Embracing Natural Beauty with Carmindy's Five-Minute Makeup Routine

0:02Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Skin Anarchy. This is your host Ekta. I'm super excited about the brand that we're going to be introducing you guys today to today because you know I I'm always looking for unique options in the beauty space and I think that you know with everything that's going on right now it's just really nice to just discover brand new things and and beautiful options in this space so without further ado I want to introduce you guys to the founder of Hermindi Beauty who is Hermindi Bauer who's with us today welcome to the show Hermindi I'm so excited to host you so much thank you for having me I'm excited to talk yeah I'm excited to chat and you know just have a fun chat but I would love to actually talk about your background and just get to know you a little bit if you could introduce yourself to us and tell us about you know what got you into the beauty space.

0:47Absolutely so my name's Carmody I've been a professional makeup artist and beauty expert for over 30 years. I got my start in Southern California then I went to Miami then lived in Milan Italy and then New York always in fashion. I knew at a very, very young age, I wanted to be a makeup artist in the fashion industry and work with magazines and ad campaigns and runway. And so that's what I did. By the time I got to New York, I was absolutely just madly in love with the East Coast and never just never went back to California. I really kind of knew that I found my tribe, my people. So, you know, working in the fashion industry, I was always tapped as the light handed makeup artist because I really believed in celebrating a woman's natural beauty.

1:33And when you're working in magazines, it's like, you know, the models or the celebrities that you're working with, they don't really, they're not really into what you're trying to say, right? It's like, they look beautiful. You could throw mud on them. It doesn't matter, right? It's like, they're going to look good. But I was really all about celebrating your uniqueness and doing a less is more makeup look. And so about 2003, I got tapped to be on a show called What Not to Wear. And it was the makeover show on TLC. And it was my opportunity to be able to teach women across the country, women with real lives, real jobs, real kids, real stress, real, you know, to how to look and feel their very best with my very natural approach to makeup.

2:21So it gave me this incredible runway to be able to to teach them all the things that I had learned over the years. And I didn't quit my day job. I was still, you know, I still am a makeup artist in fashion, but now it was my opportunity to not only teach them, but also learn what they needed in terms of creating books. So I wrote four beauty books and then brands, how to create brands and really what do they need and what they're looking for. Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I love that though, because I really love what you said in the beginning of you know with celebrities there's this like you know just I don't know I think there's like a gray space and like a bubble around it about you know general consumers we never understand what makes celebrities look so good you know like if you see them on tv or anywhere and it's I've always wondered that and I think with makeup you know and maybe this is kind of a question I actually genuinely have is that you know what is the trick to getting that look because I'm not gonna lie to you you know when I do my own makeup sometimes I'm just like I look genuinely like a clown.

3:22I don't even know what I'm doing or it's too heavy. You know what I mean? I don't know the tricks. So what was your approach to making it look flawless and natural when you were approaching the celebrity space? What was that, I guess, secret approach? Well, here's the thing. First of all, the definition of celebrity is one who is celebrated. So you need to start celebrating yourself. That's what I always tell women. It's like if you all of a sudden tomorrow got cast in a big movie and it was a success and you had billboards in Times Square, you'd be the celebrity, right? So it's kind of like instead of looking towards celebrities or models and that's how you're supposed to look, it's about celebrating that specialness that is you.

4:07So when it comes to makeup, let's be honest. Celebrities have two hours of makeup and an hour of hair and lighting and styling and a makeup artist on hand touching up every step of the way. So to try to compare yourself to getting that look is it's absurd, right? Or even some of the younger celebrities or models, they're like flawless skin and 18. You know, it's like, come on. And as we get older, what we have to do is really look at tips and tricks that make sense for our lifestyle and what makes sense and to celebrate our uniqueness, right? So as a professional makeup artist, I had these very simple streamlined tips and tricks that I would do on whether, you know, a celebrity or model, and then especially on what not to wear.

