Neatly organised row of lipsticks in front of a lit up mirror, creating an aesthetically pleasing space for doing your makeup.

The BEST no makeup makeup for busy women who want to look elegant

Are you a busy woman and still want to look elegant? In this article, you will find the best no makeup makeup that will elevate your look in just five minutes. Because, sometimes five minutes is all we have in the mornings to get ready for work.

Make sure you stick to the end for my secret to transform you from day time chic to night time glam. Spoiler alert… it’s all in the lipstick!

There’s something really captivating about a woman who always looks effortlessly polished and naturally flawless! And it’s no secret that she doesn’t just roll out of bed like this.

It requires effort to look polished and put together all the time. Every classy woman has a set of her beauty rituals built into her daily routines.

After I shared my morning routines in this daily habits of cultivating elegance, you were interested in learning about my no makeup makeup routine and the best products to use.

As I mentioned in the post, I am slow in the mornings and always running out of time. So I try to keep any beauty rituals to a minimum. One that is fast, requires the least effort with maximum effect.

My best no makeup makeup look takes me five minutes (seven minutes on office day). Now, whilst I’ve taken a makeup course, I’m no makeup artist, just sharing what works for me and my favourite products, in case it will help you.

But at the end of the day, the best no makeup makeup for you is one that makes you feel beautiful.

Key takeaways:

  • The philosophy behind no makeup makeup
  • Get to know your skin’s needs to choose the right products for you
  • How to create your best no makeup makeup in five minutes
  • Quickly transform your look from daytime chic to nighttime glam
a collage of a busy woman who wants to look elegant with their best no makeup makeup, from daytime chic to evening glam.

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What is no makeup makeup?

When it comes to makeup, I’ve always been in the less is more camp. So I love this no makeup makeup concept. The days of heavy makeup are over for us elegant and savvy ladies. Yes, you heard it here first!

The philosophy behind no makeup makeup is using makeup to subtly enhance your best features whilst letting your natural beauty shine through. It’s like your bare face, but better. It’s soft, it’s natural and it’s minimalistic.

bare case woman with excellent skin as a result of her daily beauty routine
From this… with just skincare…
a woman with her best no makeup makeup, looking elegant everyday
… to this. Still me but better

It’s about looking polished and put together without looking overly done, creating the “I woke up like this” vibe yet strikingly beautiful.

Think of the French chic or Korean beauty vibes — with minimal makeup — consisting of a swipe of lipstick and a coat of mascara, emphasising radiant dewy skin. Everything blends perfectly together for a naturally flawless complexion.

This is the ‘quiet luxury’ of the beauty industry. If you know, you know. And this epitomises an elegant and classy woman.

As a savvy and elegant lady, everyday makeup needs to be an essential part of your beauty rituals. Having said that, we’re not using makeup to conceal our flaws.

Because we are beautiful just the way we are. We are comfortable in our skin. But makeup with give us that extra boost of confidence and the needed assertiveness to navigate difficult meetings.

But it’s not a one-size-fits-all all. You need to figure what works for you.

So without further ado, let’s discover how you can unlock your signature look and what products you need.

How to create your best no makeup makeup

.The key to natural everyday makeup is radiant skin and subtle colours that emulate your natural skin tone but better.

The products and colours chosen are aimed to enhance your features not to make you look “made up”.

Step 1: Understanding your skin

The most essential step in achieving a naturally flawless look is understanding your skin condition and its undertone.

Knowing what your skin needs will help you to choose the most suitable products to deliver the “I woke up like this” look effortlessly.

What type of Skin do you have? Is it dry, oily or combination?

I am a sucker for all things beauty. And there are always new products to try. I’ve wasted a lot of money in the past buying products that were not a good match for my skin.

Fundamentally, you need to understand your skin’s needs to feed it the most suitable products to achieve healthy and radiant-looking skin. As recommended by the AAD Association, “Using products formulated for your skin’s needs will help your skin look and feel its best” [Source: The American Academy of Dermatology Association]

Do you have normal, dry, oily, sensitive or combination skin? Does it feel tight when you smile? Do you need to regularly blot your T-zone? Do you have pink pigmentation?

If you have dry skin like me, a lightweight lotion is probably not enough. You need rich cream moisturisers. Conversely, if you have normal skin — you lucky duck — then a lightweight lotion might be just perfect.

Therefore, get to know your skin’s needs and find the best skincare and makeup products for it.

What is your skin tone? Are you cool, neutral or warm?

Wearing colours that compliment your complexion is the epitome of timeless elegance and style. This can only be achieved by knowing the temperature of your skin tone.

Do you have a warm, neutral or cool undertone in your skin?

Do you have a rosy hue or a hint of icy blue in your skin tone? Then you probably have a cool undertone and will look great in cool shades like silver, blue, green and purple.

Or do you have a golden, peachy or yellow undertone? Then it’s likely you’d have a warm undertone and you’d look great in earthy shades like gold, orange, yellow and brown.

