No-Makeup Makeup Look: Tips from Sir John

Sir John is a makeup artist and leader in the beauty industry; he’s created beauty looks for Beyoncé, Zendaya, Joan Smalls, and more celebrities. Originally from upstate New York, Sir John moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to study at American InterContinental University before returning to New York.

Throughout his twenty-plus-year career, he has worked with British makeup artists Pat McGrath and Charlotte Tilbury. He has also created some of Beyoncé’s most iconic looks, including the merlot lip she wrote in her 2016 “Formation” music video and the sparkly eye she sported in her history-making 2018 performance at Coachella.

No-makeup makeup (also called a “no-makeup look” or “boy beat”) is an understated beauty look featuring products that enhance your natural skin. Unlike glam beauty or a full face of makeup, no-makeup makeup seems as though you’re not wearing anything on your face; however, you can use various items, including mascara, highlighter, blush, concealer, and eyeliner.

To achieve this natural makeup look, opt for neutral colors and beauty products with less pigment. For example, you can apply a tinted moisturizer or a beauty balm cream (BB cream) instead of foundation. Since neither item is full coverage, more of your skin texture shines through. A color corrector cream (CC cream) with medium coverage is another alternative. For your cheeks, try a cream blush, which resembles a natural flush.

While a no-makeup look appears effortless, it takes a bit of skill. “It’s actually more difficult to do no-makeup makeup than it is to slather a lot of makeup on,” Sir John says. “[It takes] a little bit of refinement, and you have to know when to pull back…. [It’s] all about just adding maybe a little bit of architectural contour to the face using minimal products.”

As the celebrity makeup artist points out, this style of makeup is suitable for everyday wear. It’s also a good base for more elaborate makeup. “Think about this as [maybe] a primer,” Sir John adds. “If you want to give yourself a statement lip, if you want to give yourself more eye, you’re working with a really good head start.”

You can approach no-makeup makeup in several different ways. Below, check out Sir John’s step-by-step guide for achieving this minimalist look:

• Begin by showing your skin some love. Proper skincare is an essential first step in any makeup routine. Sir John suggests you use a moisturizer to remove any makeup residue and then a toner to reset. “We’re gonna go in and just start to refresh the skin and wake the skin up,” he says. “[I use] a toner with makeup-removing properties. It has to be water-based. This [isn’t] a time to go in for an oily makeup remover. Also, I want to make sure that this product doesn’t have any alcohol [because] I don’t wanna irritate the skin. This should be a really, really soothing treatment.”
• Use a cool color on your eyebrows. While starting your makeup routine with your eyebrows may seem odd, Sir John recommends this as one of the first steps because of how much of an impact they make on your face. They can even dictate whether you need more or less foundation. He likes to use a cooler color instead of one that’s warmer, regardless of your skin tone or hair color. “Even if you have red hair, go a little bit ashier,” he says. “An ashier brow always photographs beautifully, [and] it looks really realistic in person, as well.”
• Set your eyebrows. Sir John uses a brow pencil and spoolie to naturally imitate eyebrow hairs, and he also likes to set eyebrows with an eye shadow powder and brow gel. “[If you have] oily skin, by lunchtime [your] brows might be super-shiny,” he says. “Before I set them, I have a hack. I use [a nonpermanent] glue as a brow gel. It’s easy. It washes off quickly with no problem in the shower, but it keeps the brows in place all day.”
• Go light with foundation. When it comes to foundation, Sir John believes that less is more. And even if you prefer full coverage, he suggests not covering up what makes you stand out. “Don’t cover beautiful things like freckles,” he says. “Don’t cover a beautiful thing like a little bit of a mole. That’s who you are.”
• Apply concealer with an eye shadow brush. Designed to apply eye makeup, an eye shadow blending brush is also a good tool for putting on concealer. “I love it because it makes concealer look so air-brushed and so smooth,” Sir John says. “It doesn’t look cakey. Then I’m gonna finish it by using my ring finger to blend and manipulate it away.”
• Opt for sculpting. Instead of contouring, a makeup technique to define the face, go for sculpting, which produces a softer result. “Sculpting is the 2.0 of contouring,” he says. “Contouring is cool, but I want us to dial it back. I want us to have a buildable approach to how we structure the face.”
• Dab blush to your cheeks, temples, chin, and lips. Sir John—who likes to use a cream blush because of its hydrating, glowy qualities—adds blush to cheeks but also on the lips after applying lip balm. “Get into a habit of smiling to find out where you deposit your blush,” he says. “We’re [putting] it on the cheeks. [Add] a little bit onto the temples, a little bit on the chin, and then don’t be afraid to just tap it into the décolletage. We could stop here. We could really go out the door if we wanted to and leave, but I’m gonna take any cream blush I have left on my fingers, and then we’re just gonna tap this into the lip. Then just soften the line of your lipstick, and it just looks [almost] like your lip is bleeding very, very faintly.”
• Use a cream highlighter for a more natural look. While powder highlighters are just as brightening as creams, one looks more natural than the other. “A powder looks chunky,” Sir John says. “It looks so heavy. It doesn’t look natural.”
• Finish with mascara. This makeup product aims to lengthen, enhance, and define eyelashes. According to Sir John, it’s an important part of a no-makeup makeup look. “Mascara is key because it adds a little drama to an otherwise mundane makeup routine,” he says. “Mascara is gonna be that sense of punctuation. Use your finger as a shield so your mascara doesn’t transfer onto your eyelids. Go from the base of your lashes and wiggle back and forth, back and forth, almost like you’re brushing your teeth, and then up and out. What that does is give you separation and massive amounts of volume.”

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