We know many of us love the vibrant, glittery and oh-so-glamorous full-faced makeup look, but it isn’t the look we really can manage to do every single day. Unless you’re Kim Kardashian with Mario Dedivanovic and whole glam team to get you ready before you go to work and the same job that requires you to be looking like you’re always ready for a gala, then no, that fab makeup look can just wait for a huge party or evening event.
But this doesn’t mean that you can’t look gorgeous wearing a more toned down, natural makeup look, right? So, we’re on a mission here to help you look your best with a natural-looking makeup. The first step, teaching you how to do natural makeup properly so you can rock the look on a normal day. Are you ready? Here goes our best tips & tricks.
Base
For a base makeup that looks like second skin, try to void full coverage foundations that tend to cake up. A trick to this is mixing the foundation with a bit of moisturizer to get a more toned-down coverage and add a bit of a dewy finish. Some products like Cover FX’s Custom Cover Drops are meant for this particular purpose, so you can blend it with your cream or face lotion, and have a bit of coverage too.
Best Natural-looking Foundations:
- Cover FX Custom Cover Drops ($44)
- Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation No. 2 ($60)
- bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream ($30)
Concealer
Okay, so we know you don’t have a perfect skin. But hey, don’t overthink about it. You don’t need to have 3 layers of concealer just to make your under eye look bright or just to hide those acne marks. You might end up having ashy and unflattering eyes. A tip to remember while applying concealer is to look into your own eye while applying the concealer. This way, you don’t focus on just covering the imperfections, but a bigger picture of having a natural look.
Best Concealers for a Natural Coverage:
Eyes
Okay, with eyes, you should know the first rule. Don’t use a dark palette and aim for a dark smoky eye. Are we clear? Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t opt for the sultry look of a smoky eye. Just stick with browns and neutral palettes, and darken the outer corner with a purple or deep plum, and you’re all set. Make sure to use the proper makeup brush to deposit pigment precisely and blend the hues out properly.
For eyeliner, a smudger would be handy to soften the harsh lines your liner would make. And if you don’t have a smudger on hand, just use a q-tip and you’ll be sporting a soft eyeliner look in no time.
Best Natural-looking Eye Makeup:
- NARSissist Loaded Eyeshadow Palette ($59)
- Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow in Touch Matte ($62)
- Tom Ford Eye Color Quad in Golden Mink ($85)
- Yves Saint Laurent Nude Couture Variation Ten-Color Expert Eye Palette ($95)
Best-performing Eye Brushes:
- Sigma Beauty Extreme Color Payoff Kit ($46)
- Sephora Collection Ready in 5 Eye Brush Set ($20)
- Japonesque Dual Fiber Eye Brush Set ($17)
Natural-Looking Eyeliners:
Lashes
Your eye look cannot be complete without mascara—not the one where your eyes look like spider legs—just a quick one layer application for a natural look. If you feel like you’ve applied more than you need, here’s a trick: use 2 Q-tips and a bit of a makeup remover and sandwich the lashes between the Q-tips to remove the excess product.
Best Subtle Mascaras:
- Eyeko Online Only Black Magic Mascara Drama & Curl ($26)
- Givenchy Phenomen’Eyes Mascara ($32)
- Hourglass Arch Brow Sculpting Pencil ($34)
Bronzer & Contouring
You might think, “Contouring? Isn’t that not the best way to achieve a natural makeup look?” Well, we aren’t talking about the overwhelming contour map that celebrities use. We have combined the contouring section with the bronzer because they can in fact go together. Just use your bronzer to add a bit of definition to your face. Just sweep it lightly under the apples of your cheeks and move toward the ear then back to the lower cheek.
Best Bronzers for Subtle Contouring:
- MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze (£30)
- BOBBI BROWN Bronzer ($44)
- GUERLAIN Terracotta Sun Trio Bronzing Contour Palette ($56)
Blush
One of the major elements of a natural-looking makeup is having a blush that just makes you look like you have a naturally flushed cheeks. The shade of your blush is key to this, and so does your application. A trick when dialing down a bright blush: go over the blush with a foundation brush you just used and voila! A perfect-looking natural blush.
Best Soft & Natural Blushes:
- NARS Blush in Reckless ($30)
- La Prairie Cellular Radiance Cream Blush in Rose Glow ($70)
- Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blush in Diffused Heat ($38)
Lips
Thank goodness for a wide selection of lipstick hues and finishes nowadays that you won’t have to twist and turn thinking of a way to mute down a bright or glittery lipstick. Trust your favorite day nude lipsticks. But if you think the pigments are just a bit much for an “actual lip” hue, use a small fluffy brush with a mist of a primer spray and buff the hue of the lipstick by brushing over it.
Best Lip Products For Gorgeous Natural-looking Lips:
- M·A·C Prep + Primer Fix+ ($26)
- MAC 217 Blending Brush ($24)
- bareMinerals GEN NUDE Buttercream Lipgloss ($18)
- NARS Satin Lip Pencil ($20)
Image credits: Unsplash, Daily Vanity, Laurus, Beauty Lish, The Independent, Project Vanity.
