Social-Distance Beauty Challenge Ideas

When it’s Saturday night during the lockdown and you’re missing your friends, get on the Zoom call and propose a makeup challenge party. No matter your skill level, make a game out of nailing certain looks or silly makeup challenges to pass the time.

It’s the perfect way to connect, have a giggle, get creative, and “get ready” even though ya ain’t goin nowhere.

Celebrity look-alike challenge

Either pick one celebrity for the whole group or nominate a different celebrity for each person. It could be super technical like changing your entire facial structure with contour to transform into the person, or a simpler task of copying the celebrity’s iconic makeup look.

Recreate an Instagram image

Scroll through Instagram makeup artists and pick the best, toughest, or craziest look and send the pick to the group. Everyone has to recreate it. The winner gets to pick the first activity you all do together once the lockdown is over.

One-color challenge

This one is simple, you have to create an entire look using one color. For example, it could be purple, and you have to use different shades of purple for everything from contour to lip liner. (Foundation and concealer can be normal).

3 product full face challenge

One person picks three products you all have to use to create a full face, NO other products allowed. For example, it could be blush, brown eyeliner, and concealer. Or contour, blue eyeshadow, and peach lipstick.

Recreate an era

Pick an era such as 1920s flapper, 1980s glam rock, or 1990s supermodel for everyone to recreate. Bonus tips for costume and accessories trawled from your respective wardrobes.

Isolation Beauty Collection Maintenance Checklist

After you’ve done all the Spring cleaning, wardrobe organizing, and kitchen sorting, move on to your makeup stash! For those of us who get a thrill out of an organized collection (whether it’s makeup, shoes, or books) this is the ultimate isolation activity.

However, it can be hard to let go of those lippies and palettes we never use (and are probably super expired) for sentimental reasons. But it’s time to refresh, shed, and come out the end with only what we need.

The smell test

Smell those lipsticks, glosses, powders, palettes, and foundations. Do they smell funky? Do products that once smelled like caramel now smell like play dough? Do you barely remember when you bought them and have they been around longer than your current relationship? Bin them. Be ruthless.

The “do I wear it?” test

If you can’t remember the last time you wore a certain product and honestly can’t see yourself reaching for it any time soon, it’s a goner. All it’s doing is hanging around taking up the space that newer, more well-loved products could be hanging out in. Once it’s gone, you won’t even think about it.

Wash your brushes

Washing brushes, the job we all need to do more often, and now we have no excuse but to do it.

Put on a podcast, favorite music, movie, or trash reality TV, pour a glass of wine and set up a cleaning station. Set out a clean towel or paper towels on a clean bench. Fill a bowl with warm water and shampoo (or whatever brush cleaning product you use) and get into the rhythm of cleaning each brush until the water is no longer pigmented when you swish the brush in it.

Squeeze out as much liquid as you can, then stand the brushes up (bristle-side down) and pop them in the sun if you can.

Polish your packaging

Feel Better with Beauty During Isolation

Hey, beauty lovers! How are you all doing during this strange, new, and anxious time? If you’re struggling, we’re sending you a big virtual hug. When times are tough and we’re limited to our homes, or are having to work in uncertain and often scary situations, we can turn to the little things in life to soothe our souls. It could be a hot cup of tea in bed with your favorite TV show, a walk in the sun, or reading a good book snuggled under the covers.

Self-pampering is also a wonderful way to relax and feel a little better, so here are some tips for how to feel better with beauty!

Treat your lips with a DIY Scrub

Get your kissers all smooth and lush by giving them a scrub session with a little coarse sugar mixed with coconut or olive oil. Dab the excess oil off and top with a balm. This is a great little activity to do when you’re feeling bored and jittery but don’t have the attention span to sit down for a more time-consuming task.

Pop on a YouTube Zumba class and groove as your balm soaks into your lips.

Shape and tint the brows

Order (if you can) a DIY brow-tinting kit and give yourself a brow overhaul by gently shaping and coloring them. I like to thoroughly pluck between the brows and carefully take out one little row under the brow to give myself a little more brow-bone space while keeping things bushy.

Do this as you sit with your feet in a warm bath to soak dry skin ready to give your tootsies a good scrub later on.

Full-body sugar scrub and moisturizer

If we’re going to spend our time in jammies, home clothes and a mix-and-match collection of our boyfriend’s boxers and tees, let’s do it with smooth, nourished skin.