Natural look all the rage
Designers highlight natural looks by keeping the makeup low key
The makeup trend on this spring’s runways? No makeup. Marc Jacobs made headlines at his spring and summer 2015 show by sending out models with completely bare faces. Meanwhile, models for designers such as Gucci, Calvin Klein and Derek Lam chose to highlight natural looks by keeping makeup low key.
Minimalism is hot right now. Spurred on by an abundance of no-makeup selfies and campaigns to help women recognize their natural beauty, many women are choosing to eschew the makeup brush. However, for those who aren’t ready to write it off completely, there are lots of tricks to help enhance your features while maintaining a natural look, with a few versatile products.
Kristi Dukovic, a Smashbox area artistry trainer from Toronto, was recently at West Edmonton Mall and demonstrated how to create the fresh-faced look on fellow makeup artist Francine Fotopoulos.
“The look is very glowy and very clean looking, with a luminous complexion overall,” Dukovic says. “This is a look that you can wear every day to the office, but it will also give you a beautiful, puttogether look for evening as well.”
In this edited exchange, Dukovic offers five steps for applying effective barely there makeup.
STEP 1 : PRIMER AND FOUNDATION
“I’m going to be starting with primer water, which is going to smooth the skin and then keep everything on longer for you so you don’t have to keep touching up. For our foundation, I’m going to be using BB Cream.
“You’re going to just use a pea-sized amount. The best way is to start in the centre of the face and then blend outward. This tends to be where we have the most discoloration and redness. You can use a brush to apply (foundation), but fingers give a little bit of heat to the product so it really melts to the skin. You want to make sure it blends down nicely to the neck as well. Our neck tends to be a little bit lighter, so it just kind of helps to even out the face. Because we’re trying to keep minimal products, I’m going to use just a little bit (of foundation) on her eyelids as well.”
STEP 2 : EYEBROWS
“Even on the runway with the minimalist look, models still had a good, defined brow. Whatever your eye makeup is, or if you’re not even wearing any eye makeup, if you have your brow defined, your eye itself is going to pop a lot more. And the whole thing is that brows are meant to be sisters, not twins. Don’t try to work so hard to make them identical, because then they start to look fake.”
STEP 3 : HIGHLIGHT
“I’m going to apply (highlight) with my fingers, because again, I like having that bit of warmth, but you can use a foundation brush as well. The first area I’m going to work on is right on the top of the cheekbone. This is a great area to highlight. It really catches the light naturally. I’m also going to take it a little under the brow. You can really use this anywhere on the face that you want to, but I’m also going to put a touch on the inner corner of the eye to get that nice, bright-eyed look. I’m also going to do just a little bit on the cupid’s bow to highlight her pout and put a little down the bridge of the nose.
“This creates a nice elongated effect and kind of slims the nose down.”
STE P 4 : BLUSH AND LIP COLOUR
“We’re going in with the Beverly Hills Blush colour (for lip and cheek) because it’s a pretty, soft pink. I’m working on the apple (of the cheek) and blending up toward the top of the ear. Take a little at a time and slowly build up the colour. Now I’m going to take a lip brush and sweep (the Beverly Hills Blush) on to give a soft, pink pout.
“You can always add a bit of gloss to the centre of the lip if you want to enhance it even more.”
STE P 5 : FINISHING TOUCHES
“To finish off our minimalist look, I’m going to use (primer water) again to set all the makeup. If you want a bit more definition on the eyes, you can definitely pop on a bit of mascara. You can enhance it, but the whole idea is that it should be clean, fresh, glowing skin, a defined brow to give some shape to the eye and then a little pop of colour on the lip as well.”