BEAUTY

How To Get That Natural & Effortless Makeup Look

Natural beauty is in! Long gone are the days of winged liner, caked-on foundation, and other overly bold makeup techniques. Now makeup is meant to highlight your best features, without looking like you’re wearing makeup at all. Plus, as women over 40, more mature skin calls for more natural-looking makeup, right!?

While it might seem a bit odd to apply makeup so it looks like you are barely wearing any, you are actually applying makeup so that it defines and accentuates your best features, without stealing the show!

To help you get that perfect, au-naturel look, we’re sharing some of our favorite natural makeup tips below. Use these tips to get that effortless look and start highlighting your natural beauty, rather than masking it away!

Favorite Skincare Brand, Erin Busbee of Busbee Style using the Colleen Rothschild Extreme Recovery Cream moisturizer in front of her portable mirror in her home in Telluride, Colorado

#1 | Wash & Moisturize Your Face

You cannot forget about skin health, especially when it comes to applying makeup in a way that highlights your own natural beauty. You want to ensure you make your face a clean and healthy canvas before you apply makeup. Applying a quality moisturizer after you have washed your face will ensure that your skin is hydrated and has a healthy glow. Find Erin’s current skincare routine here.

A good moisturizer will bathe your skin in nutrients that make your skin look and feel super healthy! They will also have serious anti-aging benefits, so regularly applying a quality moisturizer is a good habit to get into as soon as possible (if you haven’t already)! By promoting healthy skin, you are creating a smoother surface for your natural-look foundation or light concealer to seamlessly blend into.

FAVOR LIGHT FOUNDATIONS AND TINTED MOISTURIZERS

#2 | Use Light Foundations & Tinted Moisturizers

To get that natural look, you want to avoid thick, cakey foundations. Your foundation really depends on your skin and preference but I prefer and lighter, cream-based foundation with lighter coverage. Or even a tinted moisturizer!

Lighter foundation will give the illusion that you are not wearing a foundation at all, which is exactly what you want when you are aiming for that minimal, natural, youthful makeup look! You want to draw attention away from imperfections in your skin, but you don’t want it to look like your face is made of porcelain. We all have pores, wrinkles, and blemishes, so stop thinking you have to make your face look flawless. Instead of caking on heavy foundation that looks unnatural, apply a lighter foundation with a brush or sponge. This will give your foundation a less noticeable, non-streaky finish!

It's all about embracing and enhancing your beauty!

#3 | Match Your Natural Skin Tone & Go Light on Coverage!

Choosing shades that match your real complexion will make sure your makeup is less noticeable and the natural beauty of your face is the main draw! Lighter coverage will allow some of your freckles, redness, and skin imperfections to shine through. Again, you don’t want to look like your face has been airbrushed. There is nothing wrong with going out and looking like a real person. Hiding the facial features that make you unique is not good for anyone, least of all yourself!

#4 | Use Lightweight Concealers

If you’re not quite ready to go out with your dark eye circles or more noticeable skin blemishes uncovered, you can still opt to go over them with lightweight concealers. Rather than caking them on to the point that they have completely obscured your natural skin features, you can blend in a lighter concealer with your fingers. But make sure you’re careful with the skin around mature eyes. If using your fingers, make sure you gently apply the product! By only using small amounts of concealer and rubbing it in with the tips of your finger, you can better control the amount of concealer you are applying. This way you can make the imperfections you are self-conscious about less noticeable, without erasing them entirely.

AVOID BOLD SHADES OF LIPSTICK AND INSTEAD FIND YOUR FAVORITE NUDE LIP COLOR

#5 | When In Doubt, Go With A Nude Lip

Don’t get me wrong, I love a bold red lip! It’s youthful, fun, and chic! But if you really want to nail that natural look, nothing beats a nude lip! One of my favorite go-to lip colors is the Charlotte Tilbury K.I.S.S.I.N.G Lipstick in the shade B*tch Perfect…I’m not kidding, that’s really what it’s called!

When choosing the right lip color to highlight your natural look, it really depends on your skin tone. But the light pinks, peaches, and sand colors are always nice. These won’t draw eyes in an unnatural way and will instead highlight the natural shape of your lips. If you don’t like lipstick, there’s you can also go with lipgloss! This will make your lips look full and soft.

Use Much Less Eyeliner Than You Are Used To

#6 | Go Light On The Eyeliner

While eyeliner certainly has its place in creating dramatic looks, it does not work as well for the natural makeup style that is so popular right now. Avoid applying large amounts of eyeliner to the tops and bottoms of your eyes. This will make your entire appearance look far more natural! As an added bonus, you’ll be amazed how much easier it is to remove your makeup at the end of the day!

#7 | Brush Those Brows! 

You are going for a natural look, so there is nothing wrong with making sure your eyebrows are not overly worked.

Use a soft eyebrow pencil or light eyebrow makeup. You want to choose a color that is a couple of shades lighter than your natural hair color. Remember, natural eyebrows tend to be subtle facial features that simply draw attention to the eyes, rather than draw attention to themselves. Although, brow styles seem to change so often…remember when super thin eyebrows were so popular in the 90s!? I feel like my eyebrows are still recovering!

Once you have applied your chosen product, comb through the brows with a soft brow brush. This will make sure the product mimics the natural direction and color of your eyebrow hairs. The Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow is the best and basically dummy-proof!

What’s your makeup style? Do you prefer a more glam look or something more natural? Please share in the comments.

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Thank you for stopping by!

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