Makeup, makeup, makeup - Do you still remember the moment as a young girl that you first thought about putting on makeup? Perhaps it was an advertisement, or you were rifling around your mom's drawers without permission. As a female, makeup definitely impacted you a way or other while you were growing up - suddenly, there was a way to cover up your imperfections and look better. As the years went by, you slowly developed a makeup routine that you're comfortable with, and boy oh boy - it takes a while to put "your best face" forward! Have you always wanted to walk out of your house again, wishing for your baby smooth skin that you had upon a time, or simply not waking up in the wee hours of the morning to prep yourself?

Today, I’m going to talk about 5 things that is going to help you look flawless without makeup – these are actionable steps, products and yes, even procedures that you can undertake to achieve that flawless selfie, sans makeup. There are literally tons of tips out there, but some are as vague as saying exercise, diet and sleeping habits that clear up your skin. These definitely work but they’re not as impactful as what I’m going to reveal to you in this post! (OK, sounding a little like a self-help guru asking for your money, but bear with me here, these are 5 things I discovered over the course of a few years that I’m sharing to my blog readers for free.)

These will be tips that will allow you to step out of your house without makeup, or drastically reduce the time you spend on your makeup routine every day, thus freeing up more snooze time. They’ll also help you to increase your confidence and worry less about how your makeup looks at any given time of the day… because you will be wearing none!

Step 1: Embroider Your Eyebrows!

Eyebrows are important to your face because it frames your features and opens up your eyes. Embroidering (not tattooing!) them will save you 15 minutes each day off your makeup routine as your brows will look like they’re perpetually drawn, giving you a polished look even if you’re not wearing makeup at other parts of your face.

I got my eyebrows done at CHARME at Far East Plaza. I opted for the ombre, diffused eyebrows because they fill in your brows more, fade away less and last longer (around 2 years, depending on the person). Although it’s slightly pricier than the normal eyebrow embroidery, the diffused ombre eyebrow uses a different technique that looks much closer to a drawn, feathered eyebrow than the normal embroidery, which draws “lines” in your eyebrow to mimic the appearance of brow hairs.

(The following is a mini-review of the eyebrow embroidery at Charme, skip this if you want to read the next tip on achieving a no-makeup look):

The process itself is fairly straightforward – I called the same day to make an appointment, and while arriving at the salon, Charme, which also doubles up as a nail parlour, I was asked to sign some forms. Next, the beautician proceeds to fill in your brows with a pencil and gel liner – this helps her to visualize how your embroidered eyebrows would look like and also act as a guide while she’s actually embroidering them. This takes around 15 minutes, after which numbing cream is applied. Next, you go to a small room and lie down. Then comes the scary part, the embroidery process. Because this is the diffused, ombre eyebrow, the embroidery process is slightly different. Instead of dipping the embroidery knife in the ink and cutting it into your skin (which is the main process of eyebrow embroidery), the beautician instead “draws on” your brows with small, stabbing motions with the embroidery tool on your brow bone. It’s like modern day beauty Pointilism. Sounds terrifying? Thankfully the numbing cream took the most part of the pain away and you’re mostly left with the strange feeling of something jabbing your eyebrow repeatedly.

Not going to lie, the process is not painless and might even be painful to someone with a low threshold of pain, but hey, no pain, no gain right? Plus remember that you won’t have to draw your brows (or at most, only touch them up with a pencil minimally) for the next two years. 15 minutes a day spent on drawing your eyebrows * 365 days = ~91.25 hours or 3.8 days saved in total every year of the 2 years the embroidery is in place!

They might ask you to buy 2 sessions of the embroidery as after the 1^st session, a thin scab forms on your eyebrows that falls off over the course of the next week – some of the ink might come off as well. You are given an anti-inflammatory gel to apply daily that is an additional ~$20. I only bought 1 session and I’m quite satisfied with how my eyebrows turned out – the colour did not drop off or become patchy. Note: Your eyebrows will appear much dark but after 1-2 weeks they return to the actual colouring.



