Step One - FACE
The face would probably take most of your time when applying makeup for the beach since you would want to achieve a natural, flawless and bronzed look. Avoid looking too made up since you wanted to get the illusion of you having a flawlessly tanned no-makeup look. To do this, you will need a primer, 2 foundation shades, lighter and darker, closest to your skin tone. I used the MAC Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage and the MAC Studio Fix liquid foundations in NC 35 and NC42. I am normally in between these shades (probably NC 40) but I want to look bronzed at the beach but only having very subtle contours to make it look natural.

Step 1: Exfoliate your skin to remove dead skin cells. Since you want to look natural even with makeup on, removing dead skin cells would help makeup to blend well with your skin and allow it to set without the cakey texture.
Step 2: Prime your skin to make it makeup ready. Primer fills in lines in your face to make it smoother and lets makeup blend naturally in your skin.
Step 3: Apply highlights. Using the lighter shade of the 2 foundations that you are using (I used NC 35), apply to the center of your forehead, underneath your eyes creating an inverted triangle under, highest part of your cheeks, bridge of your nose and chin using the stippling technique. Apply very light amount of product and gradually add thin layers depending on how much coverage you need. Blend out to let it feather until you don't see any rough edges.
Step 4: Add contour. Using the darker shade of the 2 foundations that you are using, (I used NC42) stipple foundation to the rest of your face and blend out.
Step 5: Remove excess product. Dab a moist sponge on your face to remove excess products.
Step 6: Spot conceal. if there are certain areas with scar or pimple, using the darker shade foundation and a concealer brush, apply a thin layer of the product in the specific area and blend out.
Step 7. Hydrate. Spritz Evian water spray to make skin glow and moisturized. Using the same wet sponge, dab it on your skin to remove excess water.
Step 8. Let it set. Normally it takes about 15-30 minutes for makeup to set. Once it sets, hydrate skin once again by doing step 7. Let skin dry.
Step 9. Apply blush. You would want subtle color on your skin to make it look like you are flushing. Start with a very thin layer and slowly build up color. Make sure that you blend out the color to make it look very natural. TIP: A cream blush would be perfect since it adds more moisture to your skin and also serves as an instant highlight.

Step Two - EYES
The eyes during daytime should just have neutral colors to maintain the natural look and to make it easy to convert into a nighttime look.

Step 1: Prime your eyes to prevent creasing.
Step 2: Apply an eyeshadow that is close to your skin color and blend out.
Step 3: Using a blending brush, apply a very subtle hint of black on the outer corner of your eyes to give your eyes contour and open up your eyes. Make sure that you lightly brush the product and slowly build up the color blending it into the middle section of your upper eyelid.
Step 4: Use a waterproof eyeliner and tightline your eyes to make your lashes fuller and thicker. Then using the same liner, line your eyes just above your lash line making it thicker on the outer corners. Blend the eyeliner to remove harsh edges and let the liner feather out with an eyeliner brush. Make sure that the liner blends in with your eyeshadow. Apply liner on the outer corner of your lower eyelids and blend towards the center using the same eyeliner brush. Set the liner with a black eyeshadow and blend out. Blend until harsh edges are gone. Blending the liner and letting it fade out will prevent it from smudging.
Step 5: Curl lashes and apply waterproof mascara.
Step 6: To convert it to nighttime look, apply a shimmery shadow on your lids and add more contour on the outer corner of your eyes using a black eyeshadow. Add more liner and wing it out to make your lashes look thicker. Add false lashes to make eyes more dramatic.


Step Three - EYEBROWS
Eyebrows are very important since these frames your eyes. The eyebrows need to look natural and light to soften the overall look.

Step 1: Fill in brows using an eyebrow powder and angled brush but do not overdo it. Just follow the shape of your brows using very small light strokes.
Step 2: Lighten the color of your brows using an eyebrow gel to soften the look. I used the MAC Brow Set in Beguile. Brush off excess product using a spool brush.

Step Four - LIPS
I suggest to either going for nude lips or just sticking with your natural lip color for the lips and lots of gloss to make it look juicy and plump. Also, you need to make your lip color last longer.

Step 1: Exfoliate lips (do this prior to applying your makeup). Exfoliating lips remove dead skin that makes lip color fade faster and make your lips look overly dry when wearing a lipstick. Apply petroleum jelly on your lips and brush off dry skin with a toothbrush.
Step 2: Prime lips. I suggest to use a lip primer but this is only optional. Lip primers are used to smoothen the appearance of your lips and also help make your lipstick last longer.
Step 3: Line lips with a lip liner similar to your natural lip shade if you are going for the natural lip color. If you are going for a nude color, use a reverse lip liner. This will prevent the lipstick from feathering and smudging. Also lip liners can be used to color the entire lips since they wear off longer allowing your to maintain the color of your lips even when the lipstick is already gone.
Step 4: Apply lipstick. Apply your lipstick just as how you normally do it then blot with a tissue. Blotting the lipstick removes the wax from the lipstick which makes the lipstick wear off easily. This leaves the pigment on your lips. Re-apply and blot until you see get the right intensity of color that you need.
Step 5: Set lipstick with an eyeshadow. This makes lipstick last longer. Just make sure that you are using the same shade as your lipstick. If you don't have an eyeshadow with similar shade, use a translucent powder to set the lipstick and repeat Step 4 to bring back the color.
Step 6. Apply gloss. Apply only to the middle section of your lips to make it look plump and juicy. Re-apply throughout the day as needed.


Applying makeup for the beach may take a little bit of preparation and application time since you want to look as if you are not wearing any makeup. If you have flawless skin, then I rather you skip applying makeup and just add a subtle hint of blush and lipgloss. Hope this helps and enjoy the warm weather! ♥