The Minimalist Guide to Perfect Natural Makeup

You might have heard about the minimalistic approach to beauty, but what is this concept anyway? No-fuss makeup routines that include only a few products are the perfect way of maintaining a polished look that’s effortless and on point. Here, makeup is used only to enhance the natural beauty, the emphasis is put on proper skincare, and target products are avoided, while a simple eye shadow can become a multi-purpose tool.

Here’s what you need to know.

The Minimalist Guide to Perfect Natural Makeup

Understanding the minimalistic mindset

If you take a minute to realize eye shadows, lipsticks, and blushes are actually just colors and pigments in different forms, you are on your way to cleaning up your makeup bag and making the most of your products. This is the core of minimalistic approach. It doesn’t necessarily imply the laziness: it simply means embracing quick beauty solution that suits a certain lifestyle on-the-go or it is a conscious decision not to overwhelm your skin with tons of foundation and other makeup products. It means embracing the beauty-on-the-budget mindset, probably without a clear intention to save up a couple of bucks.

But saving money is bound to happen when you think outside the box and see the possibilities of using a certain product beyond what it is originally intended for. Typically, minimalists focus on providing their skin with what it needs instead of covering the results of poor skincare with makeup.

Taking care of your skin

Saving time and money on makeup means you can use both resources and invest them in what matters: your skin’s health. For a rejuvenated look, make sure you exfoliate at least once a week. Depending on the harshness of your face scrub, you can even do it more often. Exfoliating is important in order to remove dead cells which prevent the reflection of light and leave you with the tired look. Be disciplined about this and your skin will look fresh and dewy.

Thorough cleansing is mandatory, so you may want to consider using a toner as the last step. After cleaning your face completely, you need to nourish your skin with a proper hydration cream. Choose some of the ones enriched with natural ingredients such as the beauty products from Skinstitut that have formulas with green tea extracts, olive oil, aloe vera, and oat extract. Pick a product that’s suitable for your skin type and mind the current season: weather conditions can cause stress to your skin, which means it might need additional care (e.g. a more emollient moisturizer during colder months).

Exploring different product possibilities

You can really get innovative with how you use different products. Here are a few beauty hacks you can try out. Love the dewy look? Don’t spend a bunch of money on an expensive highlighter—use your regular white-shimmering eye shadow: a bit of it on the eyelids, along your cheekbones, and down the nose—and you’re done! Looking a bit tired today? Use your neutral lipstick as blush and tap it across your cheekbones. Blend it in softly and you’ll end up with a well-rested look. If you want to create a mat effect on your lips, no need to buy a new one: dab a thin layer of powder on the top and you’ll enjoy the non-glossy results.

Because you aim at the natural look, no need to spend your money on different types of foundations and powders: a simple lightweight one that provides you with medium coverage is enough, or even better—get a BB cream. Make sure it contains SPF and it’s always a plus if it has anti-age properties. It’s a great all-in-one product that nourishes your skin while giving you a nice and healthy look.

Once you go down the minimalist road, you can never go back: it’s liberating, it saves you time and money, inspires you to be creative and saves you the trouble of dealing with thousand different products.