Quest for the "Natural Look"

It’s a given that a lot of us strive for the “natural look” in our makeovers. But what exactly achieves that look?

Answer: It all depends on your skin tone and age!

Other than brights and neons, there’s a plethera of color options that will look “natural” on various skin tones.

The basic idea is to enhance your natural beauty and good facial qualities while diminishing flaws, all whilst not ending up looking like Elvira, mistress of the dark;)

Here’s some basic tips for a natural look.

• Lips= use a color that is close to your natural gum color. If you’re lips already have a nice tint, then clear gloss is fine.
• Eyes=use a color that has the same undertones as you do. If you are cool/pink wear light pink or mauve eyeshadows. Warm skin tones-peach, golden, and brown eyeshadows.
• Face=mineral foundation closest to your natural skin tone. Applied with a kabuki or mineral powder brush. Why mineral foundation? Well not just because we sell it, but because it melds with your skin really easily and generally does not leave a “base line” along your jaw bone.
• Eyebrows=don’t over pluck them for one. You’ll regret it when you get older. Those thin little brows on young girls look OK…kinda…but on an older woman (which you’ll be one day) they look horrible. You don’t want to have to draw them on do you? OK…so pluck the unibrow and any strays, but try to keep just a nice arch. If you have sparse brows, fill them in with a pencil and then brush over your brows with an eyebrow brush to blend it in.
• Blush or Bronzer=a color that your cheeks normally turn to when you get too much sun is the best “natural” choice for you. I use the Lit Up shade of bronzer myself. It’s the perfect sunkissed look when applied to the apples of my cheeks. And by the way…that’s another tip for the “natural” look. Apply your blush or bronzer where the sun naturally kisses your skin. Blush applied under the cheekbones looks great if you’re going for the model or professional jet setter look. But for the everyday natural look, apply it to the apples of your cheeks and a little on the sides of your forehead.

More tips for the natural look quest:

Stay out of the tanning beds! Pale people with deep dark tans look leathery, not natural. If you don’t get naturally a little more tan in the summer, then you probably aren’t meant to be tan. A little sun is good for you. Too much isn’t good for you. You will not only seriously age your skin, but are increasing your chances of skin cancer.

Ditch the red lipstick. Unless you’re a vampire, you probably won’t look natural with red lips!

Stay away from black liquid eyeliner. I’ve yet to see anyone look natural with black liquid eyeliner. On young women it can look ver striking, but on older wome it tends to make them look hard and older. Try to stick with brown eyeliner, not liquid. Many of our mineral eyeshadows make a great, natural eyeliner. I use the Stoked color a lot for eyeliner. Applied wet with visine it lasts all day. Smudge it a bit with your finger, or a q-tip.

Mascara=Black or Black/Brown or Brown look the most natural. I’ve never met anyone with blue or burgundy eyelashes, so I’m betting that those colors shouldn’t be in our “natural look” quest.