This year, I decided to run my first half marathon. Mind you, I ran for the first time less than two years ago! I took a "Couch-to-5k" program at my local YMCA and started from nothing. I now love running for exercise and, of course, the cute outfits! Because I'm not a serious runner, I thought that the Disney Princess Half Marathon would be the perfect race for me.
My Ariel-inspired outfit was the easy part to plan: I had already picked out the perfect fabric to sew my mermaid-esque skirt, scored a red Manda Bees headband on etsy that didn't budge the entire time (seriously, I had a tan line.), bought an amazing purple tank top from Athleta, and even found green Nike running tights! The hard part (aside from the training during our looooong & harsh Indiana winter), was to decide what makeup would be best for race day. I know, I know... Makeup for a half marathon?! YES: this is Disney World! There will be a photo-op at every mile along the way. And, of course I wanted to show off my accomplishment to the entire Insta/Twitter/Facebook universe! The race started at 5am and the last bus left our hotel at 3:30, so I was going to need a little help looking lively that morning.
After looking up "running makeup," "race makeup," "makeup for runs," and any other variation of the search, I could hardly find any articles that were any help at all. So, I decided, I was going to have to do the research myself. With some help on suggestions for waterproof mascara, I started at the Covergirl display at CVS and went from there. Trying out my purchases on my morning treadmill runs, I must say that I got pretty lucky and found some great products right away! Read on to find out what I used and why I loved it.
Mascara
I started my CVS trip at the CoverGirl section for mascara, because I heard a lot of great things about their waterproof mascara. I wanted a mascara that was waterproof, black, and added volume. I have found in the past that waterproof mascaras often added the color, but not an adequate amount of volume. Because of the description and the funky brush, I ended up with CoverGirl Lash Blast Waterproof Volume Mascara in Very Black.
One coat of this stuff makes my lashes darker, longer, and fuller without clumping or ever running. I even tested it's staying-power after my test-run (pun intended!) in the shower and it still didn't run. I love this. It is almost too good at staying on.
Eyeliner
Almost as important as mascara is eyeliner; especially at 3:30am after two full days of four disney parks. I went in to this one blind: I knew I wanted black, waterproof, and cheap but didn't know where to start. I literally turned around after grabbing the mascara and saw the Rimmel display. "Perfect!" I thought as I read the descriptions of their eyeliners , "Waterproof and only $4!" Not so much. The shelves were empty except for a few brow pencils and damaged liners. Ugh. Next to the Rimmel end cap was N.Y.C., however, so I checked it out.
I grabbed their NYC Waterproof Eyeliner in Black and loved it! This eyeliner, too, stayed on through my treadmill test and the shower after. I have to use serious eye makeup remover (Mary Kay Oil Free Eye Makeup Remover, of course) to get this stuff off. Makeup remover wipes will not cut it. Both my eyes were still fully lined after my 13.1 race - it was perfect!
Eyeshadow was an added bonus: I didn't expect to find any, but thought it would be nice if I could have a layer of coverage on my thin lids and add some highlighting. I took a chance on Rimmel's Scandal'Eyes Shadow Stick in Bulletproof and I really like it! It goes on very smoothly and doesn't crease. I'm not sure that it stayed on for the entire half marathon, but lasted long enough to make me look awake in the wee hours of the morning.
The Finish Line
All-in-all, I was very pleased with my makeup. It was just enough for what I needed without looking over-done. Let me know what your favorite makeup products are for running or exercising so we can all share our knowledge with each other!
Wingapo!
