The Five-Minute Face: Everyday Makeup in Five Steps

A weekday face does not need to be an event. Five products, five minutes, and a sequence that works whether or not you slept well.

1. Even out, don’t cover up

A tinted moisturiser or skin tint over moisturised skin, pressed in with fingers or a damp sponge. The goal is evenness, not opacity — full coverage takes longer and reads heavier in daylight.

2. Spot conceal

Concealer only where you need it, applied after the base rather than before. Applying it first means most of it gets wiped away by the next step.

3. Bring back some colour

Cream blush on the high point of the cheek, blended out with whatever you used for the base. Cream formulas are more forgiving than powders in a hurry, because they blend into the skin rather than sitting on it.

4. Frame the eyes

Brows brushed up and set, then a coat of mascara. Both take seconds and do more for a face looking awake than eyeshadow does.

5. Finish the lips

A tinted balm or a satin lipstick in something close to your own lip colour. It does not need a mirror, which means you can do it in the last thirty seconds before you leave.

Set with powder only where you actually get shiny — usually the centre of the face. Powdering everywhere is what makes a five-minute face look like a twenty-minute one that went wrong.