Tutorial: the No Makeup Makeup Look
Monday, August 27, 2012 at 8:49AM The "no makeup" makeup is a look that enhances your skin and features in a way so subtle that it's almost invisible. Your skin is just supposed to look healthier and glowing; your eyes, defined but without any obvious lines. This is the look where your natural beauty takes the spotlight - with a little bit of help, of course!
Now there are dozens of ways to do the no makeup makeup. The common denominator is the focus on skin that looks like skin, which means that you should avoid matte face makeup. The goal is to even out the skin and conceal blemishes and dark areas strictly as needed. Brows are also meant to be soft while the lips and cheeks just slightly tinted or colored with an MLBB lipstick.
Wanna see how I do it? Let's get crackin'!
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Step 1: Use a brightening tinted moisturizer with a light coverage. I am currently loving the VMV Hypoallergenics Skintangible SPF30. It has barely any coverage but it evens out my skintone wonderfully. It's illuminating, too.
Step 2: Conceal only where needed. Cover up blemishes one by one with a tiny concealer brush, then blend. As for eye bags, avoid matte and heavy concealers. Instead, opt for a light-reflecting concealer such as the Clinique Airbrush Concealer. Love this stuff!
My face looks shiny but you'll notice that it's a lot brighter from when I started. Shine, my dears, is not the enemy!
Step 3: Highlight the highest planes of your face. This is an optional step but I like to do it to bring out specific areas. I highlight on my cheekbones, brow bones, bridge of the nose, and philtrum (bow of the lips). Don't forget to blend that out with your fingers or a sythetic brush to create a soft focus glow.
My fave highlighter would have to be the Benefit Watt's Up! Highlighter, but any shimmery champagne eyeshadow/powder will do for highlighting. :
Step 4: Set your t-zone with a translucent powder. This is to make sure that your makeup stays on when you get oily or sweaty, but there's almost no coverage so it still looks invisible. I'm using the Palgantong Theatrical Powder here.
Step 5: Shade your eyebrows with a pencil/powder that's one shade lighter than your hair. The goal is to get soft-looking, unmade brows that are nonetheless shaped neatly - meaning no gaps, but no obvious lines either. I'm using the Shu Uemura Hard Formula brow pencil in 09 Walnut Brown. It's slightly lighter than my hair, but really you can also use a shade that's the exact color of your hair as long as you just put on a light layer.
Step 6: Curl your lashes! You can actually skip mascara if you're using a super good lash curler like the Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler - this gadget keeps lashes curled all day.
Seee?
Step 7: But I do like drama, so I add mascara. :) Choose a mascara that doesn't look goopy or volumize too much. Lengthening is the name of the game here. Lashes should look like hair, not super black spider legs. The Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara is perfect for this purpose. Prepare to be amazed!
Ta-dah! I love this mascara because lashes look thick at the base but thin and pointed at the tips.
Step 8: Contour your eyes. Again this is optional but if you have time, do add a bit of depth to your eye sockets. This makes for deeper-looking eyes, which is always a good thing. ;) A matte eyeshadow that's just slightly darker than your skin is the best contouring shadow for this purpose. I'm using a color from the Wet n' Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Palette in Vanity (it's a close dupe of MAC Wedge, which is my fave contouring eyeshadow.)
Step 9: Blush! Choose a color that's close to the color of your face when you're flushed. If you're morena, that would be a plummy or reddish color. If you're fair, that should be pinkish. If you're medium, it should be peach-coral. Or you can just use a sort of sheer glowy blush that will adjust to the natural color of your skin such as the NARS Orgasm or the Milani Illuminating Face Powder in Beauty's Touch (which I am using here). It adds just the right touch of barely-there pink to my cheeks!
Step 10: Contour! You can choose to skip this if you wish but contouring is always useful especially if you have a wide or chubby face (like mine). I like using a matte, sort of tan shade like the MAC blush in Harmony. Apply contour from your ears, going down to stop under the center of your eyes. Just follow the line that connects your lips to your eyes. (Hope that makes sense). I also like to contour at the temples and jawline. Remember, there should be no visible lines!
Soft and warm, just the way I like it
Step 11: Apply a lip color that looks like your lips but better. Gosh, there are so many ways to go about this. If you have even-toned, pigmented lips, just enhance them with a slightly tinted lip balm like the MAC Suntints SPF20 Liquid Lip Balm in Au Rosé (which I have on here). If you have uneven lips, opt for a satiny lipstick that's the exact color of your lips. If your lips are dark at the edges, you can cover them with a nude lip liner, then apply lipstick afterwards.
