Attaining dewy and radiant skin is a common desire, but factors like skin issues, poor dietary habits, insufficient exercise, and dehydration can contribute to a dull and flaky complexion. Fortunately, makeup offers a solution to enhance your skin’s luminosity. While the goal is to achieve a natural, dewy look, applying the right makeup techniques can elevate your skin’s appearance. Let’s explore how you can achieve a stunningly dewy complexion through makeup without further delay.
Prepare Your Skin
It is essential to have smooth skin before you start with your makeup.
Hydration
The key to achieving a dewy complexion is ensuring your skin is adequately hydrated. Hydrating the skin involves increasing its water content, as dehydrated skin tends to look dull and flaky. Conversely, well-hydrated skin feels smooth and exhibits a radiant, fresh appearance. To attain optimal skin hydration, consider implementing the following tips:
1. Drink lots of water to hydrate your skin. It is recommended to drink eight glasses of water daily.
2. Moisturize your skin often to lock the hydration. Hydration implies adding water to your skin, while moisturization means locking the water inside your skin cells.
3. Choose water-based products to fight dehydrated skin. Look for the ingredients such as Hyaluronic acid, Glycerin, Ceramides, and Panthenol in your skincare products. They are known to retain skin moisture for an extended period. In addition, moisturizers are available in the market, providing radiance and illumination. Apply a light coat of moisturizer on the skin to get a mild glow.
4. Give a boost of moisturization with the sheet masks. This will help plumpen up your skin and reduce the fine lines.
5. Avoid a long and hot shower.
6. Use a humidifier if needed.
Sunscreen should never be forgotten.
The biggest mistake you may commit in your daily skincare regimen is skipping sunscreen. Sun exposure dehydrates and discolors the skin, sometimes breaking down collagen. So, use a broad-spectrum sunscreen to avoid UVA and UVB.
Exfoliate twice a week.
Also, exfoliate twice a week to get rid of any dead cells. Please do not do it before applying makeup, as exfoliation can sometimes cause reddish patches. Finally, do an oil massage once a week. A good oil like virgin coconut oil won’t break you out as it increases blood circulation to the skin.
Going Ahead with Your Dewy Makeup
Prime up the prepared skin
Before applying your foundation, use a primer or a toner to shrink pores, as these are the number one hurdle to the dewy look. The cosmetic market is flooded with different primers, like hydrating, mattifying, luminizing, etc. You can choose according to your skin type, but hydrating primer is the best option for the dewy look. You can even dab on some ice cubes on the skin to shrink pores.
Also Read – How to Rejuvenate Your Skin Using Oil Cleansing
Makeup artists Allan Avendaño and Mary Phillips suggest using fingers to blend the primer and recommend leaving it for a minute to dry. (1)
“The trick with any primer is to make sure it’s applied in a small dime-to-nickel-size amount, and it’s fully blended in first,” says Avendaño.
He further says that applying lightly and sparingly is the rule. You may cover lightly only those areas where you find open pores, wrinkles, or blemishes. Ensure you are not putting too much primer and instantly following it with your foundation.
Foundation
Moving forward with the next step, one must be cautious about common foundation mistakes we all commit. This is the second biggest hurdle towards that perfect dewy look.
Landing on the proper foundation is the challenge you have to unfold. Your foundation must seem like your second skin; it has to be that natural. Try to find a foundation that matches your skin tone. Always try the prospective foundations under your eyes, along your jawline, and nose. Rub them, and if they seem to disappear into your skin, it’s a perfect match.
Another rule goes: less is more. Try to apply minimal foundation and correct your blemishes with concealer. Find the foundation that matches your skin tone or maybe one shade up and down. Too much difference between skin and foundation tone creates a messy, cakey look. To obtain a dewy look, a cream-based foundation is excellent. (2)
Since we are looking for a “natural” glow from within, you may opt for something less prominent than a foundation. The market is flooded with BB and CC creams offering skincare, sun protection, and coverage. They not only moisturize the skin but also even out the skin tone. The CC cream has a lighter texture and color than the BB cream, so opt for it for the most natural and subtle look. Ensure you don’t overuse the product since you are looking for a sheer effect. A little is sufficient; they last a whole day.
Also, Read – 10 Best Blushes for Dusky Skin and How to Apply Them Like a Pro
Powder
The secret to dewy skin is not to use powder or compact all over the face, as it gives you a matte effect. Instead, use some translucent powder under the eyes and around the nose.
