we sip some sparkly drink adorned by a sprig of rosemary. We are only human after all.
The problem?
Our hair is brittle and frizzed. Our skin is dry and patchy. We haven’t even seen the state of our legs, but we imagine we’re in Teen Wolf territory.
Also, it’s dark at 4:23PM and we’re too tired and sloth-like to blow the dust off our curling iron much less unleash a 75-minute beauty routine.
So what to do?
Well, we have prepared a very simple, very speedy, lazy girl makeover regime that is designed to make us glow our glowiest and feel 10,000x more gorgeous than when we started. We feel like entirely new women after we do any 3 of these things, so we wanted to share them with you, our fellow sloths.
1. The At-Home Tan You Can't Mess Up
WHAT: Sunnee Bae Baeside Sea Mousse*
Why we love it: We forget about self-tanner in winter. It just seems like such a todo. Yet, the difference even a slightly more sunkissed tint to the skin can make is HUGE - wildly underrated. We look healthy, vibrant, revitalized … and younger. And with today’s formulas, it takes about as long as it does to slop on our body lotion.
This particular one from Sunnee Bae is foolproof. It’s not the slightest bit orange, messy, streaky, or unnatural. In fact, it’s the most natural, your-skin-but-tanner results we’ve seen. You actually control your level of sunkissedness by how long you leave it on before rinsing.
It goes on nice and smooth, dries in seconds, has no awful smell, no gross stickiness, and most importantly, no streaks.
We were gifted our first bottle. Our next 47, we’re buying ourselves.
Price: $28
* Gifted
2. The Only Winter Face Oil That Truly Makes You Glow
WHAT: Furtuna Skin Due Alberi Biphase Moisturizing Oil*
Why we love it: If your skin is suddenly dry, rough, sensitive, or flaky come the colder months, you might feel like something’s missing from your skincare but have no idea what. We feel fairly confident this oil will address whatever it is. It’s our “miracle,” “desert island,” “ride or die” (or whatever trendy beauty term influencers are using these days) product. It makes your skin dewy and lit up immediately, while diminishing fine lines over time. It also melts away chest wrinkles, which we have a before and after of HERE.
And you can use the code CANDIDLY to get 25% off.
Price: $125
* Gifted
3. The Most Natural Brow Filler Known To Man
WHAT: Make Infinite Brow Nano Pencil*
Why we love it: We tend to put off getting ready to the last minute, so when we start, we’re already rushing, which makes it easier to mess up things like our brows. This unbelievably precise, hairlike pencil makes that impossible. Filling in even the smallest of patches in our brows adds a depth to our appearance, a draw to our eyes, and all of that is a actually a huge part of why we think someone looks amazing on a particular night. We use this pencil so that person is us.
Price: $20
* Gifted
4. The Lazy Girl’s Shaving Must Haves
WHAT: Megababe Quick Shave and Blade Bar*
Why we love it: Look, these are two things we did not think we needed as adult women. But oh the difference they have made to the labor of shaving our legs. One is a dry shave stick, which you literally swipe on like deodorant and can instantly touch up or fully shave your completely dry gams. It’s brimming with softening, calming, and quenching ingredients like sea moss and moisture-locking hyaluronic acid, so you literally just rub the rest in after shaving for a smooth, replenished finish. No bumps or irritation. The second bar we use in the shower, and for some reason, it’s better than all the messy mousses and shaving gels we’ve tested over the years and goes so much further with one bar lasting seemingly forever.
Price: $14 for the Quick Shave, $8 for the Blade Bar
* Gifted
5. The Sparkly Polish Because You Want To Feel Festive But Can't Paint In The Lines
WHAT: Londontown Glow Getter Nail Luminizer*
Why we love it: We’ve never painted a red on our nails without looking like we’ve just been animalistically dipping fries in ketchup. It’s a mess, and we don’t have the time, budget, or honestly the healthy enough nails to visit the salon every week. So we use this absolutely stunning, ethereal, glowy, just the right amount of twinkle polish that also strengthens our nails, and it’s almost embarrassing how transformed we feel. It’s as if the Nutcracker ballet was manifested into a polish.
Price: $20
6. The At-Home Peel That Takes 2 Minutes And Yields Professional Results
WHAT: iS Clinical Active Peel Treatment System*
Why we love it: We can layer copious creams and oils on our winter-smacked faces, but unless we slough off that dead, dehydrated skin, we’re not going to get that youthful, reborn look we all so desire. We use this peel weekly but also before events as it does what only a professional derm or aesthetician has been able to do for us. All it involves is swiping one pad round our face to powerfully exfoliate and then one more to replenish. You can truly feel it working and the results are startling. Fresh, glowy, baby skin. You can see a before and after one of us took HERE.
