How To Look Pretty Without Makeup: 5 Natural Tips

Makeup can be an effective tool. But it can also do a number on your skin. On top of that, you don’t always have time to put on a full set of makeup to prep for a date or other social occasion. Wondering how to look pretty without makeup?

Turns out, there are lots of ways you can pursue and maintain great-looking facial skin (regardless of your gender) without having to cake on a bunch of makeup products. Today, let’s take a look at five natural tips to look great.

What Are Tips for How To Look Pretty With No Makeup?

Don’t know where to start? Let’s begin with the most in-depth – and potentially beneficial! – tips to look wonderful with no makeup.

Maintain a Skincare Routine

The point of makeup is to change how your skin looks, whether it’s by covering up blemishes, emphasizing your best features, covering dark circles, or evening out your skin tone. Common makeup includes concealer, mascara, lip balm, highlighter, eyeliner, and eyeshadow.

But even the best makeup can be too much if your skin isn’t taken care of consistently. Indeed, maintaining a healthy skincare routine is vital if you want to look good.

Cleanse and Tone

To start, you need to remove the daily grime and grit that builds up on your skin and gets into its pores. That’s what skin cleansers and toners are for. Cleansers are deep cleaners that eliminate most of the dirt and debris in your pores. Some high-quality cleanser products also prep your skin for further skincare remedies.

Toners, on the other hand, help to even out your complexion while also getting out even more dirt and debris from deeper within your pores. When used in conjunction, cleansers and toners remove practically all of the dirt and old makeup from your skin, preparing it for further benefits. However, cleansing and toning your skin usually dries it out and can leave it feeling irritated or inflamed. That’s why you need to moisturize your skin (see more below). Start with a makeup removal sponge, then use the cleanser and toner of your choice.

Exfoliate Your Skin

The next step in a holistic skincare routine is exfoliation. You should only exfoliate your skin twice per week at most. Why? Because exfoliation means scraping away the topmost layer of dead skin cells. When you do this, you make way for younger, healthier skin cells to take their place. The resulting effect makes your skin look younger, more vibrant, and more radiant. Blood flow also increases to the skin when you exfoliate properly.

You can use different exfoliation tools and techniques, like physical exfoliators (such as certain scrubs) or chemical exfoliators (usually acidic peels). In either case, exfoliation is very important if you normally have oily skin since exfoliation also helps strip away excess facial oil.

Use Facemasks and Serums

To really double down on skincare benefits, you’ll want to use a facial serum and face mask. You can think of them as topical beneficial agents that give your skin extra nutrients and vitamins. For example, many serums give your skin vitamin A (or retinol, a popular anti-aging agent), vitamin C, and collagen. All of these vitamins help your skin cells recover from wear and tear or regenerate more quickly. Collagen is also important as you age since it affects your skin’s elasticity. As we age, our skin cells produce less collagen naturally, so we need more collagen from skincare products or our diets.

You should use facemasks and serums after cleansing and exfoliating your skin. That way, your skin’s pores are as open to nutrients and vitamins as possible, and those helpful agents are absorbed deeper in the skin instead of remaining on the surface.

Hydrate Your Skin

The last step in any well-rounded skincare routine is moisturization. Products like hyaluronic acid or aloe vera provide your skin with additional moisture and seal in water, preventing your skin from drying out over the course of the day. They can also soothe your skin if it’s a little irritated from intense toners or exfoliating agents.

Hydrating your skin is important if you have naturally dry skin or live in a dry climate.

All in all, practicing each of these steps once per day (except for exfoliation) will do wonders for your skin’s health. It’ll look and feel a lot better, even without makeup!

Use Organic Skincare Products

In keeping with the above tips, you can look pretty without makeup by prioritizing healthy and organic skin care products. Inorganic products risk exposing your skin cells to toxic chemicals or synthetic elements. All of these can clog your pores, leading to acne outbreaks.

Acne outbreaks, of course, are terrible news if you want to look pretty without makeup. Generally, natural and organic skincare remedies are less likely to result in acne outbreaks since they don’t cause your face to produce excess sebum: a natural and moisturizing oil that can sometimes clog your pores and lead to acne pimples.

Try to target ingredients like coconut oil, vitamins, and antioxidants.

Wear Sunscreen

Skincare routines aren’t the only way to look pretty without makeup. You can and should also wear sunscreen regularly.

Our skin absorbs radiation from the sun to synthesize vitamin D. But the sun also emits harmful UV radiation. If your skin is exposed to too much UV radiation, it could become sunburned or even susceptible to skin cancer.

Everyone should wear sunscreen if they spend several hours in the sunshine, regardless of skin tone. But individuals with pale skin should be doubly consistent with sunscreen application. Try to apply sunscreen on any exposed skin and reapply sunscreen after a few hours, depending on what your chosen product needs.

Wearing sunscreen helps your skin stay young looking, supple, and smooth. That, in turn, will help you look pretty for years to come, even if you don’t wear a lot of, or any, makeup. Be sure to choose a high SPF sunscreen no matter your skin type – dermatologists always recommend you screen your skin when exposed to the sun!

Drink Plenty of Water

What? Drinking a glass of water can help you look pretty without makeup? It’s true!

If you aren’t properly hydrated, your skin will be one of the first places to show it. In contrast, if you drink enough water, your skin will produce enough healthy facial oil to keep your skin looking and feeling young and vibrant.

Therefore, if your skin looks as perfect as possible, don’t skip out on a glass of water, especially in the summer or during dry weather.

Eat a Well-Rounded Diet (with Antioxidants)

Lastly, update your diet to be more well-rounded if you haven’t already. You are what you eat, which certainly applies to your skin’s composition and appearance.

Specifically, you should try to eat more fruits and vegetables that include antioxidants like vitamin C. Antioxidants are crucial since they negate the effects of free radical molecules. Free radical molecules bounce around and cause tissue inflammation.

Antioxidants can combat free radicals since they share or borrow electrons, stabilizing their movements and preventing them from causing too much damage. Unfortunately, if your diet isn’t well-rounded, you may not give your skin enough antioxidants (or other helpful ingredients). Eating well is a key step to not only looking great but feeling well, too.

What if You Have Dry Skin?

If you have dry skin, you might want to skip exfoliation. That’s because exfoliation stimulates sebum production. If you exfoliate and you have dry or sensitive skin, you might cause acne outbreaks by accident. Many acne outbreaks occur when your skin produces too much sebum, which floods the pores and traps dirt and debris underneath.

Summary

All in all, it’s important not to rely on makeup too much. It can be a very helpful way to emphasize your best features, but relying on makeup can lead to skin issues. Remember, you look perfect the way you are and don’t need makeup to be attractive.

Plus, you can always continue to look and feel better with natural wellness tips and guides. 1AND1’s wealth of resources is perfect if you want to know how to feel and look 1% better each and every day!

Sources:

Sebaceous gland lipids – PMC | NCBI

Collagen for Your Skin: Healthy or Hype? | Cedars-Sinai

Antioxidants: In Depth | NCCIH