The No Makeup Makeup Look: How to Look Like Yourself, Just Better

The no makeup makeup look uses a few products in very small amounts so you look rested and even, but nobody can tell you're wearing anything. The formula: good skin prep, concealer only where you need it, cream blush, groomed brows, one coat of mascara and a lip that matches your own. It takes about ten minutes.

It sounds easy, but it's actually harder than a full face, because every bit of product shows. The tricks below are what makeup artists use to make it look invisible.

Start with the skin, not the makeup

With so little coverage, your skin is the look. Cleanse, use a hydrating moisturizer, and finish with a sunscreen that doesn't leave a white cast. If your skin looks dull, a gentle exfoliant two or three nights a week does more for this look than any product you put on top.

Let skincare sink in for a few minutes. Applying concealer onto wet moisturizer makes it slip and look patchy.

Skin type changes the prep. Dry skin needs a richer cream so concealer doesn't cling to flakes. Oily skin does better with a gel moisturizer and a light blotting powder pressed only on the nose. Combination skin can mix both: richer on the cheeks, lighter in the T-zone. Getting this right is what lets you wear so little product and still look polished at 5 pm.

Spot conceal instead of covering everything

This is the biggest difference between no makeup makeup and regular makeup. Skip foundation, or use a very sheer skin tint only on the center of the face. Then conceal just the things your eye goes to: redness around the nose, a spot on the chin, the dark inner corner under the eyes.

Use a concealer that matches your skin exactly (not lighter, which looks like makeup). Dab a tiny amount with a small brush, then tap the edges with a fingertip until they disappear. Freckles are part of the look, so leave them visible.

Cream products only

Powders sit on top of the skin and look like makeup. Creams melt into it. Use a cream blush in a shade close to your natural flush: tap it on the apples of the cheeks and a tiny bit on the bridge of the nose, which is where you go pink naturally.

If you want structure, a cream bronzer one shade deeper than your skin along the temples and under the cheekbones adds shape. Keep it subtle enough that it reads as shadow, not product.

To find your natural flush color, do 20 jumping jacks or pinch your cheeks and look in the mirror. That exact shade is the blush to look for. On fair skin it's often a soft pink, on medium skin a warm rose or peach, and on deep skin a berry or deep apricot.

Brows and lashes that look like yours

Brush brows up with a clear or tinted gel. Fill gaps with tiny hair strokes in a pencil that's slightly lighter than your brow hair; a darker pencil looks drawn on. Don't outline the brow shape. If your brows are very light, a tinted gel one shade deeper than your hair does more than a pencil, since it colors the hairs themselves instead of the skin underneath.

For lashes, curl them and use one coat of brown or brown-black mascara, focusing on the roots. Skip the lower lashes or give them the lightest touch. Clumpy, long lashes are the first giveaway. A clear or tinted lash gel is an even softer option if your lashes are already dark.

The lip: your color, but healthier

The right lip here is your natural lip color, made a bit more even and hydrated. Use a tinted balm, or a sheer lipstick in Nude Pink, Rose, Peach or Brown Nude depending on your own lips. Tap it on with a finger instead of applying from the bullet so the edges stay soft.

If your lips are pigmented or uneven in tone, a lip liner close to your natural color, smudged inward, evens them out without looking like lipstick.

Dry, flaky lips undo the whole effect, because any product clings to the flakes and shows. Put a thick balm on before you start your skincare, and blot it off just before you add color. By then the lips are smooth and ready.

Mistakes that make it look like makeup

Most of these come from habits picked up from full-coverage routines:

• A visible line at the jaw from using foundation in the wrong shade
• Highlighter with glitter, which shows in daylight
• Matte powder all over the face, which flattens skin texture
• Brows that are too dark or too sharp at the front
• Too much mascara on the lower lashes

No makeup makeup vs other natural looks

If you want more glow, the glass skin makeup look adds a wet highlight and a glossier base. If you're brand new to makeup and want to learn the order of a full routine, start with makeup for beginners step by step. No makeup makeup is about restraint: fewer products and less of each.

It's also a good look to test on yourself before buying products. Try the Natural look on your own photo in Lody's makeup try-on to see how subtle you want to go.

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