Bare-faced Beauty: Everything You Need to Know

Jim Spellman/WireImage

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Bare-faced Beauty: Everything You Need to Know

Jim Spellman/WireImage; Dave Allocca/Startraksphoto.com; LM Martinez / AFF-USA.COM

Bare-faced beauty is all about looking like you're letting your natural skin shine through...just a rosier, glowier, more even-toned version of your natural skin. Stars who rock the bare-faced look don't necessarily have better skin than the rest of us, just better makeup artists. So we got their secrets about how pull off barely-there makeup that's worthy of the red carpet.

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Blend Metallics

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Rihanna's eyes look wide awake and bright, but not made up. How? Metallic eyeshadows and lots of blending. Warm skin tones like hers should go for equally-warm golds and coppers, while cool complexions are flattered by pale golds or even trendy rose gold tones. Smudge any harsh lines using a shadow brush for a seamless blend of the two metallic shades. To create a more awake appearance, blend the lighter color along the inner corners of your eyes to make them pop, and define your inner rims with a flesh-toned liner to make your eyes appear bigger.

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Shiny Nude Lips

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Sometimes nude lips looks daytime casual, but Padma Lakshmi's is dressy enough for evening. To make nude lipstick more dramatic but still natural-looking, pick one with “a hint of sheen so it's not matte and pasty, with a tad of color like peach or pink in it,” says her makeup artist Nick Barose. Also keeping nude lips dressy is pairing them with a little extra eyeliner, mascara, and blush so you look “natural but not washed out,” he says.

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Mist is a Must

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The star of Oblivion, Olga Kurlenko, nails the no-makeup makeup look thanks to two quick, sneaky tricks. Makeup artist Nick Barose wanted to make her lips stand out but “lipstick can appear a bit heavy and done-up, but a gloss can be too shiny, so a tinted lip balm adds the perfect amount of color,” like Korres Lip Butter in Pomegranate ($14; sephora.com). To make skin look young and vibrant through your foundation, finish with a light misting of Avene Thermal Spring Water ($12; dermstore.com). “A spritz adds a natural dewiness and helps blend makeup together so it's seamless,” he says.

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Just Pinched Cheeks

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Marion Cotillard's pale pink blush only plays up her perfectly creamy complexion. After using foundation to even skin, makeup artist Christophe Danchaud went for a “soft, feminine, and glamorous” look by playing up Cotillard's natural flush with a light, rosy powder blush, sweeping Koh Gen Do Fresh Face in Nadeshiko ($41; barneys.com) onto the apples of her cheeks out to her hairline.

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Pops of Color

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Kerry Washington's pink cheeks and lips are subtle, but bright enough to make skin look lively and never washed-out. The crucial tip here is choosing a pink or coral for lips and cheeks that gives off a natural flushed appearance, rather than fuchsia, orange, or wine colors, since those hues don’t naturally appear in your complexion. Use your finger to press the color onto your lips until you’ve reached your desired coverage, then lock in the shade with a light sweep of lip balm. Carry the color onto your cheeks to tie the look together – you can either opt to repurpose your lipstick as a cheek stain, or choose a blush within the same color family to finish. Just make sure to blend out any noticeable differences with a powder brush dipped in a translucent powder.

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Melon Lips and Cheeks

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Kate Mara looks naturally sunny because soft melon tones warm up fair skin. The key for fair women to look warm but not bad-spray-tan orange is choosing a papaya shade for both cheeks and lips, a slightly orange ling pink. Mara wears Jouer Tint in Poppy ($20; jouercosmetics.com) on the apples of her cheeks and a corresponding jumbo lip pencil Nars satin Lip pencil in Lodhi ($25; narscosmetics.com); choose one with a bit of a sheen to it so lips and cheeks don't look so matchy-matchy.

