Put on makeup in 7 minutes flat

On weekday mornings you'll find Toronto-based makeup artist Alice Kilpatrick in her kitchen, rushing to get her kids dressed and ready for school before she heads to work herself. As Hayley, 9, and Mitchell, 4 "and three quarters!" enjoy poached eggs on English muffins, Alice races to pull her clothes together and put on a quick face. She works with models and celebrities, so she wants to look great, despite the daily time crunch. "I never skip my skin-care ritual, though, no matter what," says Alice, 44. Once she has cleansed, then prepped her skin with moisturizer (with SPF) and eye cream, she zips through her tried-and-true beauty routine, in under 10 minutes.

The upside to having to put on her makeup in the kitchen, says Alice, is the bright natural light that streams in through the large window. "The kids watch me and ask, 'Mommy, why are you putting on makeup?'" she says. "I tell them, 'Because Mommy feels better when she wears it.'"

Alice's morning makeup routine
1. Tap then blend cream concealer over dark under-eye circles, on the top inner corner of eyelids, around the base of the nose and over any other red areas.

2. Dust on loose powder with a large brush to set concealer and even out the rest of the complexion.

3. Curl eyelashes and apply two coats of black mascara. "I never leave the house without curling my lashes," says Alice. "I've been doing it since I was 16. It opens up the eyes and makes you look awake."

4. Line the outer corners of the upper and lower lash lines with black, brown or burgundy eye pencil. "This is a new step," says Alice. "As I get older, I find that I want to wear a bit more makeup to define my features better."

5. Sweep powder blush onto the apples of the cheeks. "I like rosy tones that mimic a natural flush," she says.

6. Dab tinted balm on the lips. Alice advises finishing with sheer, neutral lip gloss or lipstick, particularly on days when you're so tired that you think oversize sunglasses and a baseball cap could be your best friends. "Your first instinct might be to reach for a bright lip colour," she says. "But when your skin is fighting your makeup, bold lips can look harsh." Opt instead for a rosy or peachy shade.

Night moves
"If I'm going out for the evening, I'll wear concealer, Lancôme Color ID liquid foundation in II-30 and Cargo Loose Powder in 03," says Alice. "I've tried some of the eye-makeup techniques that I use on models, but I've discovered that on me, simpler is better." To give her eyes evening impact, Alice uses an old Hollywood trick she picked up from actress Gena Rowlands: "I apply a dark, smudgeproof eye pencil along the inner rim under the top lashes," says Alice. "My eyes look bright, open and defined without obvious eyeliner." She also adds lip liner to her lineup, using it to fill in her lips before applying lipstick or gloss. "As a base, it helps the colour stay on longer."

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