Beauty How To: A Fresh Face for Spring

Today I’m excited to welcome back Erin Gerlach, who previously wrote this fab post on how to contour and highlight your face. Erin’s a professional makeup artist and beauty consultant, and I asked her to whip up a fresh, simple look that is perfect for any gal this spring.

A new makeup routine to kick off spring is exactly what warmer weather is calling for! There are definitely tricks to achieving that soft, pretty and polished look with flushed cheeks, glowing skin, amped up eyes. As a makeup artist, your best tools are your fingertips, and they can go where sponges and brushes can’t, so don’t be afraid to get in there with your fingers to apply your makeup. Especially with cream products, your fingers blend like nothing else.

For this look, we’ve used a lot of creamy, hydrating and nourishing products that will leave you looking fresh, bright and natural. As I always say, great makeup should make a woman look like the best version of herself, and this makeup definitely hits that mark.

Working on the skin is huge factor in the outcome of your overall makeup and starting out with hydrated, nurtured skin makes for the most ideal canvas for foundation. Once you have glowing and healthy skin, you don’t need to use as much to ‘cover it up’ – enhancing the skin is what we’re after, especially for this fresh look. Here’s how to re-create this gorgeous, natural look at home:

STEP ONE: PREP THE SKIN

After cleansing, spritz the face with vitamin and hyaluronic acid packed toner or facial spray. As you let the spray soak in, layer on a pump of daytime moisturizer. Don’t forget your neck since it’s often overlooked, and the first place to show age.

Erin Recommends:
Toner/Facial Spray: Try Tata Harper Floral Essence ($65)*, Beauty Counter Rosewater Uplifting Spray ($32), or Pangea Organics Facial Toner ($32.50)

Moisturizer: Try Dr. Hauschka’s Melissa Day Cream ($39.95), or Andalou Naturals Probiotic +C Renewal Cream ($24.95)

STEP TWO: READY THE CANVAS

It’s all about letting the skin shine, and using a sheer foundation is the best way to keep the finish clean and fresh; simply layer it if you’re looking for more coverage. Using your fingertips to warm up the makeup, smooth the foundation onto the skin, all the way over the jaw line to keep it looking as seamless as possible. Blend, blend and blend for the most sheer and natural finish.

An illuminator (or highlighter as it’s often referred to) is the best way to get a dewy glow. Dot your highlighter on the high points of the face, working it into the skin with your fingers, especially on top of the cheek bones, atop the cupids bow, the brow bone and down the bridge of the nose. This will give that lit from within glow we’re all after.

Erin Recommends:
Foundation: Try Prescriptives Flawless Skin foundation for this ($43)*

Illuminator/highlighter: Try ILIA Beauty Illuminator in Polka Dots & Moonbeams ($34)*

STEP THREE: COLOR ME PRETTY: CORRECT AND ADD

Now is the time to correct any color issues under the eyes with your concealer palette. You should have two colors of concealer in your makeup bag, one the same color as your foundation to give extra coverage to those blemishes we all love so much, and another that’s a bit peachy to color correct the under eye area (peach counteracts purple and blue darkness that we all have under the eyes). Layer the peachy shade of concealer under the color that matches your skin tone, and those dark circle will vanish! Don’t forget to get up into the inner corner of the eye – brightening that area with concealer can really work wonders.

Cream blush takes some practice, but once you master it, you’ll definitely get the most natural and glowing finish, no matter your skin type. Smile, and dab a little product onto the apples of the cheeks, blending with a clean finger until the pigment melts into the skin. Add as much as you like, especially for a fresh spring look; a little extra flush can look very sweet. A dusting of bronzer to warm up the complexion adds life and vitality to the face, so sweep some on with a fluffy brush where the sun would naturally hit like the hairline and cheekbones.

Now that the skin is looking dewy and perfected, we can move onto the other important factor of any polished look… the eyes!

Erin Recommends:
Cream blush: Try Kjaer Weis Organic Cream blush in Blossoming ($54)*, or W3LL People’s Universality Natural Multistick #7 ($33)

STEP FOUR: THE EYES HAVE IT

Using your favorite shadow brush, swipe on a touch of eyeshadow to even out the lid color. I love Kjaer Weis’ Organic Eye Shadow in Cloud Nine — it’s a creamy vanilla shade that never looks chalky thanks to the silky texture. Bring it into the inner corners of the eyes to lift and brighten.

Curl the lashes, and apply one coat of mascara to the top lashes. We’re adding some falsies, so this gets them prepped and uniform.

Individual lashes are a pro trick that you see on the red carpet all the time. Forget the fake looking strip lashes, and replace them with multiple clusters of individual lashes. Look for the ‘knot-free’ variety for the most natural outcome – they will lie flat against your natural lashes and layer very nicely. I recommend individual lashes from Sally Beauty.

To apply false lashes, start at the outer corner of the eye, and grab the base of the falsies with tweezers. Dip into the glue, and simply drop them on top of the natural lashes, right at the base of the lashes. You may need to wiggle them to get them into place – this takes some practice, but after a few go’s, you’ll be golden. Apply as many or as few as you like; in this look, you see about 5 clusters from the outer corner to the middle of the eye. If you want even more thickness, apply a little mascara to the lashes, fusing the falsies together with your natural lashes.

If you want a little bit more definition on the eyes, applying a thin line of liquid or gel liner just on the base of the upper lashes, winging it out slightly to emphasize the eye shape. And of course, the quickest way to frame the face and define the eyes is to fill in the brows. A powder and slanted brush method works best, imitating tiny hairs with short and fine strokes of the brush. It’s incredible how something so simple, can really help the eyes stand out!

Erin Recommends:
Eye Shadow: Kjaer Weis Organic Eye Shadow in Cloud Nine ($44)*, or Jane Iredale Single Pure Pressed Eye Shadow, in Cream or Wink ($19)

Lashes: Sally Beauty Individual Lashes ($4.99)*

STEP FIVE: GIMME SOME LIP

Continuing on with the freshness of the look, apply a soft and creamy lip conditioner to soothe and soften while giving the face a burst of color. Try ILIA Beauty Lip Conditioner in Shell Shock — it’s a pink-based coral that suits all skin tones very nicely. There you have it, a simple and glowing spring makeup that’s perfect for day, or evening. Patio weather, here you come!

Erin Recommends:
Lip Color: ILIA Beauty Lip Conditoner in Shell Shock ($26)*

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Image Credits: Photos by Paul Milaire; model: Jen Tam. Items marked with an asterisk (*) indicate these products were used on the model.