Fresh-faced, minimal, and natural! This is the beauty aesthetic that I embrace and live by. However, it was only a few years back that I was drawn to experimenting with all the popular beauty products out there. My cosmetic bags were bursting with lip glosses, blushes, foundations, and more. Maybe it was the power of beauty marketing and TikTok’s influence that made me instantly addicted and obsessed with skincare and beauty brands. Now, I’ve come to realize how much beauty has redefined itself by carving a path towards health and wellness. As a shift towards new approaches in beauty collides with a clean, minimal aesthetic, the concept of “beauty in a bottle” has faded. Instead, women are choosing to celebrate their unique features, real skin, and a lifestyle that supports wellness inside and out.
Women are choosing to take better care of their skin by using sunscreen and tinted moisturizers instead of layers of foundation and heavy contouring. There’s something beautiful about looking in the mirror and seeing yourself– without the heavy layers of makeup, just the real, natural you.
Achieving this healthy, minimal look always starts with skincare. Clean beauty isn’t about a thousand steps or products; it is about the ones that work best for you. Choose fewer and better skincare products. Here’s a simple, effective routine to set your skin up for the day:
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- Start by using a hydrating cleaner or micellar water to remove any products used from the previous night.
- Follow with a light eye cream with hyaluronic acid to minimize dehydration lines and brighten your eyes.
- Use Vitamin C to instantly brighten your skin and protect it from sun, pollution, and everyday stress. Vitamin C evens out skin tone, calms redness, and gives that natural, fresh glow.
- Add a moisturizer. A lightweight, hydrating formula is key here; something that plumps your skin, soothes it, and gives you that dewy finish before any makeup goes on.
- Keep your lips hydrated with a nourishing balm that adds a soft, glossy finish. It keeps everything smooth and gives your whole look that fresh, natural touch.
- And of course, no routine is complete without sunscreen. A lightweight, tinted SPF protects your skin from the sun while keeping it looking even and glowy.
Some of my favorite clean skincare products are the ones that make my routine feel effortless yet still effective. The M-61 PowerGlow Peel pads are at the top of my list. They instantly brighten and smooth your skin without irritation. I also love the Saie Dew Bronzer for its natural, warm glow, which blends perfectly with your moisturizer or SPF. And, of course, Supergoop’s Unseen Sunscreen is my go-to for protection that feels weightless and disappears into your skin. Together, these products create the perfect fresh, minimal base for any beauty routine.
Image via bluemercury
Image via Saie
Image via Supergoop
Once your skin is prepped and glowing on its own, makeup becomes less about transformation and more about enhancement. The goal is to let your natural features pop, not bury them. Here’s how to achieve a minimalist “no-makeup makeup” look:
- Start with a skin tint or light-coverage foundation. You want something sheer, breathable, and that evens out your complexion. This will give you that effortless, natural look.
- Apply a small amount of concealer only where needed, keeping it minimal to maintain that natural look.
- Use a cream blush to add a soft flush to your cheeks. Cream formulas melt into your skin, giving you that glow.
- Add a coat of dark brown mascara, or just curl your eyelashes to open your eyes and give them a lifted effect.
- Finish with a tinted balm or glossy nude lip. This keeps your lips hydrated while just adding enough color to tie the look together.
What makes this clean, natural aesthetic so special is that it’s about much more than products or routines. It’s a mindset. When you choose less, you learn to appreciate your features, your skin, your uniqueness.
Many young women and celebrities support this philosophy. Hailey Bieber is one of the most recognizable faces of this look. Her signature “clean” aesthetic is all about glowing, healthy skin with little to no makeup. Bieber’s beauty brand, Rhode, focuses on hydration, soft blush tones, and a glossy lip that enhances your natural features. On the other hand, Alix Earle approaches the minimal aesthetic from a slightly different perspective. Even though she’s known for her full-glam routines, the reason she represents this movement so well is that she’s mastered the art of enhancing what she already has. She uses lightweight base products and a soft, blended bronzer to make her makeup look natural and seamless. Earle also embraces her natural brows and loves using an under-eye brightener to look fresh and illuminated.
Images via Vogue
Image via New York Times
Image via ENews
Empowering yourself to focus on self-confidence, self-acceptance, and keeping it real is the first step to “unfiltering yourself.” We all have that potential to feel beautiful and confident. Finding the beauty within us and choosing a healthy lifestyle by incorporating exercise, eating clean, staying hydrated, and choosing a natural beauty aesthetic will help you achieve that goal. Celebrate the good things about your body and your looks. Although I may always be slightly obsessed with skincare and beauty brands, my philosophy will always remain true— “a little goes a long way!” By choosing a natural, clean, and minimal look, true beauty will shine out from within. When those qualities shine through, no amount of foundation could ever compete.