Here you can see the before and after of my embroidery.

Step 2: Perm Your Eyelashes!

Eyelash perms and eyelash extensions – I’ve done them both but I prefer the former. The reason why you could go for this is to make your eyelashes more pronounced, and in doing so, enhancing your eyes and opening them up. This means no matter which option you choose, your eyelashes would look like they're curled and brushed with mascara without the associating effort. This is a way to look extra alluring with seemingly longer and more pronounced lashes, giving you a more polished look.

(Skip to following as it's a mini-review of the Keratin Lash Lift with My Beauty Recipe located at Orchard Gateway Basement.)

I came across this treatment while browsing Facebook and it was one of the suggested ads for me. At first I was pretty sceptical - the before and after photos look really different. The result of this treatment is almost as if you've done eyelash extensions - longer, much much much perkier eyelashes. With some additional money, you can even add semi-permanent mascara. I opted for the Lash Lift without the semi-permanent mascara. The process itself took around an hour and half and was pretty simple. Basically you lie on the bed and the beautician applies a cream to your eyelids, and flip your eyelashes onto the eyelids so that they adhere to the layer of cream. The effect is such that your eyelashes are curled without needing to add extensions. My eyes did feel slightly sore after from the cream as it gave them a stinging sensation, but it wore off within the next 1h.



Disclaimer: This is a photo of the before and after I got off Google. My actual results were similar, with many of my friends and family asking if I was wearing false eyelashes or had a eyelash extension when I met them.

Sadly it has been about a month and the effects of the lash lift is wearing off - I'm noticing that my lashes are becoming droopy again, but for that 1 month the lash lift was definitely worth it for the price. This saves you 30 minutes which you would otherwise spend before a big night out, gluing on your falsies!

Lash Perm Vs. Lash Extensions - I definitely prefer a lash perm. The effects of the keratin lash perm and lash extensions are actually very similar, but there are so many downsides to the latter. Extensions not only take more than 2-3 hours to put on, they also look very gross when they're growing out, with chunks of lashes missing in your lash line, or even looking like a shedding bush with the lashes twisting and turning in all sorts of directions. And I'm sure you know how itchy eyelash extensions can be while growing out. Not ot mention the fact that it becomes so troublesome to wash your face because you have to clean around your eyelashes! Lash perms are much easier, faster and fuss-free and the price is a fraction of a cost.



This step will be integral to makeup-free, glowy skin and rolling out of bed looking like you've already having a face full of foundation on... but not. But really Sasha? Facials? Are you trying to sell me a product here? Trust me, I used to be like you - my mother is very adamant that most beauty products and treatments are shams and has brainwashed me from a young age that beauty facials are just a waste of time and money. Long story short, I recently went for my first ever facial and I was sold immediately. For more info read my review of my facial place HERE.) I'm going to give you a mini-summary of why beauty facials is a must have in every girl's upkeep arsenal.

BEFORE: I've always wondered how some girls on the streets for Singapore can walk around with such beautiful, porcelain-like skin. I would be sad at my comedone-prone skin, which looks alright from afar but look terribly bumpy while on the HD camera. My skin was also dull from the grime accumulated in my skin and my lack of a proper beauty regime.

AFTER: I've bought a package with New York Skin Solutions and it has been going well. My comedones are 75% gone and my skin is much fairer and dewier. I've gotten so many compliments about it too. My cousin even recently asked if I've done anything to my skin because it's so much smoother and whiter.


This makes me a 100% believer in beauty facials and the power of regular facial cleansing. It also helps that the beauticians at NYSS treat your skin with different concoctions every time you arrive for a facial and they follow a skincare treatment plan for you. This helps to improve your skin over the course of a few months. Sounds really good? Don't get me wrong, there are certain detractions of facials - you should always do your reading since facial packages don't come cheap, so to be avoid getting ripped off, please do your homework.