Natural FOTD

Hello everyone,

Once upon a time, a male friend of mine and I had this interesting conversation about women and makeup. According to him, all women who wear colorful makeup do not appreciate their natural beauty.

"What's up with all those colors on their faces? They look like clowns! I prefer my woman to look natural, without makeup, full stop!" he decried.

I stared at him with my mouth hung open. Then, I slowly said, "Dude, do I wear makeup?"

He studied my face for about a minute and said "No, you look pretty. I like you this way."

I said, "Look closer, dude. Look closer! Do I wear makeup?"

And he gave me the same answer.

I hated to break the dude's heart but I did wear a crap load of makeup that day: foundation, blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, and mascara. He didn't see it not because he was blind that day but the truth is, men do not really care about what you put on your face as long as they're neutral. And I happened to wear neutral makeup that day.

And the poor dude's opinion was not only his. After many conversations with male friends, colleagues, and relatives*, I came to two realizations: (a) men do prefer their ladies to look good (and that's why my dad put up with my mom's 2 hour primping routine before the party), and (b) they are selfish beings who hate other men gawking at their ladies. Therefore, the no-makeup makeup look works great in the eyes of the men. You look polished but not overly done. In their eyes, you are still the girl next door but you look better. Who do not want that?

My natural look

Believe me, I wish to look like this when I wake up everyday. Recently, my skin looks a lot better so I don't use foundation that much. Applying neutral makeup is a lot of fun because you can't mess up at all. I use NYX Champagne and Caviar for this look and it works great.

What I used: NYX Champagne and Caviar, CG and Olay creme blush in Lush Berry, CG and Olay corrector, Adorned with Grace foundation in Grace 3.5, my own foundation and powder, L'Oreal HiP creme liner in Eggplant and eyeliner in Silver Lightning, ELF Studio Powder brush, Yes to Carrots lip gloss in Playful Nude, EcoTools eye brush set and concealer brush, Coastal Scents slanted eyeliner brush

The eyes

Colors used in NYX Champagne and Caviar palette

Semi-close eye

Use EcoTools concealer brush to apply CoverGirl corrector to the eyelid and the under-eye area to cover dark circles. Mix color 1 and 2 together and with the eyeshadow brush from the EcoTools set, apply them all over the eyelid. Then, use the crease brush to pick up color #3 to contour the crease area. Use the highlight brush to apply color #4 to the area underneath the brow bone and the inner corner of your eyes. Use the smudge brush to apply color #5 close to the lash line to intensify your eyes.

Eye wide open, please forgive the fuzzy hairs on the eyelid. They're very tiny!

With the slanted eyeliner brush, apply L'Oreal HiP creme eyeliner to the lash line. Then, use L'Oreal HiP eyeliner in Silver Lightning to line the lower lash line. This will make your eyes pop.

The Face

Apply foundation and set with powder, using the ELF powder brush. Then, using a wedge sponge, apply tiny dots of creme blush to the cheeks and quickly blend them away for a natural-looking flush.

The Lips

Apply Yes to Carrots lip gloss in Playful Nude to your lips and voila, you're done!

*Apparently, my dad is not in the norm when it comes to me wearing makeup. He is actually happy to see me do something more feminine. I guess to him I'm always a tomboy.

As far as being neutral and natural, this look is pretty much it. I don't think I can be better looking and yet neutral at the same time. For night time, you can darken it up a bit or make it smokey to add more mystery to your look. For day time, this look is perfect for work as well as for a stroll in the park. Your guy will never know what hits him :)



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