I usually start thinking about Sunday brunch around Thursday…
Or Wednesday.
OK, you got me — Monday afternoon! 🙂 What can I say? I really, REALLY like Sunday brunch. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, brunch is my favorite meal of the day, and I look forward to it all week long.
As for my makeup for brunch, the effort I put into it varies, depending on whether I’m hungry enough to gnaw on my arm. Sometimes I’m so ravenous by brunch time that I don’t care about my makeup at all, and I’ll leave the house with a bare face, wearing stretchy pants and a sweatshirt covered in cat hair from head to toe (of course).
But when I’m not completely starving and have a little extra time to get ready, or when I’ll be meeting friends, I will try harder…but not too much harder. It is brunch after all. 🙂 And who wants to deal with falsies and winged liner on a Sunday morning? NOT THIS GIRL. Plus, I gotta save mental energy for the difficult brunch decisions like, “Should I get pancakes, French toast or both??”
When I have decided to put in a little effort, that usually involves putting on a pair of dark blue skinnies, a v-neck tee, my favorite cropped black leather jacket and my cat Vans. My hair goes up into a purposefully messy pony, studs go in my ears, and a dainty necklace goes ’round my neck. Then I’ll do a warm, glowing makeup look like the one I’m wearing here.
With brunch makeup, or other looks that are similarly minimal, I think it’s important to choose one thing you want to emphasize, and then scale back everything else. For brunch, I like to focus on my skin, and I’ll aim for slightly warm and glowing. Then I’ll scale back on other stuff like mascara and liner to save effort and time.
I like this one because it doesn’t look too heavy and doesn’t have any harsh lines, and I can do the blending with my fingers in about 10 minutes.
For this here look, you’ll need the following (of course, on this makeup menu, substitutions are allowed)…
- A tinted moisturizer, BB or CC cream, or a sheer foundation that you can blend with your fingers
- A concealer that you can blend with your fingers
- A brow gel — clear or tinted is up to you — but I like tinted because I can use it to fill in the sparse spots in my brows
- A coppery cream eyeshadow with a hint of shimmer that you can blend with fingers
- A peachy golden cream liquid highlighter that — yup, you guessed it! — you can blend with your fingers
- A sheer peach pink gloss
- A moderately pigmented peachy pink blush that’s also easy to blend, so you don’t have to spend a ton of time buffing your rouge because, hello! — pancakes are waiting
Now that we have our brunch beauty tools, let’s do this. 🙂
On freshly washed skin, start by applying your tinted moisturizer, BB cream or CC cream, or your sheer foundation using your fingers.
Next, hide any dark circles or discolorations with concealer, and I usually do this under my eyes and around my nostrils.
Brush your brow gel through your brows and, if you need to, curl your lashes.
Apply your creamy copper eyeshadow on your lids from lash line to brown bone, and then soften the edges with a finger.
Dot your highlighter on the tops of your cheekbones, down the bridge of your nose and on your Cupid’s bow, and once again, blend that ish with your paws!
Slick a little lip gloss on your lips…
And finish with blush.
Now you’re ready for brunch! Bring on the noms…
Makeup worn in this look
- MAC Studio Waterweight SPF 30 Foundation
- Sephora Bright Future Gel Serum Concealer in 10
- Urban Decay Brow Tamer in Dark
- Clinique Chubby Stick in Ample Amber
- BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal
- MAC Plushglass in Big Baby
- Clinique Cheek Pop in Ginger Pop
So, brunch. What’s the best brunch you’ve ever had? Inquiring minds want to know…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty brunch addict,
Karen
I also like this as a vacation look. Minimal but very fresh and pretty. For me, I’d skip the eyeshadow stick and just add some mascara. I just got the Becca highlighter and I love it! Thanks for the post Karen!
Brunch is definitely the best meal of the day. Since I hardly ever go to one, I always feel like it’s a special occasion to me so I will try to look pretty (but not overly done). I like your simple look, I’d just add some mascara!
