Dear Megan,
I’ve been wearing makeup for years, but I feel like I still have no idea what I’m doing. How can I wear makeup without looking like I have makeup on?
– Pam S.
I’ve got this one. My no makeup-makeup is on point.. though it is easy to get carried away and take it to the “obviously wearing makeup” level. In any case, I think I can help.
‘No Makeup’ makeup sounds a bit like an oxymoron, right? If you wanted to look like you weren’t wearing makeup wouldn’t you just…ya know…not wear it? Well that is a very valid point, and you’re definitely free to go makeup-less if you so choose (I do 9 days out of 10!). But, the ‘No Makeup’ makeup trend is more about enhancing what you already have. I love wearing a bold red lip, and a smoky eye as much as the next person, but some days you just don’t feel like packing it on. The key to ‘No Makeup’ makeup is focusing on your:
- skin
- brows
- & lashes
Between creating WINK and SHINE.. looks like I know a little about this topic!
SKIN
For the skin, it totally depends where you’re skin’s at. Regardless, you’ll need sun protection.. so put it on! Sunscreen is the base for every look.
Amazing Skin? If you have great skin–lucky you! Use a few drops of a brightening face oil like SHINE to help give you that dewy glow, while adding some much needed UV-protection (did you know SHINE is a natural UV protectant?). If you’d ilke to get the slighest bit of smoothness, we recommend a blurring primer, like Murad’s blurring primer (here)!
Less than Amazing Skin? If you’re skin isn’t at 100, we can add some coverage for an even skin tone. You’ll want to avoid any product that claims to be medium or full coverage. Stick to light coverage foundations, BB or CC creams, or tinted moisturizer. If you have any acne, scarring or darkness under the eyes you can correct that with concealer. But it’s ok if your skin doesn’t look matte and flawless- that’s part of the beauty in ‘no makeup’ makeup. You’re only enhancing your features- not hiding them. So let those freckles and pores shine through! It’s still a good idea to start with a face oil like SHINE, to help the BB or CC cream blend in seamlessly.
Don’t know where to start? A nice mid-level BB cream that’s a little new to the market is Honest Beauty’s everything tinted moisturizer (here).
Need More Help? If you want to add a little more definition to your face- go in with liquid or cream products. These are much more natural-looking than powder products and won’t leave your face matte. Be sure to incorporate a liquid highlight to make your skin look perfectly dewy. If your skin is on the oily side, you can lightly set it with a translucent powder. Be sure to carry blotting papers with you so you can touch up throughout the day.
No matter what, your skin is a huge part of your natural barefaced, beauty. Take care of it by protecting it and fading away any previous damage, with a brightening UV-protectant face oil like SHINE.
BROWS & LASHES
Eyes are the window to the soul, and the key to ‘No Makeup’ makeup. Long lashes, and thick brows are the trick to giving you a fresh faced, and youthful look.
Less than Perfect Brows or Lashes? Before you go in with any makeup, it’s important to prep your eyelashes and brows. Condition and strengthen them while naturally enhacing them with a serum or oil mixture high in essential fatty acids like WINK . Crafted with omega fatty acid rich jojoba oil, argan oil, raspberry seed oil and more, WINK helps restore your lashes’ and brows’ natural beauty.
For your brows: For your no-makeup look, fill in your eyebrows in the morning using a very thin brow pencil, like theAnastasia Beverly HIlls Brow Wiz (here). Only fill in the areas that are sparse- you don’t want your brows to look too heavily defined. Be sure to use a light hand and create short strokes with the pencil to give the appearance of hair. If you don’t feel like filling in your brows with a pencil, or don’t have any areas that need to be filled in, you can simply run a tinted brow gel, like Glossier’s Boy Brow (available here) or a powder, like Anastasia Beverly Hill’s brow duo (here), through the hair just to add a little definition.
For your lashes: be sure to use a mascara that doesn’t clump. We posted a short guide to help you choose a mascara that will work best for you- you can read that here! I have light hair, so I prefer to use a brown mascara over black on my ‘No Makeup’ makeup days. Brown is much less intense than black, while still adding length and volume to the lashes. In any case, I constantly use Benefit’s They’re Real! (available here); it comes in a couple different colors.
As for the application, I’ve written a great guide (here) on how to apply your mascara for voluminous lashes. Because let’s be real–once you’ve got the right brush, it’s all in the application.
Alternatively, you can go with a quick lash curl and a good last tint, like ELF’s $4 lash tint (here). It has a short silicone brush, making the application especially great for those with short or sparse lashes. Just make sure to let the formulation dry a little first before applying; it tends to be a little wet. Wet formulations = lashes that stick together. So just be patient!
FINISH IT OUT
To finish the look- go in with a tinted lip balm, or gloss. You can even take it a step further by pairing a nude lipliner, with a slightly opaque gloss to give your lips a fuller, plumper, Kylie-Jenner-esque pout.
Throw a little (seriously, a little) blush on the apples of your cheeks and.. you’re ready! (This is my fave blush, by the way).
The beauty of ‘No Makeup’ makeup is that you are using what you have already, and enhancing your natural beauty. So don’t put on more than you need; you are ready for the world, you fresh-faced honey.
*This post was part of our Beauty Q&A series, where our founder Megan answers your beauty questions every Tuesday and Thursday on the blog. Submit your beauty question to [email protected]*