I'm using the Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Pink Truffle here. It's a bit deeper than my actual lip color, so I should have blotted it. But I hope you get the idea!
So there you go! That's my no makeup makeup look. :P I love wearing this to, well, anywhere. It's quick, easy, and versatile. It's especially useful if you're going to somewhere where you need to be likeable. Okay let me explain. Women who wear a lot makeup can be intimidating. People close down when interacting with them because they look, well, too strong. Angas or fierce is the word. Now there's a place to look fierce and notieceable, but there are also situations where you need to look soft, nice, and more importantly - likeable. This is where a no makeup makeup is indispensable. :)
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have questions.
Reader Comments (19)
this tutorial is very useful for me, especially at work since im in a graveyard shift and wearing obvious make up might earn weird looks from my officemates. thanks ms. liz :) another great post. good thing i always check your blog every morning. its part of my daily routine :).
im loving VMV Skintangible too! nice look, soft and pretty :)
I always go for this look when I'm going to school. My friends aren't as kikay as I am so they keep on teasing me when I wear obvious make-up, especially eye shadow and eye liner. Your tutorial taught me some new tips and tricks I can use to make my make-up more well made but still not obvious.
I have a question about light-reflecting concealers. Is the K-palette Okuma #3 concealer light-reflecting? I was going to try them out but I'm not sure if they can pull a no make-up make-up look. Thanks Liz! =)
@brigitte thankss! yeah its a great product grabe.
@nikka hi there! it's quite opaque and heavy coverage. it's also a bit shiny/light-reflective but it can look obvious if not blended properly. if you have really dark bags then you should go for it; if light lang the Clinique Airbrush is really good too.
Any mention of Clinique airbrush concealer and spot concealing reminds me of Lisa Eldridge:)
you look amazing, liz! and i'm completely smitten by those lashes. definitely trying that mascara soon. :)
i understand with what you said some people not being receptive to girls wearing heavy or obvious makeup. i think that, besides potentially looking too fierce, the heavily-made-up look makes it difficult for people to see or visualize the "real you", making them a little more hesitant to trust or like you. just my theory.
You can never go wrong with the no-makeup look. Heavy makeup just looks silly, unless of course you're in theater.
Are you wearing contacts? What color and brand?
great post! looks so natural
@Gino Erana - very true! When I read the Clinique airbrush concealer I thought of Lisa Eldridge instantly!
try the naked makeup, there's a tutorial of wayne goss (i am in love with him!) he did on his mom.
natalo niya si lisa eldridge sa contouring and highlighting tutorial. hehehehe.
Great tutorial Liz! Thank you for those tips, they're perfect for working gals like me who doesn't want to wear too much or heavy make-up at work. Wearing heavy make-up at work is just plain silly and unprofessional unless your job requires it. I'm in a financial line of work and wearing too much make-up is definitely a no-no.
By the way is that a real technique brush? :D
Can you do a review for it pretty please??
Very nice and practical look! :) Thanks for the detailed tutorial. This is my default office-day look hehe I love that Max Factor mascara! How does it compare with Majolica Majorca's Lash King (setting aside the price)? I have the Lash King but I'm thinking of getting this Max Factor mascara also since it's not too pricey anyway :D
Wow! I pull of this kind of look everyday! I am not the type of girl who wears too much makeup! I would love to try the VMV foundation, looks so light and fresh on you!
This is a great look for those days when you just hang out in coffee shops to read. Like what I do most of these days. Im curious too, which is better, Cover Girl Lash Blast or this Max Factor mascara? Thanks!
PS. This post introduced me to Lisa Eldridge! Immediately love her after googling her and watching her vids! Thanks Gino and Pong! :) She reminds me of those Bobbi Brown tutorials. Simple and subtle makeup but you can really see the difference!
@Manilajen, She's so nice to listen to noh? You just feel like she has your best interest in mind coupled with great makeup techniques and skincare advice:)
so happy with ur blog. i've been checking it almost everyday! will try this look definitely :)
Love it! This is what I do everyday minus the eyeshadow and contouring when I'm running late :P Hoola from Benefit is nice for contouring too :)
@ Giino: Yes! :)
this came out supper nice! love the glow in your skin