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How to Do Soft Glam Makeup

If there’s one makeup look you should have in your repertoire, it’s soft glam makeup – the harmonious blend of glamour, radiance and subtle elegance. Natural, soft glam makeup has gained widespread popularity amongst makeup lovers and experts for its understated appeal and a soft, neutral colour range that flatters every skin tone. While there are many occasions that call for vibrant hues, bold contouring and dramatic lashes, it’s clear that ‘soft’ romantic makeup is here to stay. So, if you’re hoping to elevate your daily natural makeup to a look that will carry you through the night, continue reading for our soft glam makeup tutorial.

Valentine's Day Makeup

What is soft glam makeup?


Soft glam makeup sits comfortably between a natural ‘no-makeup’ look and full glam. Much like a glowy, bronzed makeup look, soft glam makeup is about emphasising your natural features and radiance. Natural soft glam makeup draws upon a soft colour palette of pink, beige, taupe, brown and nude to create a chic, polished version of natural-looking makeup to complement life’s special occasions. As a tempered version of ‘full glam makeup’, only a light touch is used for specific areas of the face like brows, eyes, cheeks and lips for subtle, effortless beauty.


How to get the soft glam makeup look?


Blurring, blending and softening are the pillars of soft glam makeup. When curating your makeup bag to achieve this look, opt for buildable foundation and concealer that provides coverage without masking your features. Outside of your base products, reach for muted, natural eyeshadow shades and a few staple shimmers. A rosy blush, bronzer and soft highlighter will help round out your soft glam look. And, of course, any makeup look would be incomplete without prep and setting stages, so ensure you invest in makeup primer and setting powder to give your soft glam makeup look the longevity it deserves.

Keep reading for Lancôme’s step-by-step guide to help you recreate natural soft glam makeup at home.

Makeup for valentines day look

1. Prep your skin


The first step in any makeup look is to nourish the skin with face serums and moisturiser to both hydrate the skin and give it a dewy glow. Once you have applied your skincare and SPF, you can begin the first step of your soft glam makeup routine by applying 24h Hydrating Priming Serum. This pore-blurring, mattifying primer is enriched with hyaluronic acid and niacinamide to care for your skin while extending your makeup wear.


2. Lay your base


Give your primer a few minutes to settle into the skin, then apply your choice of foundation and concealer (in the order you prefer). While full coverage, mattifying foundations are ideal for full glam looks, for soft glam makeup, we suggest a lightweight foundation with buildable coverage to enhance the look of your skin. Teint Idole Ultra Wear Care & Glow Foundation is a medium coverage buildable foundation with a dewy finish that smooths and gives the skin an iridescent glow. For a natural look, apply with your fingertips, but if you’re looking for a more flawless appearance, use a damp beauty sponge.


3. Add dimension and light


While full contouring and highlighting is a common feature of glam looks, when it comes to soft glam makeup, your contouring lines can be more subdued. You’ll want to add dimension to the high points of the face while blending out harsh lines. Take a fluffy blending brush and apply either contour or bronzer along your hairline, beneath your cheek bones, your jawline, and the bridge of your nose. Ensure that your contour colour isn’t too distinct from your skin tone, since you want it to blend softly and seamlessly with your complexion – just 1-2 shades deeper is enough. Introduce a touch of radiance to your soft glam makeup look with highlighter, applying a light sweep to the cheek bones and cupid’s bow.


4. Introduce colour


Now that you have subtly sculpted and highlighted your face, opt for a soft pink or neutral blush to give your complexion a natural flush. To achieve the natural soft glam makeup look, it’s best to avoid intense blush colours. Using a fluffy blush brush, apply Blush Subtil to the centre of the cheekbones, dragging up towards the temples to gently define the angles of your face.


5. Emphasise the eyes


Natural, understated eyeshadow shades are ideal for recreating soft glam eye makeup at home. The Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette in ‘French Nude’ has five dreamy, romantic shades that embody soft glam. When applying eyeshadow, the key is to diffuse the shadows across the lid and avoid sharp lines: this will give your eyes that desired ‘softened’ look. Feel free to run a shimmer across your lid for a boost of luminosity.

As for the rest of your eyes, you can darken your upper lash line with eyeliner but save the sharp wing for full glam. Brighten the eyes with a strong lash and lightly comb your brows with tinted brow gel – this will keep attention on your eyes but maintain the softness that the look requires.


6. Subtle lips


Much like your blush colour, you’ll want to reach for a toned-down colour for your lips – nude and pink shades are the perfect companion to any soft glam makeup look. Find your ideal L'absolu Rouge Cream Lipstick shade and a Lancôme Lip Liner that closely matches the colour. Starting in the centre of your lips, line your lips at the cupid’s bow, moving outwards, then line your lower lip using the corners as a guide. Fill in your lips with lipstick and, for extra plump and shine, sweep a lip gloss across the centre of your lips.


7. Lock in your look


Now that you have crafted the perfect soft glam makeup look, lock your makeup in place using a finishing powder or setting spray. A powder will give your makeup a more mattified effect, which may work well for oily skin types. Alternatively, use the Fix It Forget It Spray, a lightweight setting mist that keeps your complexion looking fresh for up to 24 hours without setting into fine lines and pores.

Mascara for Valentine's Day Look


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