You’ve finally made it. You’re in Disney World.

You’ve been waiting for this moment for months, maybe even years, and you’re finally, FINALLY strolling down Main Street, dodging Mickey balloons, overzealous guests, and the sweet, almost-cavity-like smell wafting from the Confectionery. You almost make it to the Hub, and you turn, ready to take THE perfect photo in front of Cinderella Castle. But oh, no…

The Casey’s Corner pianist has stopped playing music. Someone has tripped over the trolley tracks. You hear a record scratch, but maybe you imagined that.

Because the makeup on your face is melting faster than a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar on a HOT Magic Kingdom day.

DON’T WORRY. I have the solution. 🫡

🧚‍♀️ LET’S GET INTO IT! 🧚‍♀️

I’d like to open with the disclaimer that no one knows your own face better than you do. Use what works for YOU and your skin, and use what makes you feel good about yourself. Or even better, use what makes you not even think about yourself at all! Feeling your best is a wonderful thing, but it’s an even better thing to be SO focused on how much fun you’re having with your family or friends in the Most Magical Place on Earth(!!!) that you’ll never even notice nor care if your concealer is creasing. (And hopefully by the end of this tutorial, it won’t!)

I distinctly remember a time in those uber-sensitive and insecure years of early high school where I was makeup-obsessed and discovering my face. I bought a new foundation and wore it on a day trip with my peers where we had to sit on a bus. I felt really good about myself. Then, because I live in hot, sweaty Houston, a girl I thought was my friend told me it looked like my face was melting off. She said it in front of EVERYONE, and felt so horrible that I cried on the bus.

Ah, the joys of those teenage years! That feeling is awful. As much as I LOVE a lot of the makeup products I use, none of these products is going to magically protect you from being human. We sweat, we cry, we have creases by our eyes and mouths when we smile and laugh, and you know what? Orlando is pretty darn hot! But hopefully these products will let you PLAY in the parks so that when the TRON launch sends water flying out of the corner of your eyes or the tears spill over during Happily Ever After, you feel like you can still take on the day!

May the Face Be With You

Once your skincare routine is complete, you’re *Jordan Fisher voice* ready to begiiiiiin. 🎶🤌 Now, I sweat A LOT in the parks. Like, I’ve even sweat foundation-colored sweat LOL. 😂😭 So my ultimate preference for my base makeup is something that lets my skin feel like skin. I start with this e.l.f. Power Grip Primer.

I’m sure a professional makeup artist might have something to say about using gel-based products among other something-based products, but I know very little about any of this and my face has yet to burst into flame, so I THINK we are good. But stay tuned.

GRAB THIS $10 PRIMER!

Slap that on, scream like Kevin McCallister, and then you’re ready for foundation! Now, I will admit I’ve been skipping this step lately. Mostly because I ran out of foundation and was not emotionally in a place where I felt like buying a new one. (Why is spending $30 on makeup somehow way more expensive than spending $30 on food?)

BUT for when I do use foundation, I highly recommend the Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 20 Sunscreen.

What I really like about this is that it’s actually not a foundation. It’s a tinted moisturizer, so it’s lightweight and buildable if I need it to be. (Or easy to skip if I’m not feeling it one day!) It’s a nice, radiant pick-me-up that also has SPF built-in, which I will never say no to in Disney World.

SHOP RARE BEAUTY

Now, here is where I begin to attempt egregious alchemy and ultimately fail, yet not enough for anyone but me to care. 🤩 Contour and concealer and blush. 😳

I’ll admit it. I’ve never mastered contour. I would LOVE to contour my nose into a tiny little dot (or, like, a Voldemort nose), but it typically just looks like I have dirt on my face. And then I blend it so intensely that it goes away, and I’ve effectively wasted ten minutes. But that does not mean I don’t try! 🫡

I use the FENTY BEAUTY BY RIHANNA Match Stix Matte Skinstick in the shade Amber, a cooler-toned shade. I used to use a warmer, bronze-y tone, but I started to mostly focus on attempting to lift my cheekbones a bit rather than warming up my face, and this cool tone was more conducive to that goal (when I do it correctly).

I use an angled brush to apply a little bit of this underneath my cheekbones, typically going brush-to-product then brush-to-face so it’s a little more natural and diffused. If I’m feeling buck wild 🤪, I will attempt the nose contour. But sometimes I wimp out and skip the contour altogether.

SURPASS MY CONTOUR SKILLS

For those ✨ designer bags ✨, my favorite concealer is the r.e.m beauty Sweetener Concealer, which I have in shade 10n.

I find it easily blendable on my skin and buildable. I like to apply it with a small, concentrated brush, allow it to sit on my face a little bit, and then use an off-brand beauty blender to dab it in. But wait! There’s more!

GRAB MY FAVE CONCEALER!

I also use a little bit of the Fenty Beauty Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Concealer in the inner corners of the hollow beneath my eyes.