Wearing the complimentary shades will effortlessly bring out your natural beauty. You will look fresher, younger and brighter. Conversely, wearing the wrong colour will make you look older and washed out.

It is even more important when comes to makeup. It’s so subtle and is often overlooked. But it can make or break your look.

The best way to figure out your best colours is to have a professional colour analysis done. I got my colours analysed in Korea last year (which is the place to be for colour analysis and all things beauty), and it was a nice experience.

I wouldn’t say it was life-changing, but it did help me understand my colours better or validate why I hate myself in certain colours. It has changed the way I shop and the colours I go for, from beauty to fashion to accessories. I’ve saved so much time and money from trying and experimenting with random colours.

There are also many resources online that can help you figure out your colours. My favourite videos are from my fellow Melbournian (not biased at all) from Colour Studio. They are so informative and fun to watch.

Have fun bingeing! After you finish my post… of course!

Step 2: Preparing your skin

To achieve beautiful radiant skin, you need to take care of it and consistently feed it with nourishing products. This is a form of self-love — an important habit I talked about in my daily habits post.

Having a well cared for skin is the perfect canvas for your makeup application. So make sure you set up a daily morning and night skincare ritual with the best products for your skin’s needs.

It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate that takes up a lot of time. My main skincare routine happens in the evening and consists of cleansing, toning, and moisturising. The whole process is less than 5 minutes.

I give my skin a deep cleanse with my favourite cleansing balm from Eve Lom. It’s perfect if you have dry skin. It removes all the makeup without stripping out all the moisture, leaving your skin feeling nourished and hydrated after every wash.

It’s essential to sleep with clean skin. I never skip this step. Even if I have an event and come home at 3 am.

After a good wash, I splash on a generous amount of hydrating toner. Then lather my skin with with a age-defying serum and rich cream moisturiser.

This ensures I wake up to fresh and nourished skin. In the mornings, all I do is cleanse it with just water, then moisturise it with the same serum and rich cream.

bare face woman with excellent skin as a result of her daily beauty routine

After you’ve done your skincare routine, give it a few minutes for the products to soak into your skin before makeup. Just enough time for coffee.

Step 3: Creating a flawless base

Now that your skin is prepped, let’s get the makeup going.

We start by applying sunscreen with SPF 50+. I recommend one that is formulated especially for the face. Because it is more lightweight, non-sticky or oily and doesn’t leave a white cast on your face. 

If you need one, pop into a K-beauty shop. You’re bound to find that that is suitable for you. My current favourite is Goodal’s Calming sun cream.

The next step is primer — this is optional (sometimes if I’m feeling lazy, I just have sunscreen as a primer).

But when it comes to a primer product, my holy grail is By Terry’s Brightening CC Serum. It is radiant boosting with 96% skincare and it works like magic!

It creates a flawless base without coverage with blurring effects on the skin’s imperfections and evens out the skin tone. The pearly pigments also create highlights where lights hit, giving you a porcelain-esque glass-skin look.

It glides on so smoothly on the application with just my fingers. I love it! The perfect WFH skin.

For my office days, I like something with a bit more coverage, so I do use a lightweight foundation (hence seven minutes instead of five!).

My staples are La Mer’s Soft Fluid Long Wearing foundation and Lisa Eldridge’s Seamless Skin and I rotate between them.

I prefer La Mer’s foundation but I do reach out for Lisa Eldridge’s more. I love that La Mer sits on your skin like skincare and its staying power is amazing! It keeps you looking naturally flawless all day long. However, it is expensive! Like £105 (US$130) for 30ml expensive, compared to £44 (US$55).

Hence, for daily use, I tend to reach for Lisa Eldridge’s Seamless Skin. What I love about Lisa Eldridge’s foundation is the plethora of colours and undertone combos – 43 different shades to be exact!! You’re bound to find one that matches perfectly with your complexion, giving you the perfect skin. But it does wear off by the evening.

Anyway, they are both perfect for no makeup makeup look. A bottle will last you months as you only need 1-2 pumps.

For the best result, I recommend applying it with a damp beauty blender. Everyone will tell you to use a brush. But having tried one too many foundation brushes, from La Mer to Laura Mercier to Bare Minerals to drugstore brands, nothing compares to my beauty blender. 

I’ve never been able to achieve a seamless streak-free finish like they promised! If this is you too, then give the beauty blender a go. Please come back to let me know how you get on in the comments below.

When applying, gently press onto your skin. Don’t rub it on. A little bit of product goes a long way.

Now here is my secret hack for creating natural flawless skin. After you finish applying the foundation, switch to the clean side, and go over the face again. This will get rid of any excess products and blend them in. 

I recently heard Lisa Eldridge sharing a similar concept in one of her videos — dust off excess products with a clean brush for a natural finish. 

You know you’ve hit the jackpot with your makeup technique when a celebrity makeup artist has the same hack as you!

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Step 4: Sculpting Natural-looking brows

For a no makeup makeup look, you’d want to keep your brows as natural as possible. Brows will frame your face. But don’t overdo it.

