Hello and welcome to another no-makeup makeup story. Thanks for stopping by! Settle in for a minute; take a load off. While you do that, you're probably thinking, "I get it, ITG. If I've read one of these, I've read a million of them. It's me! Just a more enhanced version of me. BB cream, brow gel, tinted balm... Been there, blended that." But don't leave just yet. You're coming in loud and clear. To say 'no-makeup makeup' in beauty circles is to say the same-old, same-old, going on something like five years now. But there's gotta be a reason, right? Grinding on the same trend for ages has to mean something.
Absolutely. 100%. Right on the money. Don't let the nomenclature get you down—no-makeup makeup isn't a trend (it never was, sorry if we conveyed otherwise, that's on us, sincerest apologies) as much as it is a way of life. Or a vibe you're feeling on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Sundays. Or maybe it's something you think you've probably been doing this whole time but you're not totally sure because, for as long as you can remember, you've been waking up and putting on that BB cream and brow gel and tinted balm but never realized it was a part of a bigger movement, with a name and everything. It's exactly that. All of those things. Because the reason why no-makeup makeup is great (maybe it just needs a rebrand?) is in thanks to this very moldable, super fluid fact: It's exactly what you want it to be, whenever you do it or don't. Up to you.
Take Nimue for instance, the face you see above. She's Dutch (but her name is Celtic) and is one of those "moisturize and go" girls. Super chill and fresh. But that doesn't mean she doesn't wear makeup—she just wants to find the right kind of makeup for her. Example: She doesn't wear foundation on her cheeks because "my natural redness always comes through, so that’s my blush!" No need to cover it up, she says, "It’s not so bad though—it makes me look alive, like that fresh-in-the-fields kind of thing. Just where I’d want it." And what if she wants a little more? Well in that case, she'll take some Glossier Cherry Balm Dotcom and smush it around on her cheeks and lips, for a dewy flush. And because who doesn't love something shiny and new, she picked up two of the new Tom Ford Shadow Extrême colors (03 and 15—both in the pink family) to bring the rosy color up to the lid and make it a whole look. A low key look, sure, but still a look. Because makeup should be fun no matter how much or little of it you want to wear. Over and out.
Nimue Smit (Lions) photographed by Tom Newton.