Why? …I honestly could not tell you. I use shade 180, which is slightly lighter than the Sweetener Concealer, and so maybe in my imagination it brightens my eyes with a nice little ombre?? Oh, were you under the impression I knew what I was talking about when you asked for this article?? Fake it ‘til you make it, baby!!

GRAB YOUR SHADE!

(P.S. Sometimes I use the Sweetener Concealer almost like a foundation!)

If I’m feeling cocky about my skill level at this point, I’ll use the Fenty concealer underneath where I placed the contour and blend it out with a sponge & brush.

Okay, before you ACTUALLY blend it all together, it is time for the best part!!

🧚‍♀️🌷✨BLUSH! ✨🌷🧚‍♀️ I LOVE blush––it makes me feel sweet, whatever that means. Like I’m that little gif of Flower from Bambi disappearing into the flowers. THAT is how blush makes me feel.

Lately, my holy grail has been the e.l.f Camo Liquid Blush in Dusty Rosé. This is UNDER $10, Y’ALL! CRIMINAL! A STEAL!

It’s another lightweight, buildable product with a dewy finish! (Lightweight and buildable?? Are we sensing a pattern here?) You only need a little! As my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Lampis used to say, a dot does a lot. (She said this about glue, but I think it still applies here.) I like to place it right beneath my concealer and on my nose à la Rudolph, and THEN I finally blend it all together with a sponge!

SNAG THIS BLUSH TO FEEL TRUE JOY

Once that is done, I like to set the area beneath my eyes! I used to use a nice setting powder after I was quietly stealing some from my sister and liked the product, but when I had purchased my own and ran out, I ended up grabbing a $7 setting powder from the drugstore because I wasn’t in the mood to drop $40+ on one. I was on the way to Disney World, so I Amazon Prime’d an option with good reviews to where I was staying, hoped for the best, and lo and behold, it worked great! The wet n wild Photo Focus Loose Baking Setting Powder is great at locking in your makeup without getting cakey and gross.

SHOP $7 SETTING POWDER

MICHAEL EYESNER

I’m sorry. Micheal Eisner was the best eye-related Disney pun I could think of for this section. Anyways.

As I said in the Instagram Reel I posted, an important unseen part of the process is asking for all of the makeup you’re too cheap to buy for yourself for Christmas. This is my primary method I’ve used for years, so thank you to all the people in my life who have sponsored my face. Mom, Dad, my sister, etc. Y’all are the realest people I know. 🫡

I use the Makeup by Mario Ethereal Eyes Palette, which was criminally a limited edition palette, but anything with nudes and a shimmery, peachy eyeshadow will work. If you REALLY want top-secret intel, a shimmery eyeshadow I stake my life on is the Urban Decay 24/7 Moondust Glitter Eyeshadow Singles in Space Cowboy. 

A girl on TikTok told me to buy it, and she single-handedly changed my life. It’s pricey but worth it. My sister asked for it for Christmas after seeing me wear it!

GRAB SPACE COWBOY TO FEEL ALIVE

My general shtick is a light nude shadow as a base, a warm brown blended out in the crease, and something sparkly and shiny on the lid. I personally don’t want to live this life without sparkles on my face at all times. ✨

Alright, we’re getting to the make-it-or-break-it part of doing your makeup. 😮‍💨 This is where things get serious. We can almost hide all of the damage we’ve done to our faces if we play our cards right, but it can also go extremely awry. So sit tight, pull on that yellow strap, and mentally prepare yourself.

In high school, the one area of strength my peers sought my advice on was mastering the art of winged eyeliner. To this day…I still do not have the answers they seek. You simply must hope for the best and take your time.

I use a $7 Maybelline Hyper Easy Liquid Pen No-Skip Eyeliner in brown (or black if I want to go for the ol’ razzle dazzle) because I once again had a moment where I ran out of my pricey eyeliner and was not in the mood to splurge. I sought out a marker-like eyeliner, and this one was pretty great.

SHOP THIS EYELINER!

It allows me to mostly easily correct my mistakes BUT stays on all day once it dries down, which happens pretty quick. Watery eyes or rain CAN sometimes attack its defenses, BUT it puts up a mean fight. 💪 I typically start my eyeliner mid-eyelid and thinly follow the line of my eye. Then I draw a slightly curved line out from the edge of my eye and fill in that gap slowly. Sometimes this works very well. Sometimes it does not. We take things a day at a time around here. This is also typically where we figure out the kind of day it’s going to be.

I tightline the top of my eye with the NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Vivid Rich Mechanical Eye Pencil in 16 Always Onyx. Another $7 find!

SHOP THIS OTHER EYELINER!

I curl my eyelashes with an eyelash curler of unknown origin that I am uncertain as to how it ever came to be in my possession (perhaps a magical artifact of girlhood? A Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants-kind of thing??), and then use a tubing mascara because TikTok told me this would fix me. I use the KVD Beauty Tubing Mascara in ink black. My eyelashes hate me, and the feeling is mutual. (P.S. update, after some hard-hitting journalism, I have uncovered it is this Laura Mercier eyelash curler.)

