The 7 Natural Beauty Tips You Need Now

Photo: IMaxTree

It’s true: you’re already a natural beauty.

We don’t mean that the only “good” makeup is no-makeup makeup. We mean that loving yourself and appreciating your own uniqueness is essential for your happiness and the overall success of your beauty game.

Even though makeup can be used to conceal or create (and the latter is a lot of fun!), sometimes you just want a simple, easy look that enhances your own unique natural beauty.

Well, we’re here to show you how to do just that. Here are 7 tips to create a gorgeous natural beauty look!

1. Care for your skin.

The best way to let your natural beauty shine is to take care of your skin. This means washing your face in the morning, after working out and at night, and NO sleeping in your makeup (if you have time to put it on, you have time to take it off). Always wear sunscreen, even if it’s overcast, and don’t skip the moisturizer. Beyond that, taking the time to do a great mask once or twice a week (or even while you sleep!) is a great idea, as is having a good dermatologist in your corner. You need someone you can trust to talk about any big skin issues that come up, after all.

2. Use a light foundation.

One of the biggest natural beauty tips out there is to skip any kind of skin-perfecting makeup entirely and just go bare-faced. While this is fantastic for those with naturally perfect complexions, it’s a little exclusionary to those of us looking to even out our skin tones. Instead of eschewing all makeup, be smart about the kind you use: switch out your mattifying foundation for something lighter and more dewy. BareMinerals Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream ($29) is totally revolutionary, giving coverage that is lightweight (like a tinted moisturizer) yet buildable (like a foundation). The result? A complexion so natural looking, people will swore you #wokeuplikethis.

3. Use a radiant powder.

No point in covering up your glowing skin with heavyweight powder, is there? Instead, look for powders that illuminate instead of straight-up mattifying. NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Powder ($36) sets makeup and kills oily shine, while also adding a lit-from-within radiance to skin. Bonus: unlike many other translucent powders, this one doesn’t “flash back” in photos, so all your selfies are guaranteed safe.

4. Add a cream highlighter.

Highlighter in general is a great way to add shimmer to specific areas of your face; the cream formula mimics the shine of skin more naturally than powders do. RMS Beauty Living Luminizer ($38) is the gold standard of cream highlighters for it’s gorgeously shimmery look, pearlescent color and blendability. If you’re on a budget, we also really love Maybelline Color Tattoo Metals Cream Gel Eye Shadow($5.60) in Barely Branded. Sure, it’s technically an eyeshadow, but we love the subtle golden glow it gives our complexion.

5. Go minimal with the mascara.

When the rest of your makeup is minimal, huge dark lashes can look somewhat out of place. Turn the volume down by darkening them with a black lash primer instead of a classic mascara. Estee Lauder Little Black Primer ($24) has blown us away with it’s magical lash-tinting properties. Not only does it give us the natural-looking dark eyelashes we wish we’d been born with, but it holds a curl all day AND acts as a brilliant primer base for mascara (should you choose to layer that overtop).

6. Powder your brows.

While we love dramatic power brows, a more natural beauty look requires we put the super-thick pomade down and embrace something softer. That’s where powder comes in. A well-pigmented powder product will totally revolutionize your brow game—enhancing, filling and tinting your eyebrows in a softer way. Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Powder Duo ($18) contains two complimentary shades for maximum brow awesomeness; apply with a narrow angled brush for a slightly more defined look, or brush on with a spoolie for maximum gentleness.

7. Your lips, but better.

Of all the things beauty blogging has wrought, we love the acronym MLBB the best. Standing for My Lips But Better, this refers to that perfect color that’s like your own natural lip shade turned up to eleven…it’s your lips, but better.

Because there’s so much variation in lip color and personal preference, your perfect MLBB shade is as unique as a fingerprint. We think that Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter ($5.99) in cult favourite shade Pink Truffle is a fantastic place to start on your color journey.