4:50And that's why each woman was like, oh, wow, it didn't take so many steps. And I look fantastic. And I'm like, yeah, because it's using the right products in the right places. I think what's happened now in our beauty culture is it's become absurd, the layers and layers and steps and steps and 17 different, you know, geometric shapes that you have to blend out on the face. That's entertainment, it's not realistic. And so I wanted to create Carmody Beauty to be a real streamlined makeup brand that not only was easy and universal in terms of color choice, formulas that worked on all ages, because I've been in the industry and seen my own skin change over the decades, and then also make it affordable, which is another thing that everybody's getting scammed on spending so much money on products because you're paying for a box.

5:40yeah yeah no I mean I think that the that's the the bottom line is what you said it's like being comfortable with who you are you know I really love that and I love that you said that because I think that message is just not sent out enough these days I mean I'm not gonna lie to you you know every day I get on TikTok I get on Instagram and all I see are all these girls and you know they're putting on tons and tons of makeup and it makes me just wonder is like where are we headed as a society in terms of these the norms that we've created you know in terms of what we need to feel beautiful. And at the end of the day, you know, sometimes people have this argument of like, well, you know, makeup makes me feel like I have control over how I look, you know, it makes me feel like I'm in control of how I'm perceived in the world.

6:21And that's wonderful. But at the end of the day, I don't think there's a single person I know that doesn't want a beautiful natural look, you know, when they're going out into the world and putting their best face forward, you know, for lack of a better term. So that's why I asked you that, because I think it's, it's a really good topic and a good question because as more advanced we're becoming as a society, the more insecure we're becoming. Makeup used to be used by our ancient sisters as a tool of empowerment. We would actually put on eyeliner and put on makeup to, you know, connect with the gods for fertility rituals, for celebration.

6:56Now it's because we hate our dark circles or think we have a big nose that needs to be contoured. So I'd like to go back to the act of makeup as a way of to empower a tool, a wand of enhancement and using it in a positive way, in a ritualistic way that makes us feel empowered, not shape shifting to be somebody else. And like you said, society's norms now, well, we are society. So it's up to us to change what the norms are. So there's a lot of people you can follow on social media that doesn't lay on layers and layers of product on the face. I'll give you a little background on why. So the center, the heart, the soul of Carmody Beauty is the five minute face, which I created, wrote the book about it in 2008.

7:41And I created a five step system that works on all ages, all skin tones, just to enhance your natural beauty and trademarked it back then. A lot of people knock off the five minute face, but I'm the OG because there's a system behind it. The system is, is I did a lot of research on what makes a person beautiful. And it's not when they look like a celeb or a model or have asymmetrical features because they went through decades, generations, centuries, and they've even back to caveman days. And what is consistent when a woman or a person is at their most attractive is when they're in love. Five magical things happen when you're in love.

8:20Number one, your skin glows because you're radiating that love energy, that excitement. That's why when you see somebody who just met somebody who is in a romantic tryst, you're like, what's going on? You look amazing, right? So I created a beautiful highlighter for the skin. Another thing that happens is their eyes capture attention because they're trying to flirt and kind of attract the suitor. So that's liner and mascara for flirty lashes. the fourth thing that happens is their cheeks flush on a cellular level because they're blushing because they're in love so that's my universal love blush and then the last thing is their lips get engorged with blood because they want to make out those are five things that happen when a person is in love you put those five products in those five places on someone who's 18 or 80 and it restores them to that look of love and it looks beautiful on them and you haven't changed them You haven't changed their eye shape, their lip shape.

9:18You've just brought out who they are uniquely beautiful. And it's fast. Yeah, I really like that. I think it's such a novel way. Even though you created this technique a while ago, it's such a novel approach even now. Because I think when it comes to enhancing our features, you're right, we're not looking at it from that lens. You know, where it's really about what is somebody doing that's like sitting next to me or somebody I'm watching on a on a screen somewhere. Right. And then looking at them and thinking, I need to look like that, you know, to get attention or to whatever, whatever the goal is and goal.

