Minimal Makeup Guide

First thing’s first, darlings, to create your minimal makeup look you’ll need the right makeup products. The best way to get the minimal makeup look is to choose light-coverage options with skin-like, natural finishes. Reach for a BB cream, tinted moisturiser or lightweight foundation to add subtle coverage to your complexion, as well as understated lip tints, blushes and bronzers to give the complexion warmth and the perfect mascara to enhance the look of your eyes.

Some of my favourite minimal makeup products include Hollywood Flawless Filter for a luminous complexion that looks flattering and filtered; Pillow Talk Lip & Cheek Glow for rosy, dewy-looking lips and cheeks; Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer for bronzed, sunlit skin and Full Fat Lashes! mascara for defined-looking lashes.

Your base makeup will look the most seamless when you are using your correct foundation shade. Once you’ve decided on the perfect foundation finish for your minimal makeup look, be sure to select a shade that harmonises with your natural skin tone and undertone. Foundation mistakes such as using a shade that’s too light or too warm can cause makeup to look unnatural, so in order to perfect the minimalist makeup aesthetic, your foundation shade should create an even-looking complexion that looks as close to undetectable on your skin as possible.

Tilbury Tip: Use my Pro Shade Match Tool to discover your perfect foundation shade.

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Cream products are gorgeous options for creating a minimal makeup look. Naturally, when using some powder makeup such as powder blushes, bronzers and setting powders, it can sometimes create a flat, powdery-looking finish. With creams on the other hand, you are able to work product into the skin for a more seamless, skin-like finish. Skin looks dewy and luminous when cream products are applied, creating a more natural look than mattifying powder products. By reaching for creamy, blendable formulas, you can apply a small amount of makeup and blend it effortlessly into the skin.

Tilbury Tip: If you prefer a powder formula or have oily skin, don’t worry darling - you can still create a minimal makeup look using my Charlotte Tilbury powder makeup icons! While some powder formulas dull and mattify the skin, my cheek makeup powders like Cheek to Chic blush, Airbrush Bronzer and Airbrush Flawless Finish powder are formulated to glide on and reduce shine where needed, while still allowing your natural radiance to shine through!

When applying makeup, it’s easy to be a little heavy-handed with your minimal makeup products. To get the minimal makeup look, always take a less-is-more approach to putting on your makeup, taking a small amount of product at a time and blending out bit by bit. Using less product will help to avoid makeup looking overdone and will carry through the minimal aesthetic. With minimal makeup, less is more, darlings! Try a single dot of blush on the cheeks, a couple of coats of mascara and spot concealing the areas you want to add coverage to create a flattering and understated minimal makeup look.

Tilbury Tip: My formulas are beautifully buildable, allowing you to apply little by little to achieve your desired finish.

Minimal makeup doesn’t mean you can’t apply your favourite eyeshadow formula or a kiss of lipstick, darlings. Instead of going without, reach for nudes and neutral shades that complement your skin tone and celebrate your natural beauty. This barely there makeup style is all about making a big difference with the smallest details; even the slightest amount of brown eyeshadow or eyeliner can make your eyes pop, and a nude lip liner can effortlessly define the look of your lips to make them appear fuller. Choose shades that closely match the tones in your complexion and lips to enhance the look of your gorgeous, natural features.

Darlings, minimal makeup isn’t about covering up or contouring away, it’s a celebration of what makes you, you! The best way to stylise your minimal makeup look is by putting the focus on whatever features you have been naturally blessed with. Whether you have fabulous freckles, big and bushy brows, beauty marks, fair eyelashes or a pronounced jawline, embrace your individuality and let these features shine!