What Really IS 'Natural' Makeup?

Samantha Zeman
Mar 23, 2023
2 min read

Have you been confused on what natural makeup really means? Not sure what words to use when discussing your makeup inspiration with your artist? The word 'natural' is spoken often, but the word can be very vague and lead to different ideas of what 'natural makeup' really means to the artist vs. the client. So let's talk about it!

Natural Makeup

Natural makeup can be defined a little differently to everyone, but it might be easier to say what natural makeup is NOT - cakey, bold, overdone, heavy, or harsh.

Usually we understand when someone requests natural makeup- they are wanting soft and lighter coverage, neutral brown tones, soft and radiant skin, nothing "too crazy."

We consider truly natural makeup as "barely there" makeup- freckles still pop through the very lightweight foundation (think: tinted moisturizer), a very soft and light eye lash (if at all), neutral to nothing eye shadow, barely there blush & bronzer, a gloss over the lip.

However, often times the inspiration photos we see do not line up with what we consider natural makeup! Let's see if we can spot the differences.

If you search "natural makeup" on Pinterest, this is what pops up. These images are BEAUTIFUL and they use soft browns and neutral tones that APPEAR natural. However, this makeup takes LOTS of layers, lots of products, involves fake eyelashes, eye liner, darker/smokier eyeshadow, eyeliner, overdrawn lips, contouring, bronzing, and a full eyebrow.

*Don't forget these images are often filtered and photoshopped to appear smooth and radiant. *

It's natural LOOKING, but not natural in coverage! This makeup could be called "soft glam" or "neutral glam makeup" or "medium glam with natural colors".

Glam refers to the level of makeup you see. More full coverage = more glam.

Clear as mud? ;)

Here's some examples of truly natural makeup. Can you see the differences? All the images involve very minimal or light foundation (often just a tinted moisturizer), light eyebrows, the most subtle fake lash if used at all, little to no eyeshadow, and a very light natural lip color.

Natural makeup is beautiful and neutral, but for the person wanting very LIGHTWEIGHT makeup. For the person that doesn't wear makeup every day, wants to see their freckles, or uses the phrase "I still want to look like myself." So consider this when browsing inspiration photos on Pinterest.

Biggest takeaway? Focus on the small details instead of the general word "natural." What parts of the face do you want to look natural? What parts of the face do you want more coverage?

For example: Medium smokey eye with shimmer and eye liner, lightweight foundation, lightweight blush, heavy bronzer, soft eyebrow.

Let's test your knowledge- what words would you use to describe the images below? Hint: only one of them should involve the word "natural." The rest would be described as "bronzy glam, soft glam, or glam with neutral tones."