You may have heard of latest 'clean girl' aesthetic that's doing the rounds. It's a complete look that gives the impression that you eat your greens, drink litres of water, get eight hours rest and enjoy yoga on the weekends. Perhaps you do all of the above and if so, hats off. If, let's say, you unwind with reality TV rather than meditation- fear not, we have makeup. That glowing, illuminated appearance is a beauty trend which focuses on a natural base, so think plump skin, glossy lips and scatters of freckles.
Freckles help to achieve a youthful, sun-kissed, flushed complexion, hence why they play a big part in this 'lit from within' look. If your skin is entirely freckle free, you can simply create faux freckles!
This is our guide on how to get fake freckles for that sun-kissed, polished look.
3 techniques to get the fake freckle look
Once you've applied your foundation and set all of your makeup in place, it's time to sprinkle on those faux freckles. Similar to how you may prefer to create a cat-eye flick with a pen over a pencil or gel, you can choose whichever product you feel most comfortable using in order to get your fake freckles. However, it's important that what you use has a natural, brown tone and a precise tip, so eye and eyebrow products are the best options.
Freckles mainly form on the high points of the face that see the sun, so the areas to focus on are the bridge and sides of the nose, as well as the apples of the cheeks. However, you can scatter them all over for a real statement look. Add a few dots here and there on the forehead and the chin!
To look as natural as possible, we want the freckles to blend in well with your hair and skin. With each product comes a different technique so we're going to be looking at using how to do fake freckles with an eyeshadow, an eyeliner pencil and an eyeliner gel.
How to do fake freckles with eyeshadow
The eyeshadow technique is the safest way to get fake freckles if you're a beginner. Eyeshadow comes out softer on the face than other techniques, so it's hard to go drastically wrong!
- With eyeshadows, it's important to pick the right shade. Begin with a shade that's only slightly deeper than your skin tone such as Lear for lighter skin tones or Eponine for deeper skin tones from the Elemental Artistry Palette.
- If you want to do fake freckles that are more obvious or have a very deep skin tone, you can mix Eponine and Elphaba for extra definition.
- Use an ultra-thin Liner Brush and cover with a small amount of product at first.
- Tap it lightly onto the skin, starting on the sides of the nose and continuing on to the bridge and apples of the cheeks.
- Keep going until you have done the amount of faux freckles you want, and don't forget to add space in between them so they appear more believable.
How to get fake freckles with eyeliner pencil
Next up, it's time to give our eyeliner pencils a new lease of life. Again, we want to find the right shade of pencil here- the Illamasqua Colouring Eye Pencil in the shade Fidelity works well to get those fake freckles with a natural tint.
- Sharpen your pencil and gently press down on the skin to create a faint dot.
- Follow up with a harder force for a deeper freckle. The pencil will become more blunt for a slightly bigger shape.
- Press the tip of the pencil down and twist to create a circular freckle.
- Then, draw a few miniscule lines for a combination of both circular and straight freckles.
- Use the tips of your fingers to dab and soften the freckles into place.
- Dust a light layer of Loose Powder all over to set the look.
How to do fake freckles with gel liner
Lastly, we have gel liner. Gel liner is the most durable way to do faux freckles but also the darkest, so remember: a little goes a long way.
- Again, using an ultra-thin Liner Brush, lightly dip it into the Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner in the shade Oblique.
- Dab the brush onto the skin, focusing on the sides and bridge of the nose with sporadic dots on the forehead and cheeks.
- Again, use the same method with the tip of your fingers to press the freckles into the face.
- Always set with a Loose Powder to seal everything into place.
Just as with red lipstick, you need to be conscious of any spreading later on. No matter what technique you choose, don't forget to set your new found freckles in place. You've already dusted the powder, so finish off with a final spritz of the Illamasqua Hydra Setting Spray for a smudge-free freckly face all day.
