One day a friend said, “Your makeup looks so much better lately—what’s your secret?” My answer: “I didn’t improve. I just simplified.” ——— Stage 1: If It’s Trending, It Must Be Good? In college, I owned two huge makeup bags stuffed with influencer picks: every earthy palette, every dark red lipstick. I wore them all—at once. Photos from then? Color chaos. People told me, “You look better without makeup.” I thought it was a compliment. ——— Stage 2: If It’s Expensive, It Must Be Better? Minimalism taught me: less is more. But I misunderstood it as “buy fewer things, just more expensive ones.” I ditched everything for designer brands. That cult-fave TF palette? Gorgeous. But too metallic for me—my eyes looked heavier, not better. ——— What I Actually Needed: Fewer products. Better choices. Less effort. More intention. Turns out, simplifying makeup isn’t giving up—it’s finally paying attention. #beauty #makeup #SimplifiedBeauty