Less is Now

Fleur Skinner likes to keep things stripped back and simple in all aspects of her life. Looking after her 1-year-old daughter Elsie and heading a PR agency means managing her time is critical. So it’s no wonder the 35-year-old general manager of Haystac has a “less is more” approach to her makeup.

Diligent about protecting her fair complexion, her go-to is often just a thin layer of light mineral foundation with a good SPF cover, a lick of mascara and a nude lippy, a morning routine that takes about 5 minutes.

“I just want to feel like the freshest version of myself,” she says.

Fleur is one of a growing number of women embracing the trend towards a natural look. It’s not necessarily about forgoing makeup altogether but giving the illusion that you rolled out of bed with glowing skin and radiant features, even if it took a little trickery with the highlighter cream. Today’s superior primers and foundations, not to mention BB creams, tinted moisturisers and mineral makeups have made this possible for those of us who don’t have fabulously youthful complexions. So has the fashion for nude shades.

“Makeup makes me feel like my best self but I don’t like to wear a lot,” says Fleur, whose beauty regime includes a serum and a skin-smoothing cream as a light moisturiser. At night she’s scrupulous about cleansing; she’s also a fan of Waitrose baby bottom butter, ($10 from Nosh) as a rich facial moisturising treatment.

“It’s nice to feel I’m not putting on a front or a mask in life or work. I’m an accessible person and I guess my makeup choices reflect that."

Perhaps it’s a similar attitude that led perceivably high-maintenance celebrities Kylie Jenner and Demi Lovato to recently post no-makeup selfies. Sure, it helps they’re young and pretty but it’s a statement to the world that they’re comfortable in their own skin — even if we’ll never really know how primped and preened that skin is.

The popularity of the recent Facebook trend to post makeup-free selfies also goes to show there’s a certain spirit of sisterhood that comes with baring our true selves. Not quite burning our bras perhaps, but there’s an undeniable freedom that comes with looking groomed with less makeup.Last year, Marc Jacobs sent models down the runway au naturel; and at Balmain’s spring/summer show the only makeup used was concealer.

These looks suggest confidence, insouciance, even rebellion. It’s also about promoting a clean, healthy lifestyle, the idea that beauty really does come from within. That’s certainly the case for Kirsty Godso, 26. In her role as a Nike Master Trainer, brand manager at Les Mills International and head trainer of the workout known as Les Mills Grit, she travels frequently to Nike events around the globe.

She’s a walking advertisement, with nothing but tinted moisturiser, bronzer, mascara and a brow kit in her makeup bag — and lots of moisturiser. Keeping her look fresh-faced also saves her time when she’s transitioning between the gym and the office.

“I sweat a lot,” she says, of the several workouts she does each day. “There’s nothing worse than seeing someone’s face melt off in a workout. As a trainer, it’s important that I look healthy to those who are coming to my workouts and the natural look really works for this and amplifies that post-workout glow.”

For Shirley Simpson, 46, work is also her reason for choosing a natural look. The irony isn’t lost on her that she makes her living as a freelance makeup artist yet wears minimal makeup: usually just tinted moisturiser, a mineral powder and mascara with curled lashes.

“Lots of makeup artists I know wear no makeup,” she says. “Pat McGrath, who’s perhaps the most famous makeup artist in the world, wears pretty much none. I guess it’s an aesthetic thing but there is an element of not wanting to touch your kit when you get home. When you do it for your job you don’t necessarily want to put any on yourself.”

Shirley likes the win-win of a natural look — her skin is in better condition because she wears lighter products. She tends to favour natural ingredients, avoids parabens, and uses a retinol cream at night.

“I don’t like powdered-on makeup,” she says. “I used to wear a bit more when I was younger. But there are such good formulas these days for tinted moisturisers that offer good coverage and SPF. They’re not too heavy.”

She’s also embracing her greying hair, although she admits the growing-out phase, from her natural dark brown, has been challenging.

“I just got sick of putting chemicals on my head. I realised one big block of colour is not doing it for me anymore. And I recently saw a picture of these really chic women in their late 20s with grey hair. Then there’s Sarah Harris [fashion features director from British Vogue, who is in her early 30s and proudly grey]. I thought, I can do that.”

Creating a flawless natural look on others is a luxury she doesn’t always afford herself but when applying fresh-faced makeup, she recommends spending a bit of time layering the product and highlighting contours. A good tinted moisturiser, highlighter or strobe cream and blusher with luminescence will give a hydrated appearance; highlighting the brows will help to frame the face.

“I like to work carefully and not use too much, approaching it like an artwork with subtle layering.”

New York-based Kiwi model and fashion designer Georgia Pratt, 24, is another industry insider who has adopted a natural look as the antithesis of her day job. After signing to the Muse agency in the Big Apple two years ago, the 62 Models export has been in high demand.

“I don’t like too much on my skin because at work I’ve always got something on,” she says while on holiday in New Zealand. “A lot of the commercial catalogue jobs are in a big studio with strong lighting. They tend to pack the makeup on. It also saves them on retouching later.”

That said, she has noticed an editorial trend towards low-key makeup looks and natural shades, and showcasing imperfections.

“The same goes with hair, it’s not completely perfect and done. People are wanting a softer, more organic look.”

Georgia says travelling long-haul does her skin no favours and often results in a rash-like texture so a love affair with local skincare range Trilogy (particularly their Organic Rosehip Oil) and a low-key look between jobs gives her skin a rest.

She prefers to wear tinted moisturiser to give a dewy appearance and show off her freckles, plus a little mascara, a nude lippy, and a dash of brow gel.

“My whole mood will change if I’m wearing a face full of makeup. “I actually enjoy the process of putting makeup on. Though over time my confidence with it changed and I was thinking about makeup in a different way. When I chose to wear less makeup, I didn’t think about it as much as I thought I would.”