On a side note, I really need to try one of these eyebrow gels, they seem so easy to use!
As far as brunch, Cinnamon French Toast, please!
I see those tees everywhere at the mall now 😀 You get fancy for brunch, usually I throw on my brunch tee and some mascara and call it good!
OH, you look like you, only better 🙂 Give the deets on the polish. It keeps distracting me it’s so pretty. I started to mention it after seeing your Sephora video yesterday. It’s such a lovely color. 🙂
I love brunch, but gluten makes going out for it hard, along with the fact I wake up starving!
How do you like the Sephora concealer? The lightest color is really a good shade, so it’s on my list.
I love the dewy glowing look! As for the best brunch I’ve ever had? Maybe when my youngest brother & his wife invited me over & they made vegan banana pancakes & mimosas. Yum! Although I admit that I’m a sucker for anyone who cooks a meal for me (single men, did you hear that?).
I used to love to go for brunch when I lived in NYC. There were so many places to choose. My all time favorite is Sarabeth’s. I haven’t gone in a few years, but they make awesome scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. I did have an amazing breakfast out last summer when my husband and I went down to Cape May for a few days. On the way we stopped at this great eatery called “Shut Up and Eat”. I had this stuffed French Toast with Nutella. It was sooooooo god, but so much that we took it with us to the motel and ate it later that night for dessert and the following morning. I usually don’t wear much makeup on the weekends. Maybe tinted moisturizer, mascara and a cream blush.
Very subtle and natural, perfect for brunch indeed 🙂 My favorite meal of the day is actually breakfast. The combination of breakfast and lunch just confuses me, lol.
This is a great look but you know I can’t leave the house without mascara. If I did nothing else, I’d have to have mascara. 🙂
I don’t have brunch too often but I’m usually a fan of the made-to-order omelet bar or eggs benedict. The rest can be the basic buffet stuff so I can pick a little this or that. As you can see, it’s a good thing for my weight and heart health that I don’t brunch often. HAHA!
That magical word “brunch”. And you loo so beautiful and glowing with that kind of makeup.
But I personally don’t think I would look that good without mascara.
Ah, you look so fresh and luminous! And those pancakes- yum! Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Karen! xo
and this is why you’re glowing a little extra (read blush post comment lol)… stunning as always!
It’s official, I need that new MAC foundation. I wanted to go into NYC from Brooklyn, but the Pope is in town and it’s utterly packed. I’m going to the Pocono Mountains for my anniversary next week, and this quick makeup look seems perfect. I know my hubs will not be down for my 30 min makeup extravaganza lol. I may just pick up a BB cream at CVS today in lieu of my foundation. Thanks for the inspiration!
That’s a nice healthy, fresh faced look. Will have to try it.
I love brunch! Unfortunately, the Dear Husband does not, so I rarely get to go out and eat brunch. Boo! Maybe this year, I’ll ask for a brunch meal for my birthday, even though it doesn’t fall on a Sunday.
DOESN’T LIKE BRUNCH?!?!?! That’s something people put on divorce documents.
My husband used to not care for it because he likes to eat early. I just have him eat a protein bar or banana when he gets up. Then he’s happy to eat again 2 hours later and he doesn’t over eat.
We don’t really brunch lately, Sunday isn’t a day to eat out in Germany and there are no brunch places by us in our new US home. When I lived in Portland, we’d have brunch twice a month and meet friends. It’s better for friends with kids because you can bring them along!
I also aim for the same kind of brunch look. Takes 5 to 10 minutes and you look so much better than all the other hung over people in the restaurant! 🙂
The best brunch I ever had? Hm, I guess at a fancy hotel in Frankfurt I was taken for my 30th birthday.
Karen, I love this natural approach and this is pretty much my weekend day makeup too- except: I need mascara!!! Ain’t a day without it! (But I’m blonde and look rather sick without color on my lashes lol).