Our idea of looking natural, isn’t really all that natural. Unless of course we mean to say we want to look as we really are. In which case we don’t need makeup do we? When a client tells me she wants to look “natural” what she really means to say is, “I want to look perfect AND like I’m not wearing any makeup. I hear you sister, so do I.

Here are a few tips to help you achieve that “natural” look.

1. Take care of your skin. The better shape your skin is in, the less face makeup you’ll need. Please remember, no amount of makeup can cover dry or peeling skin. In fact, makeup usually makes it look worse. I have recently fallen in love with several products from the Mario Badescu line, specifically: Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Glycolic Foaming Cleanser, Glycolic Eye Cream, and most of all the Facial Spray with Aloe, Herbs, and Rosewater…it’s delightful, refreshing and soothing. You’ll be pleased to know that the most expensive item on that list is $20.00 the others range from $12.00 to $7.00. You can thank me later. oxox

2. Select a foundation or tinted moisturizer that is the same color as you are. Do not try to “correct” your skin tone with your foundation. You’ll wind up looking like your head belongs on a different body. Go to the cosmetic counter with no makeup on…I know, I know, but trust me on this one. Select three foundations that are within the realm of possibilities and make a stripe of each one running down the side of your face (mid cheek to mid neck). The one you have a tough time seeing, is your color.

In the nineties we had a huge backlash against pink foundations, and with good reason, many, if not most of us are far from the pink color they were pushing. Unfortunately we over compensated and suddenly everyone was yellow. The truth is, we are neither completely yellow, pink, brown or red any more than we are black or white. In real life we know this, don’t lose sight of that fact in the cosmetic department.

3. Use foundation to even out your complexion. Foundation and tinted moisturizer, are simply meant to even out your skin tone. In my humble opinion, a sponge gives you the best, most even, and sheerest application. Do not try to use foundation as concealer or cover up, a thickly applied layer of foundation looks like, well, a thickly applied layer of foundation, not the “natural” look we’re going for here. If you have dark circles under your eyes don’t bring your foundation all the way up under the eye, we’ll use a concealer for that. The fewer layers of makeup, the better. If you don’t have particularly dark circles under the eye, go ahead and take the foundation all the way up to the lash line.

4. Camouflage and concealer have specific purposes, use them. If your skin is perfect, you can skip this step. The rest of us however, will want to pay close attention. Ahem. Concealer is meant for the under eye area. It should be relatively creamy so that it goes on easily, without pulling the delicate skin around the eye. Camouflage, or cover up, is a different animal altogether, it’s meant for the face. It needs to be a bit thicker and drier than concealer so that it will stay in place, and not cause nor worsen blemishes.

Apply your concealer only to the areas under your eyes where you need it. Pay attention to detail here. There is no need to cover the entire under eye area if you’re only dark in the inner and outer corners for example. After you’ve applied the concealer to your darker areas, use your finger to pat it into place. The patting motion blends the concealer without removing it altogether.

Use camouflage, with a synthetic bristled brush, as an eraser. Lightly paint over what you’re seeing through the foundation that you’d rather not see. Use the light tapping motion again here to blend. Remember, do NOT rub. It will remove the product you just applied.

A special word about pimples: pimples are generally shaped like mini volcanoes. If you tap on top of the volcano to blend, you are going to remove the camo from the peak while the base of Mt. St. Helens remains unblended. Why? Because your finger can’t get to the bottom, it’s being stopped by the apex of the volcano. Forget your finger when it comes to pimples and just use your brush to blend the outer edges. Once you’ve camouflaged the top of the pimple, leave it alone.

5. Set your makeup with translucent powder and a puff. Every step up to this point has involved a liquid, or at the very least a creamy, product. If you want to keep your makeup on your face you must set it with powder and a puff. “Why the puff?”, you ask after spending upwards of $60.00 on a powder brush. A puff presses powder into the makeup on your skin and actually sets it in place, whereas a powder brush lightly dusts powder all over you face (and your bathroom) without setting your makeup.

Setting with a translucent powder is key here for all, from the darkest complexion to the lightest. Tinted powder will change the color of your carefully chosen foundation.

6. Your skin is multicolored; use bronzer AND blush to achieve a truly “natural” look. Your skin at this point looks perfect, yet bizarrely monochromatic. Now is the point where we apply bronzer to bring some of the color obvious in your arms, chest and neck, back to your face.

Please do not paint racing stripes up the sides of your face. Contour is fine in black and white photographs, but in real life it is rarely done well. I advocate avoiding it altogether. Instead, I prefer to apply bronzer softly to the high points of the face; where you’d naturally get a bit more color first. (Forehead, bridge of nose, tops of cheeks, chin.)

Next, smile. Apply blush with the flat side of your brush to the apples of your cheeks; where you would naturally blush if you were so inclined. Consider “The Salt Analogy” repeatedly at this point.

Lastly, blend with a dry sponge.

Welcome to the land of the perfect “natural” people. What you choose to do with your eyes and lips is entirely up to you. I’d just comb out my brows, throw on some lip gloss and mascara and call it a day…you know for that truly “natural” look.

Meanwhile, what you’ve just learned will never need to be learned again, even as fashions change. “Natural” is natural forever, unless we evolve into something else, at which point I promise to revise this post. oxox Enjoy!

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