9:57And I think that's it. It's so many layers in what you said, because it really brings you back to the heart of like, why do we try to enhance our features, you know, and it is it's true. And there's also a biological component there. You know, it's like, that's at the end of the day, you know, human beings want to attract, you know, our, our mate. And that's why we have these physiological changes that you described, you know, articulately. Yeah, it makes sense. And it's gotten so, so extreme where it's like when you see these, these people that are putting on 18 layers of makeup and they look like, you know, TikTok filter versions of themselves.

10:31When they go out in public, that doesn't attract a mate because in real life, it looks so fake and plastic. It's quite scary to somebody else. They don't trust it, right? Because it's not realistic. They might look on it, look at it on social media and be like, well, but in real life, if somebody were to show up with that, that heaviness, that layer, all those layers, fires there's there's a little distrust there right it's almost like a mask of insecurity absolutely no absolutely I mean I definitely resonate with that because I think it's it does I mean when you first see somebody with a very very heavy look like I mean my initial reaction is very much different than I think what we envision you know when we're looking at these social media posts but I actually want to ask you you know because I think people have this misconception with this idea of like, if I quickly do my makeup, right, it's not going to be enough, or it's just a quick look, you know, and I kind of, it irritates me a little bit when I see that, because I've seen women that just, you know, they'll put on a little bit of blush, or just whatever they're doing, you know, and it looks wonderful.

11:35But then I also see the other side, where it's like, people say, well, this is the natural look, and then this is your nighttime look. So like, what is your opinion about that, you know, about this whole idea of like, Why can't we just have a look? And that's our universal, you know, 24 hours. You can. I mean, that's the greatest thing. It's up to you. It's a choice. I truly and ultimately believe in having a signature style. And I think that that shows confidence. That shows that you know who you are. If you want to wear red lipstick like all your life and that's your signature, then absolutely go for it.

12:12But what I love about it is that you commit to it and that is who you are. Look at Dolly Parton. Perfect example. Over the top. We love her. She's an icon because she leaned into it and accepted for what it is. You know, for me, it's the five minute face. Yeah, I'll play sometimes if I want to go out at night and I'm feeling a little like, I don't know, I want to do a little smoky eye just for fun. But the thing is, is that it should all be just a choice. It doesn't have to be something that we have to live and die by. And this obsession with having to, you know, clone ourselves to look like one set standard of beauty.

12:45It's just obnoxious. It really is. It's more about looking from within. I've always taught about beauty from within first. And what that means is, you know, I was the overweight, chubby kid with braces that was picked on and bullied. I didn't grow up attractive. Later in life, you know, when I lost weight and my hair, you know, my face kind of fell into itself. Right. And I became this. I already had the mindset of like, I wanted to be an artist. I wanted to go achieve things. I wanted to read things. So I never used looks as a way to get ahead. I think what's happening now is people are saying, I have, I can only look a certain way to get ahead.

13:22Yeah. And that is not the case. So you need to start working on your inner beauty first and foremost, because it's going to go to, we're all going to get older for lucky. Yeah, no, it does. It's all going to get older. It's all going to fly south. I mean, I'm 53 years old now I'm seeing things happen, but I I don't give a shit so much anymore because it's like I did some work on myself and I have a feeling a lot of these young girls, they're not doing that work. No, they're definitely not. I mean, I think a lot of us can learn from that because to be honest, it's such a busy world that we live in that we don't really pause and think to ourselves, you know, what is it like that really genuinely makes me feel amazing?

14:00You know, it's not going to be the 15 pounds of makeup you have on your face. I'll tell you that right now. It's just not, you know, I'm, I know that for a little bit of time, you might feel great about a new foundation. And that's fine. You know, that's good to find things that make you happy. And I think that's my favorite part about the beauty industry is that you get to play and you get to discover these wonderful new products and like, you know, just have that moment. But I think when it starts to become like an identity thing, that's when we have to really think and wonder, like, why do I have this need that's always pulling me towards buying more products or trying new things that I'm seeing everywhere instead of just shifting the attention inwards.

