'No Makeup', Makeup

We all know that honestly, on the regular, I like going 'in' with the makeup. Not necessarily the real, 'full glam/beat' that I use more on really special occasions, but I definitely do like to make an effort with my makeup, experiment with different styles, colours and looks and just generally slap a fair amount on on the daily - unless I'm either really short of time (such as an early morning for work), just can't be bothered (relatable?) or specially want a mote natural look (which is actually something I do tend to go for this time of year when the weather is a little warmer). And after this weekend's Royal Wedding, in which we all saw Meghan sporting rather a light, natural makeup look on her rather special day, I actually feel quite inspired to kinda 'recreate that similar type of look and put together my own 'no makeup', makeup...

First off, I love a good, hydrating primer for when I want my skin to look super fresh and light and for me, that's the Rimmel Lasting Finish Primer. This feels more like a moisturiser in texture and so feels so nourishing on the skin and gives a nice, natural glow, while still smoothing things out slightly and just creating such a good base. Then, for my actual base, I wanted to obviously opt for something that could be used super lightly - as we all saw, Meghan definitely still had her freckles peeping through whatever base makeup she had on - so, of course, I have to plump for my holy-grail Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation. This will forever be my go-to foundation - it gives my skin such a lovely radiant finish, sits super nicely on the skin and has a gorgeous medium coverage that can easily be built-up or, in this instance, sheered-out and just leaving the skin looking slightly more even in tone, but still very light and 'natural'-ish. I add to the coverage in the areas I really need it  - mainly under the eyes and any blemishes I have - with my favourite Makeup Revolution Conceal and Define Concealer in 'C1'/'C2', before lightly setting (again, only really around the areas I really need it) with my Collection Primed and Ready Invisible Setting Powder - as Meghan's skin was so fresh and dewy that I want to use minimal powder, as I tend to do when my makeup is super-light anyway.

Then, we move onto the Eyes  and I'm firstly filling mine in, as always, with my winning combo of the Eylure x Fleur De Force Brow Define Pencil and setting them into place (whilst also adding extra colour and fullness) with the L'Oreal Brow Artiste Plumper as honesty, wherever makeup I'm doing, my brows generally stay the same - plus Meghan's were pretty full and well-shaped on the day too. Then, for the actual Eyes, there is a little more going on eyes-wise here than a true minimal makeup and that's exactly why I'm deeming this a 'no makeup', makeup look. Meghan definitely had slightly more noticeable makeup going on around her eyes, but it was still very soft and complementary. It was also slightly more cool-toned (as I've always noticed as a running theme with Meghan's makeup in general), hence why I'm choosing something like the Rimmel Magnif'Eyes Mono Shadow in 'Millionaire' as an all-over hue, keeping it pretty rounded and only really on the mobile lid, as there was nothing particularly winged-out going on. A gorgeous, light taupe-y gold with super-subtle shimmer running through it, took all-over the lids - this gives such a barely-there, but very pretty look such as what we saw Meghan had. I noticed there was a slightly deeper colour at the very lash-line, but it was still very soft and smokey, so I'm opting for a soft kohl kajal such as the Collection Kohl in 'Birdy Song' to softly outline super-close to the upper lash-line, before really buffing it out into the powder shadow so it's barely noticeable. I take whatever's left on my brushes on the very outer edge of the lower lashes, but not taking any more product or any further as Meghan really didn't have anything much on her lower lash-line at all. Her lashes were very full, but also very fluttery and I'm unsure whether she was wearing any falsies or not, but here I'm just using a pretty hefty amount of my current favourite lash offering - Collection's Lash Surge Mascara - but if you did want to go a step further, you could apply a light set of lashes (my favourite for this look is generally the Eylure x Fleur De Force 'Fully Fleur') or you could even just add some individuals (which, to be honest, is what I've heard is generally used on brides, and so I would guess is what Meghan might have been wearing).

Back to the Face, and to finish things off I'm using a nice dusting of my current favourite bronzer - L'Oreal's Back To Bronze Bronzing Powder - but I'm using it a little more 'all-over' than usual so as just to add some much-needed warmth as Meghan' skin just looked all-over bronzed and healthy and I definitely like an all-over bronzed look when I'm going lighter on the skin. I noticed a slightly peachy blush on the cheeks - again, adding to that super fresh look - so I'm using my (luckily only current blush I own which also luckily matches pretty well) Natural Collection Blush in 'Peach Melba'. A light, peachy-pink powder, swept lightly on the skin just gives a warm, rosey flush. To finish things off - we can't forget about good ol' highlighter, right? Even for a 'no makeup', makeup - getting my glow on is still a complete essential - and you could definitely see Meghan had a really glowy, dewy finish to her skin too. For this - and as I tend to do when going lighter on my skin - I opted for a cream/liquid texture as not only are these super quick and easy to apply, they arguably give the most 'natural', skin-like finish where you simply look like you are glowing, 'from within', yanno? Right now, I am loving the NYX Away We Glow Liquid Highlighter in 'Crystal Glare'. Simply dab some of this on the tops of the cheekbones, temples, bridge of the nose and cupid's bow - just generally everywhere - and buff out with the warmth of your fingers and it leaves behind such a gorgeous, skin-like sheen. While this stuff certainly can be built up to a very full-on effect which you can see from Space, applied sparingly like this it just looks super natural, but still very pretty and the finish is not at all glittery or chunky in anyway either. You could top it off with a powder glow if you want, but seeing as this is a more minimal routine - plus, Meghan's glow was more on the subtle side - I'm leaving things there this time around and I really love how it looks.

Lastly, Lips and if I'm going for a full-on lighter look, I always opt for some sort of nude tone and that's exactly what looked like Meghan was wearing. It was overly neutral, but still quite pinky and the finish was light and slightly sheen-y, much like the rest of the makeup. There's no doubt a good handful of lipsticks that'd fit the bill, but for an affordable, but still awesome, option - I personally really love the Tanya Burr Cosmetics Lipstick in 'Sunday Walk'. A rosey-nude that is pigmented enough to add colour, but sheer enough to not coat the lips too heavily for a more natural look and the creamy, satin finish makes the lips look so juicy and plump too. Meghan didn;t look to be wearing any (or at least much) lip liner, and i don;t always like to wear much when going for a natural-ish look either, but just to lightly outline and add a little more shape I used my go-to nude liner, L'Oreal's Colour Riche Lip Liner Couture in 'Beige A Nu'. This basically matches my natural lip colour almost identically - hence why it's such a staple of mine when going for a nude lip. I personally like to lightly apply straight from the bullet, before rubbing in a little with my finger to sheer it out even more so and though the creamy finish isn't the most long-lasting, I find when worked into the lips this way it almost leaves behind a stain and so hangs around for much longer - which is always a bonus! Finally, I always like to set things into place, even if the makeup is super lightweight like this look and of course, a good ol' spritz of Urban Decay's All Nighter Setting Spray always does the trick nicely. 

And there we have it - a more minimal makeup that's super glowy and still packs a punch and also in some way, inspired by this weekend's events. This post wasn't initially intended necessarily as any sort of 'recreation' of Meghan's makeup - and it still really isn't now - but her look definitely made me want to at least put together a look inspired by it, detailing how I personally like to wear my makeup in a more minimal, 'natural'-ish (yet still lovely-looking) way and I think it certainly made a lot of others feel the same too. Cause, if it's fit for a Princess...