Creating a flawless ‘no-makeup’ summer face
You’d think getting that “no-makeup” look for summer would entail just a couple of dabs of concealer and sweeps of a blush brush. But looking flawless and sculpted takes a little more effort.
Highlighting and contouring will add definition to the face and make your best features pop. Tim Quinn, artistic director for Armani Beauty, knows a thing or two about bronzing and highlighting (having developed the Armani Beauty makeup line with fashion’s most tanned man, Giorgio Armani). Here, he outlines the key elements you need to bring out the best angles of your face without looking like you’re weighted down by heavy makeup.
Start with a “clean” face, meaning a light application of your everyday foundation or a tinted moisturizer.
Next, apply a bronzing powder. (Bronzing liquids and creams can lead to a streaky finish, so use them only if you have dry skin.) Quinn recommends using a bronzing powder that is slightly golden. It should not be too bronze, flat or “muddy” in tone.
The most effective way to use bronzer is to take your time and warm the skin gradually, he says. “Break down” the bronzer by mixing it in the lid or on your hand with a translucent loose powder. This dilutes the color a little, so you can build up to your desired color by sweeping on a little at a time for a more natural look. Stick close to the hairline and sweep your brush in the shape of the number 3, starting at the side of the forehead, curving around across the cheekbone and then again back toward the ear and across the jaw line. Do this on each side of the face.
Dust your brush down to the décolleté, adding a little color to the upper-chest area to get an all-over glow.
“Bronzers are so good for summer. You can use them as your main makeup and keep it really simple,” Quinn says.
After the bronzer is applied, it’s time to add depth and “pull light” to the face, as Quinn puts it. The most important thing to remember is to leave light around the eyes and play with the planes of the face, softening any lines and highlighting the angles.
Use a light-reflecting concealer such as YSL Touche Eclat to draw a reverse C on the inner area of the cheek and then blend out with a small flat brush. “This opens and brightens the face and pulls it up. This is also a great thing to do during the day to touch up your makeup rather than adding more foundation,” Quinn says.
Draw a line of the same light-reflecting concealer above the inner eyebrow to lighten up the forehead and eye area. Use a little below the sides of the bottom lip as well in the dip (Cupid’s bow) of the top lip to define the mouth and give a slight plumping effect to thinner lips.
To put even more light into the face and emphasize the bone structure, use a highlighting stick. Quinn recommends that women with fair skin use a mother of pearl or pink shade; women with medium complexions use a champagne color and women with darker skin use a true gold highlight.
Put cream highlighter on a makeup brush that has very densely packed bristles and apply it from the brow bone in a C shape down to the orbital bone (the very top of the cheekbone).
Lastly, apply blush to the cheeks, but be careful where you put it. “A lot of women wear blush too low,” Quinn says, so be sure to focus the blush brush a bit higher than you think it should go. For a long-lasting look, apply a cream or liquid blush to the upper cheekbone area and then layer on a powder blush just to the apples of the cheeks. The best way to find the true apples of the cheeks is to smile — the apples are the round fleshy parts that pop out.
Quinn says blush becomes more important as women age and lose color in the skin.
For easy summer touchups and to keep your face looking fresh throughout the day, Quinn suggests dabbing a light eye cream beneath the eye area and out along the orbital bone to keep makeup and skin hydrated and glowing. Also, dab any “hot points,” generally the area of the T-zone, to minimize shine. Glow is good; shine just looks sweaty.
