There are plenty of times when you want to wear makeup but have a natural look. Done correctly you can almost pull off a finish that convinces most people you didn’t even put makeup on at all. This has come in very useful lately, especially with the pandemic and working from home. Most days, you can probably get away with working in your pyjamas and not bothering to do your hair and makeup tool, but that tends to change if you have a meeting.  Zoom meetings do tend to display our faces up close and personal. So, bedhead and no makeup are very often not the professional image you wish to present. However, a full face of makeup may be taking it a little bit far, so how do you achieve a natural makeup look?

Hit the Bathroom 

The first step is to hit the bathroom; you need to wash your face. Use a soft flannel and a gentle soap that isn’t loaded with chemicals and other nasties. Don’t exfoliate because this causes your face to get a little bit red, so that is best left for your evening routine when you’re not likely to be on camera. You can get natural ingredient cleansers softly buff the skin but do not cause it to go red. 

Start with Moisturiser

Once your face is clean, you can begin to create your natural makeup look. First of all, you need to start with moisturiser, but in order to make sure any makeup you do use sits well you must make sure the moisturiser isn’t too greasy. Even if you have an oily complexion, you should be using a light moisturiser as these have ingredients that help clear up natural skin oils. It is essential to maintain hydrated, soft skin. 

The Foundations 

Moving onto foundation, you can use a tinted moisturiser rather than a heavier foundation. In order to do this, you do have to have clear skin that is not plagued with breakouts and redness. If you are having a breakout day, you may well need to resort to a more traditional foundation with a green tint in order to cover the areas. You want to make sure it doesn’t look caked on, so you need to apply sparingly and blend very well. 

Hide Problem Areas

Next, you can move on to dealing with any problem areas, for example, dark circles under the eyes. For this, you will need a concealer, and you should only use it sparingly to target specific problems. Again, be sure you are blending well and not leaving any apparent lines.

Powder

As we may have mentioned already, the camera sees all so if you are headed for a Zoom meeting you want to make sure your face isn’t shiny. Some people don’t have a problem with skin becoming shiny, but if you do, you need to pick a powder that works well with your skin tone and dust likely all over. This will help to reduce any excess skin oils. For a natural look, you don’t want to use any form of bronzing powder as you are aiming to make the most of your natural beauty.

Rouge

You really don’t need to go over the top with your blusher, choose something creamy in a colour close to your own complexion. You should apply it gently on the puffy part of your cheek where we normally blush. Again, you need to aim to blend it really well, so it isn’t evident that you are wearing blusher but that it looks subtle and natural. You can also use cream blush on the lips. This will draw out the natural shade and pigment. 

It’s All in the Eyes

When it comes to the eyes, less really is more. For some people, a simple curling of the eyelashes will set your face off perfectly. However, if you feel you need to add something, then a thin wand mascara is the way to go. Nothing too heavy though, if you have blonde eyelashes you should only be using a brown mascara black should be saved for those who have naturally dark lashes. Ensure a smooth coverage with no clumps as this really doesn’t look right. Eyeliner is a big no if you are going for a natural look. 

Beautiful Brows 

Moving onto the eyebrows, you want to make sure you have a natural appearance and not thick heavy eyebrows. This means if you have very pale eyebrows naturally, you want to be very careful to blend colour just to create shape. Adding heavy eyebrows will reveal your secret that you are, in fact wearing makeup and not going natural. If you’re trying to convince your colleagues that you have a simply stunning complexion that needs no work, keep your eyebrows light. Of course, for a natural look eyeshadow is also out, this would be very obvious that you were wearing makeup. 

Lips

And finally, we move onto the lips, natural-looking lip colour is most easily achieved by exfoliating. Using a gentle product, you can remove any dead skin and promote blood flow. A small amount of lip balm will finish the look nicely. 

So, as you can see, achieving a natural look actually takes quite a bit of time and effort. This isn’t going to work if you are running late for a meeting. Your best bet, in that case, is to claim your camera isn’t working and keep your face off the screen.