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How to feel (and see yourself) better with zero make-up

Minimalist version

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Let it be done that I love make-up, I love it since I remember. Since when I was very young I used my mother's tricks to resemble the protagonists of old black and white films. Since a few years later I received my first cosmetic as a gift: a lip gloss (because it was not called lip gloss) transparent roll, with the scent of green apple.

 
 
 
 
 
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Makeup with a beautiful full face, without having to go anywhere is the ideal way to spend an hour free, and like all personal rituals it allows you to relax deeply and meditate and at the same time to be creative, finally using those beautiful eyeshadows and too bright or too colorful lipsticks, which take dust in our drawers without ever an occasion of use.

Over the years, as for all of us, my relationship with make-up has inevitably evolved, has been discontinuous, has become more utilitarian. Covering the pimple on duty or dark circles had become my need, the romance of the early years had given way to a more conscious relationship.

 
 
 
 
 
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La stessa foto di Toto Cutugno ogni giorno

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Flash forward to 2020, which saw us forced home for most of the first months of the year. In those days I thought a lot about my relationship with make-up, and what my Linus blanket is like: let's face it, with or without make-up I'm almost identical, but I would almost never leave the house completely and totally bareface. Whether it's a colored gel for the eyebrows, a concealer, a little blush or a colored lip balm, I always wear something, as in a sort of ritual gesture. And I know I'm in good company. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! I will continue to do it whenever I want. But for the sake of science I wanted to do an experiment for you and for you: how to see yourself (and feel yourself) at best with zero, nada, no makeup?

First, let's drink a glass of water, especially if the night before we decided to improvise wine sommeliers with ourselves. Second, fundamental: let's wash our face. I recommend doing this with cold water, so as to start reactivating the circulation and why not, help the pores to appear smaller.

We can use the cleanser we prefer, the one we have at hand, the important thing is to massage it lightly with your fingers with circular movements around the eyes, on the forehead, from the inside out, on the cheeks and on the chin. With this first and light massage we are helping all the fluids that stagnate during the night to reactivate and find their way away from our face, eliminating the swelling that we often have when we wake-up.

 
 
 
 
 
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*presepe*

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After cleansing, it's the perfect time for a thermal shock! Joke, the next step is very simple: take two or three ice cubes from the freezer and wrap them in a piece of cloth, cotton if possible, so as not to put them directly in contact with the skin, at this point pass them all over your face including the eye area and forehead.

After doing this we can proceed to a very fast facial massage, helping ourselves with a moisturizer or a face oil, of our choice. This will help us deflate any bags, slightly mitigate dark circles (let's re-read the keywords together: slightly mitigate. The only magic trick to make dark circles completely disappear without make-up is called under eye filler, but it is completely different conversation).

 
 
 
 
 
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Pro tip: do your makeup while squinting☀️#tb . . . . . . #makeup #beauty #glossier #chanelmakeup #chanelbeauty #beautyeditor #minimalmakeup #makeuplook #fotd #nomakeupmakeup

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Here's how to do it: after applying the moisturizer, we start tapping the whole face with your fingertips, as if we were literally playing a piano.

After about a minute we can focus on individual areas: on the forehead with the fingertips we exert very light pressure going from the center to the outside, pressing lightly the fingers on the sides of the temples. Then we do the same thing on the eye area, going from the inside towards the external sides of the face, and then on the cheeks, starting from the sides of the nose up to above the ears, pressing lightly: the makeup is from the inside of the face towards the outside, where tiny lymphatic drainage systems on the sides of the face will take the liquids away from our face.

After doing this, we go down under the ears to the base of the neck, and massage with light circular movements of the fingers. This will help end drainage. The key word in this process is always one: delicacy! And if you are not sure of what you are doing, on YouTube you will find the best facialists in the world ready to explain how to do it step by step.

This step is articulated to describe, but simple to perform, in reality it lasts a couple of minutes at most.

 
 
 
 
 
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*works remotely* ✨

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If you prefer, these first two steps can be replaced by the use of a jade roller / quartz roller or even an ice roller if you have them at home, expertly placed in the freezer the day before: the massaging action combined with the cold will help the face to reactivate blood circulation and immediately look better.

At this point, if you wish, you can apply a fabric mask of your choice, trying to opt for the more moisturizing, soothing, calming or plumping ones (some keywords that you will find in the wording, and that can help you choose the right one).

Keep it on while working on the PC or having breakfast, then remove it by massaging the rest of the product on the face until absorbed, and you're done.

It seems useless to specify, yet it makes the difference: if you have long or medium hair, revive it, comb it, or arrange it in a tail according to your habits, or opt for a protective hairstyle if you prefer, like braids or a nice headscarf silk.

 
 
 
 
 
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Not your average befana #ootd

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One of the "secrets" best handed down over the centuries, as old as time, is that of natural blush: with very light pinches on the cheeks and cheekbones you will reactivate the blood circulation and you will get a temporary pink and healthy coloring on the cheeks, as Scarlett O 'taught Hara in Via col Vento.

The lip balm is an extremely versatile product: after applying it on the lips, tap a little on the cheekbones, on the bridge of the nose and on the eyelids, for a super natural glowy effect. Take some more and apply it on the eyebrows: the natural oils contained will help to nourish and strengthen them, as well as keep them in order: comb them upwards with the help of a mascara brush or a brush, this will give us an appearance more rested and a more open look.

These last two tips are a kind of optical illusion if you like, but they work perfectly. If you have a lot of redness on your face, besides obviously using extra attention during the massage in order not to aggravate the condition of the skin, opt for NON red clothes, which would optically bring out the red present in your skin.

If you have any imperfections or some trace of acne, and you don't feel comfortable caring about it, you can try this trick: instead of covering them with concealer or foundation, try to draw some fake freckles on the central part of the face, on the nose, under the eyes and forehead using an eyebrow marker, an eyebrow pencil or even a nude-colored lip pencil, tending to beige/brown. Obviously you can mix these three, for an even more natural effect. Technically this would be considered makeup, so we would be cheating, but certainly much less than if we sprinkled with foundation.

 
 
 
 
 
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⚡CHAMPAGNE MAMI?⚡ #🇫🇷 #🍾 #copriocchiaie #TGIF

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Well, now you are ready to face your day. Obviously this list could go on for a while, becoming the maximalist version of itself, and include things like lip scrub, contouring with self-tanning (what ??), illuminating eye contour, of the latest generation, razors for the face, primer with the blurring effect… But that's another story for another time.

 
 
 
 
 
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Making a case for "lipstick that unmatches mood"🎢 #shmood

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