Minimal, effortless makeup and lit-from-within skin. French girl beauty is about embracing your natural features, not trying to change your face or cover up every imperfection. Adore this not-too-done approach? Read on. We’re sharing the secrets to mastering french makeup.
Less is more
French girl beauty starts with the skin. French women take incredible care of their skin to achieve a naturally healthy, glowing complexion. With a luminous bare base, foundation really isn’t a must. Many French women skip it and simply use a little concealer or a tinted moisturiser. The idea is to correct blemishes - if needed - rather than hide the skin.
If you’re after a little more coverage, BB cream is a good option for french girl makeup.
Glow from the inside out
Eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and proteins plus sipping plenty of water is #1 on the list of french beauty tips. A healthy diet is the key to a lit-from-within glow and the more radiant your skin is the less makeup you need.
Highlighter
You can also give your natural glow a subtle boost with a light application of highlighter. The French beauty way isn’t about heavy-handed, cakey highlighting it’s about subtly bringing light to and accentuating your best features.
We suggest Unicorn Champagne Highlighter to achieve a gorgeous french makeup radiance.
Using a soft, fan-shaped makeup brush very lightly dust the high points of your cheekbones where the light naturally reflects on your skin. Add just a touch to your Cupid’s bow too, and you’re done.
Apple blush and bronzer with a light hand
There’s no place for heavy Kardashian-style contouring in french makeup.
Use blush in pink or apricot shades to create delicately flushed cheeks and a light dusting of bronzer to add warmth. Neither should be overdone so the result is a fresh, healthy glow.
Blush
Create a natural flush with Unicorn Candy Blush. Lightly swirl the blush onto the apples of your cheeks where you naturally blush. The ombre palette lets you choose from a spectrum of pink hues from soft shimmery peach to bright matte pink to find your perfect colour match.
Bronzer
Once your cheeks are French flushed, use Unicorn Chocolate Bronze to frame your face with a warm sun kissed glow.
Choose the lightest colour in the ombre palette and with a light hand, using a kabuki brush, apply bronzer to your cheekbones. Then dust bronzer along your temples and across the bridge of your nose - these are the areas where the sun naturally hits your face.
If you want a little more definition, take the bronze down along your jawline too. But remember, no heavy contouring!
Full brows & bold lashes
French girl makeup calls for full, fluffy, natural looking brows. Brow powder is a great choice because it creates soft brows with dimension minus the harsh lines. It’s also easier to tidy up any mistakes with powder vs other brow products.
Even if you’re struggling with less-than-voluminous natural arches, armed with the right brow products your French makeup look is totally doable.
Brows
First, take a spoolie brush and brush upwards through clean brows to separate the hairs.
Then, dip an angled brush into Brow Duo Powder and move the brush upward using light, feather-like strokes that mimic natural hairs. You want your brows to look full, but not overfilled.
Now, use the spoolie to brush through the hairs again to bring them back into place.
Finish the look by swiping on Zebra Clear Brow Gel for long-lasting hold and a gorgeous glossy sheen.
Lashes
French girl lashes? Long, voluminous and curled. Curling your lashes is one of the french beauty tips that’s simple, quick and has a big payoff. After curling, you can leave your lashes bare or add a slick of mascara to add volume, length, and frame the eyes.
The White Knight is your go-to for beautifully long, lifted, and voluminous lashes. Plus, the waterproof tubular formulation means no flaky fall down while still being super easy to remove - all you need is warm water.
Pick One Thing to Highlight
The core tenant of french makeup is choosing to play up either your eyes with a smoky look or your lips with a bold liner - but never both.
Eyes
Choosing knock-out eyes? An imperfect, smudged smokey eye is so French beauty.
Take an eyeliner pencil and line all around the eye and also in between the lashes for a really defined look. Then, using Smudge Proof Liquid Eyeliner go over the pencil to deepen the pigment and make everything smooth.
Next take a eyeshadow colour of your choice and apply all over the lid. Coffee-coloured hues are perfect for a subdued and romantic feel or stick with darker colours like grey for more drama. Blend into the liner to soften and smudge the edges.
Lips
Want to go for low-key eyes and play up your lips instead? Red lips are a must.
The trick to apply lipstick in true french girl beauty style is to use your fingers to diffuse the colour. Take your lipstick and make one continuous swipe across the lips.
Then, with a clean finger, blend the lipstick in. You can build the colour in the centre by tapping the lipstick onto your lips.
Want to try this look on yourself but need the tools to complete the look? Browse the entire PONi collection today. Cruelty-free, multi-use, and universally flattering makeup for beginners to experts.
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