Last Updated on June 18, 2022 by Eve Dawes
Easy Soft Dewy Makeup
Simple dewy makeup looks always looks so fresh and is simple with this quick and easy golden dewy makeup tutorial. Natural dewy makeup looks youthful and healthy and highlights rather than masks your natural beauty.
Dewy skin makeup and spring looks tend to be fresher, lighter and dewier coming out of Winter to go with our lighter colored wardrobe and materials. It doesn’t need to be precise but it does help to have well prepped and hydrated skin to start with.
Time to forget hard lines and keep it soft and simple. These are the steps and cruelty-free beauty products I’ve found work best for golden dewy makeup.
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How to get the simple dewy makeup look
A step by step dewy makeup tutorial using my favorite cruelty free products. A lot of them also have SPF sun protection to get the most out of your makeup and minimize oil based products so that your makeup doesn’t slide in the heat.
Dewy makeup tutorial step by step guide
1. Prep Your Skin
Starting with a good base is pretty much the key to flawless makeup of any kind not just for this dewy makeup tutorial. After thoroughly cleansing and moisturizing skin, start with a primer made for your skin type. E.g. one with collagen and hyaluronic acid for anti-aging and hydrating benefits or one with SPF for those in warmer climates.
The primer spray we used is called different names on different sites but it’s the same thing. It’s Urban Decay Rebound or Quick Fix Hydracharged Complexion Prep Priming Spray which is infused with collagen and sprays on, which is perfect for when you’re in a rush.
Use SPF liberally, more is more! I’ve found the best to be Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40 for hotter days when I’m going to be outside more. Its a primer, SPF 40 & blue light protection in 1. Living in Vegas a good SPF is essential unless you want to end up looking like a shriveled up prune, which isn’t the plan for most of us.
Neither of these primers pile when you apply foundation but make it go on much smoother and you’ll find that your makeup lasts longer using a primer.
2. Create Golden Dewy Makeup with Enhancing Golden Drops
Applying a shimmering CC serum or glow drops either before or mixed into your foundation for a dewy vs matte makeup finish. This will give you that lit from within but not shiny look.
One of my new makeup hero’s I discovered last year (2019) was Cover FX Custom Enhancing Drops in Moonlight. This is a shimmering beige color but they also have shimmering gold enhancing drops I want to try next.
The more drops that you mix into the foundation, the more of a glowy lit from within look you’ll create. It also doubles up as a highlighter by using it on its own wherever you want to highlight.
The other super hero I use as a primer and finishing spray is Iconic London Prep-Set-slow Hydrating Spray which does exactly what it’s name suggests. I’ll tell you more about under setting sprays.
3. Simple Dewy Makeup Look Foundation
For those of you lucky enough to not need foundation or get by with a tinted moisturizer, I envy you, but I’m not being torn away from my foundation. To get the closest match to your skin, I always recommend having 2 foundations on hand. A lighter and a darker one and changing the ratios of each that you mix through the year to match your skin tone. Use these tips to learn how to make your foundation shade work for you all year.
I’m always trying new brands but my go-to right now for Spring is Urban Decay Stay Naked. This gives really good coverage and staying power for a ‘weightless’ foundation.
I switch to this from Kat Von D’s Lock It Foundation that I use in Winter. I still keep Kat Von D on hand all year to use in certain areas instead of foundation. Or at night for more coverage. You can also mix it with a primer or glow drops to sheer it out as it’s pretty thick and full coverage, especially for the day.
How to apply foundation for a dewy makeup look
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to whether you use a brush or beauty blender makeup sponge to apply. It’s all down to personal preference, so you do you.
I like to warm the products either in my palm or on the back on my hand while mixing the colors. Then applying it with my fingertips and blending in with a damp Beauty Blender by bouncing and rolling the product into the skin. This makes it look more a part of the skin than sitting on top of it.
Another trick to customize your foundation to your skin color is to use Cover FX Custom Cover Drops which are vegan and cruelty free pure liquid pigments. These weightlessly blend with your favorite products to adjust your shade, tint a moisturizer or create your perfect foundation.
It’s up to you whether you mix them with your moisturizer, primer, concealer or foundation to create a custom foundation and lighten or deepen a shade. The more you use of a darker shade, the more you can darken your foundation for when you’re more tanned.
4. Highlight and Conceal
Since the foundation is minimal for this dewy makeup tutorial, concealers are serious multitaskers and can fill in coverage where it’s needed the most. Wherever you apply it is going to appear further forward so apply strategically, as well as to hide any under eye shadows and blemishes. I like to highlight along the bridge of my nose, chin, center of the forehead and cupids bow to look brighter and less flat.
You can also do this with a highlighter but concealer is more subtle or you can do concealer and then highlight over it for the ultimate pop or to take your look from day to night.
I go pretty light with my concealer to create contrast and am using Kat Von D’s Lock It concealer that I bake into place once my concealers dry, not wet (so it doesn’t crease) with her setting powder. Go easy on the setting powder as it’s pretty intense!
5. Well Blended Contour
Contouring’s not going anywhere thankfully because I love a good contour and highlight. The pageant queen in me loves this look. For a simple dewy makeup look make sure it’s well blended and more subtle than you would for instagram or evening glam.
For the most flattering look, don’t contour too far in on your cheek bones and for a sunkissed look that’s integral to golden dewy makeup, add it to the perimeter of your forehead as well. This also has the added benefit of making your forehead look smaller which mine needs all the help it can get with.
6. Cheeks
A gentle rosy or bronze glow is the way to go for golden dewy makeup. A blush with a soft shimmer is always pretty and compliments the dewy makeup. Charlotte Tilbury Cheek To Chic $40 has some beautiful color options. Blend, blend, and then blend some more.
7. Soft Eyes
Soft pastel or neutral shades that add a wash of color to line your eyes look beautiful. A soft kohl liner or eyeshadow smudged along the lash line work better for this look than hard black lines. Urban Decay has some great 24/7 pencil liners that blend well. I use the shade ‘Bourbon’ of course I pick the one with an alcoholic name! Kat Von D eyeshadow palette has a lot of good neutral matte and shimmer colors that can be used both wet and dry.
Then add a pop of highlighter or shimmering eyeshadow to the inner corner and/or lower lid to make your eyes pop. The shimmer really helps create that glowing, dewy makeup look. Go for shimmer not glitter to keep this look natural.
Pro Tip: Spraying your eyeshadow brush with setting spray before dipping into your shimmer eyeshadow or highlighter will make it last longer and make it more pigmented as the brush will pick up more color and help prevent fall out.
8. Lips
Lining the lips is all down to preference and skin needs. Liner helps prevent the lipstick from feathering, makes it last longer (when you line the entire lip), and you can cheat a bigger lip and the shape which I definitely do. But if you prefer a more natural look to create your dewy makeup look and don’t have those issues, skipping lip liner is totally fine.
Glosses or lipsticks are a personal preference and sometimes it just comes down to what you feel like wearing, whether it’s day, night or windy! We used Dawes Custom Cosmetics hydrating plumping lip gloss in Bora Bora which is also available as a lipstick, or use both for longer staying power and more color.
9. Dewy Makeup Look Finishing Spray | Set & Go
Finish with a loose dusting of translucent setting powder and setting spray such as:
- Urban Decay All Nighter Waterproof Setting Powder $34
- Anastacia Dewy Setting Spray $26
- Iconic London Prep-Set-Glow $27
Makeup Artist:
Photographer:
Dress:
Best Dewy Makeup Products | Shop the Post
Everything you need for this simple dewy makeup tutorial and to create golden dewy makeup all summer long.
