Winter Makeup Bag to Protect Skin and Shine

The winter season, like any other marketing image, is portrayed as a snowy fairy tale full of lights and shining signboards, during which people get outside without hats and happily play with snowballs. Reality is nothing like that. You step out of the warm home and immediately catch frosty snowflakes on your face, then feel how they are turning into makeup-destroying liquid. Someone chooses not to put any makeup on at all. The others take risks, and if they haven't been prepared, they fix their beauty work during the whole day.

The secret to long-lasting winter makeup is different from other seasons' beauty products. The level of air humidity in cold times is much lower than in warm ones, so your makeup should be not just for the sake of beauty but also to protect and restore the moisture balance of your skin.

Oil-free products will become your enemy in winter; every beauty blogger and cosmetologist knows that if oil-free makeup is put on in winter, shortly afterward the skin will look like plaster in an old house, cracked and dry. Foundation is recommended to be oily and have a dense texture to protect the skin. Estée Lauder Soft Matte Hydra Makeup SPF 10, for example, or La Roche-Posay Rosaliac CC Creme, which both have sun protection. For those who are a little bit of Ebenezer Scrooge and enjoy saving money, there is a lifehack of mixing cosmetic oil with foundation to give the product a nutritional effect. And do not forget that, thanks to a lower temperature, your skin will become paler, which means using foundation one shade lighter than the natural color of your skin.

Face powder is not welcome as it dries the skin, but if you want to use it, first moisturize the face with mineral or thermal water, wait a little, and only then put on makeup. Moisturizing candidates include Uriage products for dry skin and the Avene formula, which is as close to the physiological composition of the fluids in the human body as possible.

The next step is blush, but its application should be gentle because otherwise you will have the look of a cheap Picachu or Snowhite who can't do makeup. The creamy and bronzing blush will accentuate the natural redness from the cold; all you have to do is put it on your forehead, nose, and chin in a circular motion with a large brush. For winter, a perfect blush may be RÓEN Beauty Cheeky Blush, which contains skincare ingredients, or Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer, which is always at the top of the best bronzers.

Dry structures in beauty products are also a big "no" when we speak about eye makeup. Again, choose creamy or creamy powder eyeshadows, and don't be afraid of the look with an eye accent. Winter is the perfect season for eyeliner or bright colors because of the cold, during which contrasting makeup looks amazing. Our favorites are the pen-form eyeshadows by Bobby Brown and the long-lasting Tom Ford Cream Color for Eyes.

And now, mascara. Here, the rule of makeup is simpler than ever: it should be waterproof so that you don't appear in public with black streams from your eyes after a snowfall. Plus, you may put on two layers of mascara. Pass to the second one only when the first one dries, so you avoid the "glued lashes" effect. Editors' choices are indestructible Chanel Inimitable Waterproof Mascara and Armani Eyes To Kill Waterproof Mascara with a telling name.

The final details are lips treated with a big love. And love here does matter because the winter day after you forget about lip care, you have nothing but desert instead of your lips. To prevent that, scrub your lips at least once a week; thanks to that, lipstick will last longer and be put on smoothly. While putting on the lipstick itself, do it in three easy steps. First, a dense, protecting, and caring balm; then, lipstick. The third layer can add lip gloss for a glossy finish. You can try that very Dior Addict Lip Glow in Plum that has gone viral on TikTok or the nude winner, Clinique Even Better Pop Lip Colour Foundation.

Your skin also depends on a makeup removal product. Remember that alcohol can only be in glasses and in the right amount, and choose mild products that do not contain alcohol to avoid skin dryness. It's best to rely on milk or cream products. When your makeup is off, be sure to use a facial toner as well as a mild cleansing gel. The water should be warm, not hot. The best alcohol-free removers are Bioderma Sensibio H2O, which does not disturb the balance of the skin, and handy Cetaphil Gentle Makeup-Removing Wipes.

If you're not Anne Hathaway, a witch who knows how to look like a young maid in her forties, a skin care routine is your best friend in life. Winter mornings are about skin nutrition, and moisturizing before going to bed is imperative. Put on a moisturizing lip balm before bedtime and choose a cream with antioxidants and minerals to protect the skin, like the refreshing Naobay Oxygenating Cream Moisturizing or the soothing Clarins Gentle Day Cream.