To keep things natural and cohesive, choose a colour as close to your brow hair as possible. Don’t forget to watch out for cool and warm colours. Yes, cool-brown is a thing.

My brows are already thick and dark. Just a bit sparse. So all I do is use the ultra-fine brow pencil from Benefit to gently fill in the gaps to enhance the shapes. Then use the spoolie on the other side to blend it in for a natural finish.

Step 5: Pillow Talk cheeks and lips

Now onto the cheeks and lips. My guilty pleasure and weakness!! *facepalm*

I am easily tempted by new formulas and colourways. How many pink blush and red lipsticks can a girl have? Too many!

Whenever I ask Mr Hubby’s opinion at the shop, his response is always, “Don’t you already have that colour?” LOL

Well, he’s not wrong. BUT, technically it’s not the same!

Needless to say, I’ve tried loads of lipsticks and blushes! And when it comes to finding the best no makeup makeup products for the cheeks and lips, my go-to would have to be Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk blush and lipstick

First, let’s talk about her blush. Oh my gosh!! It is gives you a gorgeous dusty rosy cheeks. And seems to work for all skin tones.

I like to use the outer colour on the outer cheeks as a contour. Then a swipe of the light colour on the apples of the cheeks for a healthy glow. Don’t forget to blend with a clean brush.

This is the perfect everyday blush. But it is highly pigmented, so apply sparingly.

As for the matching Pillow Talk lipstick, it is the perfect nude. You’ve heard me say this so many times, but it really is your lips but better! It just glides on your lips. It’s very moisturising and doesn’t dry out the lips. It’s cheaper to get the set with a lip gloss and it’s currently 15% off!

a woman holding a Pillow Talk Lipstick from Charlotte Tilbury, demonstrating her best no makeup makeup look.

Step 6: Enhanced yet subtle eyes

Last, but not least, the eyes. This used to be my insecurity and hence used makeup to try and make my eyes look bigger. Think thick black eyeliners and black eyeshadows!!

However, after my elegant empowerment journey, I learned to embrace my flaws and love myself for who I am. It is liberating and I encourage you to do the same!

Now I only use makeup to enhance my features and adopt a less is more concept for my eye makeup.

This essentially means after I did my cheeks, I ran the brush all over my lids with whatever was left of the blush, added a coat of mascara and voila! We’re done.

a woman with long hair and a ring on her hand with her best no makeup makeup look

If you need recommendations, try Lisa Eldridge’s Kitten mascara. It’s volumising without being clumpy. The formula is lightweight and glides evenly on every strand of your lashes.

Most importantly, it stays put on all day. I hate mascaras that crumble all over my face throughout the day and see dark circles under my eyes at the end of the day. you’re not going home with dark circles underneath the eyes!!

If I’m feeling fancy, then I’d neutral eyeshadows to sculpt my eyes and then add this Bobbi Brown cream shadow stick on the lash line, like an eyeliner. 

a woman with long hair and eyes closed showcasing her finished no makeup makeup look.
a group of my daily for no makeup makeup products - Lisa Eldridge's seamless skin foundation, Pillow Talk blush and lipstick, Kitten Lash mascara, Bobbi Brown's cream shadow stick, and beauty blender.
All the best no makeup makeup products that are in my makeup staple.

Bonus Step: Transform day time beauty to night time glam

As promised, transform your day time look into evening glam with just a lipstick.

Aesthetic lipstick layout

By simply changing your lip colour. Find a colour that you love and makes you feel glam. Carefully swipe it on your lips. Then dab a little bit onto your cheeks and blend into your skin to create rosy glam cheeks. If your evening lipstick is too much as a blush, pillow talk lipstick works wonders as a blush.

Now, you are ready for after-work drinks or events. Easy!

For me, it’s the perfect red red lipstick. After trying out a tonne of different reds, I’ve finally found the one — this True Velvet in colour Ribbon from no other than Lisa Eldridge.

It also comes in Velveteen Liquid Lip that creates a soft matte finish. Sadly, it’s currently out of stock, but sure you hit notify me and snap one up soon as they become available. You will not regret it.

Although they both have a matte finish, they feel super hydrating on the lips. They also last all day. I particularly love her velveteens for their ‘no smudging’ and ‘no transfer’ effect.

a woman with long hair and red lipstick. Transform her daytime chic look to evening glam.
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The best no makeup makeup look is one that is personalised for you

This may seem like a lot of steps involved. But it only takes 5 minutes (7 minutes on office days) once you get the hang of it.

With that said, every woman is unique and beautiful in her own right. So the best no makeup makeup look is the one that reflects her individuality. 

Therefore, I encourage you to play around with the different products and techniques you’ve learnt and see what works for you. It’s not a one size fits all. What works for me, it may not work for you. So just experiement.

At the end of the day, I just want you to unlock the je ne sais quoi within you and find the confident, elegant and savvy woman you were meant to be.

Now, over to you… what are your must-have no makeup makeup steps? What are go-to everyday makeup products? Please share your tips and tricks in the comments below.

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