Winter is just as good of a time to practice natural makeup as summer. In the summer it’s hot and you’re sweaty and what’s the point? In the winter it’s a different struggle. It’s cold, the wind blows and makes your eyes water and blows your hair into your lipgloss, and falling snow can fuck up a great makeup job real fast. Plus, there is always the chance that you’re going to fall and end up face first into a pile of snow, not to mention that it’s hard to keep makeup on under your face mask, scarf and toque. Basically, it’s a battle of epic proportions. Fight the winter makeup blues by learning how to perfect some natural or “no makeup” makeup. Here are some of the tricks.
Let Your Skin Show
If you’ve ever heard of Pinterest, then you’ve heard the phrase contouring many times. I understand contouring your face for a photo shoot or a special occasion, but girl, when you’re running to get the mail then come on. You don’t need to be drawing lines down your face and blending for three hours to do that. Plus, if it smudges or if you don’t do it correctly, you can actually give the appearance of a crooked nose. Or as I’ve seen in real life many times, have two dark lines running down each side of your nose with a white stripe in the middle. Let your skin and features shine! There’s something to be said for radiant skin. It makes you look happy and healthy. To start, prep your skin by exfoliating any rough or dead skin off of your face. Then, moisturize immediately. Use lightweight products to even out your skin tone, like a tinted moisturizer or sheer foundation. Skip the powder all together for a satiny, not matte finish.
Learn The Art Of Subtle Eyes
A dark eye can speed into joker territory real quick with the help of falling snow. Cover your bases and try an eye that even if you end up in a snow bank, you’ll still come out winning. Choose a neutral shadow that’s close to your skin tone or that’s just a hint darker to apply all over your lids. If your skin has any redness, then balance it with more of a yellow shade like a warm gold. Choose a matte shadow because they disappear into the skin with no chance of creasing. Lastly, to add definition, using a liner brush tap powder eye shadow in a slightly darker shade lightly along both top and bottom lash lines. Add some mascara and a thin line of eyeliner on top and you will have a perfect natural eye.
Get Glowing
Back to the contouring. If you are going for a natural look, then don’t worry about trying to pull off a shit ton of contouring on your cheekbones. Try a nice and healthy glow instead. Choose a color that matches your cheeks after you exercise. Pink works well for light skin tones, while brown and berry are good for darker skin tones. Stick to a cream texture because they blend into your skin better than powders. Plus, you just spent so much time getting your skin sheer that you don’t want to cover it up with a bunch of powder. The key to this is being honest with yourself. Put the blush where, well, you actually would blush. No one blushes in a perfect solid line right under their cheekbones.
Don’t Forget Your Brows
A full, well groomed brow is a great touch to natural makeup. No, you don’t want bushy and unkempt eyebrows. You also don’t want overly powdered or drawn on eyebrows. If you draw them on then you will be missing one after a good snowfall. Go easy on the tweezing and try removing only the obvious stray hairs. Lightly fill in any areas that look sparse with a brow pencil. Pick a pencil that is one to two shades darker than your natural brow color. Light flicks of the wrist works well to fill in these areas. You don’t need to draw on the whole brow. When you are done, run a brow brush through to evenly distribute and blend the color. If you want, you can add a tiny bit of brow powder to add softness to the overall look. If you have crazy and unruly hairs, don’t pluck them. Just tame them with a dab of brow wax or gel to hold them into place.
Work A Natural Lip
When it comes to any makeup, the darker that you go, the more mindful you have to be about it. A dark lip will smudge up your nose as soon as you introduce it to a scarf or a parka that zips up past your chin. When you have on eighty-seven layers of clothing, then try a natural lip color. Pick a lipstick or lip stain that matches the color of the inside of your lip. A lot of people think that natural means light, then they get the exact opposite look they were going for because it rubs off where the inside of the lip is and looks visibly like lipstick. Matching the color to the inside of your lip is your true shade. Avoid matte colors and choose satin or creamy finishes to keep the color from looking too heavy. Keep it simple and light. If you want a bit of extra oomph then add some shimmery, sheer gloss to the center of your lips to create fullness.
Knowing how to create a beautiful, natural makeup look is a great thing to have under your belt. You won’t have to worry about winter beauty blunders, plus, you can wear it in the summertime as well and not have to check to see if your sunglasses have rubbed one of your eyebrows off. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
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