How to Do Bobbi Brown’s Signature Nude Makeup Look

1. 1. Start with skincare: Prep skin with your face with moisturizer, SPF, and primer (if you use it).
2. 2. If needed, spot-cover with foundation, concealer, or tinted moisturizer. To achieve a natural look, focus on covering blemishes, dark circles, or anywhere that your skin looks uneven, rather than going full-face glam. Use Bobbi’s tips for identifying your undertones to find the best nude makeup for your unique skin tone. For the under eye area, try layering color corrector underneath a concealer that is a shade lighter than your skin tone. Since skin isn’t naturally matte, try setting your foundation with a subtly shimmery illuminating powder.
3. 3. For a sun-kissed look, apply bronzer around the perimeter of your face, along your jawline and below your cheekbones.
4. 4. On the cheeks, try a little cream blush on just the apples of the cheeks, followed by a swipe of subtly shimmery highlighter on cheekbones.
5. 5. For a more natural eye makeup look, try applying a warm eyeshadow in the eye crease, a deeper shade along the lashline and outer eye corner, and a little shimmer in the middle of the lid. If you have a nude eyeshadow palette, you can play around with different colors to find something that blends into your face. Enhance your natural eyelashes with an eyelash curler and/or brown mascara, if desired.
6. 6. For lips, try a nude lip liner that matches your natural lip color, then fill in with nude lipstick, lip gloss, or tinted lip balm.

Nude or natural-looking makeup is one of the most universally flattering looks. If you’re pulling it off, it means your makeup is seamlessly blending into your skin (meaning precision is less important than using formulas with the right texture for your skin type). Natural makeup should enhance the beauty of your features; as long as it does, the effect is natural and fresh.

Keeping Bobbi’s makeup tips and her philosophy of effortlessness and embracing imperfections in mind, here are a few tenets of the no-makeup makeup look:

• Fresh, healthy skin is a statement all its own, so taking care of your skin and keeping it healthy is important.
• Moisture is the foundation of any and every makeup or no-makeup look, so find a moisturizer you like that immediately makes your skin looks better right after you apply it. Before you reach for foundation or concealer, see if moisturizer can’t even out any dullness or rough patches first. Makeup will only draw attention to a blemish or rough patch if not applied correctly or piled on.
• Avoid full coverage: Spot-cover with foundation or concealer just in places you need to even out your skin.
• Go for creamy and sheer makeup textures to tint, brighten, and highlight your face.

Finding a good nude lipstick can be difficult because the tone and shade can either liven up your natural lip color or make you look ill. Nude lips come in all kinds of tones as well, not just “skin color.” It’s not about finding a lip color that matches the actual color of your lips—the idea is more to emphasize them in a tone that looks natural to you. Here are a few tips for choosing a nude lipstick:

• Nude lipsticks can come in different tones, including peach, pink, brown, and even reddish. It’s all about working with your skin tone to find which flatters you.
• A good starting point for finding “your” nude lip shade is to find one that matches your inner lip.
• Remember: the sheerer the lip color, the more forgiving and versatile it will be. One way to make a nude lipstick work for you is to sheer it out with lip balm.
• Tinted balms and glosses add a bit of color to your lips, working with their natural shade to enhance them.

Whether you already know a blush brush from a bronzer brush or are simply looking for tips on bringing glamour into your daily routine, navigating the beauty industry takes knowledge, skill, and practical experience. No one knows their way around a makeup bag better than Bobbi Brown, the makeup artist who built a career and a multi-million dollar brand with one simple philosophy: Be who you are. In Bobbi Brown’s MasterClass on Makeup and Beauty, learn how to do the perfect smoky eye, find the best makeup routine for the workplace, and hear Bobbi’s advice for aspiring makeup artists.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by masters, including Bobbi Brown, RuPaul, Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Diane von Furstenberg, and more.