How to Create Makeup That Looks Natural in Just 9 Steps

While we love a full face of glam makeup, it’s nice to switch things up with a natural makeup look from time to time. While a natural makeup look doesn’t typically include the likes of bold red lipstick or glittery lids, it’s not as minimal as a no-makeup, makeup look either. 

Natural makeup usually includes a light base that spotlights the skin and soft eye makeup in neutral tones to offer a toned-down version of special occasion makeup. Because of this, it’s great for work and casual everyday occasions.

To help you ensure that your makeup looks natural but offers enough coverage, we’re sharing a natural makeup tutorial equipped with all the products you’ll need for a pretty, yet subtle, makeup look, below. 

What Do You Need to Create a Natural Makeup Look?

A natural makeup look starts with your foundation or base. Put down the full-coverage formulas and opt for something lighter, like tinted serum, or a tinted moisturizer and look for products that offer natural coverage. After you’ve identified the right base product, you’ll need all the usual components like concealer, mascara, blush, bronzer, highlighter and a sheer lippie to top it all off. When you’re creating a natural makeup look, cream formulas are great for maintaining that skin-like finish.

How Can I Make My Makeup Look Natural?

To keep your makeup looking natural, opt for light-, sheer- and natural-coverage formulas, stay away from powders and apply your makeup with a beauty sponge. The reason is because powder formulas can sometimes settle into fine lines and texture, causing your makeup to look like makeup and less like skin. The trick to making your makeup look natural is to use products that create a skin-like finish. This is why using a makeup sponge is such a good trick — when you use a damp sponge to apply your makeup, the finish is hydrated, glowing and natural-looking.

All of that said, sometimes, powder foundation can work, if it has a weightless formula, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Foundation in a Powder. The trick is to spritz your face with setting spray after applying your foundation so that it melts into the skin. 

How to Create a Natural Makeup Look

A natural makeup look doesn’t always mean fewer products or steps, it just means you use lighter coverage, cream formulas and a light hand. Here’s how to get a natural makeup look in nine simple steps.

1. Prime for Your Skin Type

Priming your skin is ultra important if you want your makeup to last, and in some cases, it can cut down on the amount of foundation that you need to achieve even coverage. The L’Oréal Paris Prime Lab Up to 24H Redness Eraser helps to minimize redness and even skin tone. If redness isn’t a concern, the Prime Lab line also includes options for dullness, large pores and oily skin.

If you have dry skin, use a hydrating primer, like the L’Oréal Paris Age Perfect Makeup Blurring Face Primer infused with Serum to blur texture and dry patches.

2. Reach for a Light-Coverage Base

Natural makeup doesn’t look cakey, it looks like skin and the best way to achieve that without a bare face is with light-coverage complexion products. Here are some we recommend.

L’Oréal Paris True Match Super-Blendable Foundation 

This foundation promises buildable coverage and a skin-like finish to keep your makeup looking natural. With 47 shades organized by undertone, you can find a great match for your skin tone and neck so you can’t tell where your makeup ends and where your skin begins.

L’Oréal Paris True Match Hyaluronic Tinted Serum

This tinted serum offers coverage with a consistency that rivals your favorite skin care products. Infused with hyaluronic acid, it doesn’t look dry on the skin, but it doesn’t look wet or greasy either. It’s the perfect middle ground and delivers your-skin-but-better results. 

3. Conceal In the Areas That Need More Coverage 

When you’re wearing a light base, a full-coverage concealer can be really helpful at adding more coverage in the areas where you need it. We suggest the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Full Wear Concealer up to 24H Full Coverage, because it offers long-wearing, matte coverage with an ultra-pigmented formula.

4. Swipe on Some Bronzer 

While natural skin looks like you aren’t wearing much makeup, it also doesn’t look flat. To add some soft sculpting and tan color to your cheekbones and forehead, use a bronzing powder, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Soft Matte Bronzer. The soft matte finish melts into the skin so it won’t look cakey or emphasize texture. 

5. Add Cream Blush and Highlighter

Blush adds color to your makeup look, this helps to make your complexion look more natural because bare skin tends to have a natural rosy flush. Use a cream formula, like the L’Oréal Paris Glow Paradise Lip and Cheek Tint to mimic the dewy texture of bare, flushed skin.

Natural skin usually has an effortless-looking glow, so consider applying highlighter a vital part of the look. Apply a liquid highlighter, like the L’Oréal Paris True Match Glotion Natural Glow Enhancer to the high points of your cheekbones. The luminous liquid has a hydrating finish that will reflect the light, making your skin appear hydrated, well-rested and lit from within. Stay away from powder highlighters as those can sometimes emphasize texture while appearing shimmery.

6. Apply Mascara and Neutral Eye Makeup

Long lashes always complete a makeup look, even if you’re going for something natural. The L’Oréal Paris Telescopic Instant Lift Washable Mascara lengthens, lifts and defines your lashes with a few coats and helps to brighten your eyes, so it’s perfect for a natural makeup look. You may want to consider reaching for the Black Brown shade versus classic black as the color is  softer.

For the rest of your eye makeup, keep it subdued, natural and neutral. If you want to wear eyeliner, try the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Grip Mechanical Gel Eyeliner in Brown Denim to add some definition and smokey blending. If you want to wear eyeshadow, use your bronzer, as it’s the perfect neutral shade, or reach for a neutral-toned eyeshadow palette, like the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Pocket Palette Eye Shadow in Boudoir Charme.

7. Fill In Your Brows

Natural brows are sculpted into place, not unruly and pointing in every which way. Use a clear brow gel, like the L’Oréal Paris Unbelieva-Brow Longwear Brow Topcoat, Waterproof Universal Transparent to sculpt your arches into place. If you have any sparse areas, use a brow pencil, like the L’Oréal Paris Brow Stylist Definer Mechanical Waterproof Eyebrow Pencil and create light, hairline strokes to fill them in. 

8. Add a Hydrating Lippie

A natural makeup look doesn’t mean you have to don bare lips. Instead, apply a sheer, hydrating lipstick, like the L’Oréal Paris Balm-in-Lipstick with Pomegranate Extract. Think of the formula like a tinted lip balm, it adds hydration and a pop of color that gives a your-lips-but-better look. Plus, it’s ultra-comfortable and makes your lips feel smoother with continued use.

9. Set Your Makeup With Setting Spray

Once you’ve completed your makeup, lock it in place with a setting mist, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Spray and Set Make-Up Oil-Free Setting Spray. Holding the bottle six to eight inches from your face, spray it four to six times to lightly saturate each section of your face.

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Photographer: Ted Cavanaugh, Producer: Becca Solovay, Art Director: Hannah Packer, Prop Stylist: Katrina Rozeville, Prop Assistant: Emily Ramirez, Photo Assistant: Ben Berkes, Digi Tech: Aaron Barton