What Is the Viral ‘No Makeup’ Trend?—And How To Get the Look

It’s no secret that the viral “no makeup” makeup trend has taken over our TikTok feeds, with #nomakeuplook racking up 210M views. This trend is all about highlighting your facial features to flaunt your natural beauty. When in doubt, less is more when it comes to this makeup trend. We talked to experts to uncover the best tricks, tips, and products to achieve this effortless makeup look. 

Rebecca Restrepo, celebrity and beauty makeup artist, describes the no makeup makeup trend as simplifying your life. “Achieving the easy lifestyle [is] quick, simple, and easy but still looking pretty, fresh, and feeling alive,” Restrepo says. The irony of the “no makeup” look is to appear natural, while still wearing makeup. “The ‘no makeup’ look definitely involves makeup to not look like makeup because we all want perfect skin, we want that glow, [and] we want our skin to look healthy,” explains makeup artist Lisa G Artistry. To achieve this natural makeup look at home, follow the steps below.

Base

A luminous, glowy base starts with skincare. G turns to a serum primer to give clients the best of both worlds—a makeup primer and serum in one. The Perricone MD No Makeup Instant Blur Priming Moisturizer ($59, perriconemd.com) blurs your skin so it appears nearly poreless. “This eliminates having to use a lot of makeup, because it’s already doing a lot of the work for you and it virtually almost makes your pores disappear,” G says.

After a moisturizer suited to a client’s skin type, Restrepo reaches for a sheer color gel. She recommends the Hi Beautiful You Be You Skin Perfecting Tint ($48, hibeautifulyou.com) for a super natural look. “I like to put it on my hands, warm it up, and then pat it on the face,” Restrepo explains. “The tone is overall even and blurred as opposed to having full coverage that requires so many other things and time.”

The triple threat for a radiant glow is blush, highlighter, and bronzer. The Milani Supercharged Cheek and Lip Multistick ($10, ulta.com) is a must-have for Restrepo. Her application trick is to apply blush by doing a quick smile and applying to the tops of your cheekbones. “It gives that really flushed, healthy, soft, fresh face, and then you can use it on your lips too,” Restrepo says. G looks for products that already have highlight built in, such as the Hard Candy Face Off Collection Highlighter Stick ($8, walmart.com) and Luminous Gel Bronzer ($8, walmart.com). “Their highlighters and bronzer gels are amazing because they’re buildable [and] they have a sheen to it, so it keeps skin looking like skin not powdery or cakey,” G says.

Eyes

After achieving the dewy base, Restrepo likes to focus on grooming the brows. Pro tip: use your favorite extra-hold hairspray to keep brows in place after brushing them up (spritz it onto an eyebrow brush or clean spoolie first).

To bring out your eyelashes and natural features, Restrepo recommends the Hi Beautiful You Be You Mascara Lash Extension Treatment ($29, hibeautifulyou.com). “I love using that mascara to create that really fluffy lash look. It has ingredients that help the lashes as opposed to being waterproof [which] can actually hinder the growth and strength of your lash,” Restrepo says.

For subtle color on the eyes, G prefers to use a liquid gel eyeshadow. Her pick: the Perricone MD No Makeup Eyeshadow ($39, perriconemd.com) for a natural look. “It’s almost like a primer but it’s tinted and has a little bit of color in it, so you can use it alone or layer it,” G explains. 

Lips

To appear effortless and hydrated, a lip oil is recommended by G for the no makeup makeup look. The Hard Candy Glosstopia Lip Repair Oil ($8, walmart.com) is hydrating and nourishing so your lips look and feel moisturized. “You can use on top of your lipstick [or] you can use it alone, but it’s so nourishing that it’s going to take care of all that dryness and help with the ‘no makeup’ look by making even the skin of the lips look healthy,” G says. 

The key to the no makeup look is to use the same products in multiple places. “Putting blush into the lip oil creates a more cohesive look that’s very natural,” G explains. “You can even use the blush on the eyes or the highlighter in the inner corners.”