Pablo Picasso – Portrait de femme, 1957“No-make up makeup” is a trend in beauty that I love so much because it represents everything I like about make up; enhancing your own beauty, not trying to hide your face and applying make up in a realistic believable style. I use this technique all the time in my professional life, especially in men’s fashion week.I believe MUA Lisa Eldridge popularized this look when she released a how-to tutorial on her YouTube channel 8 years ago. I have to admit, I must have watched that video a million times, it’s one of my favorites from hers and it never gets old.
The “no” in the “no-make up make up” phrase is used metaphorically as you still need to use quite a lot of make up to look like you are not wearing any. I actually use NO make up on my self on an everyday basis, however that doesn’t mean I go out of the house looking EXACTLY how I woke up! Imagine…. I actually do quite a few things to make me look the best natural version of my self without any use of make up.
So if you are someone who doesn’t want or like to wear make up but you still want to look neat and fresh then this article is for you.
- Skincare is my Make Up!
This is why I love skincare so much; it makes your skin look instantly better. Actually no, scratch that, it doesn’t make your skin LOOK better, it makes it BE better, be healthier, more balanced, radiant, bouncy, smooth, even, and the list goes on and on… Make up gives you a false image, it pretends that your skin is all of those adjectives but in reality once you remove it then the true condition of your skin is underneath. Hiding your skin is like hiding behind your finger. It makes much more sense to me to work on your skincare really well and get your skin looking the best version it can be then If you need extra help by all means use a bit of make up. I don’t hate make up, I just don’t like it when it’s perceived more important than skincare. Make up should be secondary on your priority list.
How to have a great skincare routine? I’m afraid that’s a complicated topic that is really big to discuss now in this article, but I’ve written so many articles on skincare in the past year, so I urge you to go back and read them!
For example, if lets say you wake up and your skin is looking puffy, then you should wash your face with cold water, maybe consider a refrigerated sheet mask and eye patches, even jade roller or gua sha massage stones that are also kept in the fridge and do a quick massage with them to help your skin drain all the excess liquids it accumulated.
Or, if you woke up and your skin is looking congested, spotty, rough and patchy, then maybe consider exfoliating and doing a speedy treatment. Morning/quick treatments could involve exfoliating pads, treatment cleansers, konjac sponges, scrubs, acid toners, or even a good old face mask if you have the time. All these are great to do when you are in a hurry but your skin needs something more drastic/active than just your regular face wash and moisturizer routine.
If you have dry skin however, and you are worried that your skin will look dehydrated, cracked and flaky throughout the day, then take your time to exfoliate and layer on a lot of serums, oils and creams. Once everything has sunken in, then don’t be afraid to pat another layer of a rich cream on top to seal all the skincare in, like the Weleda skinfood for example.
Another trick you can do with skincare is to use an eye cream that has a tiny bit of tint to it, just enough to color correct. I’ve never tried one before but it sounds like a great idea. I’ve done a bit of research and found that Balance Me does one, so it went straight into my wish list, thank you very much!
A nice tinted moisturizer with SPF I like to use sometimes from De Mamiel, is great too. It has a tiny bit of color (again as with the eyecream) but it makes me feel like my skin is a touch more even.
- Sun kissed look
There are a few ways you can achieve a healthier, fresher looking complexion but one of them is definitely by looking more bronzed. I feel like if I have a bit of a tan, it looks like I’m wearing foundation. Does anyone else feel that way? It’s just the best! It makes me feel so much more myself, as now days I’m usually as pale as paper since I moved to London.
Sometimes I use a fake tan for the face the night before, like the Eco by Sonya Face Tan Water or the Lavera Self Tanning Cream for face.
Otherwise, what I mostly do is add liquid bronzing drops in my serum or moisturizer and that gives me an instant glow. My favorites are Drunk Elephant D Bronzi and Dr Hauschka Translucent Bronzing Tint.
- Highlight the skin.
You could dab a little Weleda skin food cream on the high points of the face if you want a bit of glow, especially cheeks, but I like to do something different.
I have quite dry skin around my eyes so I like to use a shiny, rich eye cream like the one from Dr Alkaitis. I also enjoy the visual aspect of shiny under eyes, I don’t know why, I think it makes you look like you are glowy all over when in fact it’s just on a small area. Anyway, I take the eye cream further down toward my cheekbone area; this transforms your skin into highlighted glossy dreams. Try it!
But if you fancy more of a pearlescent metallic glow on the whole face, which on some days I’m very much into, I recommend the Juice Beauty Illuminating Primer for fair skin colors and the 100% Pure All over Glow for light to deep complexions.
- Exfoliate and tint the lips.
Having juicy smooth hydrated lips is always important especially when you are not planning on wearing any make up as it makes the whole face feel more polished. I love a clear shiny lip balm like the one from Twelve but I also like the Hurraw cherry lipbalm which has a minimum amount of cherry red color in it.
- Brows.
This is where I usually use a bit of make up because I like to define the edges of my brows as they look a bit sparse at the ends. When not being filled in with an eyebrow pencil, I use a clear brow gel to groom them and make them look less messy. It’s the small things you see…
- Eyelashes.
Curl them! Makes you look awake. Such a good trick.
That’s it! This is what I do every morning… and people say I don’t do anything?! It’s all about the details ladies.
The Green Edit