Once, I got a lash lift in Korea for $20, and it’s been downhill ever since. It was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I am still seeking that thrill in America, but I have yet to find the Ultimate Last Lift in the States. They also cost, like, $80 around these parts, which doesn’t make my bank account happy. DFB Milly and I have toyed with DIY Lash Lifts, so let me know if you are interested in that journey.

FIGHT YOUR STUBBORN EYELASHES!

SO, in lieu of that, if I want to feel extra cute, I love singular falsies that you can apply with Kiss Falscara. Forget what I said about no magical products that will fix you. THIS is magic!! 

But I honestly am too sleepy most of the time to do this. It’s a special occasion-type of deal. I always keep it in my arsenal though, even when I’m traveling!

SHOP THE BEST FALSIES!

Like most people, I have a love-hate relationship with my eyebrows. I am lucky that my eyebrows are thick enough to forgo product, but if I wake up on the wrong side of the bed with randomly sparse eyebrows, I use the e.l.f. Instant Lift Brow Pencil, Dual-Sided. It’s under $3, folks! A moment of silence for those of us who over-plucked our eyebrows in our youth. A special shout out to my sister, who accidentally cut a hole in her eyebrow with safety scissors in the early 2000s. That was a funny time. Not for her, but for me. 🤭 (Sisterhood is laughing at each other in your weakest moments. 💖)

SHOP THIS $3 EYEBROW PENCIL

Okay, this is where Christmas really comes in. The Dior Glow Face Palette did, in fact, change my life, so I use that as a final blush, a highlighter, AND even a shiny bronzer. It is $48, but you can get it for free if you make it a gift from your mom. Life hack!

This is LUMINOUS and feels like a self-care bougie product.

SPLURGE ON THIS PALETTE––IT’S SO WORTH IT!

To finish off the new face we have constructed for ourselves, spray the Rare Beauty Always An Optimist 4-in-1 Prime & Set Mist all over your face. 

Apply until it’s like you’ve walked under one of those Disney World mist stations, then powder it again with that setting powder.

GRAB THIS SETTING SPRAY!

Now, the one area where my makeup routine differs when I’m in Disney World is that I like to throw in a second setting spray. The e.l.f. SKIN All Set For Sun SPF 45!

I love this because it has SPF. It can feel a liiiiiittle sticky, but I like to keep it in my bag to reapply my sunscreen throughout the day.

SHOP THIS SUNSCREEN SETTING SPRAY!

LIP-A-DEE-DO-DAH

Okay, GRAND FINALE TIME! 🥁 (Thank you Paul Lurie on Instagram for giving me this section title!! 😂) This is probably what I’ve gotten the most questions about EVER! So I’m spilling the piping HOT tea! 🔥

I present to you…The ULTIMATE lip combo. I always do my lips last to be nice & fresh––sometimes even on the way to the parks!

I use the r.e.m. beauty At The Borderline Lip Liner Pencil in adlibs, which is a terracotta rose, but any lipliner in a deep rose shade will do. 

PICK UP THIS LIP PENCIL!

THEN, this is where it really gets exciting! 👏👏👏

TA DA! This product is pricey but SO worth it–-the Armani Lip Power Long Lasting Lipstick in 109. This is what Sabrina Carpenter uses, and I don’t think I know better than her. The shade is called Intimate, and it’s a medium beige rose. I have NEVER gotten more compliments on a lip color. EVER! I think sharing this lipstick is probably my greatest contribution to society, but again, credit to Sabrina.

SHOP THE BEST LIPSTICK EVER!

I WILL say that because this is a lipstick, you’ll need to reapply this throughout the day, but I don’t mind that. It’s always good to take a moment to refresh anyways!

If you want a STUNNING red lip, I’ve tried every lipstick, lipstain, and lip color under the sun, and I LOVE the Sephora Brand Cream Lip Stain Liquid Lipstick in 25 Coral Sunset.

It’s a matte brick red, and my ultimate favorite lip stain. I remember the days when this was $12. Sigh. I’ve stood by this product for years.

SHOP MY FAVE LIPSTAIN!

I really could write a WHOLE article on just lip products. They’re basically my Disney Popcorn Bucket. I collect them.

Okay, there ya have it! Was that too much excruciating detail?? Not ENOUGH detail?? If you have ANY questions, you can totally shoot me a DM over at @dfbcassie on the ‘Gram! I don’t think I’m incredible at makeup, but I love doing it and collecting it and would be happy to chat about it with you!

As a testament to these products, here’s a couple of mid-day, post-day, post-face paint & Summit Plummit, post-rain makeup checks!

🎶 IIIIIIII had the time of my liiiiife 🎵 writing this article, so I seriously hope it gives you some product inspiration!! Or at the very least, I hope it makes up for all the promises I’ve made to so many of you to put this together over the past few months while continually putting it off!! SORRY! But I did it!!

Let me know if you grab any of my faves, and I’ll see ya real soon in my next post! 🧚‍♀️

Looking for more Disney essentials I love? Click here to shop DFB’s Amazon Storefront!