While a bold lip is a summer favorite when it comes to makeup, a pastel palette is equally fun and statement-making. Soft shades of lilac, rose and dusty blue can make for a romantic and sophisticated look or a feminine and youthful effect. Either way, it’s a great way to play with makeup and flex your artistry skills. The best place to start with pastel makeup is the eyes — it’s also the most flattering placement since the muted shades can enhance the eyes. To master your pastel makeup, Chantecaille global makeup artist Fernando Cadavid breaks down nine tips for a gorgeous look.
- Pick a color that will best suit your eye color. Soft lilacs for hazel eyes, pinks and soft orange shades for blue eyes, greens and blues for brown eyes, plums and burnt yellows for green eyes.
- “It’s important to always keep your canvas (your face) fresh, sheer and softly set with a dewy finish. Avoid bronzers or strong contouring products,” says Cadavid. For warmer months, a lightweight base like Chantecaille Just Skin Tinted Moisturizer will give you the best finish.
- While it’s a good idea to skip a thick line of black eyeliner to avoid looking overdone, it’s still important to define the eye area. “To avoid looking washed out with pastels, define your lash line by using a deeper color eyeliner than the shadow you are using, paired with a couple coats of mascara.”
- Frame the eyes with a well-groomed brow, this will help keep the focus on the eyeshadow. Cadavid advises using a brow gel to help with this.
- When it comes to color selection, less is more. Cadavid says, “Keep it simple by selecting one eyeshadow shade and apply it by brushing the color on beginning at the lash line and diffusing it upward, covering three-quarters of the eyelid.” Make sure to blend it well and don’t forget the inner and outer corners.
- “Most pastel eyeshadows tend to be matte. A great tip to give lids soft depth and dimension is to also use a sheer, translucent, highlighting eyeshadow only at the crease of the lid from inner to outer corner at the lid contour,” says Cadavid.
- Cadavid also has a simple trick to allow colors to pop just as beautifully on dark skin tones: “To help intensify the color, use foundation on the lid and set with a sheer white eyeshadow. This will create a base before your color of choice gets applied.”
- To really step up your pastel makeup, Cadavid says to go for a graphic application of your eyeliner: “Use a wet eyeliner brush and a darker pastel shade or a light metallic eyeshadow.”
- “Blush should be very, very light and sheer since the overall look should be kept soft and diffused,” says Cadavid. Same goes for lips — use a sheer lip color or a balm with a subtle tint.
