Mastering the natural beauty look is about using makeup strategically so that your natural skin and best features come forward!
Some of today’s most gorgeous celebrities are frequently caught on camera with little or no makeup…and they don’t care! These “barefaced beauties” have decided to emphasize clean, fresh skin and have adopted a natural beauty approach when it comes to cosmetics. It’s no coincidence that runway models for the last few years are appearing deliberately barefaced—it’s s trend that’s here to stay! The latest looks show models with beautifully enhanced brows and an ethereal glow, but they are certainly anything but plain. Ladies, wouldn’t we all love to capture that beauty that doesn’t seem to come from a bottle?
For us non-celeb women, the prospect of going makeup free might seem scary. At first, the thought of it made me a little uneasy too! We’ve learned to cover up our flaws with carefully applied foundation and concealer. We play up our facial assets with artful blush, eyeliner and lip color. It looks pretty good so why rock the boat?
Natural beauty is not about boycotting makeup; it’s more about letting our natural healthy skin and features take center stage. The art of this look is in understanding light and shadow, matte and shine, texture and smoothness and how all of these opposites can be used effectively instead of relying on heavy cosmetics or loud colors.
If you want to go for a natural beauty look, start by taking a good look at yourself. Look at your bare face in the mirror and take careful stock of your most important features. Whether you love your features or not, think about the final look you want to achieve. Natural beauty techniques still highlight the areas you like; they tone down the problem areas while still allowing your natural complexion to shine through.
Here are some ways you can adjust to a new, luminous natural look:
Cleanse, exfoliate and hydrate
Bright, clean skin is vital before applying any kind of makeup and with a minimalist approach—it’s literally part of the look! So stick to your twice daily cleansing ritual. Wash
Go light with coverage
Use sheer coverage as opposed to heavy foundation. Skip your opaque coverage and opt for sheer instead. Applying an all-over primer will help smooth the skin and fill in fine lines. It also allows a sheer foundation to glide on more easily and stay in place longer. For a super sheer look, turn to a tinted moisturizer and skip foundation altogether. These days, with BB creams and CC creams, the options seem endless when it comes to non-foundation options. Use your fingertips to apply tinted moisturizer, and apply evenly in small areas starting with the center of the face and working your way to the edges. If want to stick to solid or liquid foundation, apply it with a brush, stroking from the center of the face outwards, and blending well. This will create more of a natural look versus using a sponge.
Bronzer and Blush
Use a bronzer and/or blush to emphasize features. Liquid, stick or pressed powder bronzers supply a warm sun-kissed tone to skin. You’ll look like you just got a tan without having to step foot in the sunshine! Apply bronzer lightly to the areas that are most frequently in the sun’s glow, such as the bridge of the nose, cheeks and forehead. Bronzer can replace a blush, or you can apply a very fine layer of brush over the bronzer. The most important thing to remember with bronzers is that less is more. If you use too much and your face may appear dirty.
Illuminator
Illuminators contain reflective ingredients such as mica or other minerals that catch the light. When applied to your face, an illuminator brings a lovely luminosity to eyes, brows, cheekbones and jawline without any extra color. Apply illuminator with a large Kabuki or stippling brush; start with a very small amount and increase as needed. Again, with advancements in cosmetics, you can find a tinted moisturizer with illuminator to get a dewy look.
Concealer
Hooray—you still get to make the unflattering stuff disappear! Just make sure your concealer matches your skin color. The cosmetic market is filled with options based on your overall color and undertones. You may need a lighter shade for underneath the eyes or use a concealer with blue undertones. A concealer with a greenish tint will help mask redness—perfect for surprise blemishes! Use a concealer brush with firm bristles, dab concealer on blemishes, brown spots and red areas then gently blend and feather out to achieve the natural look. If you’re good with makeup, some people find fingertips work as well as a concealer brush. Just make sure your tools—brush or fingers—are clean before you apply.
Eye makeup
Use eyeliner and mascara lightly. Bold liquid eyeliner does not belong in the natural beauty regimen. Instead, use an eye pencil in a velvety brown and do what is called tightlining: apply your line directly in between your eyelashes and on the underside edge. Get right in there and fill in the spaces between lashes with tiny dots. Then, using a brush to gently lift your lid, draw the pencil across the underside edge. Remember my favorite tip: curl your lashes with an eyelash curler then apply gel mascara.
Eyebrows
Pay careful attention to eyebrows. Ah, your eyebrows will be the talk of the town with just a few simple techniques. First, get them in great shape and clean up stray hairs. Then using a soft eyebrow powder and small brush, carefully fill in the bare spots with subtle color that matches the color of your natural brows. Finish with a brush-on gel to keep your brows perfect all day long.
Lips
There a couple of different ways you can go here. Use a neutral or sheer gloss and skip the lip liner. Or, here’s a neat trick from the makeup artists: apply lipstick that is a few shades darker than your natural lip shade. Wait a few minutes then wipe it off. Yes, wipe it all off! It leaves a bit of stain behind that really looks like your bare lips, only better.
Setting powder
Setting powder is an optional step, but translucent powder really does help keep your face in place and minimizes unwanted shine. Use a large Kabuki brush and apply powder sparingly, pressing lightly to fuse it to your skin.
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If you’re like me, you love the healthy glow that comes from living well and being happy! Natural-looking makeup is a great way to take it just a little bit further. Tell us about your own barefaced beauty techniques in the comments below!
Written by beauty expert, Jacquie Carter. Jacquie is Director of Outer Nutrition at Herbalife.
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