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Lightened Up Smoke

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At the Tribeca Film Festival, Kate Hudson's lilac shadow from the Almay Intense i-Color Shimmer-i Kit for Blue Eyes ($7; ulta.com) makes her eyes pop. Of course, dark smoky eyes are dramatic, but a smudgy, smoky look in a paler color looks just as gorgeous and far more natural. Pick a lighter version of your typical smoky eye color—pale blue instead of navy, lilac instead of eggplant, light gray instead of charcoal—and smudge, smudge, smudge liner and shadow all the way around top and bottom rims so the color doesn't have a sharp edge.

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Make it Matte

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Since Mad Men's Jessica Pare is usually made up in swinging '60s mod makeup, seeing her with minimal makeup is extra refreshing. The key to her flawless skin is keeping it matte, which makeup artist Jamie Greenberg did with a light dusting of Mark Matte-Nificent Oil-Absorbing Powder ($14; shop.avon.com) on Pare's T-zone. To make sure matte skin doesn't look flat and lifeless, Greenberg added Mark That’s Brilliant Face amp Eye Luminizer ($14; shop.avon.com) for “gorgeous highlights” on Pare's eyes and cheekbones.

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Sharp, Bronzed Cheekbones

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At the Met Gala, Jessica Biel's slicked-back ponytail showed off her perfectly-bronzed skin. “I wanted to make it look as though she was wearing nothing,” says makeup artist Kayleen McAdams. That meant applying a thin layer of foundation with a beauty blender sponge ($20; sephora.com), then using ck one cream + powder bronzer duo in lightly golden ($25; ulta.com) to contour Biel's cheekbones and make them look even sharper; McAdams also blended the bronzer along Biel's chin and forehead to make the cheek bronze look more natural.

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Enhance Your Arches

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While Jennifer Lawrence looks completely free of makeup, her defined brows and the light contouring on her eyes keep the effect polished. Use a brow pencil or matte eye shadow to fill in any sparse areas to create the same effect, veering no more than a shade lighter or darker than your natural hair color. Make sure to apply the product with short, quick strokes to blend with your own arches, then use a cream-colored matte shadow to highlight your brow bone. Finish by running a dome-tipped shadow brush dipped in bronzer along your crease to impart subtle definition.

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Prep Smart

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Gwyneth Paltrow's skin looks flawless, and part of that is the preparatory products that go in before foundation. Prior to applying undereye concealer or any eyecolor, makeup artist Angela Levin used Angels Make Up Collagen Pads ($76; nigelbeauty.com) under Paltrow's eyes to plump and smooth; she then used a makeup sponge to dab Ultimate Foundation Primer onto her face and neck. Once you have a perfectly smooth canvas, makeup adheres better and looks far more flawless. Levin then used a brush to sweep on Chanel Perfection Lumiere Long-Wear Flawless Fluid Sunscreen Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Beige Ambre ($55; chanel.com), making for skin that looks bare but glowing and healthy.

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Golden Eye

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Rather than bold-colored eyeshadows, shimmery gold plays up Florence Welch's eye color while still looking natural. Makeup artist Lisa Aharon patted Laura Mercier Illuminating Eye Colour in Sun Glow ($24; nordstrom.com) onto Welch's top lids and then applied Laura Mercier Illuminating Eye Colour in Earth Glow to the lash line. Rather than harsh liner, Aharon drew attention to the shape of Welch's eyes with a few individual false lashes, which look most natural when they're discreetly placed at the outer corners.

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Even Skin Tone

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For Carey Mulligan's clean, understated look, makeup artist Georgie Eisdell focused on creating a perfect canvas. After applying a light serum to moisturize, Eisdell applied Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Ultra-Light Skin Perfecting Sunscreen Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF15 ($45; chanel.com) to her cheeks, then a long-wear formula on the center of the face, which won't budge even with natural T-zone oils. The result: a perfectly even, velvety complexion that stays that way all night.

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Bare-faced Beauty: Everything You Need to Know

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Bare-faced Beauty: Everything You Need to Know