As a word of caution, since the powder is being skipped and a shine is desired in this look, this may not be best suited for women with oily skin. You don’t want your skin to appear very oily halfway through the day.
Surprisingly, the word may seem like an oxymoron when discussing hydrating powder. But that is true; the hydrating powder is a new way forward for a dewy makeup finish. These new-generation powders are loaded with ingredients like hyaluronic acid. They soaked up the unwanted shine while keeping your skin plump and moisturized. They are made so they do not settle down or wrinkle, thus keeping the look non-patchy. They mattify the shine while leaving the skin radiant.
Highlighter
The art of highlighting is a must for every makeup aspirant, especially when you long for a fresh and dewy radiance. But, to nail it right, there are some tips everyone must know.
1. Match your highlighter with your foundation. If you love liquid foundation, pair it with a liquid highlighter. With a cream-based foundation, a powder highlighter is the answer.
2. If you wish to give a full face glow and keep it very natural, go for mixing. Yes! Mix a little bit of your highlighter with a liquid foundation.
3. Apply a powder or a liquid highlighter on the cheekbones, nose bridge, chin, and brow bones. These are the areas where the sun naturally hits.
4. Some loose shimmer can be dusted all over your face. Remember not to overdo it. Use a peachy-colored cream blush for the cheeks, just a hint.
5. If you don’t own any highlighter, mix your facial oil with the concealer into a thick consistency. Now, apply to those strategic areas. (3)
Lips
Soft and glossy lips go well with the dewy makeup look. Dark, flaky lips destroy the whole look. There are many ways to achieve that perfect plump lips. Hydrate yourself often, exfoliate your lips twice a week, and try some home remedies. Rub some drops of lemon on your lips, and ensure your lips are not dry and cracked. Moreover, you can moisturize it with some aloe vera gel. Or you may try out a scrub made of almonds and honey.
You may even opt to put some highlighter over your lip area sparingly. This will give you super bright lips. (4) Always remember that using floral and rosy lip shades will give the most natural and fresh look.
Eyes
Since shine and shimmer are all over the face, pick an earthy tone to line the eyes and keep it simple. If you are dressed for the night, go in for some slight shimmer in the form of a brown or gold eye shadow. But remember, less is always better!
Don’t allow your eyes to be overloaded with heavy makeup, it may result in creases and wrinkles over the eyelids. A little bit of mascara or a peachy eye base would do wonders. Keep it simple and minimal.
If you wish to achieve that extra dewy eye, you may add an eye primer to your eyelids. A rosy tone eye shadow follows this and finishes with an eye gloss.
Also Read – 10 Best Compact Powders For Dry Skin Available In India (With Updated Prices)
There is a way out if you are missing these sophisticated eye products. Alternatively, a regular concealer can be used instead of an eye primer. Likewise, lip tint can replace eye shadow, and standard gloss does the same.
Summary
There are some beautiful points you should forever keep in your mind when going forward with a dewy look:
1. Hydrate, hydrate, and hydrate.
2. Make your hydration long-lasting with a super moisturizer.
3. Read the ingredients in your cosmetics. Find out the hydrating ingredients.
4. Make a habit of exfoliation and always wear your sunscreen.
5. Choose the right primer for smoother makeup.
6. Go by the rule of less is more when it is about foundation, powder, and highlighter.
7. Choose a peachy and floral tone for your eyes and lips.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is dewy makeup?
It is made up of hydrating agents, oils, and humectants. So, to give a fresh, luminous, healthy, and glowing look. It gives your skin a moist look, like morning dew on the grass.
How do I know which primer is best for me?
Makeup artist Elisa Flowers advises hydrating primers for dry, patchy, combination skin while mattifying primers for those with extra shine. Another tip is to see if your primer is going well with your foundation; the two should smoothly mix up.
When do we put the highlighter, before or after the foundation?
That depends upon the highlighter you pick up. The liquid highlighter must be used before applying the foundation, as the highlighter tends to break down in one place. Powder foundation concentrates in one place; hence, it should be applied after the foundation.
References –
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- “The Ultimate Guide to Makeup Primer and How to Use It” – allure.com
- “10 foundation mistakes you’re making that are ruining your makeup” – insider.com
- “Calling All Glow-Getters: 11 Highlighter Hacks For a Radiant-Looking Visage” – lorealparisusa.com
- “Lip Gloss” – maybelline.com
