It is quite hard to read anything related to skincare or makeup without the word dewy skin popping up. With good reason too! When done properly, dewy skin should appear bright and radiant. Its appeal is that this luminescent glow is associated with excellent health and good weather. Unfortunately it’s all too easy to cross over onto shimmery or even worse oily skin when attempting this. Luckily with these 5 easy steps, you can get dewy skin easily and quickly every time!
1. Prep For Dewy Skin
Without a shadow of a doubt, you need perfectly clean skin for this dewy look to work. You should double cleanse and tone your face on a regular basis. In particular this is essential the night before and immediately prior to putting on your makeup. Additionally, you should be exfoliating your skin 1-2 times per week to get rid of dead cells. This will smooth as well as brighten your skin even before applying makeup. If you’re keen on always having dewy skin with and without makeup, consider every now and again having an advanced clinical facial or chemical peel. This will target specific skin problems such as acne, wrinkles, uneven skin tone and scarring.
Once your skin is clean and ready, the next step is to apply a moisturiser. This should be suited to your skin, contain SPF and act as a primer. Additionally look for a Vitamin C containing moisturiser or add it as a serum underneath in order to brighten and produce dewy skin. When applying your moisturiser, spend a couple of minutes massaging it into your face to stimulate blood flow and further enhance absorption.
2. Colour Correct
So I’ll put up a more detailed post about this but for now here is a brief overview. Dewy skin is all about looking illuminated from within. Any areas where shadows pool (like the under eye area) will break up the overall effect and play with the lit effect. This is not good as the glowing areas of the face will sharply contrast with the dark patches. Concealers can help you achieve this by enabling you to colour correct skin in order to give it a more even complexion.
A good tip is to apply concealers after you’ve applied the foundation as that will help reduce the unevenness in tone thus reducing the amount of concealer you need. Also, remember to only colour correct if the discolouration bothers you. It is not necessary if when you wear your foundation the discolouration subsides and you have dewy skin.
The Face & Neck
Colour correcting is far less complicated than its made out to be if you stick to a few basic principles. Firstly know your skin type and what your problem areas are. Simply put, colour correcting is a way to even out skin tone by using concealers to cancel out the discolouration in question. As a general rule of thumb, pinks, oranges and yellows cancel out blue/purple dark spots. Fairer skin should use pale pink colours whilst darker skin tones work best with oranges and yellows. Green camouflages redness with the shade of green dependent on your skin tone. Similarly, lavender cancels out yellow.
If you suffer from only one type of discolouration (e.g redness) then buy a specific concealer aimed at targeting that problem such as the Urban Decay Naked Skin Colour Correcting Fluid. If you have several different types of discolouration then consider a palette like the Stila Correct & Perfect All-In-One Correcting Palette.
The Eyes (Tear Troughs)
I usually purchase a specific concealer for the under eye area and apply it as an inverted triangle where the base runs from the nose to the edge of the eye socket at the level and the tip reaches the cheek. My absolute favourite concealer for this at the moment is the Bobbi Brown Instant Full Cover Concealer. Apply with the applicator and then blend into skin either with finger tips, beauty blender or a concealer brush. You can also apply the same concealer to other areas where there may be a blemish or hyperpigmentation but use sparingly.
3. Foundation
Again, its super important to choose a foundation suited to your skin type as we discussed in my earlier post. If your skin tends to be on the dry side then choose an oil based solution. Oilier complexions should choose a water based product. Either way, your foundation should be hydrating and if not included in the moisturiser, contain SPF. The way you apply foundation is also important. Ideally, you should use a light to medium coverage product since this is a look that needs to look very natural.
Use a foundation or stippling brush to buff product onto your skin. This gives a light-weight but air brushed finish for flawless dewy skin. There are many good illuminating foundations available. I find the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation SPF 15 is great for combination or oilier foundations as its water based and gives a light coverage that can be built up. Drier complexions should consider a rich and hydrating formulation such as Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish Perfectly Nude Make-Up. The Clinique Even Better Glow Light Reflecting Makeup SPF 15 is also a great all rounder.
4. Highlight
This is quite an important step. Highlighting your skin properly allows you to emphasise and frame your face structure. If used correctly, highlighting makes you look fresher and more radiant as well as softening or accentuating your features. If done badly however, the result looks costumey and quite amateurish. The secret is to to be sparing.
Highlighter should give the effect of light gently bouncing off your face. You should aim to highlight your brow bone and inner corner of the eye in order to make the eyes look bigger and more open. Highlighting the nose can help soften or accentuate its shape by where you place the highlighter. Finally, apply a bit of highlighter to the cheek bone. Highlighting the apples makes the cheeks look fuller which is more youthful whereas highlighting the angles of the cheek bones makes them look more contoured and slimmer. Highlight the forehead and chin remembering placement of the product depends on whether you want to soften or accentuate them. Another trick is to highlight the cupid’s bow of the lips and the middle of the top and lower lip in order to make them look fuller.
Choose a highlighter that is tinted with a colour that’s a couple of shades lighter than your skin tone. NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator is a good multi-purpose product that can be applied with a sponge, contour or fan brush or finger tips. Pale skin tones work best with pink shades whilst darker tones are complimented by gold tones. If you aren’t sure about highlighting or have run out, try a little coconut oil which will have a very similar effect to highlighter.
5. Pigment
By this stage, your makeup will be looking pretty amazing and you almost have dewy skin. To finish off this look, a tiny bit of colour will go a very long way. Firstly a touch of bronzer like Nars Bronzing Powder swept with a contour brush around the edges of the face and sides of the cheek bones will give a very warm glow to your face. You can also use the bronzer as an eyeshadow and apply to your eyelids with a large domed eyeshadow brush to give a beautiful wash of warm colour to the face. If you want to be super efficient, try using a bronzing setting powder like the Bobbi Brown Brightening Finishing Powder on the areas mentioned above as well as over the highlighted regions on the face. This will not only warm up the face, give it a dewy glow but also set your makeup.
A bit of pink-based blusher dabbed with a contour brush to the apples of the cheek will give a rosy glow to the face. Compliment with a moisturising tinted lip gloss or balm like the Dior Addict Lip Glow for a fresh faced finish.
To finish off this look just add a bit of mascara, eyeliner and brow gel/tint in a brown shade. As ever this depends on your skin tone for a really fresh faced day time look. You can play with the eyeshadow, cheek and lip palette to easily convert it to a nigh time look. So, there really is nothing to it. In just 5 easy steps you can get dewy skin with only a few versatile products. Give it a go and let us know what you think! Check out the rest of the blog and website for fuss-free advice and tips on skincare and beauty.
More on advanced clinical skin treatments this way.
If you’re interested in tear trough correction with derma fillers check this out.