14:37Right. Exactly. Yeah. It's, it's become like a bottomless pit, right. And what most beauty companies do. And I think the reason why my beauty company is small and it's taken a little long, you know, a little longer to, to gain traction is because I do not market insecurities. And that is what the majority of cosmetic companies are doing. They're marketing the insecurities to you. And I don't, I'm empowering you. But a lot of people don't want to do the work. They want to just, you know, mimic the look of somebody else. But, you know, something's always happened with me when I look at a client, my eyes blur and whatever's beautiful about them, even the most unconventionally attractive person, something jumps out.

15:17And that's what I want to enhance, whether it's a cheekbone, an eyebrow, a dimple, freckle, something jumps out always at all point, any age, I see it on everyone there. I see the beauty there. It's almost like going into a museum and there's sculptures and watercolors and oil paintings and, you know, they're all different and they're all unique and they're all beautiful. I love that. That's a beautiful thing. And, you know, I want to actually kind of pick your brain a little bit here about like color theory and this whole shade matching, you know, just obsession that people have, you know, what are your thoughts around that?

15:52Because I know there's a lot of buzz around this. And I love your five minute face, the whole bundle. It's really, really like well thought out. And I think anyone who tries it, you guys will see what I mean. I mean, the colors really are very complimentary to everybody. I mean, listen, there's so many beauty brands out there and probably the majority of them are not created by a makeup artist that's done hundreds of thousands of faces. So when it comes to color, I always look at it this way. If you broke your leg, would you go and buy or go get your leg fixed by a doctor that has a million followers on TikTok?

16:24Are you going to go to the doctor that's actually done thousands of surgeries to fix a broken leg, right? So a makeup artist creates a line. We know shades that work on everybody. We have color in the back of our minds since we began. We understand blending. We understand what it is when things self-adjust to skin. So I think it's been wonderful in a sense finally that there's been this you know inclusion of color for all people but the pendulum swung so far in the other direction that okay now you have 6 ,500 shades that makes it a little more confusing what you need is a makeup artist brand that can actually be like okay let's create these shades that work on 99 % of people because they self-adjust because they're sheer because they're you know they adapt to many different skin tones that's my approach to it.

17:15And when it came time to say the five minute face, I'll give you the blush. For example, when you look at this blush color, most people would be like, what? No way. I would never wear this. This looks orange. But what I did is I actually went to museums and I studied Renaissance paintings and I was looking at portraiture from the 1700s. And I noticed that these artists were using the shade of color on the cheeks to mimic that cherub cheek look. And it wasn't lavender and it wasn't pink and it wasn't mauve. It was the color of blood under skin because that's what flushing is. What's blood? Red.

17:49What's skin on top? And turns it almost like into an orange, like a coral. And so that is the shade that I created that works on almost all skin tones. If you have really, really dark skin, you just apply more layers of it. But that's the thing. Black works best for mascara. It's less makeup with more impact. Espresso Brown is a universal shade. My rose lip color on light skin can look like a true rose. Medium skin looks like a soft rose. And super dark skin, a nude rose. Yeah. So that's the thing is I streamline things and make it a lot more simplistic. Whereas if you go to a high-end makeup store, you have anxiety because there's too much.

18:28Too much, yes. It's like overload. I feel that every time I walk into a Sephora or an Ulta anywhere, any beauty space. and you know what's interesting about what you said I I really love this is this component of you know yeah the the blush for example let's talk about that that color blush I kid you not I was using that in college right I had I had one blush I don't even remember the brand anymore but this was the only one I used and it was literally because of what you said it looks natural it looks like my cheeks when they're flushed normally you know what I mean and I just I mean, I think right now that kind of clicked for me when you said that because I could never figure out what my obsession with this blush was.

19:10You know, it was like I just loved it, you know, and that's all I use. So I think when we do find those options, though, we do cling to them. You know, we do because that's our natural state of like understanding like, oh, yeah, this does make me look beautiful. You know, it's natural. It enhances my features naturally. I think that's something that you just have to try it. You know, you have to try that and then you'll be able to understand that. OK, you know, this is what it's supposed to look like. And I don't have to go buy the purple blush. Exactly. Totally. And the other thing, too, that I always tell women, it's like, you know, what makes you feel comfortable?

