Soon after Alicia Keys took a stand against make-up culture and began the #nomakeup movement, a lot of girls who were inspired by her boldness to show off her natural beauty followed in her footsteps, myself being one of them. But if you stopped painting your face and your experience was anything like mine, it consisted of constantly being confronted with questions such as “Are you sick?” or comments like “You look tired.” And when you weren’t being bothered by these comments, every time you caught a glimpse of your reflection, there was a small doubt in your decision to stop wearing make-up. Well, these were the reasons why my attempt to go make-up free only lasted for three days.
I eventually reverted back to wearing my mascara, concealer, eyebrows, foundations, etc. So I understand that the transition to rock your natural look doesn’t come easy for some. Once you become use to looking a certain way, it is hard to break out of that routine. Although, at the time I couldn’t find the confidence to walk around in bare face, I began to think of an alternative way to get use to my look. I decided to use makeup to enhance, rather than alter beauty. Below is a list of the only tools you need to achieve more of a natural look.
1. Foundation
Apply a thin layer of foundation on your face, whether it be liquid, powder, or cream. Don’t put too much foundation on your face that you appear corpse-like. Personally, I don’t apply foundation on my whole face and I mainly focus the application on the “problem areas.” It’s also very helpful that you find a shade that truly fits your complexion. I wore the same shade of foundation for three years without realizing that the shade was too light for my complexation.
Although it’s not completely necessary, feel free to put concealer if you feel that you need some extra help covering up any blemish or dark spot than just with foundation alone. Another optional steps are to apply a little blush if you feel as if you need some color to your face.
2. Eyeliner
No, I’m not talking how women usually apply bold eyeliner on the top of their eyelids. A subtler way of applying eyeliner is drawing a thin line under the eye. This usually helps make your eye appear wider, making you look more lively and less tired.
3. Mascara
There’s nothing wrong with making your lashes a little bolder. Like eyeliner, applying mascara helps bring life into your appearance. Apply eyeliner to both the top and bottom lashes. Also, don’t overdo it. Putting too much mascara makes the lashes clump together, which is not much of a trend anymore and no way look natural.
4. Eyebrows
The eyebrow game in not a joke. Even now, I spend more time doing my eyebrows than I do applying foundation, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick combined. The good news is we don’t have to do nearly as much if we want to achieve more of a natural look with the brows.
Your eyebrows can also be tamed in two different ways. One way you can keep your eyebrows done is to get them waxed/threaded every two weeks. But if you’re like me and you don’t want to spend eight dollars every two weeks or getting out of the house, then you can go with the other alternative—and eyebrow pencil. Just fill in your eyebrows to make them look neater. Don’t try to shape your eyebrows too much. Some good advice into helping your draw in your brows can be found here.
5. Lip Gloss
The last thing to need to finish off your look is lip gloss. Lip gloss can either be clear or tinted, but if it is tinted, colors like a light red or pink would probably be a better choice for a natural look.
And these are the only things you need if you want to enhance the features on your face, while still looking like who you are. Remember, you can do whatever you want to do. If you would feel more comfortable adding highlights to your cheekbone, go for it. If you feel comfortable in your bare skin, flaunt it. And if you love the look of contouring your face, that’s fine. This is just some advice to those who want to gradually become more comfortable with what makes them unique, and not afraid to show it off.