By applying natural looking makeup, you enhance your own beauty and prevent the complete revolution of your appearance. Ideally, when others view you, they should notice your face and not your makeup. Natural makeup is about the colors you choose and where you put them, not simply with how much is applied.
Foundation and Powder
Before applying your makeup, always start with a smooth even surface. Lightly cleanse and moisturize skin before you begin with your foundation, and don't forget to soften your lips and eye area.
Apply Foundation
For a natural look, sidestep an all-over foundation. Instead, utilize a cream or stick foundation to cover imperfections. Avoid using concealers to cover discolorations and blemishes as they are typically lighter in color and should only be used to conceal under eye circles. Merely start with a light application of makeup base, which exactly matches your skin tone, over any imperfections and redness. Only apply the face makeup over the actual area of the discoloration and blend the edges slightly. When done applying your first layer, step back away from the mirror to preview your overall face. Add on layers if necessary, and only spread the face makeup directly to the areas you want to hide. If an overall coverage is indispensable for your skin, try a tinted moisturizer instead of foundation. This will help to even out your skin tone, but still let your natural skin show through.
Special Tip: Once the foundation is set, you may want to take a cotton ball and swipe it over the areas of your face you want to show through. Remember that beauty marks such as freckles or moles are natural textures to your overall look. Instead of hiding them, embrace them for the natural beauty they provide.
Concealer
If you wake up with under eye circles or have very thin skin, apply a concealer first before you begin your foundation routine. Choose a concealer shade that is slightly lighter than your natural skin color, as this will hide the dark circles but not replace it with a clown eye. Always blend well and feather the edges with a skin tone foundation to match the rest of your face.
Perfect Color
Take the time to truly discover a foundation that matches your skin exactly. Yellow tones are the best for a more natural makeup look. In selecting a foundation, there are three main components:
- Skin color
- Skin tone or depth
- Skin Type
Discovering the perfect foundation for your skin is the most important piece for natural makeup application. Ideally, your skin should look radiant without the casual observer noticing the makeup. Almost all of us need some type of foundation to cover imperfections or balance our skin tone. Research the types of foundations, and your own personal skin combination, to locate the perfect product for your face.
Set with Powder
After the foundation looks its natural best, set it with a powder. Face powders help to seal makeup in place and keep those imperfections hidden. Nothing looks less natural than makeup sliding off your face. Select a translucent compact or loose powder closest to your foundation color.
Eyebrows
For the most natural look to your eyebrows, always under pluck them. For most women, you only need to tweeze the stray hairs and the area between the brows. If the brows are particularly bushy, it is more natural to simply trim them with small scissors. These two easy steps will clean up the area around the eye, but leave the natural full look of your eyebrow.
For some basic defining, start the eyebrow at the inner corner of your eye and let it extend to the outside corner. The natural arch should fall about 2/3 of the way from the inside to the outside. When in doubt, it is always best to leave your eyebrows alone and let them keep their natural shape. Lastly, brush your eyebrows up and over and set them with a small amount of gel. That alone will clean them up with little exertion involved.
Simply Beautiful Eyes
When choosing eye makeup, stick to sheer pale shades that look like natural washes of color on your face. Go light on the eyeliner for the most natural look and employ eye shadow instead. Simply smudge it on the line around the eye for a casual look. For the most unprocessed appearance, eye shadow should only be applied on the lids and lightly, or not at all, near the brow. Never try to use makeup to change the shape of your eye. For the pure face, eye makeup should simply enhance your eyes' best features and give them some definition.
Blushing Beauty
Start by smiling to find the apples in your cheeks. Cream blushes look the most natural and should be applied on the apples of the cheeks and blended down. The perfect raw blush color is the shade of your skin when you exercise.
In general:
- Very Pale Skins - Soft pastel blush colors, as browns look too dirty
- Light Skin - Pale pink colors
- Medium Skin - Sandy pinks
- Dark Skin - Richer colors like plum or bronze
- Olive Skin - Tawny or rose tones, and completely avoid any peach colors
Naturally Lush Lashes
Apply one or two coats of mascara and let dry completely. For the most natural shape, mascara should be applied slightly thicker on the outside of the eye. Many thin coats of brown mascara are far better than thick clumpy coats for the natural makeup look. Always finish by combing the lashes after the mascara has completely dried.
Kissable Lips
Lip stain is truly the most organic way to liven up your lips. A stain lasts all day and looks like you were born with it. If you still need more color and texture, try layering and mixing your lipstick to find the most natural look for your face.
Natural Looking Makeup Tips
- Apply your makeup in layers and step back from the mirror often to check your look.
- For all makeup products, sheer pale colors are the most natural.
- Always check your makeup outside in natural light.
- Avoid the use of a magnifying mirror.
- Fuller brushes provide a more natural application.
- Mix makeup with creams or lotions to create your own sheer look.
- Blend, blend and blend some more.
- Use separate brushes for different colors and makeup type - keeping the colors from mixing to create unnatural shades.
- Practice at home and have an honest friend give you her evaluation.
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