19:45I'm not telling you to get my, you know, well, obviously my lip from within daily skin prep. That primer is next level because it's a hydrator, illuminator, primer all in one. You use that and nothing else. And you look like you have the most expensive, expensive facial. It's magic. but some people don't want to wear foundation. Some people don't want to wear a concealer. Some people only want to wear concealer. I'm offering all these things as a way of like, no, there are no rules of what you must have. Right. But these are simple, easy, fast things. Say you just want to wear mascara, then just get the, I got you mascara, right.

20:18Or, or just the full potential brow pencil. Cause you want to fill out your brows. You don't have to do all the steps. Think of your lifestyle. Are you sporty girl? Are you busy girl? Are you glamour girl? Like I wanted to create a line where it's up to you. You can build it. You can go down, you can go up, you can do whatever you want, but you have the control. Cause a lot of times you go out and you buy a product and it is made specifically. It's all, it's very pigmented. It's opaque. It's chalky. It's glittery because it's made for TikTok, right? Yeah, exactly. It is. No, it's crazy. Yeah. It's crazy.

20:53Well, the thing is, here's the thing, you know, I think that the five minute, you know, the five minute face concept is absolutely brilliant, because I'm not going to lie to you, I have encountered more women in my lifetime. And I don't know if any of you listening can relate to this, but more women that say just give me something that works, you know, rather than I'm going to go buy everything, you know, I don't know anybody like that says that in real life, like it's all social media, and I've not seen it. I mean, in real life, women are looking for options. We want something that is going to work and we can go out the door feeling wonderful and great about what we did, you know, for our makeup.

21:29It's not, at the end of the day, it's not about the crazy cakey powders. I mean, I can't tell you the last time I used a powder. It's been years, you know? So that's what gets me about it. It's just this beauty giant that keeps perpetuating. And it's like, are people even using these products? Because I'll tell you right now, I have about five setting powders probably stacked up in a cupboard somewhere, you know, and I'm never going to use them in my life. Exactly. Exactly. And like things like setting sprays. I can tell you, honestly, as a professional makeup artist, my whole life, I have never once used a setting spray ever.

22:05I mean, and they're selling you all kinds. And the other thing, lid primers. Oh, my God. Shadow bases. It's just repackaged concealer. I mean, you know, so many things. the, all the, all the contour. I've never contoured a face in my life. Karma to beauty is a contour free zone. We do not contour. I've never contoured a face. I don't believe in it. I believe that, that it's almost like shaming yourself into being somebody you're not. I've always been a highlight girl because highlight is light. Light is energy. You bounce an energy from your face, gets you noticed and it showcases who you are.

22:38So yeah, no, I love that. I really, really love the, the whole vibe you know of really resonating with that and I I think that the message it's interesting because we're living in a time right now where I think people are doing things at home that they're not sharing you know in the open and I think I really believe that because I I just don't think that the real world is made up of of individuals who are just it's sitting in their bedrooms every day for an hour doing this crazy amount of makeup and then going out and doing what getting some coffee like what are you like where are you going with this you know that's where i'm right i get very lost and so i mean half the time i think the reason i keep harping on this is just i hope that this message gets to the point where people especially young women that's who i worry about the most the women they're the young girls who are coming out of like 18 19 into their 20s you know and they're like they need to figure it out in the sense of like what makes me feel beautiful.

23:36I hope that one day that we're going to see more of, no, I actually just don't want to wear makeup today. Or I only want to do a little bit of mascara. You know what I mean? Like, exactly. And be comfortable in the skin you're in. I think one of the things that really bothers me about the beauty industry, I mean, there's so many great things about it. That's why I'm in it. Because I love it. And I have a, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm a champion for, for what I do. but this whole focus on gen alpha makes me sick to my stomach they are going after nine and ten year old little girls about skincare and routines and steps and getting them that early i mean i can't tell you how many meetings i've had with companies talking about that is the focus that is who they're going after i don't know how they do it i don't know why they want to do it i think it's wrong on so many levels i've had a lot of friends of mine who have young girls who've come to me and they're like, what do I do?