Price: $96
* Gifted
7. The Cheat That Makes Our Skin Look Perfect And Dewy Everyday
WHAT: Clinique Moisture Surge™ Sheertint Hydrator Broad Spectrum SPF 25*
If you want blurred skin that doesn’t look like it’s covered in makeup, you might find your foundation soulmate in this tint. The coverage is gorgeous and silky and healthful and doesn’t cake into lines or pores. There’s a dose of SPF (because yes, we still need that in winter), and all the shades are very forgiving so you kind of can’t choose wrong.
Oh and if you just want the glow without the tint along with an unreal dose of hydration we ADORE their serum* and their face cream*. We even wrote a whole unsponsored article about Clinique’s Moisture Surge line, because we cannot recommend it more if you have dry or aging skin.
Price: $33 for the tint, $35 for the serum, $21 for the face cream
8. The Plumped Pouty Lip Hack Of The Century
WHAT: The Outset Lip Oasis™ Glossy Treatment*
Why we love it: We’ve written lots of words about why this is our new favorite, plumping gloss, but better to just show you. On the left is our old nude gloss, on the right is The Outset’s in the shade Dune*:
Left: Old gloss Right:The Outset Lip Oasis™ Glossy Treatment In Dune* with Merit Signature Lip Sheer Lip Liner in Bespoke*
* Gifted
9. The Mascara That's The Closest Thing To Fake Lashes
WHAT: Vieve Icon Mascara*
Why we love it: This is one of those singular products that just yields unique results, so were not just saying it’s the best in some category, we’re saying it’s the only one doing a certain thing, and that thing is making your lashes so deeply full, they look like fake lashes. If you crave thick, fluttery lashes but don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars and hours getting them glued on, just swipe this on. Here one of us is, wearing two coats:
* Gifted
10. The Most Stunning Holiday Blush for Mature Skin
WHAT: Beauty Pie Supercheek Cream Blush*
If you have fine lines, large pores, texture, discoloration, this will be your new favorite blush in the world. It is the most even, non-patchy, smooth, natural, dewy but not shiny finish on mature skin. We chose to show it to you in Red Light, because it’s the exact slightly sunburnt color we adore for a holiday party, but there are many gorgeous shades, so pick your favorite, because the look of it on your skin will thrill you.
Price: $25
* Gifted
11. The Eye Refresher You Only Have To Buy Once
WHAT: Dieux Forever Eye Mask*
Why we love it: We know we should be trying an eye patch for our lines and bags and inevitable puffiness we have from not getting enough sleep yet again, but ugh, we’re too tired to research and buy one brand, then another, because nothing really seems to do anything. Enter this infinitely reusable patch that actually holds all your skincare into that delicate eye area so you get the most out of it. Kind of genius, no?
Price: $25
12. The Party-Ready Eyeliner Sticks That Don't Crease
WHAT: Tower 28 GoGo Cooling Shimmer Eyeshadow*
Why we love it: We’ve all left the house feeling great only to look like we’ve been sleeping face down in a glitter bomb when we glance in the restroom mirror at 8pm. We do really want a little shimmer for that cocktail party but we don’t want the creasing and dragging or any over-the-topness that comes with so many eye shadows. Powders age us and take a pamphlet to apply. Can’t we be understated and festive at the same time? Yes, we can. These creamy sticks from Tower 28 literally swipe on. Just dab with your finger, and poof, your eyes just magically pop.
Price: $20
13. The Foolproof Bronzer For Everyone Who's Too Terrified/ Tired To Contour
WHAT: Tower 28 Sculptino® Cream Contour*
Why we love it: Are we truly supposed to paint tiger stripes in 6 different colors all over our face in hopes we look our best (and not our freakiest?) Unless you’ve mastered advanced contouring and time management techniques, you’re gonna want something really, really fast and easy to apply that gives you that lifted, awake, and freshly bronzed look. We don’t know what Tower 28 did with this creamy formula they call Sculptino but it’s unbelievably smooth on mature skin. It doesn’t sink, and it blends so well you can’t help but look natural. Just dab it round your forehead temples and upper cheekbones with THIS*. Maybe a light dab round the nose and just under your chin, and whoosh, you’re suddenly someone who’s been resting at the beach all day.
Price: $20
* Gifted
14. The No-Touch Neck De-Creaser We Roll On Before Bed
WHAT: Womaness Let's Neck Serum*
Why we love it: As women over 40, we’re always being yapped at about our necks. Don’t forget the neck. Your necks give away your age. Your necks need skincare too. Well, we don’t forget anymore. But only since we started using this convenient, little bottle from Womaness. Its lovely, lifting formula just gently swipes on so we don’t even need to touch it. So easy and so effective. And it lasssssts.
Price: $35
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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