Sunday, September 26, 2010

How to get that 'no makeup' look, fast and easy


I don't personally wear this look a lot, but I know a lot of woman and men like to look polished without applying very much makeup.
I believe what makes a face look polished is a little bit of color and a tiny bit of contouring to accentuate your best features. Also, well-groomed brows are key in this look.
The best part about this kind of look is that it works well when you are in a rush. You can use cream Eyeshadow and blush as well to make application a breeze. Total time should be less than 10 minutes.

What you need:
-An Eyeshadow base - or you can just use concealer
-A light Eyeshadow to use all over the lid in a contrasting shade to your iris. Shimmery or matte doesn't matter, whichever you prefer.
green eyes: pick a light pink
blue eyes: pick a light gold
brown eyes: light purple/cool taupe
-A light-reflecting highlighting Eyeshadow shade, off-white or light yellow work best.
-A black or brown eyeliner. pencil, gel or powder are all good.
-Black or brown mascara (whichever you like)
-A contour blush, 1-2 shades darker than your skin tone
-A cheek highlighting product, or you can just use your highlight Eyeshadow
-A eyebrow pencil, gel or powder to fill in and define your brows
-A 'your lips but better' lip color. 1-2 shades darker than your natural lips.
See bottom of this post for products I used for this look.

Step 1. Apply your Eyeshadow base. This evens out the skin there and conceals any redness or veins. Optional - apply your foundation/concealer/powder, some people do this before they do their eye makeup, I do it last.
Step 2. Apply your highlight shade over the entire eye. This opens up your eyes immediately.
Step 3. Apply your contrasting all-over lid color. sweep it up just past your crease.
Step 4. Using your eyeliner tight line* your upper and lower lash lines.
*Simply meaning to lightly line between your lashes, not above or below. This makes your eyes pop while still looking natural.
Step 5. Curl your eyelashes (optional, but really does open up the eye area) and apply your favorite mascara to both top and bottom lashes.
Step 6. Apply your eyebrow product, fill in any sparse areas etc.
Step 7. Using your light shade of Eyeshadow, highlight your brow bone, and inner corner of the eye. To really open up the eyes, also use it along your lower lash line.
Step 8. Use your neutral colored blush to contour your cheeks. Suck in your cheeks a little and apply very lightly into the hollows. Then use a highlighter lightly on top of your cheekbones, down the middle of your nose and just a little under the chin to really define your features.
Step 9. Apply your lipstick or lip gloss.

Voila! your polished, 'no makeup' look
List of products I used for this look:
Eyes:
-MAC painterly paint pot
-Nars silk road Eyeshadow duo (see swatches of silk road here)
-Cover Girl Exact Eyelights Eyeliner - Vivid Ruby
-Cover Girl lash blast fusion mascara (read my review here)
-Benefit speed brow
Face:
-Maybelline pure stay pressed powder ivory
-Nars Ninotchka blush (see swatches of ninotchka here)
-Physicans formula Illuminating Veil - Nude Glow
Lips:
-Nars lip stain - Pampa (see swatches of pampa here)
-Nars lip gloss - moonfleet (see swatches of moon fleet here)

NARS Cosmetics - Trust Your Imagination

2 comments:

Susie K said...

i think you look absolutely beautiful with this kind of look, i love it. you're very lucky

Unknown said...

Susie, thank you for your kind words. You are very pretty yourself :)