24:29She's 10 and she wants a six step routine for skincare. And I'm like, oh my God, I might take away your phone because it's like, it's unbelievable. I mean, they're messing with their, their, you know, little skin biomes that aren't even finished growing yet. You're, you're not supposed to actually, and it's interesting you say that I have, I created, trust me, I'm, I'm the person that is right there with you with this, because I created a whole regulatory seal around this concept, you know, because literally teenagers are being targeted more than I've ever seen in my life. Like, I mean, I just don't understand where companies get off thinking that, you know, this is a consumer base.

25:05It's not your, these are, these are kids, you know what I mean? At the end of the day, like you have an ethical responsibility and I think, you know, I don't know, it just doesn't feel as safe as it was when, you know, I was a teenager and I completely agree with you. I mean, the rules, I mean, we used to have rules where, you know, we couldn't wear nail polish until we were 10 or, you know, it's like there were things and now it's like, all bets are off. And a lot of these, you know, and I blame, you know, the parents that are just like, all right, here's a, you know, a Sephora or an Ulta card that's unlimited, go for it.

25:39Right. And it's like, that is, it's, it's almost like sending them into a liquor store because at the end of the day, it becomes an addiction and it's bad for their mental health. And I just, I really, I really don't believe in it. The other thing too, that is just ridiculous to me is the amount of money people are paying for these products, whether it's skincare or whether it's makeup. When it comes to makeup, I got my price point. It was really hard to do. I got it down to like the most expensive thing I have is$16. So my price range is between eight and$16. And the reason why is because most of the things that you're buying out there, if it's like$38 or$40 or$32, you're buying a box and a package and you get home and you unwrap it and you take the box and you throw it in the garbage and then use the product when was the last time you put the product back in the box that came in never it's an immediate trash situation so you're paying for that not to mention waste right but you're paying for a box you'll never see again so i got rid of all secondary packaging because i'm like what's the point it goes in the garbage and then now i can charge you a lot less for high quality product exactly you know I think the price points are absolutely like insane at this point like I've seen some things where I'm like you're trying to tell me I need to pay$50 for a blush come on in what world like in what that's that's half of my groceries for this week like I'm not doing that like it's it's insane to me that we let companies get away with this stuff and I honestly I love makeup that's like well made I'm a big I'm a stickler with that like if i do buy makeup it's gonna have to be very high quality but i do not believe the argument of well if you want quality you're gonna have to pay an arm and a leg no you don't have to do that and i've seen that argument many times in the space like you know brands promoting themselves trying to justify why they have a 75 product that's like gonna be used twice in your life you know what i mean and they try to say it well no you're getting all of this stuff and because it was made in Italy and because it was this and that, it doesn't matter.

27:50It doesn't matter. By the way, I hate to break it to some people. And I know there's a lot of manufacturers that don't want me to say this out loud, but I'm going to. I have been in the labs. I have been in the factories and I have seen them pour a$50 lipstick right next to an $18 lipstick. It's the same formula, different shades goes into a different component. You're getting the exact same thing. there's really only one pencil maker that does like i don't know 85 of the lip liners eyeliners and i heard about that i heard that there's like there's just literally one or two manufacturers that do this like i mean now there's more but like most of the products that you're paying for so you really are getting suckered and it took me being in there and seeing them pour these things i'm like oh that's it's a non-proprietary formula so if you if you get it because proprietary formulas are very expensive.

28:44Nobody wants to pay for that, especially these new brands. So they'll charge you whatever they want, even though that's not what it costs because the margins are so high, but you're getting suckered. That's crazy. I just don't understand how there's no like regulation around this stuff. You know, that's what gets me is like, there's absolutely no limit. And I think a lot of times what really gets me is a lot of the celebrity brands because they'll get away with it because they're a celebrity. And I'm like, you know, this is not the product that made that person look the way they do, right? Exactly.